(“I got it once, I think.”)

A rider I know was creating choreography for her first freestyle which, as it happened, was at the Grand Prix level. When she unveiled the details to me, her proposal included all sorts of intricate—nigh onto impossible—combinations of movements and figures. “Can you,” I asked doubtfully, “actually do a double pirouette directly to piaffe?” “I got it once I think,” she replied enthusiastically. “I’ve been looking at a lot of rides on YouTube to get ideas, and I think I saw someone do it in the World Cup or the WEG.”

. . . Which prompted a gentle lecture from me about the meaning of Degree of Difficulty. You only get credit for the hard stuff IF IT WORKS, and while it’s laudable to aim high, especially doing your first ever (and on a self-made “normal” horse who’s eeking out low 60s in the regular GP), it would be wise to lower the bar a few notches and program for success. This is truly what we recognize as a First World Problem, but it speaks to knowing your limits and being realistic about what you can pull off.

Good jumper riders display the same awareness of their horses’ capabilities and their own when they choose their lines in the jump offs. Likewise with eventors when they decide between a challenging corner route or a safer long way around.

Dressagists must also make an endless string of decisions as we train or show—some intellectually, others entirely by feel. Examples on a very mundane level would be how big a lengthened trot to ask for without your horse breaking or how big a medium canter to try and still make the transition back without resistance.

A bigger decision arises in deciding what frame and balance to show the judge at a particular time. We know that more “uphill ” and more expressive are qualities which gain you points—but just as in the freestyle Degree of Difficulty conundrum, if you push the limits, it had better work. If you ask for a higher frame or more collection and as a result lose your horse’s back, you’ll be penalized, not rewarded. I’m a big fan of exotic movement, buoyancy, and power, but without harmony and throughness, you’re toast!

There is no one single outline that matches a given level. There are choices to be made—some more to your benefit than others.