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FUNDAMENTALS

In this category, we will be going over all the important fundamentals that everyone must know while doing dressage!

GAITS

In dressage, we mostly use the following gaits:

1. Walk
2. Trot
3. Canter


However, there are some exceptions depending on the move or routine where we may use others as well.

TERMS

NTT: "Nose to Tail"
Your horses nose should be hovering over the tail of the horse in front of you when moving in a line.


OT: "Overlap Tail"
Your horses chest should be overlapping the tail of the horse in front of you when moving in a line.

HI: "Halfway Inside"
The front of your saddle should be touching the back of the saddle of the person in front of you when moving in a line.

One-Horse Gaps
Pretend you are HI with an invisible horse in front of you that is NTT with the person actually in front of you when moving in a line.


Anchor
The leader(s) in a move that should not adjust to the line under any circumstance, the line adjusts themselves to the leader or the "anchor". 

Half-Horse Ahead
Half a horse ahead of the anchor(s) of your line, your partner or a designated rider.

One-Horse Ahead
A full horse ahead of the anchor(s) of your line, your partner or a designated rider. 

OA: "Original Axis"
The line you are moving on or standing on before doing a move.

Pass Exit
The line leader will trot along the side/front of a flat formation and the rest of the line will follow in their original line order.

Post-Split
After the line splits into two or more lines.

X
On "go", everyone will press X to halt instantly. 

SCREEN DELAY

In Star Stable, there is a thing called screen delay. This means that you are actually moving behind where you see yourself on your screen for everyone else. Because of this, we must adjust so we look good for the viewers screen.

In order to adjust for screen delay, you must always go when "go" is called by the commander. Going on go is the most important thing in dressage. You will be going earlier than everyone else on your screen, but you will be in time with them for everyone else. 

If you are going on go, this is how you should look on your screen.
By going on go (early on your screen) you will be in time for everyone else. It will result in the line looking like this.
Screen delay doesn't just affect timing, it also affects gaps and alignment. To learn more about those, please hover over the dictionary section to find the "gaps" and "alignment" tabs!
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