How Is Dressage Scored? Grand Prix, Freestyle and Piaffe After Aachen

How is dressage scored? The short answer

How is dressage scored? Judges give every movement in a memorized test a mark from 0 to 10, count the hardest movements double, and turn the total into a percentage, so the highest percentage wins. At World Championships, seven judges score from different seats around the arena, and their percentages are averaged.

That's exactly how Britain's Lottie (Charlotte) Fry and Glamourdale, a 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion, won both individual world titles in Aachen, Germany, in August 2026:

• Grand Prix Special, Aug. 14: 82.295%, ahead of Denmark's Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (80.927%) and Germany's Katharina Hemmer (80.866%).
• Grand Prix Freestyle, Aug. 15: 91.907%, ahead of Laudrup-Dufour (91.236%) and Germany's Isabell Werth (88.650%).

They won the same two titles in Herning in 2022, and the story is still making the rounds this month. Horse & Hound published Fry's own account of the week on Sept. 19, and the September FEI rankings have her third in the world, behind Laudrup-Dufour and Belgium's Justin Verboomen.

What is dressage? The basics in one minute

Dressage comes from the French word for "training." A horse and rider perform a set pattern of movements, called a test, in a flat sand arena marked with letters. The FEI rulebook describes the goal as developing the horse as a "happy athlete": calm, supple and confident, in harmony with its rider.

• The arena: 20 × 60 m (about 66 × 197 ft) for international tests. Para dressage Grades I to III ride in a smaller 20 × 40 m arena.
• The levels: in the US, riders move from USDF Introductory tests to Training Level, then First through Fourth Level. Above those sit the international (FEI) tests, such as Prix St. Georges, Intermediate I and II, and Grand Prix.
• Grand Prix is the Olympic level. The FEI Grand Prix Special test sheet sets a minimum horse age of 8.
• What judges look for: the Training Scale, which is rhythm, suppleness, contact, impulsion, straightness and collection.

New to the vocabulary? Our disciplines guide and glossary cover the basics.

How judges score a dressage test, step by step

1. Every movement gets a mark from 0 to 10. Half marks are allowed.
2. Key movements count double. In the Grand Prix Special, the piaffes, canter pirouettes, walks and trot half-passes carry a coefficient of 2.
3. One mark for harmony. After the final salute, each judge gives a collective mark for harmony and the Training Scale, also doubled.
4. Points become a percentage. Each judge's total is divided by the maximum (470 points in the Grand Prix Special) and multiplied by 100.
5. Judges are averaged. The final score is the average of all the judges' percentages, published to three decimals.

Why judges don't always agree

Each judge sits at a different letter, so each sees the test from a different angle. In Aachen, six of the seven judges put Fry first, with scores from 81.489% to 84.468%, while one had her third on 80.213%. The lowest of those six marks came from Mexico's Maribel Alonso de Quinzaños, and averaging all seven produced her winning 82.295%.

Mistakes, penalties and elimination

• Error of course (a wrong turn or a forgotten movement): minus 2 percentage points the first time. In senior international tests, a second error means elimination.
• Technical faults, such as entering before the bell or repeatedly using the voice: minus 0.5 percentage points.
• Elimination: marked lameness, a fall, leaving the arena with all four feet, resistance lasting over 20 seconds, or fresh blood in the mouth or spur area at the post-test check.

In the Aachen Grand Prix, two pairs were eliminated under the blood rule and one for lameness. The FEI stresses that these rules protect the horse and don't imply wrongdoing by the rider.

What's a good dressage score?

A 6 means "satisfactory" and a 7 "fairly good," so a 65% test is averaging between those two marks. At the very top, every Special medal in Aachen took more than 80%, and Freestyle bronze needed 88.650%.

Dressage freestyle vs Special: the three championship tests

A championship runs three competitions, and scores don't carry over. Every rider starts each one from zero.

In Aachen, Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St John Freestyle won the Grand Prix itself, and Germany took team gold ahead of Great Britain and Denmark.

What makes the Special so hard

The Special has 36 scored movements, including three piaffes of 12 to 15 steps, nine flying changes every second stride and 15 changes every stride on the diagonal, plus nine more on the centerline. One slip costs marks from every judge. In Aachen, both Laudrup-Dufour and Verboomen made mistakes in the one-tempi changes, and that opened the door for Fry.

How the Freestyle is scored

Half the score is technical: judges mark 16 required elements, such as piaffe (at least 10 steps straight), passage, pirouettes and flying changes. The other half is artistic: rhythm and energy, harmony, choreography, degree of difficulty, and music and interpretation, each multiplied by 4 and marked to one decimal. Finishing outside 5:30 to 6:00 costs 0.5 percentage points from the artistic score.

That's where risk pays. Fry's aviation-themed routine, with music including "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and "I'm Like a Bird," played to about 40,000 people. Horse & Hound noted that her willingness to take risks set her apart from riders who played it safer.

What is piaffe? Passage, pirouettes and the other big moves

Piaffe is a highly collected, elevated movement in which diagonal pairs of legs rise and land together while the horse seems to stay in place. It's the ultimate test of collection: the hindquarters lower and carry more weight so the front end looks light and free.

What the FEI Judging Manual asks for in piaffe:

• The raised front toe reaches about the middle of the other front leg's cannon bone.
• The raised hind toe comes just above the other hind leg's fetlock.
• Serious faults include stepping backward, irregular or jerky steps, crossing legs, and swinging the front or hindquarters from side to side.

The other headline moves:

• Passage: a very collected, elevated and cadenced trot with a long moment of suspension. It looks like trotting in slow motion.
• Canter pirouette: a full 360° turn in canter around the hind legs, in six to eight strides in the Grand Prix Special.
• Flying changes: the horse swaps its leading canter leg in mid-air. "Ones" means a change every single stride.
• Extensions: trot or canter with maximum reach, without rushing.

Watching tip: in the passage-piaffe-passage transitions, the rhythm should not change. If the horse hesitates, stalls or steps backward, expect lower marks.

Para dressage: same sport, five grades

Para dressage lets riders with impairments compete on an equal footing. Each rider is classified into one of five grades with its own tests, and approved compensating aids (adaptive equipment) are allowed. Grade I tests are ridden at walk, while Grade V adds canter with lateral work, and men and women compete against each other.

Aachen hosted the para championships too:

• The USA's Marie Vonderheyden won the Grade I test on 76.71%. Britain's Mari Durward-Akhurst and the 19-year-old mare Athene Lindebjerg took silver on 74.54%.
• US rider Kate Shoemaker and Vianne were unbeaten in Grade IV and helped the US win team gold.

How to start dressage (no fancy horse required)

Entry-level tests ask for accurate walk, trot and canter figures, not piaffe. A calm, sound school horse is the perfect partner.

1. Take flatwork lessons with an instructor who teaches dressage. Our riding skills guide covers seat and aids.
2. Learn a test on foot. Walk the pattern in your yard or living room, calling out the letters.
3. Practice accuracy: reach each letter with your shoulder, ride round circles and aim for square halts.
4. Enter a local schooling show. Use our show prep and tack and equipment guides.
5. Read your score sheet. Every movement has a box for the judge's remarks, and that feedback is your training plan.

Always ride in a certified helmet; see our safety guide. Curious how Spain's riding traditions compare? The related guides below cover the Pura Raza Española horse and doma vaquera, Spain's working-cowboy style, and our breeds section has the rest.

What to watch next

• Oct. 29–Nov. 1: US Dressage Finals at the World Equestrian Center in Wilmington, Ohio, with national titles from Training Level to Grand Prix, freestyles included.
• Nov. 17–22: SICAB 2026 in Seville, Spain, the world championship show for the Pura Raza Española.
• This winter: FEI Dressage World Cup qualifiers. The 2027 Final is set for Gothenburg, Sweden.
• 2027 rule changes: dressage is going through its first full FEI rules revision since 2022. Proposals include seating four of the seven championship judges on the long side to see contact better, and a clearer definition of harmony. Nothing is final yet.
• 2027: FEI European Championships in Randbøl, Denmark, where European teams that missed out in Aachen get another chance at Los Angeles 2028 team places.
• For riders: USDF lists its current national tests as valid through Nov. 30, 2026, so check which version your show is using.

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