Results of para-dressage competition with regard to different levels of difficulties

Para-dressage is the only riding competition available for the physically impaired people in Poland. All the participants need to be classified in order to ensure the fairness of the competition. Then each of them is assigned a functional profile and a competition grade. There are four grades available and the riders are required to perform the following tests: warm-up, individual and freestyle. Each dressage movement in a test is rated with a one to ten scale. The study was conducted on the material collected in 2007-2008 during para-dressage competitions in Poland. The riders competed on 9 horses of different breeds aged between 8 and 14 years coming from six centers specialized in para-equestrian disciplines. The following factors were considered in the analysis: type of impairment, level of difficulty and kind of competition. It was found that the freestyle test was awarded the highest number of points. The most highly scoring riders were all competing in the 2nd level. The para-dressage result is influenced not only by the riders' type of impairment, but also by the rider's preparation and natural riding talent. The most frequent impairment among the Polish competitors was Cerebral Palsy.