Dressage
Dressage Ideas
One of the tasks as ambassadors for Dressage in the Canadian Pony Club is to make dressage fun for the members. Here are some ideas for running your branch or regional competitions.
- Quadrille - these are great team building activities, let the kids pick out the music, get an older member to help choreograph it and add costumes. As long as they are safe the judges, kids riding and the audience will love it!
- Horse Swap - Add a fun class to your dressage competition where those that enter must put their horse into a pool and the competitors will swap horses to ride. It helps prepare them for Nationals and is another fun activity.
- Interpretive Freestyle - Organizers put together a piece of music. People get to hear the music 3 times and they make up a freestyle. They understand the elements ahead of time and then have to show their freestyle they just made up.
National Dressage 2011
National Dressage in 2011 is August 12 - 14, 2011 in Western Ontario Region. First Notices have been received and we have 50 competitors this year! Accomodations are set for Redeemer College near the venue for the event which is the Ancaster Fairgrounds. Now begins the task of finding grooms and riders for this year's event. Here is a link to download the Horse Lending form. Please contact Sherry Jackson if you have any questions.
NOTE: EQUINE CANADA HAS CHANGED THEIR TRAINING LEVEL AND ABOVE TESTS FOR 2011 SO CHANGES TO THE DRESSAGE RULES AROUND THE TESTS TO BE USED FOR NATIONALS WILL BE COMING. STAY TUNED!
What is National Dressage?
National Dressage is the governing body of the Dressage Discipline in the Canadian Pony Club. The group of individuals that plan the events, clinics, rules, etc. around Dressage for the CPC are called the Dressage Committee and they include the National Dressage Chair (Sherry Jackson) and the Regional Dressage Chair from each region across Canada.
The National Dressage Competition is held annually based on qualifying competitors from the prior year. The National Dressage competition in 2011 is being held in the Western Ontario Region in Ancaster, ON. The event is comprised of 2 technical tests, 1 mystery test, 1 written test and a turnout score (for both riders and grooms). The competitors will ride 2 different horses for each of the techncial tests and will use one of them for their mystery test.
The technical tests can either be the CPC Dressage Tests (up to Pre-Training level), Cadora or EC tests for the other levels. It is up to the hosting Region as to which tests will be used. These tests must be ridden from memory as a caller is not permitted so they will be announced well in advance of the event.
The Mystery test is a technical test from a related level to which the competitor is competing but from a different country. The tests are unknown to the competitor and they will have a short time to review the test before riding it at the competition. These tests will be called to them.
The Written test is a test to judge the general knowledge of the rider (Pony Club and non-Pony Club related) as it pertains to Dressage.
The Turount is specifically related to the rider's turnout with a portion attributed to the overall appearance of the horse.
The competitors who qualify for this competition are determined individually by each region but typically a named champion at a Regional Dressage competition or related competitions with a minimum percentage of 58% in their technical tests. Riders must be at least 12 years old as of January 1st of the qualifying year to be eligible to compete.
National Dressage 2010
National Dressage 2010 was held in Kelowna, British Columbia under the guidance of the BC Interior North Region. The event was held from August 13 - 15th at the Kelowna Riding Club and the weather, venue and horses were fantastic. Competitors, Chaperones and other supporters stayed at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Centre in Kelowna with coach bus shuttling to the riding club which was very close by. There were 43 competitors competing from all across Canada.
The schedule included Horse matching on Friday where each rider drew 2 horses to compete with. Friday evening we had a great presentation by Karen Robinson from Applause Dressage (www.applausedressage.com) on how to build a freestyle. Karen is a renowned choreographer of freestyles for many top level and aspiring dressage competitors. Saturday commenced with both of the technical tests for most divisions. Saturday night we had a great BBQ at the grounds and then went back to the hotel for the written test. Sunday morning we were back at the grounds to finish any technical tests and do the mystery riding test. It was very exciting to have 2 FEI Junior competitors at this event as well!
This event could not of happened with the assistance of the volunteers, grooms and horse owners and a special thanks to Susanne Poulsen-Suerink for coordinating and executing this event. It takes a substantial amount of work and commitment to coordinate an event of this magnitude and we all thank you very much!
The results for this event are posted.
Please read more below on what is included in the National Dressage Competition.
Results of National Competitions for the past years are available through the "National Events" dropdown box in the top navigation bar. If the navigation bar is not visible, reload the CPC Home Page.
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Special thanks to Apple Saddlery for supporting all of our Regional and National Championships |
2009 - A Year in Review:
What an exciting year we have had. We hosted our National Dressage competition in beautiful Nova Scotia in July and had a fantastic turnout. The Nova Scotia Pony Club took on a very challenging task hosting the Nationals which combined qualifiers from 2007 and 2008. In total there were 48 competitors. A special thank you to NSPC for not only finding some outstanding mounts for the competitors but hosting and executing a fantastic competition ... as well as ordering some great summer weather too!
This was the second National Dressage competition held and the first one I have been involved in. The competitors certainly experienced some challenges but all handled it with a great attitude and exhibited the true Pony Club spirit.
This year is the Canadian Pony Club's 75th Anniversary and as a result of our conference in November in Toronto, we will be holding a Discipline's conference. This is a great opportunity for the Dressage Committee to get together and work at not only improving our National Competition but our National Dressage program on a whole. I look forward to getting together with the Dressage Committee and affecting positive change!
Highlight on Competitors:
It is important that we celebrate and encourage our members in the discipline of Dressage ... it is the basis of correct training for all other disciplines.
At this year's NAYRC (North American Young Rider's Competition), held in Lexington, Kentucky, our very own Syvlie Fraser competed as a member of the Western Canadian team in Dressage. Sylvie, is a member of the BC Interior Pony Club and has been training hard for this opportunity. Her team placed 5th and Sylvie placed 19th individually.
GREAT JOB SYLVIE ... CONGRATULATIONS!
Explanation of Dressage:
Dressage means conditioning of the horse's mind, timing his responses giving the impression that horse and rider are a pair working as one. It is the foundation from which all of the riding disciplines within Pony Club evolve. At the lower levels of Pony Club, dressage relates to basic flat work.
Dressage is a system for training horse and rider that has its roots in ancient Greece. The first known manual of horsemanship was written by Xenophon, for ancient Greek cavalrymen, and has much in common with modern texts on Dressage.
Almost all work is done on the flat. The rider learns proper use of the natural aids - hands, legs, and seat to guide and control the horse. The horse learns balance, straightness, rhythm, impulsion, extension and collection.
Dressage is, at its lower levels, basic training for horse and rider. At its highest levels, it is art. (Just watch Grand Prix riders on their top level horses to see what this means.) Dressage builds flexibility, obedience and gymnastic ability in the horse...very important for later jumping as well as for Dressage competition. In the days when wars were fought on horseback, those qualities could mean the difference between life and death for the mounted soldier.
Back then, the highest level of Dressage was the "Airs Above the Ground", where horses were trained to rear, leap, kick and turn on command as fighting strategies. "Airs Above the Ground" are now seen only in very specialized riding schools such as the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, where the beautiful grey Lipizzaner stallions demonstrate their skills for visiting crowds.
Early levels emphasize walk, trot, and canter on a straight line and in circles. Horses also learn to halt on command with the four feet placed squarely, and remain immobile for four seconds.
Higher levels require the horse to lengthen and shorten strides (extension and collection), to turn on very tight circles, to back up, and to go along the centre of the arena in an S-shaped line called a Serpentine. In time, going on a diagonal with the feet crossing each other (half pass) is added, as is trotting on the spot (piaffe), changing leads at each stride (one-tempi) so that the horse appears to be skipping, and a high-stepping very collected trot (passage).
In Dressage competitions, each horse/rider combination performs a set test before a judge. The competitor with the best marks wins. At the lower levels, there is one judge. At the highest level, there are three to five judges, with the scores being averaged.
A very popular feature of Dressage competitions is the Kur. In the Kur, horse and rider perform the required movements to music, in a pattern choreographed to fit both the horse's best features and the music. The horses often seem to enjoy performing Kurs, coming to life and really sparkling as if they were dancing.
At the early levels, riders can ask someone to read the test to them as they perform. As they go up the ladder of difficulty, they are expected to memorize the tests.
Dressage competitions are held in rings of regulation sizes: 20x40 metres for the lowest levels, rising to 20x60 for the higher classes. The outside limits of the ring are marked, and letters are placed at standard positions on the outside.
Riders always enter at "A", and have to halt at a required spot on the long (centre) line to salute the judge. This spot does not have a letter present...the rider must eyeball this one. The test will require the rider to do one thing...say, trot, from one letter to another, then change what is to be done at that letter, say, to canter. Circles must be round, not square, and of a required size, usually 20 or 15, or 10 metres, and the rider must ride these "by eye". The test will say, "Canter 20 metre circle at E" for example.
In addition to marking on how accurately the horse and rider performed the test, the judge(s) will give marks on the paces of the horse, the obedience of the horse, and the position and seat of the rider. Success in Dressage requires a lot of practice, discipline and sound training, as well as talent.
The one exception to the "all on the flat" is the Prix Caprilli test, where the test includes jumping Cavaletti (very small jumps).
Adult riders take note: The oldest Olympic competitor on record was a Dressage rider, aged 72! So keep on truckin'.
Beginning in 2007, National Dressage Championships commenced with the first event being held in Central Ontario. The second National Championship was held in Nova Scotia in 2009, combining the qualifying competitors from 2007 and 2008. In Dressage, the competitors qualify the year ahead of the National Competition and currently levels from Starter up can qualify to compete at the National Dressage Championships.
The official Canadian Pony Club Dressage Rules are available for free downloading. The rules may change on an annual basis so be sure to keep up to date with the latest rules. The CPC Dressage Rules can also be found under the Dressage link.
Thanks for visiting us. If you have comments or questions, contact the Dressage Chair of your Region.