First dressage competition!

On Saturday night Kyros and I went to our first dressage competition..

But it is freestyle dressage, which means you make up your own routine... to music


Now i didn't know until after that it is better if you don't have words in your music, it should just be instrumental, cause judges prefer classical..

BUT i prefer it with words.. Most of the other peoples were boring with just this soft instrumental in the background :S


Anyway, so Kyros and i had been practicing all week, which was a bit hard because our arena isn't the right size, so i thought all my timing would be wrong.. But it worked out perfectly!


I have NEVER been to a dressage competition before, as i dont count the one i went to the other month on that insane horse

And i have NEVER had a riding lesson before this year.. Which now altogether in my life i have had 4 lessons in my life hahaha Woo.. I am getting lessons weekly now starting next year, because apparently we have soooo much potential haha


Kyros was INCREDIBLE.. He was like a different horse to what he is at home.

Usually he is very strong, especially in a new environment.. I was worried that he was just going to run off and jump out of the tiny dressage arena..

NOPE.. He wouldn't even trot or canter hahaha I had to borrow someones whip in the warm up area to get him at least a tiny bit active!

He was the calmest horse there, he was just falling asleep... Amazing how laid back he was..

Which is great, because now i know we wont have troubles during jumping competitions!


So this was us before the show






Here is the silly thing.. They made me do my HARDER test first... Then the easier one second... Bit silly -_-

So here is the prep, which is walking and trotting, which we did second..

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1djFD0foqo&feature=youtu.be]Kyros Freestyle Dressage- Prep test - YouTube[/ame]


And this is the prelim, which is walking, trotting and cantering which we did first..

We stuffed up majorlyyyyyy in the first canter section, he just didn't want to canter, then when he did he went on the wrong lead..

Apart from that he was incredible, just a bit sucky that we didn't get that part correct!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL1mwC2jZQQ&feature=youtu.be]Kyros Freestyle Dressage- Prelim Test - YouTube[/ame]



Then this was us after, i was the only one who stayed with my horse, hugging him and such :S






And lastly, the awards- First and fourth!






I don't want to do dressage, i will do it for 3 day eventing, but i dont enjoy just doing dressage, it is VERY opinionated with judges... One judge might love you, the other might hate you haha

Only type of dressage i like is freestyle, and there are hardly any competitions with it, maybe twice a year..


and i also realised that my test was very simple compared to everyone else, i had no idea what to do, but everyone else was more complicated and advanced, mine was just circles hahaha


But i am SO proud of Kyros, our first ever show.. SUCH a great boy!





The best part of the night, was after i finished riding, one of the member head judgey people, came up to me when i hopped off...


and she said-

You had the loveliest ride out of all, you were the only one that actually smiled and was enjoying yourself, it is very rare to see people smiling now..
Yours was just a pleasure to watch..


So even though we didn't win, at least it was the best to watch! haha



Judges said i just have to work on bending him around my leg, which i know, because his last owner didn't use any leg contact, so he has no idea HOW to bend around a leg.. But he is getting better!


Was a brilliant night.. Apart from the hour it took to load him onto the truck

Congratulations! You both look lovely! You make me long for the days my horses and I competed! I would love to have one again! You should be very proud!

That is awesome you two looked so good together!! Congratulations!!! Loved the music too

Thank you!!!

Considering it was our first show together, and i think his first show in about 2-3 years.. It was amazing..

Could not be happier with him! He has improved SOOO much from when i first got him.

Like mum said- he was well worth the money haha

Pity that the showing season is over now Everything will start up again end of january, beginning of february

Which gives us all summer to practice our jumping!

Then will be able to do the 3 day eventing starting next year.. Just the low levels of course, probably prelim, so jumps would only be about 60cm? and dressage will be fairly easy!

Set up gridwork in the arena yesterday



HAHA i liked the songs too!!! But when i got there, no one else had words and this lady said to me, it shouldn't have words, because it should be more classical... but its not compulsory..


But at the big equitata horse event, they did freestyle, and they used words..

So guess its just personal choice, i dont think you would use rap music or anything too crazy.. But pop music is cool! haha

that is great Tab!....wow you looked really good, except for your face being blotted out, ha ha.

I was very happy to hear one of the judges complimenting you!, that must have meant so much to you, that's what it's all about isn't it??....enjoying yourself.

you looked really good, and Kyros is such a gorgeous horse, way to go!!

Thank you! Hahaha


Exactly!!!!! I don't know why people ride and go to competitions if you aren't going to enjoy yourself and have fun..


I don't care about winning, i just like riding! Was just smiling the whole time

Some people take it WAY too seriously! haha

Wonderful! My dressage days are long gone but I love watching it.

You guys look wonderful together! What a lovely horse you have, and you ride very nicely! Love the music choice!

I love dressage because there is always something to work on, and some things are so subtle. It really helps me to get one with myself and my horse.

I did a few competitions this year, and you're right some people can get real..intense. Understandably so , but as you said, no point doing it if you're not having fun!

It's funny, I just got back from the barn (still in my breeches..) and thought I'd hop on this forum to see if there's anything interesting and lo, I see this wonderful post! Makes me want to head back out there! lol!

Hooray for horses!! (and parrots!)

Wahhhh Tab! You can't say you don't like dressage with a horse like that! Kyros will be brilliant at it given a little time and training. He's already doing fabulously at beginner level - just imagine what you could rise to with him. I know it can appear to be boring, but it's all about perfecting the steps. Like ballet. (Please don't tell me you don't like ballet! LOL!)

Thank you!!

I was going to do the prep test to- what does the fox say HAHAHA But then a few hours before we left i decided to do it to i gotta feeling, suited the night


Yes dressage and flatwork is your main work to learn to work with your horse, alot of show jumpers only practice jumping once a week, then the rest of the days they just do dressage.. Builds up muscle and movement!

The past month i haven't done any jumping, just all flat work, but now i just really want to take him over a jump haha


It is good to be a little bit competitive, but sometimes it is just too over the top..

When i was 11, i did a sporting day with my little pony... Our first show, and we won the whole thing, got this big trophy..

Then this other girls mum, complained to the judges and said her daughter should of won, not me

It wasn't even judges choice, it was all sporting games so it was just whoever had quickest times :S


Insane!! haha


Ohhh what type of horse do you have KiwiS?



I am heading out for a ride now! haha
Hopefully it doesn't start raining -_-


Horses and parrots, best combination

HAHAHAHAHA Trish, i don't like ballet

I didn't want to do ANY dressage with Kitai, just wanted to do showjumping and hunter trials..

But with Kyros, i will do the eventing and dressage, just because he is good at it haha




I just have no idea how to train him to do the more higher levels..

Prep is walk trot
Prelim is walk trot canter

then the next level is novice where it is flying changes and collected and extended trot :S

You two go together well. That was a good compliment that the judge gave you.

It is great you had a good time. Kyros looked like he was doing great The song I got a feeling was a good pick but What does the fox say would had been a fun song for sure.

Yes i think we are a good team He is gentle and nice, but strong.. like me haha


I think if i did what does the fox say, then they would of given me 0% Most people hate that song hahaha

I had it on the cd though, so after i finished my test... that song came on hahahaha

I put my arms up and was like- WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY!!!!!!!

Maybe next time! haha





Only got to ride for 30 minutes, now its storming again.. Grrrrrr -_-

You both looked great! I enjoyed watching you two!! Keep smiling!! I love the kissing picture....on their softest softest spot....it's like velvet! Kiss him for me

Hahahaha his mouth was actually really slobbery and dirty... After i kissed him my mouth was all wet and covered in dirt

I love the spot on the side of their nose/mouth.. It is super soft.. Every night each of the boys get a kiss right there!


Thank you !


One lady said- how could you not smile if you had a horse like Kyros hehe

I guess if you want to go on to higher level dressage, you'll need to find a coach or teacher of some kind. It's easy enough at novice level, although teaching a green horse flying changes is a bit... challenging. From what you say about Kyros, though, he has the sensitivity to respond to the aids very quickly. This would make him a fabulous dressage prospect (my sister's mouth would be watering LOL!) Is there a knowledgeable person at your local Pony Club who could give you some pointers?

I'd be working on his flexibility and symmetry (ie. ability to go in both directions equally well). Next, I'd start him on two-track work (shoulder-in, shoulder-out) in preparation for the lead changes to come. I suspect that, considering Kyros' breeding, he'll be a natural and just do it. I'd be doing your basic dressage training (trotting in circles, changing diagonals etc) every single day with breakout sessions over jumps or cavalettis to let off steam. Of course, that's what I'd do to bring along a purely dressage mount to novice level. You're not me, so you'll need to decide which of Kyros' strengths you want to play to. I know you prefer jumping, but no matter which way I look at it, dressage is the basis of everything. If your horse is responsive and round in outline, if he's tracking correctly and has good head carriage, then you won't need martingales and chambons and gags to strap him into some kind of shape when he's jumping. He'll just go forward in a plain old snaffle and he'll do it efficiently and quickly because he'll have that practice in using his legs and shifting his weight as he moves.

Geez, my bias is hanging out, isn't it? I'll shuddup now. But still watching with great interest as you and Kyros cement your partnership!

Very nice job Tab!!!!

Betrisher said:

I guess if you want to go on to higher level dressage, you'll need to find a coach or teacher of some kind. It's easy enough at novice level, although teaching a green horse flying changes is a bit... challenging. From what you say about Kyros, though, he has the sensitivity to respond to the aids very quickly. This would make him a fabulous dressage prospect (my sister's mouth would be watering LOL!) Is there a knowledgeable person at your local Pony Club who could give you some pointers?

I'd be working on his flexibility and symmetry (ie. ability to go in both directions equally well). Next, I'd start him on two-track work (shoulder-in, shoulder-out) in preparation for the lead changes to come. I suspect that, considering Kyros' breeding, he'll be a natural and just do it. I'd be doing your basic dressage training (trotting in circles, changing diagonals etc) every single day with breakout sessions over jumps or cavalettis to let off steam. Of course, that's what I'd do to bring along a purely dressage mount to novice level. You're not me, so you'll need to decide which of Kyros' strengths you want to play to. I know you prefer jumping, but no matter which way I look at it, dressage is the basis of everything. If your horse is responsive and round in outline, if he's tracking correctly and has good head carriage, then you won't need martingales and chambons and gags to strap him into some kind of shape when he's jumping. He'll just go forward in a plain old snaffle and he'll do it efficiently and quickly because he'll have that practice in using his legs and shifting his weight as he moves.

Geez, my bias is hanging out, isn't it? I'll shuddup now. But still watching with great interest as you and Kyros cement your partnership!

Click to expand...

When we canter in figure eights, he will automatically do a flying change to get on the correct lead! :20:


We have a warmblood mare, who is very well trained in dressage, and i can make her do flying changes automatically just in a straight line..

So i tried to get Kyros to change whilst going straight, but he didn't like it :S




I have a dressage instructor, i get along with her really well, she is only about 25, and was sent to Germany to train horses, so i THINK she is pretty high up in dressage?

I haven't asked her what level she has done, but she THINKS Kyros knows how to do all these higher levels of dressage, it will just take a while to figure it out!

But like you said, need to work on the basics at the moment, learning to bend, flexibility, and he doesn't have the same amount of balance going left as he does right, although his cantering left is SO much better, it still isn't as great as his right!


But our area it seems to be more eventing and jumping?

Our town held the world cup showjumping ?

So i could find an AMAZING showjumping coach, i know of a few olympic riders who live around here, but i dont know of any dressage riders.. Weird :/

I watched a dressage instructor ride in the comp on the weekend, and she slumped forward alot, and it looked terrible...



and thats exactly right!!!! That's why i am not rushing to do jumping at the moment, i am just doing his dressage, because a horse who is good at dressage will be ALOT easier to train with jumping!

I walked him over some poles today, he hit each of them hahahahaha

He wasn't in a great mood today though, it was super windy... Wind is not his favourite weather!




The only thing is, if we do 3 day eventing, so start at prelim...

But say he gets good at jumping, lets say 1 meter 20, then that would go to novice, or intermediate?

That means if i wanted to compete at that level for eventing, we would have to get more advanced at dressage to be able to compete higher for jumping

Heeheehee! So you gotta do a bit of dressage whether you like it or not. I will send you a lovely pair of ballet shoes to celebrate! Just you wait till this big black bloke starts putting it all together for you: I bet you get the bug for dressage and start doing the perfectionist thing. I'm not a wealthy woman, but shall we say five cents on it? Yeah, I'd forgotten you had local help - that's *so* lucky! Can't wait to see Fargo all dressed up for his Prix St George (flat hat and all)!

I don't know how the rules go any more, but if Kyros is a big jumper it could be that he leaps ahead a level. I know what you mean about the slumping thing. That was big down our way a while back: all the top level riders were 'relaxing from the skull through the spine and into the pelvis'. What that meant was, they looked like a sack of potatoes with a pumpkin tied loosely on top. When they trotted, they looked as though they were doing disgraceful things to their saddles! Euuww! There's relaxation and then there's slumping. Not the same thing a tall!

Hope the wind dies down a bit for you. I hate riding in windy weather - the horses just seem to want to get to the horizon in the quickest way possible. LOL!