These are the first levels of tests within the club, and the easiest to pass in all of the ranks. In these tests, riders will focus on fundamentals and standard, common dressage moves, both with groups or individually.
Level 1.1 |
- Arena Quadrants: The arena has eight quadrants total running from A to C, and forteen running from E to B. From X to the wall these lines are the Centreline, Wide Tier, Quarter Line, Eighth Line and Outer Dotted line. From E to B these lines are the five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty and thirty-five meter lines from X to the wall on either side.
- Letters: Mid letters (E and B), Centre letters (A and C), Corner Letters (M, F, K and H), RSVP Letters (R, S, V and P).
- X: The exact center of the arena (where centreline and midline meet).
- Track: The path on which your horse is traveling in the arena. Often used to refer to ‘scooping your track’ to fix a gap, or ‘adjusting your track’ to merge correctly.
- The Outside Track: On any wall of the arena, ride just to the outside of the 35 meter line or the Outer Dotted line to be on your Outside Track. This is to prevent running into the wall when doing multiple transition moves or specifically canter curls/other sets and also sets a clear boundary for all riders to stay within.
- Gait: The speed your horse is currently at (walk, trot, canter, extended canter, gallop).
- Letters: Mid letters (E and B), Centre letters (A and C), Corner Letters (M, F, K and H), RSVP Letters (R, S, V and P).
- X: The exact center of the arena (where centreline and midline meet).
- Track: The path on which your horse is traveling in the arena. Often used to refer to ‘scooping your track’ to fix a gap, or ‘adjusting your track’ to merge correctly.
- The Outside Track: On any wall of the arena, ride just to the outside of the 35 meter line or the Outer Dotted line to be on your Outside Track. This is to prevent running into the wall when doing multiple transition moves or specifically canter curls/other sets and also sets a clear boundary for all riders to stay within.
- Gait: The speed your horse is currently at (walk, trot, canter, extended canter, gallop).
- Cut Centerline: Cut across the arena at the Centerline, following your lead (dark line running between letters A and C) .
- Cut Midline: Cut across the arena at the Midline, following your lead (dark line running between letters E and B).
- “And” Halt: All riders walk, lead will walk 3-5 steps and then halt automatically. All other riders walk until they can halt in NTT gaps standing.
- Halt Set: All riders halt in place, riders do NOT walk up. Forward sets from the Halt set should be immediate for all riders due to keeping gaps while standing.
- Cut Diagonal: Ride from the nearest corner to the opposite corner of the arena, following your lead.
- Curl Set: Individual circle created by holding your arrow key in the gait you are currently in until you are straight back to your original axis.
- Fate Set: A curl in the direction said on the first go, followed by a curl in the opposite direction on the second go. This move can be added onto any other set (ex: Keyhole Fate).
- Buckle Set: On the first go, curl over in the direction said. On the second go, curl over in the same direction to return to the original track and direction, make sure to maintain your curl over distance from your original track while doing this set.
- Rear/Rear Halt Set: Take one visible step back, then press X (back key, X). This prevents dismounting.
- Bear Set: A curl over into a slant, adjusting back to your original track when you reach it in the reverse direction. reverses the line order and direction, but you return to your original track.
- Curl Over Set: All riders do half of a curl on go, without adjusting to the original track. This reverses the line order and direction, and adjusts the track slightly (by half a quadrant away from your original track in trot)
- Belt Set: On go (for a set) or at the wall, the leader will curl over in the direction asked, all others follow the leader. Do not adjust back on original track, maintain the curl over distance.
- Pivot Set: ¼, ½, ¾, and Full: Turn your horse the amount asked from a halt, riders should simply be turning in place without moving forward. Think of a full pivot being one full turn and facing the original direction you were before.
Level 1.2 |
- Single Curls in Other Gaits (return to the gait you were in before the curl) Count 8 steps in walk, 7 steps in trot and 6 strides in canter (ex: a rider would be trotting, a canter curl would be executed on ‘canter curl set’, and after the correct amount of strides the rider would go back to the original gait: trot)
- Peak: Starting from a corner letter, ride straight up to X, then down to the next corner letter on the same wall once your horse's front hooves hit X
- Hill: Starting from a corner letter, turn 90 degrees off the wall and ride a curved line up to X, and then curve back down to the next corner letter on the same wall (a rounded Peak), making sure you’re turning onto the walls at a 90 degree angle.
- Walk Halt: On the first go, walk. On the second go, halt.
- Comb Set: All riders cut across the arena individually on go, making a 90 degree turn. You are one horse ahead of everyone else on your screen (screen delay). Line leader does not adjust.
- Curl Comb Set: All riders curl and ride directly into a comb on one go (holding arrow key), in other words, a curl and a quarter.
- Combo: On the first go, curl over in the direction said. On the second go, curl in the opposite direction. On the 3rd go, curl over in the original direction
- Keyhole Set: A three-quarter curl on go, changing the riders track (ex: a keyhole towards A would result in riding towards C)
- Overkey: On the first go, curl over in the direction said. On the second go, keyhole the opposite direction
- Over Comb: On the first go, curl over in the direction said. On the second go, comb in the opposite direction.
Level 1.3 |
-Pick/Pick Curl: Curl in the gait asked on go, and then continue in this gait on your original track (ex: canter pick curl)
- 5m Circle: Ridden one quadrant up, one quadrant over from each point. Riders will be one quadrant away from their middle point of the circle at all times.
- 10 Meter Circle: This circle is ridden two quadrants away from a given center point (normally X or two quadrants away from the wall) to make it 10 meters wide on either side. Each of the four points used to create a circle will be two quadrants up, and two quadrants over from the previous point and curving between said points.
- Quarter Moon: Half of a 5m circle, then ride straight.
- Half Moon: Half of a 10m circle, then ride straight.
- Double Curl Set: Two curls (holding arrow key throughout both curls) in the direction said
- Slant Set: Slant forty five degrees (half of a cut) in the direction said, aligning with the faint slanted lines on the ground.
- Bear Belt Set: On go (for a Bear Belt set) or at the wall, the leader will bear in the direction asked, all other riders follow the leader
- Short Diagonal Set: Ride straight from corner to E/B, or E/B to corner. All riders follow the line leader and it should make a more angled diagonal
- Back Curl Set: From a halt, curl by backing up on go (press opposite arrow key then asked to move your horses hind in the direction asked)
- Destiny Set: On the first go, double curl in the direction called, on the second go curl the opposite direction
Group 1 |
-Screen Delay: On your screen, you are approximately one horse ahead of everyone else. The slower your gait, the less screen delay affects you, the faster your gait the more screen delay increases for you. Keep this in mind for comb alignment in various gaits!
- Tail to shoulder at the walk
- Tail to chest at the trot
- Tail to nose at the canter
- BOS Gaps: ‘Back Of Saddle’ gaps, done by keeping your horse's nose touching the back of the saddle of the rider in front of you.
- NTT Gaps: ‘Nose To Tail’ gaps, done by riding with your horse's nose brushing the tail of the horse in front of you.
- Comb Alignment: On your screen you should be ahead of the person leading your line by aligning your horse's tail to the lead horses chest across from you, to make you look around and horse ahead from everyone else on your screen due to screen delay
- Waterfall Alignment: Often referred to as BOS across, you should be ‘BOS’ but across from the person who was originally in front of you before a waterfall
- Slant Alignment: After a slant set, ensure your front hooves and back hooves align with the horse in front of you (side by side)
- Gradual Gap Changes: Close your gaps by tilting your horses nose into your shape/cutting off turns and corners as needed. Increase your gaps by tilting your horses nose out of your shape/making larger turns and corners. This is often referred to as ‘scooping’ your track to fix your gaps without changing gaits, although in cases of major gap issues you should make the smallest amount possible of gait adjustments to fix it
- Labels: Starting with the front of the line, the pattern goes odd even odd even etc. from the front to the back of the line. Odds always go left and evens right in any split or wave moves (there is no ‘wave left set’, only ‘wave set’ in our curriculum). Keep in mind these labels may change depending on how you merge/reline, and no matter the original order to automatically relabel when riding in an altered or new order (this also applies to split lines/splitting).
- Splitting/Merging: When splitting at a wall or a specified point, odds will turn left and evens will turn right with all odds following their odds lead, and all evens following their evens lead (second rider in line) in OH gaps. When merging, the line rejoins together (odds always merge first, regardless of previous order- automatically relabel) at a specified point.
- Line Monitoring: The leader of each line must constantly look across to the leader of the opposing line (or lines) to ensure they are in line (comb aligned for side-by-side) and not falling behind/getting too far ahead. This is to ensure smooth merges and pass throughs when separate lines interact with each other
- Passing Through Gaps: When lines are crossing through each other's gaps, evens should cross through the odd who was in front of them in a previously merged line, or whomever they are told to within a routine. When in the trot, aim for the hind end of the horse you are crossing through (brushing the back of the saddle pad). When in the canter, aim for the rider of the horse you are crossing through. This change is due to screen delay increasing with speed
- In/Out: When told to turn in/out at the wall or at a certain point, turning in refers to turning towards the opposite line at the wall, and turning out refers to turning away from the opposite line at the wall. In/Out can also be used when commanding shapes or sets, when used in this fashion it is referring to away from either the centerline or Midline, this depends on where the opposite split line(s) is. For example if the opposite line is on the other side of the centerline from your line, ‘out’ used for a shape/set refers to towards/away from the centerline.
- OH Gaps: ‘One Horse’ gaps, used when riding in split lines or for routine-specific gaps. Imagine there is one horse between you and the person in front of you, riding in BOS.
- “If Late, Go Straight”: If your commander calls a second go for a set late, return straight to your original track and wait for the second go to be called to change gait or start the next phase of the set.
- Wave Set: Odds will curl left and evens will curl right on go, then adjust back to their original track. “Wave” can be used with any other set to indicate that odds will do the set left and evens right.
- NTT Flat: When this move is called or directed at a certain point in the arena (normally X), the lead will walk 3-5 steps (if a set, lead walks immediately and halts automatically after 3-5 steps) and then halt on the point specified. Riders behind them will walk once in NTT and begin to drift out to their label-specific side to halt beside their lead or rider closest to their lead on their own side, hooves aligned. This should result in a shoulder-to-shoulder line with all odds (excluding the lead) on the left side of the formation, and evens on the right.
- Follow Curl/Keyhole: On go, the lead will curl or keyhole in the direction said. All other riders will curl at the same spot/following the lead and keeping consistent gaps.
- Angle: On go, the lead of the line will slant in the direction called. All other riders follow the leader
- Slide: From a comb, on go, all riders will cut in the direction said (90 degrees) to reform a straight line (always slide towards the lead if no direction is called).
- Feather Set: Odds comb left and evens comb right individually (a comb wave).
- Mid Split: While in a single line, odds split left and evens split right at a 90 degree angle either onto the centerline or Midline at X.
- Mid Merge: While in split lines, all riders merge at a 90 degree angle either onto the centerline or Midline at X, towards the specified mid letter (ex: ‘Mid Merge to C’).
- Diagonal Split: When in a full line on the Mid/Centerline, split to either diagonal at X: odds split to the closest left corner, evens split to the closest right corner on a diagonal and go the specified direction at the corner
- Diagonal Merge: When in split lines going across the diagonal and angled towards each other, riders merge straight ahead on the mid or centerline at X in their common direction.
- Repel: When in split lines going across the diagonal aimed to pass through each other, all riders turn out (away from the other line) when their front hooves hit X to aim at the corner away from the other line. You reflect, or repel off the other line at X.
- Waterfall: Called when a full line is approaching a wall or specified point, all riders will belt once their horse's front hooves hit the outer dots/35s in their labeled direction, resulting in ‘waterfall alignment’ (BOS across) if they were in BOS before.
- Tier Set: From a full line, the odd and even leads cut the arena on go in the direction called/off the wall. Odds follow their odds lead and evens follow their evens lead, creating two side by side lines in comb alignment/OH gaps.
- Thread: On the first go, odds curl in the direction asked. On the second go, evens curl in the same direction.
- Rein Cross Over: From split lines coming towards each other, on go, leaders cut the arena after lines pass each other left to left. Riders follow their lead, evens passing through the odd line.
- Slither Set: On go, the lead will belt in the direction said. On each following go, the lead will belt again, alternating directions on each belt.