Dressage New Zealand

Dressage New Zealand is one of the disciplines of Equestrian Sports New Zealand. To compete at any level above Training Level, both rider and horse must be registered with ESNZ.

Mission
To "deliver quality equestrian competition and administration in order for members to enjoy participating, competing and succeeding at the level of their choice".

Dressage NZ Official Tests Book 2007
The "Dressage NZ Official Tests Book" is the basis of dressage events run by clubs around the country.

The inside front cover carries arena plans, scale of marks, and acknowledgments.
 * The plans have the 40 by 20 (metres) arena with its 11 marked points and the 60 by 20 with its 17 marked points (each having the diagonal measurement stated, so as to check that the setting-out is properly rectangular); the arrangement of letters is marginally more logical than that of a QWERTY keyboard, and pony club members probably all learn a mnemonic such as "A fat black mother cat had eight kittens" to help memorise the outer points of the small arena. Or "All King Edward's horses can manage big feeds"
 * The scale of 11 possible marks is very logical: e.g. 10 means "Excellent", 5 means "Sufficient", 4 means "Insufficient", 1 means "Very Bad", and 0 means "Not Performed".

Pages 3-13 contain nearly 150 definitions reprinted from the Glossary published by the United States Dressage Federation - starting with "Abduct", "Above the bit", and "Absolute elevation" and ending with "Uphill", "Wide behind", and "Working (trot or canter)".

Pages 14-16 show the "Pyramid of training" Appendix, ending with definitions of eight German-language terms.

Pages 17-100 have the Dressage NZ tests with a few FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale) tests. The NZ tests are graded from level 0 (Training level) to level 8, each grade or group of grades having an introductory "Purpose" page (see pages 17, 26, 39, 52, 65, 72, and 79) that includes conditions, collective marks, and dress code. Every test has: Training level tests 0:1 and 0:2 each have only 9 movements; test 6:2 has 32.
 * 1) a table setting out the "Description", Directive", and "Coeff" for each movement and, for some, the bridle, arena, and time requirements for the test
 * 2) a table illustrating each movement on a plan of the 60 by 20 arena.

Pages 101-107 are "Freestyle Test to Music" (Dressage NZ levels 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6/7, and the FEI "Grand Prix 2006"). Guidelines for Level 6/7 and Grand Prix are reprinted from http://www.horsesport.org.

Contact

 * dressagenz"at"xtra.co.nz