Dressage

Note: These are rules and regulations are for dressage competitions in Sweden. I am not very familiar with rules and regulations in other countries so I can't guarantee that these are valid in any other country.

Dressage Arena
The dressage arena can be 20mx40m or 20mx60m depending on which test you are riding.

 

Dressage Fence
The dressage fence should be about 30cm high and should be designed so that a horse can't get stuck in it. Metal or rope is not allowed to use. The rules also says that it should be light in colour, white is the most common. The letters marking out the places on the arena should be dark and on a light background. The letters can be marked at the wall in smaller indoor arenas but most often they're placed outside the dressage fence. The arena is marked as above (of course the letters inside the arena are not marked).

Dressage arena, showing the letters outside the dressage fence.

Judges
Depending on what test you are riding and on what "level" you compete, one, three or five judges can judge a class. We have 4 "levels" you can compete on; local, regional, national and elite. I've made a simple diagram to give you an idea:
 

Test	Local	Regional	National	Elite
Grand Prix Kür			3	5
Grand Prix Grand Prix Special			3	5
Int II			3	5
Int IB Int I			3	3
Prix St Georges MSV A		3	3	3
MSV B MSV C		1	1	3
LA LB LC LD LE	1	1	1	3

One judge is always placed at "C". At competitions with 3 judges they can be placed at C, B and E or C, M and H. At competitions with 5 judges they are placed at C, B, E, M and H. Every judge also has a secretary who sits next to them.

Rider's Equipment
A rider should wear a helmet, light breeches (commonly white), riding boots, riding jacket, light turtleneck or shirt and spurs. A white tie or stock tie may be used. Riding gloves are common to use. Safety vests are allowed to wear under or over the riding jacket.
At MSV A and above, riders are allowed to wear a tail-coat riding jacket. Riders over 18 years are also allowed to wear a hat instead of a helmet at these tests.

Policemen and militaries are allowed to ride in their uniforms.

A rider warming up her horse.

Horse Tack
A horse should be wearing a visible number (either on the bridle or at the saddle pad) at all times.
In all classes below and including LA:4, the horse should wear a snaffle bridle. Between LA:4 and MSV B:4 the rider can use a snaffle bridle or a double bridle. At MSV B:4 and above, a double bridle should be used.

As for a snaffle bridle, Cavesson bridles, flash bridles, drop noseband bridles and figure-8 bridles are allowed. A double bridle should have a cavesson noseband.

Saddles should be of English type with stirrups, stirrup leathers, girth and saddle pad. Half pads under the saddles are allowed.

Any leg protection and whips are forbidden in the arena but they are allowed when you warm up the horse. A whip may not be longer than 1m for ponies and 1.2m for horses.

A fly bonnet may be allowed if the judge has issued an exemption.

Braided manes and tails are allowed but nowhere it says that they have to be braided. Anyway braided manes are VERY common.

Another rider warming up her horse. If you look at her equipment and the tack of the horse you know that she's competing at least MSV A

Examples of suitable models
There are many good dressage models out there and I will just give some examples of models that I think would be suitable. I don't own all of the lovely models below as the pictures are taken at different liveshows I've attended. The thing when it comes to choosing your horse is to take a look at the horse, what is the horse doing? Then choose a suitable test and I use references! An explanation card with what test and what movement your model is performing is very helpful!

Breyer Horses of the World Totilas

Caprice

Breyer Sm. G4 Dressage Horse

Breyer Tr. Totilas

Eberl Valentino (second horse) and Eberl Absinth (third horse)

Schleich Dressage Mare



Breyer Tr. Salinero

 

 

I hope someone will have some use of this information :) If there is something you feel is missing or something you want me to include for the next equestrian disciplines post, please make a comment :)

My animals

Semi-off topic today =) I've made a new page for my real animals since I plan to include them a little more on this blog in the future =) You'll find it among my collection pages to the right.



 

Hjalmar aka Lusen out in the garden with some of the balls he loved to play with :)

Totte sitting by our Christmas tree :)

Liten is calm for once :P

Nike just out of the horse trailer at a competition.

Poppes in the pasture :)

Sigge in his favourite spot when he still lived with my grandparents :)



Distractions

Well... I was supposed to study, but then I learnt that it's Longines FEI World Cup Jumping in Finland today AND Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage in Denmark, live streaming is great! Okay, maybe not great for my studies but who needs to sleep, I can study later =P

Two Swedish riders in each of the Cups so far none of the ones in dressage has ridden yet but the first Swede in jumping managed to make a clear round! =) Good start for sure, keeping my fingers crossed for them all!

Second Swedish jumper made a nice and fast round but unfortunately she got 8 faults.

8 riders to the jump off. Swedish rider first to start. Another clear round for the Swedes! =D

4th place for Malin Baryard-Johnsson and Tornesch 1042 =D
21st place for Angelica Augustsson and Mic Mac du Tillard.

First Swedish dressage rider scored 80.075 and that's a leading score right now! =) Next up, another Swede!

Second Swedish dressage rider scored 75.750 and that is second place at the moment, behind the first Swedish rider! =D 3 riders remain so our Swedish riders will at least be placed 4th and 5th!

2nd place for Tinne Vilhelmson - Silfvén and Don Auriello =D
5th place for Minna Telde and Santana!

Definitely a good day for the Swedish riders! I'm so not regretting that I didn't study =)

Trying something new

Yes my pastels and fixative arrived at the end of last week and now I've finally had time to try them out :) I haven't had the time to do more than 4 layers at the most but at the present I must say that I like to work with them. And it feels good to see some colours on the horses that have been naked for quite some time. I have more victims volunteers on the shelf but I try not to work on to many at a time :) So here the three first model horses I've ever started in pastels:

This is Ofelia, she will be a light, flaxen chestnut when finished. She has had 4 layers of pastels at this state.

This girl is currently unnamed but she will be a palomino with white mohair. At this stage she has had one layer of pastels.

This little guy is unnamed and will be bay when finished. He'll probably be a piece of a diorama of some sort, one day at least :) He has had 4 layers of pastels.

They still have lots of work left before they're finished but it is some sort of progress and I try to work on them between studies and stuff :)

I've been bad...

Today I paid for another model horse and some Christmas gifts for some friends. Bad me, I haven't even gotten the first horse home yet :) Well, I had some extra money and some chances just has to be taken! :) I'll see it as a carrot for me to study for my exam and as an early Christmas gift for myself.

Pardon the childish picture, I didn't have any that seemed fitting :P

I actually have three packets on the way and I can't wait for my packages to arrive! =D And of course I'll post pictures as soon as any of them arrives.

My first liveshow

I bought my first model horse in 2004, it was a Schleich fjordhorse. In the beginning of 2005 I bought my first Breyerhorse, Henry, the fjord and in the later part of 2005 I found the Swedish Model Horse Society. After collecting for almost two years I got to go to my very first liveshow in 2006!

It wouldn't have been possible without my awesome family! The show was a two day show, a 6 hour drive away from home and since I was only 14 by then, I couldn't exactly drive myself. So my family decided to take a weekend trip to some relatives. We left Thursday morning and stayed by our relatives for the whole weekend. It was a 2 and ½ hour drive from our relatives to the show my family accompanied me to the show and helped me out during the day, we went back to our relatives (another 2½ hour drive!). The same went for the Sunday and on Monday we went home. I'm very thankful for my supportive family. They drove more than 1800km that weekend for us to visit relatives and for me to be able to show my horses.

The show was not a very large show and it was held at a fellow collectors home. It was great to meet fellow collectors and I was very excited to see how my horses would do. And the other collectors were very nice and supportive.

My small herd of show horses at this show.

In total I brought 16 horses to the show. The first championship was for the arabians. Before putting my first horse on the table I was super nervous. My first horse was Pharao, a Breyer sm. G2 rearing arabian OF. With the competition he had, his placing was not a surprise, but I was still overly excited when he placed sixth out of seven.

The first ribbons I ever won! Shaniqua placed second in her class and got best novice in the class as well! :)

I still had 4 arabians two show after Pharao. My three arabian mares Shaniqua (Cl. Arabian mare OF), Zahrat (Tr. Susecion OF) and El Shariza Eleganzaa (Tr. Sahara OF) all showed in the same class. Shaniqua made me so proud, when she claimed the second place ribbon and the best novice ribbon, that Zahrat's fifth place and El Shariza Eleganzaa's seventh place kind of fell in the shadows.

My last arabian, Sadeek (Tr. Le Fire OF) got third out of four in his class.


Champion Arabian:Azraff Theseus, Starlite original Arabian cm S. Hildén (right)
Champion Arabian Reserve: Azraff Perseus, Al Sayyid rep. S. Hildén (middle)
Champion Arabian Novice: Shaniqua, Cl. Arabian Mare OF (left)

Shaniqua made me even prouder when she was named Champion Arabian Novice. That means she won my two(!) first rosettes ever. After that I felt like I didn't really need to care how the rest of my horses would do, I had gotten my first rosettes ever on a model horse show and that was more than I thought I would get.

The big wins of the class, Champion and reserve titles went to the same owner who showed many gorgeous Arabians, but Theseus (Starlite Original cm S.Hildén) who claimed the Championship title was the one I liked the best (still today he is one of my favourite Arabians). The reserve, Perseus, was the first model horse I saw with the rabicano pattern and the painter had made a great job with the rabicano markings.

Champion Thoroughbred/Standardbred: Sterling Silver, Tr. Ruffian rr. Kathy McKenzie (middle)
Champion Thoroughbred/Standardbred Reserve: Silver Bullet, Silver Lining OF (right)
Champion Thoroughbred/Standardbred Novice: Mexico, Tr. Milton OF (left)

On to the thoroughbreds and standardbreds, I had none to show in this division but my favourite model of the show entered this division. It was the Breyer Silver Lining resin. His owner showed him under the name Silver Bullet and he claimed the reserve title. I wouldn't mind seeing him as the champion but Sterling Silver was beautiful as well and very worthy of the champion title. The champion novice was a Breyer Milton OF. Even tough not mine, I thought it was nice to see him do so good as I was about to show my Milton as a Swedish Warmblood later that day.

Champion American: Lord C Weller, AAA '06 MARHigh Marxx IV SR OF (middle)
Champion American Reserve: Nevada, Nevada rep. C. Johansson (right)
Champion American Novice: Chocolate, Tr. Impress Me Shannon OF (left)

 American breeds wasn't really my cup of tea back then (they're actually not now either but some how they've multiplied, lots! Don't get me wrong, they're nice breeds but I'm more of a sporthorse person) and this was back when the mustangs showed under the American championship (If they hadn't I would've had one horse in this championship) so I had three horses to show. Two mustangs and one appaloosa was what I had to show. My mustang boys Fuego (Tr. Hidalgo OF) and Acuatico (Tr. Blue Suede Shoes OF) got fourth and fifth in their class (out of five) but my appaloosa Chocolate (Tr. Impress Me Shannon OF) proved himself by finishing second in his class after Lord C Weller who, later, was crowned champion. A beautifully painted Nevada took reserve and Chocolate got Novice Champion.

Champion European: Lex Luthor, WVA I Heart of Darkness OF (middle)
Champion European Reserve: La Muerte Blanca, AA Rearing Andalusian rep. Kathy McKenzie (right)
Champion European Novice: White Phantom, Tr. Templado OF (left)

 European breeds are more of my division and my horses did pretty well. Mickelin (Tr. Milton OF) got eight out of eight in his class but from there, it only got better for my horses. Imperia (Tr. Sidesaddle Strapless OF) got third, White Phantom (Tr. Templado OF) and Bello Vergüenzo (Tr. Robert Vavra's Majestad OF) got second and third. Viking (Tr. Henry OF, named Unik by then) got fourth and Milda (Schleich Haflinger Foal OF) got a first. I was very happy with the result, especially with Phantom's second and Bello's and Imperia's thirds. Even prouder was I when White Phantom claimed the Champion Novice with the winner of his class, La Muerte Blanca claiming Champion reserve and the beautiful shiney Lex Luthor as Champion.

Champion Draft: Silversken, AA '02 SS rep. Mariah Hjerppe (middle)
Champion Draft Reserve: Stillwater Clark Kent, Crusher rep. C. Johansson (right)
Champion Draft Novice: Valiant, Cl. Shire OF (left)

 The draft division was a small division with only two classes. I showed one horse in this division, Giant Snowstorm (Cl. Shire OF). He got third in his class, beaten by an AACC Sleepy shire OF and another Cl. Shire OF. The classic shire that beat him claimed the champion novice title. The champion title was claimed by Silversken, an AA '02 SS rep. M. Hjerppe and the reserve title was claimed by Clark Kent, a Crusher with a really nice bay colour, painted by C. Johansson.

Champion Pony: Sir Christopher, AA Hackney rep. Julie Kuiper (middle)
Champion Pony Reserve: Khan White Leopard, AA LE Rearing Welsh Sec A Stallion OF (right)
Champion Pony Novice: Nettika BC, NL Shetland Pony rep. (left)

The pony championship was another championship where I had no horses to show but I gladly sat and watched the beautiful models. One of the ones I liked best in this division was the one to claim the reserve title, Khan White Leopard, an AA LE Rearing Welsh Sec A Stallion OF. The champion title was claimed by the impressive Sir Christopher, an AA Hackney rep. Julie Kuiper and the novice champion was claimed by a NL Shetland Pony rep. That Shetland pony made me want one because it, in my opinion, really depicts a real Shetland pony you can find in almost any stable.

Champion Asian/African/Oceanian: Little Sasha, Eberl Akhal-Teke OF (right)
Champion Asian/African/Oceanian Reserve: Mirror, HAC El Mirador rr M. Thyni (left)
Champion Asian/African/Oceanian Novice: -

The Asian/African/Oceanian championship contained only one class so the winner of the class was automatically crowned champion and the horse who placed second was crowned reserve. That doesn't mean that they were not worthy winners, because they definitely were. Little Sasha claimed the first place and therefore the championship. Mirror got second and a champion reserve title. There were no novice-owned horses in this championship.

Champion Crossbred/Exotic: Querido, Intrepido rep. C. Johansson (left)
Champion Crossbred/Exotic Reserve: WW Loyal Companion, AAA Mule OF (right)
Champion Crossbred/Exotic Novice: -

The last championship; crossbreds and exotics also consisted of only one class so the same went for this championship as for the Asian/African/Oceanian. Class winner is crowned champion and second place gets the reserve title. Querido, a nicely dappled Intrepido was named champion and WW Loyal Companion was reserve.

When it came to the Best in Show votes I was really excited. I had never participated in a BIS voting and for the Best in Show novice I had three horses in the running. We began with the big BIS voting and the winner was a very well deserving Lex Luthor:

After that we voted for the BIS Reserve and the winner here was Azraff Theseus:

He had also won a rosette in English performance and one in a simple custom "side-show". After that voting we went on to the BIS Novice voting, and I was so nervous! My horses had done very well for me and I was very happy with the results I'd gotten but I still hoped for more. Unfortunately, for me, my horses didn't go the whole way. Nettika BC won the champion novice title but she really deserved it. She's such a cutie so even though I was a little bit disappointed that I didn't win I was very happy for her owner. And happy for my own good results because it was my first show and it went well for me. 

I went home very satisfied with my first liveshow, the nice people and most of all happy to have my awesome family that made it all possible. I sincerely hope that everyone gets to have such a pleasant first liveshow as I had, because it really encouraged me to want to continue showing and collecting.

Series of blog posts on equestrian disciplines?

Since I'm making some research on different equestrian disciplines for a few performance ideas I thought why not make it as a series of blog posts?

Would anyone be interested in reading a series like that?

 

I plan to cover riders equipment, horse tack, obstacles, maybe some rules and regulations and possibly a few examples of suitable models.

The disciplines I thought I'd cover would be (not necessarily in this order):

• Eventing (dressage, cross country and show jumping)
• Show Jumping
• Dressage
• Endurance
• Voltige
• Driving (dressage, marathon, precision)
• Western Pleasure
• Western Trail
• Cutting
• Reining
• Roping
• Team Penning
• Western Riding
• Barrel Racing
• Pole Bending
• Gymkhana
• Caprilli
• Coon Jump
• Packing
• Racing (gallop)
• Steeplechase
• Loose Jumping
• Three year old test
• Showing horse in hand
• Lunging
• Long-reining

I may add other disciplines to the list as I go but this is what I can come up with at the moment.