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I was signing up for a horse camp at my barn, and I found out that I was eligible for a week of camp with a dressage test at a show at the end of the week. biggrin This would be my first show, so I have pretty much no idea what its going to be like. Any tips, descriptions, or stories of shows would be much appreciated! mrgreen

Thanks! Since it is my first show, I'm hoping for a score of around 50, and I'm hoping to not get the worst score there. xd

Anyway, I was wondering, what would be considered "formal showing attire" for a low-level dressage show?

Make sure you're dressed appropriately! At my first show, I dressed just like I would for any lesson and had to buy a blazer there since I didn't know what to expect.

That probably won't be a problem for you, though, since you're asking about the clothes now. sweatdrop

chances are, is that ur just going to a small local show/schooling show, so tan, cream, and light beige is perfectly fine. u dont need a knew helmet. mine is actually green. i should probably have a differnt one when i go to out of town shows, but meh, it fits my head xd

Formal Dressage Attire consists of a black dressage coat (shadbelly if your riding a higher level), white, button up shirt, a stock tie with a pin, white gloves, white breeches (normally full seat), a black belt, black dress boots, and spurs. Now, a lot of this is negotiable in any kind of competition. If you have the right tie, you can wear whatever kind of shirt you want, because no one can see it. A friend of mine had a blue snoopy shirt that she wore to every IDA show my freshman year. Lower level riders ride in black gloves, because most of us don't have the hands for white gloves yet. White = visible. Only wear white gloves if you have amazingly still hands and want to draw attention to them. Field Boots are acceptable, but frowned upon. I have a black velvet Troxel helmet that I show in which doesn't fit me all that well (my head is shaped funny... Troxels hate me. Only thing I've found that actually fits is my Tipperary, which I heart ) Hunt caps and bowlers can also be worn at lower levels, though personally, I think you look rediculous showing dressage in a hunt cap. But that's just me. There is no stated rule about top hats, but generally, you earn the right to wear a top hat when you start riding in a double bridle at fourth level or above. Spurs are only required at the FEI level, but are acceptable at any level if your horse needs them.

Now that I've described all of this, since your show will be a small schooling show at the end of your camp, you probably need to worry about almost none of it. xd It IS important to turn yourself out neatly and professionally, as this gives a good impression to any judge that you are attentive to detail and well polished, key points of dressage, but you don't need to be in perfect dressage attire. Tall boots of some type, field or dress, whatever you have, or even those half-chaps that look like the top half of tall boots (I think they're called boot toppers?). If you only have paddock boots and regular half-chaps, talk to the camp organizers and see if that would be acceptable. Tall boots can be $$$. Your beige breeches would probably be acceptable as long as they are fairly light. Again, talk to the camp organizer. You will want a black coat and black gloves. Either a shirt with a ratcatcher collar, or a stock tie (you can get the pre-tied ones, they are a blessing. I have a traditional one and I wrestle with it at every show). The helmet that you have should be fine. As someone suggested, you can get the velvet helmet covers for Troxels, and if you're only planning on doing small schooling shows, those are fine. People will snicker at you if you go to a big show with a cover, but at this point, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Of the helmets you pictured, GPAs are very nice helmets, and you can find a shape to fit almost anyone's head. They're very safe, and have a much longer lifespan than a lot of other helmets. They also can cost upward of $400. Just know what you're getting into. GPAs are very nice, but the Troxel that you have now is functional, and perfectly acceptable.

My story? My first show was at the barn that I rode at. It was tiny, and mostly just the ladies at the barn. They only offered Intro and Training level. I wore my Troxel, a cream colored turtle neck, my beige Kerritz vest with green horses on it, beige home-made breeches (all of my breeches were homemade... only reason I have store-bought breeches now is because they were hand-me-downs from people at the barn), no gloves, and rubber tall boots. I was riding Intro, it was a tiny tiny schooling show, and no one was in "proper dressage" attire, so it didn't really matter. I had to graduate to real show clothes when I started showing at schooling shows at other barns, but I didn't get actual proper dressage attire until I joined the dressage team at my college. I wore my homemade beige breeches and green hunt coat to numerous schooling dressage shows. At the lower levels, and at schooling shows, people are pretty forgiving. So I wouldn't worry too much about it. smile

I would talk to the camp organizer. You probably aren't required to wear gloves, but not wearing gloves gives about the same affect of wearing white gloves. Your skin will contrast against the dark coat and make your hands stand out (assuming that you are light-skinned. If you're not, then that much less to worry about!). Most schooling shows will allow you to show in dark blue or green coats (I showed in a green hunt coat for years at schooling shows) although the traditional dressage coat is black.

The biggest tip I can give is stay calm. I know so many people say "Horses feel every emotion you feel" and that statement is very true. My horse mimics my every emotion, if I'm in a bad mood then she's in a bad mood and vice versa.

Another tip is try to ride the same way you ride when you are training/practicing. A horse can tell when you've change your normal position of your legs and such and that could throw off your whole ride.

Thanks, Sai.

For anyone that cares, I placed second in my Training Level 1 Test and first in my Training Level 2 test. Yeah, that show was awhiiiile ago. xd