United States Eventing Association

The United States Eventing Association (USEA), the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), and the 2026 Dressage Test Writing Working Group are excited to announce the creation of 12 new dressage tests that will be utilized in competition at the start of the 2026 eventing season. Drafted by experts in the eventing community, such as Marilyn Payne, Valerie Pride, Robyn Fisher, Jane Hamlin, and Sally Ike, these new tests have undergone a thorough review and testing period to ensure that they will be fun and functional for the upcoming competition year.

“We try not to change all of the tests, especially not the ones that the competitors, judges, and horses seem to like, but we still want some variety,” said Payne. “We are always looking for something more interesting to do. It’s nice to think of something different that nobody’s done before, but it can’t be too difficult. We want to make dressage more interesting and to have it used as a training tool.”

When evaluating the current tests and deciding upon which would be rewritten entirely and which might need small changes, the group took feedback from judges and competitors into account.

“We first went through all of the old tests to see what didn’t work out for the horses or riders or judges, making them harder to score. That’s when we get to start being imaginative. We divided up the tests amongst the group members and each drafted up new tests for the ones we wanted to rewrite. Then we sat down and ran through them together before we put on a mock test at my farm, where we allowed riders to run through the tests in front of eventing dressage judges.”

Following the run-throughs, the Working Group took in feedback from all involved for any final edits that needed to be made before coming up with the final drafts. In total 12 new dressage tests were drafted with one dressage test, Preliminary A, receiving clarifying language descriptions as well to create cohesion with the new test language.

A full list of the new tests includes:

• Starter A
• Starter B
• Beginner Novice A
• Novice A
• Novice B
• Training A
• Training B
• Modified A
• Modified B
• Preliminary B
• Intermediate A
• Advanced A

Another important note that is new for the 2026 tests is that the USEA holds the title for all endorsed levels (Starter through Training) while the USEF holds the title for Modified through Advanced.

These tests will be utilized for competition at the start of the 2026 season on Dec. 1, 2025.

All 2026 tests are published on the USEA website and can be found here.