Dressage: tests, levels and getting started

What dressage is

British Dressage (BD), the sport's national governing body, puts it simply: horse and rider perform a test, a set sequence of movements, in a rectangular arena, and are judged against set criteria. Each movement is marked out of ten by one or more judges, the marks are totalled and turned into a percentage, and the highest percentage wins.

Some tests are ridden as a fixed route; others are freestyles, where the rider chooses how to fit the required movements together, often to music.

Everyone who rides uses a little dressage to control and communicate with their horse. Dressage riders take that further, training to a set of guidelines called the scales of training. See Advanced training for how the scales work.

The arena

Competition arenas are either 20 × 40 metres or 20 × 60 metres. Lettered markers around the edge show riders where each movement starts and finishes. BD notes that no one knows exactly where the letters came from.

The levels

BD runs national competitions from Introductory to Grand Prix:

BD publishes national tests from Introductory to Advanced; tests from Prix St Georges up are international tests set by the FEI, the international federation. Within a level, the lower the test number, the easier it is: BD suggests riders new to Prelim start with Prelim 1.

Up to and including Elementary, trot work can be ridden sitting or rising.

Bronze, Silver and Gold

Each level is split into three sections, so riders compete against others with similar experience:

• Bronze: horses and riders who have just started competing at that level.
• Silver: combinations that have shown they're no longer beginners at the level.
• Gold: experienced riders on less experienced horses, and combinations that have proved themselves at the level. Nobody has to move up from Gold if they don't want to.

Everyone at a level rides the same class in front of the same judge; the results are then split into sections.

Points

From Preliminary upwards, a score of 60% or more in an affiliated class wins points: 1 point for 60–61.99%, rising by one point for every 2%, up to 11 points for 80% and above. Points decide which sections and levels you can enter later. Introductory, music, young horse and team Quest classes don't earn points.

Getting started

• Start unaffiliated. Riding clubs, the Pony Club and riding centres run unaffiliated competitions, and many use BD tests.
• Club membership. BD's Club membership lets you try grassroots competitions such as Quest, whose championships BD describes as a fun introduction to dressage with relaxed rules. If you're already competing above Prelim Bronze, a trial membership is also available.
• Learn the test. Tests are sold in BD's shop, or through the Dressage TestPro app. Depending on the class, a "commander" may read the test aloud to you, but not at area festivals, championships or selection trials.

Who can compete

• Riders can be any age. It is the member's responsibility to make sure they're fit to compete.
• Horses must be at least four years old, seven for Prix St Georges and above, and eight for Grand Prix.
• Any horse can do dressage. BD says breed, colour, size and age don't matter: judges are looking for a correct test. At the very top levels, warmbloods are generally considered the most suitable.

Dress and tack

• Riders wear a hat, jacket, breeches or jodhpurs and boots, depending on the level. A riding hat of a current safety standard must be worn at all times when mounted.
• Horses wear a saddle and bridle. From Introductory to Novice, the bridle must have a single bit; from Elementary, a double bridle (two bits) is allowed. The rules list which bits are permitted.
• No boots or bandages in the test: they mean elimination.
• One whip of any length is normally allowed, but not at most championships.
• Plaiting isn't required, though most riders do it.

Welfare

As well as judging the test, BD judges check that the horses are happy athletes, sound and free from obvious injury. Stewards, whom BD calls the guardians of equine welfare, look after the warm-up and check tack.