Our curriculum is the dictionary, listed in "learning order" - the order in which riders new to the SDM should go about learning everything. It is also our guide for planning the order in which we teach things to BB Butterflies and Monarchs!
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Simply scroll down; things you read first should be learned first. The left column is reserved for moves while the right column is reserved for theory; any two parallel concepts should be learned around the same time.
In order to keep things organized and easy to read, definitions and explanations have been left out, but you can click on the name of any move or theory concept to be taken to its definition on the corresponding page! (This feature is coming soon but not yet available.)
SDM riders begin by learning the "building blocks" for dressage and the basic theory concepts that are necessary for understanding our definition of correctness.
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The content in the Beginner curriculum has a set structure; concepts should be learned in this order.
Beginner
The Arena: wall letters; primary lines
Rider Etiquette
Look to the Leader
Screen delay: differences per rider; observer vs. rider perspective
NTT
Spacing: all technique notes, NTT
Gait development: entire line trots
Spacing: HI
Alignment: technique, fixing, Straight-Line type
Halt in place
Timing: technique, fixing
Curl
Comb
Comb Alignment, Arena: secondary lines
Cut (onto various primary, secondary, & tertiary lines)
Arena: tertiary lines, center
U
Keyhole
Split, Merge, Tier, Waterfall
ROR: default, labels, A line dominance, pass on right
Spacing: Wide
Alignment: staggered, straight-across
ROR: label patterns
The Arena: markers as split/merge points
Affixes: Buddy, Wide, close, Cross, In/Out
Slant, Back Slant, Flip, "and return", Ribbon, "fall in"
All Pivots
Halts: File, Triangle, Dra, Crescent, Honeycomb; File into order
"(gait) set, go", the Canter gait
Spacing: Fully Inside, Wide Canter
Screen Delay: cause, relation to speed
Affixes: gait, pick
Puzzle, Froggy
Dist affixes: gait, "go", partner, direction, split, move
Experienced
The Backwards Gait, Transitions, and Techniques for Precision all have to do with understanding how using gaits change the feel of dressage, working with your horse's turning radius, and performing dressage as precicely as possible.
The Backwards gait
Direction trans timing, Affixes: trans, delayed
Learning predictive riding and more distinct moves are general ways to increase one's awareness and familiarity with group dressage by thinking about other riders' actions and their affect on the group, and by applying theory concepts in new ways.
Experienced Monarchs, having completed the Beginner curriculum, have the knowledge and skills to learn anything and everything else that the SDM has to offer.
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With such a wide range of concepts to explore, there is no particular order that is better or worse to learn in. Here, there are mini-curriculums around certain topics and concepts, ordered so that the path to learning each one and applying it in different ways is seen at a glance. Listed in order of complexity.
Twirl
Predictive Riding
Pasta, Tape
Swan, Back Swan, Forward Swan
Move trans timing
Obliques, Blip
Pearl
Gait trans timing
The meter system (adapted from the Terrific Tigers SRD method), creating perfect circles, creating curves, and performing combinations of circles and/or curves is very similar to using straight lines, but requires more focus and teamwork and can feel very different because moving forward involves constant even tapping.
5 and 10 meter circles
Markers: labeling; as circle points
Techniques for Precision
Creating perfect circles, circle technique
Curl Divisions from circles
15 and 20 meter circles
2.5, 7.5, 12.5, and 17.5 meter circles
The Arena: grid lines
Circles on m/f only, m/f and grid, and grid only
Sir, Rotary, Moon, Bubble
Curves
Anti-Look To The Leader is the final core theory concept, about transcending the leader by using your well-developed skills and knowledge. Individual Developments and Marker-Only Movement are two entirely new ways of moving and stretch the definition of what makes moves moves. Without curl division angles, lines, markers, or even "go"s to guide you, what can you do with dressage?
Serpentine, S-Curve, Twine
Anti-Look to the Leader
Sew, Pinwheel
Individual Developments
Weaving
Marker-Only Movement
Finally, there is Extended Theory. These are the broad ideas about the inner-workings of dressage, its underlying rules and principles, methods of categorizing dressage, the conceptualization of dressage, and so on. They don't connect to any specific moves, since they are about understanding dressage as a whole, rather than learnable techniques.
Prioritization
Spike
The Parameters
The Classifications
Move Naming
Move Definitions