AEC Program

2025 AEC PROGRAM 51 PRELIMINARY: This is the level which starts to prepare some horses for international competition. More advanced movements, such as leg yield, shoulder-in, and rein back are introduced into the dressage test. The cross- country courses become more technical, asking the horse and rider to negotiate not only bigger obstacles, but also those that require very precise approaches. The show jumping courses also emphasize accuracy, with the horse needing to be more adjustable and agile in order to leave all the rails in their cups. INTERMEDIATE: This level asks for even more finesse and strength from the horses and riders. The dressage test includes more difficult transitions between gaits, such as canter to halt, and further development of the gaits. On cross- country, the horses and riders must be focused and brave in order to make their way around a course that includes bank complexes, as well as bounces (two fences with no stride between—the horse lands and immediately jumps the next fence) and narrow elements within combinations. In show jumping, the competitors will see more difficult combinations as well as some obstacles with related distances, meaning that though they aren't jumped as "combinations," the effort over one obstacle significantly affects how they must approach the following obstacle. ADVANCED: This is the highest level offered at USEA recognized competitions and helps to prepare and qualify horses and riders for the most prestigious competitions in the world, including the Olympic Games and FEI World Championship. The dressage tests ask for the horse to be brilliant but obedient in new movements such as half passes and flying changes. The cross-country course requires unequaled communication between horses and riders as they boldly tackle significant terrain changes, combinations with multiple questions, such as bounces into water, and many narrow questions such as corners and arrowheads. The show jumping courses at this level consist of several combinations and related distances between practically every fence, so an error at one fence can have a domino-like effect on the fences coming after. CROSS-COUNTRY SHOW JUMPING Height Distance Speed Height Efforts Spreads Starter 2'3" 1200 - 1800m 300 - 350 mpm 2'3" 8 - 10 2'6" Beginner Novice 2'7" 1400 - 2000m 300 - 350 mpm 2'7" 9 - 11 3'3" - 3'11" Novice 2'11" 1600 - 2200m 350 - 400 mpm 2'11" 9 - 11 3'7" - 4'3" Training 3'3" 2000 - 2600m 420 - 470 mpm 3'3" 10 - 12 3'11" - 4'7" Modified 3'5" 2200 - 3000m 490 mpm 3'5" 10 -13 4'1" - 4'9" Preliminary 3'7" 2200 - 3120m 520mpm 3'7" 11 - 13 4'3" - 4'11" Intermediate 3'9" 2600 - 3575m 550mpm 3'11" 12 - 14 4'7" - 5'3" Advanced 3'11" 3200 - 3990m 570mpm 4'1" 13 - 15 4'9" - 5'5"

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