Today’s video is about collective marks. What are the collective marks?
At the end of your test, the judge gives you five additional scores, which apply from training through fourth level. These five scores reflect the judge’s overall impression of your ride. They include gaits, impulsion, submission, and two separate scores for the rider.
Collective marks are crucial because if you tie with another competitor, the tie is broken based on the collective mark. The competitor with the higher collective mark gets the higher score. They also count significantly towards your test score. For example, in Training Level Test 1, collective marks make up about 27% of your total score. Therefore, it’s vital to consider the general impression you leave with the judges. Collective marks emphasize the basics, harmony, and how you ride your horse.
Gaits: This includes walk, trot, and canter. The judge evaluates the quality of these gaits and gives a score from zero to ten. They average the scores for each gait—walk, trot, and canter—to determine your final gait score.
Impulsion: Impulsion is about the desire to move forward, elasticity of the steps, suppleness of the back, and engagement of the hindquarters. It reflects the energy, power, and looseness through the back.
Submission: This includes the horse’s willingness and harmony with you. It’s about whether the horse is happy doing the work, focused, and responsive to your commands.
Finally, there are two rider scores:
The first rider score evaluates the rider’s position and seat, including alignment, posture, stability, weight placement, and how well you follow the mechanics of the gaits. The second rider score assesses the rider’s effectiveness, which includes the correct and effective use of aids, clarity, subtlety, independence, and accuracy of the test. This score addresses the balance between being subtle and effective in your riding, and accuracy in executing figures correctly.
I hope this helps you understand the collective marks better.
Happy Riding!
Amelia
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