USEF changes our dressage tests every four years, and the new tests for 2011 are available for viewing online in your usef.org Authorized Users Area, though they don’t go into effect until Dec. 1. We’d been hearing lots of murmurs about changes, big and small, for the next round of tests, so I was eager to give them a look.
The changes to training level are minimal. USEF removed test 4 entirely from training, first and second levels, so I was very happy to see that my favorite movement from the 2007 T4 test, the shallow loop, was included in the 2011 T3 test.
They have put a stretchy circle into all three tests, which I completely understand—it’s an important movement—but I’m lukewarm about it. I have very beginner students on very downhill horses who are just learning about balance and organization and are not ready to attempt keeping those types of horses “together” in a longer outline, but they still want to go to the little local shows and have fun.
First level’s biggest change is that sitting trot is no longer a requirement. I’m mixed about this one, too; yes, there are young horses out there who are ready to demonstrate the adjustability required at first level but not strong enough to support the rider’s sitting weight. But I feel like that’s not the reason behind the change; that it’s more likely that it’s to benefit riders who haven’t mastered the sitting trot yet. I feel like not requiring an organized seat before requiring collection is going to make the gap between first and second levels even bigger.
But I do like the lines of lengthened stride at canter in first 1—the transition back to working canter covers three letters, a really nice progression. And first 3 has this sneaky little leg yield to 10-meter circle figure eight to leg yield business that I think will be an opportunity to pick up points for rideability, which will help everyone, especially riders on average-moving horses. Neat.
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I didn’t see much of a change to second level. I think I’m the only person on the planet who likes second level, so no complaints from me!
Third level also doesn’t have a ton of changes, though the appearance of flying changes on the centerline at 3-3 is a BIG surprise!
The biggest changes come at fourth level, a level that has received a lot of abuse over the years. It’s a tough level, with lots of technical questions that don’t appear in the diagonals-ad-nauseum Prix St. Georges. I’ve got a love-hate thing with that element to fourth level; the horses that can really nail the fourth level questions find the PSG easy-peasy, so as a corollary, riders who struggle with the technicalness move straight up to PSG without necessarily being prepared.
So it doesn’t surprise me that they’ve taken down a lot of the technicalness of fourth level, though it’s still plenty tricky. 4-1 now features a sneaky little trot tour that you’ll find in the 2007 4-2, and while I HATE, HATE, HATE walk on a 20-meter circle line, it does put the walk pirouettes into a neat place.
I was also surprised to see the flying changes SO far away from the end of the steep canter half-pass line—4-1 gives you all the time in the world to prep the change, but 3-3 has them in the judges’ lap, on the centerline? Weird.
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4-2 brings back trotwork from a 2003 third level test, with shoulder-in to medium trot on a short diagonal, an exercise I’ve always liked, especially for horses who maybe aren’t so ambitious in the bigger gaits. One of the canter pirouettes—schooling pirouettes, but now 3-meter instead of 5-meter—is at the A end of the arena, the “tempi” changes are now three single changes at the quarter, center and three-quarter-lines, and there is now nice clarity about the location of the changes after the pirouettes.
And 4-3 brings back another GREAT movement, the “swing,” which is a reinback to canter transition. Tricky! The trot tour is quite a beast, with half-pass and volte one way to shoulder-in, on the centerline, the other. They’ve kept the schooling canter pirouette, instead of requiring a “real” one, and eliminated the three-tempis.
The biggest change, though, goes through all the levels: Instead of four collective marks, there are now six. Gaits maintains its x1, and impulsion and submission are still x2. But instead of one mark for rider, there are essentially three, all x1: rider’s position and seat, rider’s correct and effective use of the aids, and harmony between rider and horse.
It’ll be interesting to see what this does to scores. How many of us have had rides where we’ve sat beautifully and quietly while our horses have had massive blow-ups or huge mistakes from tension? An 8 isn’t really fair in that situation—we may have been quiet and polite, but far from effective or harmonious—but 5/6 doesn’t tell the whole story either. It could be a really cool change.
In all, I think it’s a nice group of tests, and I’m looking forward to giving them a whirl!
