Hi, Barbara:

I do that all the time. Once per week I ride a warm-up and then ride through my test(s). That sorts out the strengths from the weaknesses, and helps me to keep my training focused where it needs to be.

I ride several test movements together in various ways and from both directions often, to ensure that I CAN ride them together comfortably. It's one thing to ride counter changes of hand, for instance, and quite another when you have to correctly execute the movements before and after as well. I also ride sets of movements from tests both above and below the level at which I'm competing, to ensure that our mutual comfort level with the demand is maintained. As you probably know, the transition from passage to canter in the GP test is a really tough one, so I need to know before I get to the GP level of competition just how much work needs to go into that transition and how I need to approach it. The same holds true even at Training Level, etc. One of the hardest transitions with many advanced horses is from canter to trot, it sounds simple, but it's harder to do than it looks when one's riding a really tuned-in and responsive horse!

I think one of the best ways to prepare for competition is train as though one is competing. I don't do it more than once per week, as I think the intensity can be overwhelming for horses and riders if practiced too often, but I find the process invaluable in training, and therefore, in competition.