There is an Oompa Loompa in the room. Something so strange that none of us are acknowledging it.
The Ridiculousness of Dressage Tests and the False Narrative they tell us.
The Ridiculous False Narrative of Dressage Tests -- Not only ridiculous but damaging.
We now know that the spine is fully formed and developed on the horse at 6 years of age, let's keep that in mind as we progress in this discussion as well.
The FEI dressage test for the 4-year-old horse seems basic enough. Working walk, trot and canter and at worse a 20-meter circle. Of course, this won't work for all horses and all breeds.
The preliminary dressage test for 5-year-olds, note this is the preliminary test, includes half-circles at 10 meters, counter canter, medium walk and trot, and..... collected trot.
So where did that come from???
All of a sudden you are supposed to have the magic of collection. Collection has magically appeared? From where?????
You have been working on working trot and poof collection appears? Like a rabbit out of a hat?
Actually, very much like a rabbit out of a hat. I mean who expects to find a rabbit in a hat? When was the last time you went to the closet, picked up your hat and went 'Oh dang, there is a rabbit here.'
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