The Equestrian December 2016 | Página 17

enter at A It is one thing to train your horse so he can do the movements in a dressage test, it is another to ride them consecutively in the test and when you finally do work on stringing them all together, you may find that it wasn’t as polished as you had hoped! The top riders have all mastered the art of riding the movements to an excellent standard, while delivering a performance which, to the spectator, looks effortless. Never fear however because through careful training and practice, you too will be able to master this art. Practice your tests at home- this means setting a time for when you are riding a test, saddling up and warming up to that time- just like you would have to do on a show day. When the time arrives, ride the test, no excuses. This will not only help get your head in the game but it will also ensure that you know that your warm up takes a certain amount of time. Don’t worry if you end up feeling short on time, show days don’t always go to plan and it will boost your confidence to know that you can still ride a good test no matter what! Do this at home a few days a week but also go out to a new arena and run through the same exercise. You might find yo