Working Equitation for Beginners

Working Equitation is a sport built on the partnership between horse and rider, tested across four trials: Working Dressage, Ease of Handling, Speed and Cattle.

If you are thinking about starting, this page covers what the sport actually involves, whether it suits a beginner, what you need, and what happens at a first competition.

I · Is Working Equitation Good for Beginners?¶

Yes.

Working Equitation gives a beginner a set of skills and obstacles that stay with them as they progress through the levels.

The obstacles you meet in your first season are the same obstacles ridden at Masters. The bridge is still a bridge. The gate is still a gate. The three barrels are still three barrels. What rises is the standard asked inside them: the spaces tighten, the lines sharpen, the horse becomes more collected and the aids become quieter.

What you learn at the beginning therefore stays relevant as the standard rises.

The different trials also show you where the training needs more work. A fault in one trial usually began in another. A horse that loses balance in a fast turn probably lost it first on the flat.

II · What Do You Do in Working Equitation?¶

Working Dressage. You ride a prescribed test from memory in a 20 × 40 m arena. Each movement is marked from 0 to 10.

Ease of Handling. You ride a course of obstacles in a set order. Each obstacle is marked 0 to 10, and the mark is for how the obstacle was ridden, not for completing it.

Speed. The same course against the clock, with seconds added for faults and removed for exceptional skill.

Cattle. A team trial, ridden mainly at the major international championships. Most competitions you enter early on will not include it.

Read next The four trials, in full

III · What Breed of Horse Is Best for Working Equitation?¶

You will see many Lusitanos and Andalusians in Working Equitation. The Lusitano and the Andalusian offer two qualities the sport asks for constantly: a readiness to collect, and a temperament that will do it again and again without losing its calm.

The sport is open to every breed. What matters is whether the horse can carry itself, rebalance quickly and stay available to you.

A sound, willing horse can begin the work without being an Iberian breed.

IV · What Equipment Do You Need?¶

At the beginning, the equipment is straightforward.

To start: ordinary correct tack, properly fitted, and safe conventional riding dress. Most national federations set out permitted bits and tack in their rules, and the entry levels are deliberately accommodating.

As you progress: the traditional dress and tack of a chosen tradition become part of the picture: the sela portuguesa or the silla vaquera, and the dress that belongs with it. This is one of the things that makes the sport look the way it does in the arena.

At the competition: the venue provides the obstacles. Bridges, gates, barrels, slalom poles, the bell corridor and the garrocha belong to the venue.

Check your own national federation's rules before your first outing, because dress and tack requirements vary by country and by level.

V · How Do the Levels Work?¶

The names of the levels differ from country to country, but the progression follows the same general direction.

In Portugal, categories are organised as much by the horse's experience and the rider's age as by competitive level: Preliminary, Debutant Horses, Debutant Athletes, Under-14, Under-16, Young Riders, Established Riders and Masters.

In Australia, the ladder runs Level 1 Introductory, Preparatory, Preliminary, Debutante W, Debutante F, Consagrados 2, Consagrados 1 and Masters.

In the United States, it runs Introductory, Novice A, Novice B, Intermediate A, Intermediate B, Advanced and Masters.

Masters is the highest level in each of these systems.

The early tests establish rhythm, confidence, straightness and clear responses. As the level rises, the tests ask for greater collection, lateral mobility, adjustability, precision and self-carriage, and eventually for the reins to be carried in one hand.

VI · What Is the Judge Looking For?¶

Four qualities, and they hold at every level: Rhythmical, Precise, Calm, Fluent.

Learn them early. You can ride a movement correctly, put it where it belongs and still receive a 6. The difference between that mark and a 7 or 8 is often in the quality described by these four Principles.

Read next The Four Governing Principles

VII · Where to Begin¶

Learn how the trials fit together as you begin riding them. It helps you see why the same balance, straightness and control keep appearing in different parts of the sport.

Find a club, walk a course and watch a competition all the way through. Watch Ease of Handling first, then watch the same obstacles in Speed. You will see immediately how the same training changes when the clock is added.

VIII · Where the Reference Comes From¶

Learning a new discipline starts with knowing what to look at. In Working Equitation, that reference comes from more than one place.

The sport carries the knowledge of the working traditions that shaped it. Alongside that sits the perspective of riders producing the work at the highest international level.

The figure puts those two sources beside one another. The founding traditions carry the reasons behind the work. The Fellows carry a contemporary view of how that work should look now.

For College Members, those two references come together in one curriculum. The final point on the figure is the rider studying it.

That matters because a beginner can start learning to recognise a high standard long before they can produce it themselves. The eye can be educated ahead of the riding.

That is the first distinction the Member study begins to make: where the reference comes from, what it asks you to notice and how your understanding develops against it.