How dressage scoring works.

How a dressage score is worked out

The arithmetic is simple once you have seen it done. It is the bookkeeping that catches people out: a coefficient missed here, a collective forgotten there, and the percentage comes out wrong.

The percentage is a fraction of what was available

Every movement is marked out of 10. Add up what you were awarded, divide by the most the sheet could have given you, and multiply by 100. A sheet with 24 marks available has a maximum of 240, so a total of 168.5 is 70.21%.

A coefficient movement counts twice

Some movements matter more, so the sheet doubles them. A 7 on a coefficient movement is worth 14, and it also raises the maximum for that line from 10 to 20. Doubling the mark but forgetting the maximum is the commonest mistake there is, and it flatters the score.

Collective marks come at the end

Collectives judge the test as a whole rather than any single movement. How many there are depends on the sheet: anywhere from one to eight across the federations in the calculator, a few tests have none, and some count a collective as much as six times. Count them on the paper in front of you rather than assuming.

Going wrong costs marks before it costs the test

An error of course costs marks off the total in some federations, commonly 2 for the first and a further 4 for the second with elimination on the third, and percentage points off the final score in others. Every federation's rule is in the table below, and the calculator applies the right one for the test you pick.

Half marks count, and sometimes tenths

Judges mark from 0 to 10 and half marks are allowed throughout, so 6.5 and 7.5 are ordinary scores. Freestyle artistic marks and the marks in young horse classes are usually given in tenths, such as 7.3; the calculator takes tenths wherever a test's sheet allows them and snaps anything else to the nearest half.

What counts as a good percentage

As a rough guide, 60% is a sound test, 65% is a good one and above 70% is strong. Treat those as landmarks rather than thresholds. What counts as good moves with the level, the judge and the day, and a 62% at a higher level can be a far better ride than a 68% lower down.

The scale of marks

Which federations' tests are built in?

1545 tests from 53 federations and organisers: British Dressage, British Eventing, the Pony Club, the FEI, USEF and USDF, Cadora, Equestrian Australia and ESNZ, and national federations across Europe and beyond, from France's FFE and the Dutch KNHS to Japan's JEF. Pick a federation and a test and the movement count, the double movements and the collective marks are set for you, with the maximum shown so you can check it against your sheet. The movements themselves are never shown, because the wording of a sheet belongs to the body that publishes it. Anything not listed you set up by hand.

Does the calculator have dressage tests from my country?

Very likely. Besides the UK and Ireland it carries national tests from France (FFE reprises), the Netherlands (KNHS proeven), Belgium (Paardensport Vlaanderen and LEWB), Spain (RFHE), Portugal (FEP), Italy (FISE), Switzerland and Austria (Swiss Equestrian and OEPS Aufgaben), Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya and Japan. Test names are shown as the federation prints them, so you will find "Lätt C:1" or "Club 4 - Poney 3" as it appears on your sheet. Germany's national tests are sold in a booklet and are not included.

Do all federations score dressage the same way?

The bones are the same everywhere: marks out of 10, some movements counted twice, collective marks at the end, and a percentage of the maximum. The detail varies. Collective marks run from one to eight depending on the test, and a few have none at all; a collective may count once or as much as six times; an error of course costs marks off the total in some federations and percentage points off the score in others; a few tests are marked on two sheets whose percentages are averaged; and young horse classes are judged on a handful of overall marks. The calculator follows each test's own rules.

What are collective marks in a dressage test?

The overall marks at the foot of the sheet, given once for the whole test rather than for a single movement: traditionally paces, impulsion, submission and the rider, though many tests now give a single mark for harmony instead. They often carry a coefficient, so a 7 at ×2 is worth 14. The calculator lists each test's collective marks by name, in the order they are printed.

How many marks do you lose for an error of course in dressage?

It depends on the federation, so the calculator applies the rule of the federation whose test you pick, and names it under the errors box. There are two kinds. Many federations take marks off the total before the percentage is worked out, commonly 2 for the first error and a further 4 for the second, with elimination on the third. Others take percentage points off the final score: the FEI takes 2 and eliminates senior riders on the second error, with a gentler 0.5 then 1 for its youth classes, a scale many European national tests also use. Where a test's own sheet prints a different rule, the calculator follows the sheet. The table below gives every federation's rule.

How is a dressage freestyle scored?

A freestyle to music has technical marks for the required movements and artistic marks for rhythm, harmony, choreography, degree of difficulty and music, each with its own coefficient. Most sheets add the two and take a percentage of the maximum; some turn each part into a percentage and average the two, which matters where the technical and artistic maxima differ. The calculator carries national freestyles from USDF, the FFE, KNHS and others as well as the FEI's, and scores each the way its own sheet does.

How are young horse dressage classes scored?

Most young horse classes are judged on a handful of overall marks, typically trot, walk, canter, submission and general impression or potential, usually in tenths. The total is shown as a percentage, and many classes also read it as an average mark out of 10, so 42.3 out of 50 is 84.6% or 8.46. The calculator shows both where a class uses the mark out of 10.

How is a dressage test with a separate quality or rider mark scored?

Some tests are marked on two sheets: one for the movements and one for a handful of quality or rider marks, usually out of 40. Each becomes a percentage and the final score is the average of the two, so 70% for the movements and 75% for quality gives 72.5%. Portugal's pony trophy tests, Spain's Infantiles tests and Poland's +40 tests work this way; the calculator scores them like that and shows both parts beside the result.

Can I score an older edition of an FEI dressage or eventing test?

Yes. Older editions of FEI dressage, eventing and para tests are included for anyone scoring an old sheet or a competition still running one, such as the 2009 Grand Prix or the eventing tests from before the 2019 star levels. They sit in a Superseded editions group at the bottom of the test list, each named with its year, and picking one tells you which current test replaced it, with a link. For a competition today, use the current test.

Why is my percentage different from the one on the score sheet?

Almost always one of these: a coefficient not counted twice, the wrong number of collectives, an error of course not deducted or deducted under a different federation's rule, the wrong edition of the test, or a rounding difference in the last decimal place. Check the movement and collective counts against the paper first, because that sets the maximum everything else is measured against.

Can I print or save a dressage score sheet from the calculator?

Yes. Once every mark is in, Print gives a clean one-page sheet with the marks, the total and the percentage, and Save downloads the same sheet as a file you can keep, email or print later. Add the rider and horse and they appear on it.

Can I link straight to a dressage test in the calculator?

Yes. Every built-in test has its own address that opens the calculator with that sheet ready to mark, which show organisers and clubs can put in a schedule or an entry system. The Link to a test page explains the format.

Is this dressage calculator free, and does it work without a signal?

Free, with no account and no sign-up. Every sum happens in your browser, so once the page has opened it keeps working with no signal at all. Your marks are never uploaded, and they are not saved either, so reloading clears the sheet. Your browser's "Add to home screen" option pins it like an app.

Errors of course, federation by federation

Each federation's rule for an error of course, as the calculator applies it, from its own current rule book. Marks come off the sheet total before the percentage is worked out; percentage points come off the final percentage. Where some of a federation's tests follow a different rule printed on their own sheets, freestyles and young horse classes especially, its page says which.

Rules get revised. Where your rule book or the sheet in your hand says something different, the sheet is right, and we would like to hear about it at [email protected].

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