CC Class in Working Equitation. How to understand the test and ride it really well?

1. What is the CC class in Working Equitation?

The CC class in Working Equitation is already a very advanced test. It is not a level where it is enough to know the order of the movements, reach the letters and somehow perform a pirouette, half-pass, flying change or half-pirouette. In this class, the judge looks much deeper. They assess not only the fact that a figure was performed, but above all the quality of the horse’s work, the way the rider guides the horse, balance, contact, collection, relaxation, throughness and the harmony of the entire ride.

The CC class requires the horse to show considerable strength, elasticity, concentration and maturity in training. The test includes walk pirouettes, half-passes, longer rein-backs, canter directly from rein-back, extended, medium and collected canter, flying changes, canter half-pirouettes, a serpentine with flying changes and maximum lengthening in canter followed by a direct halt. Each of these movements is difficult in itself, but the greatest demand of this class is that the horse must maintain quality from beginning to end.

The rider must plan the ride ahead of time. In the CC class, you cannot ride from one movement to the next at the last second. Every preparation matters, because one loss of balance immediately affects the next task.

The most important words for this class are collection, contact, relaxation, active hindquarters, straightness, throughness and the quality of transitions. They decide whether the test looks like a display of true training, or like a series of difficult movements performed with tension.

A good CC ride should feel calm to watch, even though it is technically difficult. The horse should look strong, but not tense. Collected, but not held. Active, but not rushing. Obedient, but not shut down. Difficult movements should come from training, not from force. This is what separates a merely correct ride from a truly good one.

2. Contact, collection, relaxation and the horse between the aids

Before analysing the test movement by movement, we need to explain very clearly what contact, collection and a horse between the aids mean in the CC class. Without this, the rider will see the test as a list of difficult figures. In reality, this test is primarily an examination of the quality of training.

Contact is not about holding the horse by the mouth. Good contact begins in the hind legs. The hindquarters work actively, energy travels through an elastic back and neck and reaches the rider’s hand. The hand does not block that energy, stop it or pull it towards itself. It receives it, organises it through the half-halt and allows the horse to remain connected from the hindquarters to the bit.

A horse in good contact does not lean on the rein, hide behind the hand or come above the bit. The horse seeks the contact, but does not rest on it. It accepts the bit, but does not fight it. It is soft at the poll, elastic in the neck, active behind and through in the back. The rider then feels that the horse is connected from back to front, not held in front while the rest of the body somehow follows.

A very clear way to explain this is through the horse’s topline and underline. The topline runs from the poll, through the neck, withers, back and loins, all the way to the hindquarters. In good work, it should lengthen and work elastically. The back must not be dropped. It should lift under the rider like a springy bridge. The underline, especially the abdominal muscles, must actively engage, shorten and help lift the ribcage and the back. Only then can the hindquarters step deeper underneath and the horse begin to truly carry itself from behind.

If the underline is stretched out, the belly drops, the back sinks and the horse travels heavily on the forehand. Such a horse may look active, and may even move fast, but it is not correctly collected. In good work, we want the opposite organisation: an active abdomen, lifted back, elastic topline and hindquarters brought under the body. Only then does collection make biomechanical sense.

In the CC class it is extremely important not to lose relaxation while seeking collection. Horses at this level can easily become tense because the test is difficult. Pirouettes, half-passes, rein-backs, flying changes, half-pirouettes and strong transitions between different canter frames require strength, balance and concentration. If the rider starts riding with tension, the horse usually responds in the same way: it shortens the back, stiffens the neck, hides behind the contact, comes above the bit, rushes or blocks the movement.

That is why the judge looks at whether collection has been achieved at the cost of relaxation. A horse may be short, but if it is hard, tense, closed in the neck and not working through the back, it is not showing true class. It may perform the movement, but the quality will be lower. In a good CC ride, the horse is collected and still breathing through the movement. It has active hindquarters, but is not tight. It accepts the contact, but does not fight the hand. It shortens without shutting down, and lengthens without losing control.

Relaxation is easiest to see in the walk. The walk very quickly reveals the truth about the horse’s body. If the horse maintains a clear four-beat rhythm, works through the back, remains soft in the contact and does not lose activity, we can speak of a good foundation. When the walk becomes hurried and choppy, the neck tightens, the steps shorten, the rhythm is lost or the horse becomes unwilling to take the hand, it is clear that relaxation has been disturbed.

A horse between the aids is a horse that remains between the rider’s leg, seat and hand. It goes from the hindquarters into the contact, accepts the half-halt, responds to the leg but does not run forward. It waits for the rider, yet does not fade. It is straight, but elastic. It bends where the line of travel requires it, but does not break in the neck. It can be shortened, lengthened, halted, rein-backed, moved sideways or asked for a flying change without losing rhythm and balance.

3. What should the whole CC test look like?

The whole CC ride should give the impression of a demanding test performed lightly, without a fight. At this level, it is easy to confuse difficulty with tension and showmanship with rushing. A good ride should be elegant, calm, clear and precise.

The horse should remain in rhythm from beginning to end. Rhythm cannot disappear in a pirouette, half-pass, half-pirouette, flying change or serpentine. A difficult movement is not an excuse for losing the beat. It is precisely in difficult movements that we can see most clearly whether the horse is truly trained.

The contact should be stable, but elastic. The horse should go to the hand, not against it. If, in the more difficult moments, the horse begins to hide, lean on the rein, open the mouth or come above the contact, the judge can see that the connection between the hindquarters, back and hand is not good enough.

Collection must be real. It cannot be based on shortening the neck and slowing the tempo. In collection, the horse should lift the back, activate the hindquarters, become more carrying and lighter in front. Collected canter must not be dead. Collected walk must not become choppy. A pirouette must not stop the hind legs. A half-pirouette must not become a turn made with the hand.

Relaxation is absolutely essential in this class. The test is difficult, so the horse may become tense, but the rider’s task is to keep the horse in work, not in tension. The horse should be focused, but not frightened. Strong, but not hard. Ready to react, but not nervous.

Straightness determines the quality of many movements. Rein-backs, canter departs, flying changes and halts quickly show whether the horse is straight. A crooked horse will not perform the CC test with high quality. It may get through the figures, but the judge will see a lack of organisation in the body.

Transitions are often more difficult than the figures themselves. From extended to collected, from rein-back to canter, from maximum lengthening to halt, from half-pirouette to flying change — everywhere, preparation matters. The horse must understand the half-halt, and the rider should act before the movement, not only when something starts to fall apart.

4. Movement-by-movement analysis of the test

Entry in collected canter, halt, immobility and salute

The test begins in a very demanding way, because the entry is performed in collected canter. The judge can already see whether the horse is truly prepared for this class.

The centre line should be entered straight, in a good rhythm, with the horse between the aids. Collected canter should be active, carrying and shorter in the stride, but not slow or blocked. The horse must be ready to halt, but it must not already be held by the hand before the halt.

The halt should come from the half-halt, the seat and active hindquarters. The horse should close into balance, stand straight, calmly and immobile. It is very important that it does not fall onto the forehand, open the mouth, swing the quarters or move before the salute.

Walk on a straight line

After the halt, the horse should move into active, regular and collected walk. This is not a moment of rest. The walk in the CC class is very important, because it shows whether the horse has maintained relaxation after the entry and halt.

On the straight line, the horse should walk evenly, in a clear four-beat rhythm and quietly into the contact. The back should work, the neck must not stiffen and the hindquarters should remain active. If the horse becomes choppy, loses rhythm, tightens the neck or does not want to go to the hand, the judge can see that the collection is not sufficiently through.

Walk pirouette to the right and to the left

Walk pirouettes are one of the first real tests of collection in this programme. The horse must maintain a clear walk, bend towards the pirouette and active hind legs stepping on the smallest possible circle.

A walk pirouette is not a turn on the spot. The hind legs must not become blocked. The horse must continue to step, only on a very small circle. If it begins to step backwards, stops the hindquarters, mechanically places the legs or loses the four-beat walk, the movement is not good.

In the pirouette, the rider must maintain bend, but must not turn the horse only with the neck. The horse should be bent through the whole body, not just positioned with the head to the inside. The right and left pirouettes should be as similar in quality as possible.

Halt, rein-back 6–10 steps and move off in walk

The rein-back in the CC class is longer than in the lower classes, so it clearly reveals the truth about contact, straightness and throughness. The horse should halt calmly, rein back regularly for 6–10 steps and move off in walk without losing activity.

The rein-back should be straight, diagonal and calm. The horse should not open the mouth, raise the head, swing the quarters or rush backwards. Moving off after the rein-back is as important as the rein-back itself, because it shows whether the horse has kept its energy.

Half-pass to the right and to the left

Half-passes in the CC class should show true bend in the direction of movement. In leg yield, the horse is positioned opposite to the direction of movement. In half-pass, the horse is bent towards the direction in which it is travelling.

The horse should move forward and sideways while maintaining rhythm, contact, activity and the correct angle. It is not about covering as much ground sideways as possible. The most important things are bend, flow, balance and the connection between the hindquarters and the rider’s hand.

Serpentine in trot

The three-loop serpentine tests the pattern, bend in the turns, regularity and flow. It is not only about riding a wavy line. The horse must change bend softly, without losing rhythm and without falling onto the shoulder.

Each loop should be clear. In the turn, the horse bends according to the direction of travel, and between loops it passes through a moment of straightness. In the CC class, the serpentine should look calm and mature.

Leg yields to both sides

The test includes two leg yields, one in each direction. At this level, they should be light, clear and very clearly distinguished from half-passes.

The horse is slightly positioned opposite to the direction of movement. It should move forward and sideways while maintaining rhythm, contact and activity. It should not escape through the shoulder, leave the quarters behind or move sideways without organisation in the body.

Medium trot

Medium trot in the CC class should show a clear lengthening of the steps and the frame, but without rushing. It is not a faster trot. The horse should lengthen the stride, cover more ground and remain straight.

The contact must allow the horse to lengthen the frame, but the rider must not abandon it. The return from medium trot is just as important as the lengthening itself, because it shows whether the horse remains in balance.

Halt, rein-back 6 steps and direct canter depart on the right lead

This is one of the most difficult movements in the test, because the horse must go from halt, through rein-back, directly into collected canter on the right lead. It requires a good halt, regular rein-back and an immediate but calm canter depart.

The horse must not fade in the rein-back, because then the canter depart will be late, heavy or forced. A tense rein-back will produce a nervous and explosive canter. Straightness is crucial here, because a crooked rein-back almost always gives a crooked canter depart.

Three circles in canter on the right lead

The three canter circles are a very important test of adjustability. The first circle is 20 m in extended canter, the second 15 m in medium canter, the third 10 m in collected canter. All circles should start and finish at the same point.

These are not three circles ridden fast, slower and very slow. They should show three different canter frames. Extended canter should show the longest stride and the greatest ground cover, but without loss of balance. Collected canter requires the greatest engagement of the hindquarters, a shorter stride and more carrying power.

Flying change

A flying change in the CC class must be clean, straight, calm and performed out of a good canter. The change of leg alone is not enough. The judge looks at whether the horse maintains rhythm, tempo, straightness and balance.

Before the change, the rider should straighten the horse. The horse must not accelerate, become crooked or anticipate. The aid for the change should be clear, but not forceful. After the change, the canter should continue in the same rhythm.

Three circles in canter on the left lead

The second set of three circles tests the same things on the other side. The judge will compare the quality to the right and to the left very carefully. The horse should show clear differences between extended, medium and collected canter while maintaining rhythm, bend and an accurate pattern.

Figure of eight on two circles up to 10 m with a flying change

A figure of eight made of two circles up to 10 m with a flying change between them is very precise. It requires good collected canter, bend on both circles, active hindquarters and a clean change after straightening.

Between the circles, the horse should pass through a moment of straightness. Only then will the flying change be clean. A good figure of eight looks like a smooth transition from one collected arc to the other, without a fight and without accidentally saving the line.

Half-pirouette to the left

A half-pirouette in canter shows whether the horse truly has collection and carrying power in the hindquarters. It is not a tight turn or a rotation made with the hand. The horse must canter in collection, bent towards the half-pirouette, with active hindquarters and maintained rhythm.

The rider should prepare the half-pirouette earlier. First shorten the canter, lift the forehand, engage the hindquarters, establish the bend and only then begin the turn.

Flying change after the half-pirouette

The flying change after the half-pirouette checks whether the horse has come out of the previous movement in balance. After the half-pirouette, the horse must return to straightness, maintain the canter and only then change the leg.

Half-pirouette to the right

The half-pirouette to the right is another test of collection, bend and balance. It should be comparable to the half-pirouette to the left. The horse must remain in canter, on the same lead, with active hindquarters and without losing rhythm.

Changing the canter on three sides of the arena

This movement shows whether the horse can truly be adjusted in canter. On the long side there should be extended canter, on the short side collected canter, and on the next long side extended canter again.

The transitions between these canter frames are the most important part. The horse must not simply accelerate on the long side and then be caught by the hand on the short side. A good execution looks as if the rider can change the length of the canter without a fight.

Maximum lengthening in canter, direct halt and canter depart

This is a very difficult movement because it requires courage, control and throughness. The horse must show maximum lengthening in canter, then halt directly and canter off again.

Maximum lengthening must not mean loss of control. The horse should lengthen the stride, stay straight and remain in contact. The halt after the lengthening must be prepared, even though it follows directly.

Four-loop serpentine with flying changes

The four-loop serpentine with flying changes on the centre line is one of the most important final tests. It checks the pattern, bend, regularity of canter, impulsion, precision and the quality of flying changes.

Each loop should be clear and even. The horse must bend according to the direction of travel, and on the centre line it must straighten and perform the flying change. The serpentine must not look like a series of turns and nervous jumps from one lead to the other.

Centre line, halt, immobility and salute

The final centre line summarises the whole test. After so many difficult movements, the horse should still be straight, collected, active and in contact.

The halt should be calm, straight and balanced. The position of the four legs, immobility and continued focus are important. A good ending shows that the partnership maintained quality until the end.

5. General marks in the CC class

General marks in the CC class are very important because they show not only whether the horse performed the individual movements, but what quality of work it maintained throughout the whole test.

6. The most common mistakes and the main purpose of the CC class

The most common mistake in the CC class is confusing collection with slowing down. A collected horse is not supposed to be slow or blocked. It should be more carrying, active and ready to respond. When the rider tries to create collection with the hand, the horse usually shortens the neck, tightens the back and loses energy.

Another frequent problem is loss of relaxation. The difficulty of the test makes horses tense. Then even performed movements lose quality. The judge can see whether the horse is truly through, or merely obediently getting through the figures.

In walk, loss of regularity often appears. Pirouettes and rein-backs show very quickly whether the horse is truly collected or only held. When the four-beat rhythm disappears, the walk becomes choppy or the horse steps backwards in the pirouette, the quality of the movement drops.

In canter, the most common issue is the lack of true adjustability. A horse can accelerate, but cannot come back. Or it allows itself to be shortened, but loses impulsion. In the CC class, neither is enough. Canter must be possible to lengthen and collect without losing rhythm.

Flying changes are sometimes performed, but without quality. The horse changes the leg, but does it crookedly, late behind, with tension or with acceleration. At this level, the change itself is not enough. Straightness, rhythm and calmness matter.

Half-pirouettes reveal weaknesses in the carrying power of the hindquarters. A horse without sufficient strength and collection will turn too wide, block, lose the canter or change the leg. A good half-pirouette requires active hindquarters, bend, rhythm and an exit in balance.

Movements with maximum lengthening and halt clearly show throughness. A horse that only runs will not halt well. A horse held by the hand will not canter off after the halt in good quality. This movement shows whether the rider truly has the horse between the aids.