From: Cyndee
Dear Jessica, with show season about to begin I am already worried about my dressage scores. Last year I went to ten shows and saved all my tests (I am riding Training Level) and planned to study them over the winter so that I would know what to work on. When I started reading them again I realized that I didn't really understand what the judges were talking about! Part of the problem is that it's hard for me to remember my rides after I finish them, and compare them with the test. But some rides I thought were really good in parts and the judges didn't, and I couldn't see that I was getting better after the last show, anyway my score totals went up and down and my first show scores were better than my last ones, which is very upsetting. Help! How can I get ready for this show season and know what the scores mean so I can do better this year? I want to do better but I'm not even sure I understand the number scores. I know what the chart says, but what does it MEAN? If I get a 6 on a circle from one judge, and a 5 from another at the next show, what happened and what am I doing wrong? I want to understand.
Cyndee
You're right to save your tests - they're very useful. Obviously not all judges will agree on everything, and equally obviously you and your horse will have good days and less good days, brilliant moments and less brilliant moments. But if you go to ten shows, you'll have ten or twenty tests by the end of the season, and you can learn a lot by reviewing and comparing the scores for the movements - AND the various judges' comments.
The number scores are fairly simple: tests are divided into movements, and each movement is marked between 0 and 10. Every test sheet has the list and definitions of the marks:
10 Excellent 9 Very Good 8 Good 7 Fairly Good 6 Satisfactory 5 Sufficient 4 Insufficient 3 Fairly Bad 2 Bad 1 Very Bad 0 Not Performed
In theory, you'll get marks anywhere from 0 to 10. In practice, and especially at the lower levels and at schooling shows, you're far more likely to get marked in a more limited range - from 3 to 8, for example, although I've been at shows where the "range" seemed to be even more limited, with no scores below 4 or higher than 7. This can happen because the judge is insecure and wants to stay in a "safe" range. Some judges always mark high, especially at schooling shows where he or she wants to encourage beginning dressage riders. Other judges typically mark low. This is why it's important to study both your number scores and the comments on your test.
Here's a quick explanation of what the marks mean.
10 is a rare sight - even though it doesn't mean "perfect", as some riders (and judges) seem to believe. 10 means "excellent", and if you do see one awarded, it's likely to be for an outstandingly good entry and halt.
9 is also a comparatively rare sight on a test. It indicates that you and your horse performed not just well, but extremely well indeed.
8 is - as I explained above - often the top mark awarded by a judge. An 8 on a movement would mean that your horse's engagement, energy level, outline and obedience were entirely appopriate for the level of competition, and that you demonstrated not just quality but also accuracy (making your transition precisely at the letter, for example).
7 is a good mark, and you'll need to be paying close attention to see just why a judge marks a 7 instead of an 8. If the movement were performed like the one that got the 8 score, with just a little bit less accuracy (making your transition just before or just after the letter, for example) or a brief moment in which the horse hurried or got above or behind the bit, the score of 8 would drop to 7.
6 means that your horse was obedient and performed the movement reasonably well, making the required transitions, performing the required gait, and going from letter to letter steadily, but there was nothing outstanding about the way it performed the movement.
5 means that your horse did what it was supposed to do, and was probably obedient, but may have been above the bit, on the forehand, or lacking in energy.
4 means that something was noticeably wrong with the way the movement was performed - the horse might have been bent the wrong way on a circle, very late or very early with a transition, or it might have thrown up its head and made a rough transition. Other possibilities might be a complete lack of energy - or an inverted silhouette, with a high head, dropped back, and trailing hindquarters.
3 means that there was serious trouble with a movement. For example: If the horse performed a late transition as above, but also showed marked resistance, the score would drop from 4 to 3. A very disobedient horse, a very resistant horse, and a very stiff horse will all tend to get a good many 3s.
2 If you got a 2 anywhere on a test, you're unlikely to forget the reason why - something must have happened! If you can remember a movement during which your horse bucked, reared, or shied dramatically across the arena, you have probably found the source of that 2.
1 Again, this is an unusual mark that you'll tend to remember. It means that something happened that was even worse than whatever got you the 2. ;-) If your horse bucked halfway around a circle, or shied across the diagonal, or did anything else that (a) showed great disobedience and (b) used up most of the movement, you might well find a 1 on your test.
0 This is the bottom - it means that the movement was never performed at all. This can mean a severe problem with the horse - or no problem at all. Even the worst, most unbalanced, resistant, counterbent, inverted, bucking horse can manage a 2 on a circle, or a 1 if it bucks repeatedly, but if it bucks and then charges off and never even gets to the point of performing any sort of a circle, or if it never halts at all, that would be a movement not performed. But there is another common cause of movements not being performed - a rider memory blip! If you simply FORGET to perform a circle, a transition, or whatever the indicated movement may be, you'll get a 0 for "movement not performed", but you shouldn't take the score as any indication of a comment on your riding or your horse's behaviour or training. Some judges will ring the bell for an error of course if a movement is left out - others will simply mark it "0" and keep going.
Most low-level tests show a lot of 5 marks, because judges feel more comfortable working in the middle of the range - and because many tests ARE mid-range, average, acceptable. It's also very common for judges to go easy on beginning competitors, so that they will enjoy competing and feel encouraged to go on competing. This can be nice - but it can also backfire. Riders who get all 5s for their first few shows and then either begin to get 4s instead, and riders who get 5s and go out again and get MORE 5s after months of practice, can be very upset and disappointed, and wonder what they are doing wrong. There are two factors involved here. One is the wide range of quality that many judges consider to be represented by 5 - the other is the kindness of judges who don't want to give discouraging 4s. This creates a problem, though, because the use of 5 as a sort of catch-all "middle" mark can cause confusion. The rider who deserves a 4 but is given a 5 "to encourage her" will probably not understand that the 5 she gets four months later on the same (and improved) movement is now a "5 that's very close to a 6" instead of a "5 that really should have been a 4".
Judging is hard work. If you get a chance to scribe for a judge at a show, take it - you'll learn an enormous amount about the complexities and difficulties of judging. You'll also learn that most judges are hoping to be able to give good marks! If you've worried that the judge is watching you in the hope of "catching you" and lowering your mark, think again, judges tend to moan and sigh with regret when a 7 movement suddenly turns into a 6 or a 5 because of a moment of stiffness or inattention.
Don't compare your overall scores with each other from test to test and show to show. Some judges will score consistently higher, some lower, and if you try to train according to what you think you understand from comparing one test score to another, you'll only be frustrated. Even the same judge may score differently on different days - more generously at a schooling show, perhaps, and less generously (and more accurately?) at a recognized competition. Look for the high and low areas of your tests, and notice whether they stay the same during each test, and from test to test and show to show. That will tell you what to work on, and why.
Focus on the comments and the quality of the various movements. If you find that the lowest marks in each test are invariably your canter departs, say, or the canter circles to the right, then you'll have something definite to work on. If you find that your halts are always marked down for "lack of immobility" or that your entry is consistently wobbly, or that no judge can ever tell the difference between your horse's free walk and medium walk, once again, you'll have something specific to work on.
Read your collective marks carefully, too, and compare them to the marks for movements. If your horse scores well on the test, but the collectives are a mark or two lower, your horse is probably very obedient and very accurate, but perhaps not engaged or energetic or round. If your marks for movements are just adequate, but the collectives are high, your horse probably moves well - and you should work on accuracy. Improving your accuracy is an easy way to improve your performance scores. Be precise. "At C" means "when the rider's leg is at C", not "when the horse's nose or tail or anything in between the nose and tail is somewhere in the vicinity of C".
Transitions matter - there are more transitions than any other movement in every dressage test. If your transitions are sloppy, stiff, early, late, or just not quite at the letter, you're sacrificing marks. You don't need any particular breed or type of horse or colour or brand of tack to get good scores for transitions - you just need good, accurate practice and a focus on quality. Don't sacrifice quality for accuracy - a good judge will award a higher mark for a smooth, late transition than for a rough, resistant, prompt one. But any judge will award the best marks for a transition that is both smooth AND accurate, so once you've mastered the smoothness, spend some time refining your accuracy.
Look at your own collective mark, too. If you are a wonderful rider and your horse is stiff or sluggish, you may find that the horse gets low marks for his gaits and submission, whereas you get high marks for your position and aids. But if your horse's marks are consistently good, and your own marks not so good, again, you have something specific to work on - your position and aids!
Forget the specific numbers and look for trends and patterns. One judge's 7 walk may be another's 6 - it doesn't mean that your horse has deteriorated, or your riding. But if you keep seeing the same comments ("halt not square", "transition late", "rushing", or whatever), take those comments seriously and work to improve the REASONS for the comments.
Above all, don't forget to have fun - and to be sure that your horse is having fun too. We do this for our own reasons, and our horses do it to please us. Let your horse know that you're pleased with his effort - don't wait until you have a high score, just praise him for making the effort. Your scores will only get better.
Jessica
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