Reading a Dressage Score Sheet

A dressage score sheet (test sheet or protocol) records one judge’s mark and remarks for every movement of a test, the collective marks, and the computed percentage. Read correctly, it is the most information-dense document the sport produces: it states not only how well a horse performed but where and, through the judge’s remarks, why. Score sheets circulate beyond the show ground — they accompany horses in sales, document training progress and settle arguments — so the ability to read one is useful well outside the warm-up arena.

The anatomy of the sheet

The sheet’s header identifies the test (level, test number and edition), the competition, the date, the judge’s position on the panel, and the combination; everything below it is that judge’s account of that ride. The body is a table with one row per movement. Reading across a row:

The movement number and description. What is to be ridden and where: “Collected trot, half-pass left, H–X” identifies the exercise and the markers between which it is judged. Judging of a movement begins and ends at the prescribed markers, which is why accuracy of placement affects marks: a half-pass started late is a half-pass partly unshown.

The directives. A column stating the criteria for the movement — what should be achieved and how the judge weighs it: “regularity and quality of trot; cadence, bend, balance; uniform crossing” and the like. The directives are the published bridge between the abstract 0–10 scale and the specific exercise, printed on the sheet so that rider and judge work from the same definition.

The mark. The judge’s score from 0 to 10, half marks allowed, against the standardised scale on which 6 is satisfactory, 7 fairly good and 8 good — the full scale is set out in judging and scoring.

The coefficient. Selected movements carry a printed coefficient of 2, doubling the mark’s weight. The coefficients mark the movements the test writers consider most telling for the level, so the coefficient column is a map of what the level is really examining.

The remark. The judge’s dictated comment for the movement: “haunches trailing”, “clear rhythm, could show more ground cover”, “late behind”. Remarks are dictated to a scribe (writer) during the test, which is why they are terse; their function is to justify the mark and identify the fault or quality that produced it.

The bottom of the sheet

Below the movements come the summary blocks:

The collective marks, awarded for the overall performance: five on US national sheets (gaits, impulsion, submission, rider’s seat and position, effective use of the aids), a single “Harmony” collective on FEI sheets from 2026. The collectives carry coefficients and are treated in depth in the collective marks.

Error deductions. Errors of course and other penalties are recorded and deducted from the total according to the rules under which the class runs.

The totals. The marks (with coefficients applied) are summed, errors deducted, and the result divided by the maximum possible for the test to give the judge’s percentage. In a panel class, each judge produces a separate sheet and percentage, and the final score is the average; the sheets are handed to the rider afterward, one per judge.

The signature. Each sheet is signed by the judge who marked it, which matters for provenance: an unsigned photocopied sheet is a claim, a signed original is a document.

Freestyle sheets

A freestyle protocol is the one sheet with a different architecture: it is scored in two halves, technical marks for the compulsory movements on one side and the artistic marks (harmony, choreography, degree of difficulty, music, interpretation) on the other, each half totalled separately before being combined. Reading one, the informative comparison is between the halves: artistic marks running well ahead of technical ones describe a well-designed programme ridden above the horse’s confirmed level, and the reverse describes an honest horse in an unimaginative floor plan.

Reading the sheet as a whole

The percentage is the headline; the pattern in the marks is the content. Several readings are standard practice among trainers and judges:

Read the low marks first. A sheet of 6.5s and 7s with two 4.5s locates the test’s problems precisely: the marks name the movements, the remarks name the faults. In a coefficient movement, a low mark costs double, which the percentage alone conceals.

Read the collectives against the movements. Movement marks describe execution; collectives describe the horse. A sheet with modest movement marks but a strong submission or harmony collective describes an obedient, correctly ridden horse not yet confirmed in the exercises — a different animal from one with flashes of brilliance and a low submission mark.

Read the remarks for verbs. “Resisted”, “tense”, “against the hand” describe the horse’s cooperation; “inaccurate”, “early”, “cut the corner” describe the riding. The distinction matters when a sheet is being read to evaluate the horse rather than the performance.

Compare judges, not just totals. In a panel class, one judge marking a movement two points below the others usually saw something from their position that the others could not; systematic differences across the whole sheet reflect viewing angle and weighing, as covered in judging and scoring.

Score sheets in the horse trade

Sellers of competition horses commonly supply recent score sheets, and buyers request them, because the sheet carries information the bare percentage does not. A 66% built on consistent 6.5s and 7s describes an even, confirmed horse; the same 66% built on 8s for the trot work and 5s for the walk describes a horse with a specific weakness a buyer needs to price. The directives and remarks also make the sheet legible across borders: a Dutch protocol and a US test sheet differ in layout and language, but both name the movements, the marks and the faults. What a set of sheets can and cannot prove about a horse — and how sheets interact with the registered record — is covered from the buyer’s side in buying a competition record.

One caution applies: sheets are per-judge and per-day. A single flattering sheet is one judge’s view of one test; a stack of sheets across shows and judges is evidence. The registered results systems described in reading a competition record exist precisely because individual documents can be selected.

National differences in the paperwork

The sheet’s logic is universal; the paperwork varies. US national tests are published with the directive column on the sheet, and a reader may call the test. Dutch protocols follow the KNHS regulations, under which tests up to ZZ-Zwaar may be read aloud and judged by a single judge, with two required from ZZ-Zwaar; the winstpunten a score earns are computed from the final percentage, not written on the sheet. German results feed the FN’s central records, so the sheet is the day’s document while the database is the career’s. FEI tests are ridden from memory, and at CDIs the sheets multiply with the panel: five sheets per test at most internationals, seven at championships.

Sources

• Fédération Équestre Internationale — FEI Dressage Rules, 26th edition, 2026. https://inside.fei.org/fei/disc/dressage/rules
• United States Dressage Federation — Purpose of Tests and test materials, 2023. https://www.usdf.org/EduDocs/Training/purposeoftests.pdf
• United States Equestrian Federation — Dressage Tests, 2026. https://www.usef.org/compete/resources-forms/disciplines/dressage/dressage-tests
• Koninklijke Nederlandse Hippische Sportfederatie (KNHS) — Disciplinereglement Dressuur, versie 2026, 2026. https://www.knhs.nl/media/jmid00ij/disciplinereglement-dressuur-2026.pdf