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These numbers and letters are the shorthand for the levels and difficulty of the classes our horses enter when shown.

All horses start their showing careers in Level 1. Each week as they are trained, they add points to their show score as they improve in their skills. Once they get to level 2 Local, which happens quite quickly, most foundation horses will spend two to three weeks showing at each level, getting better in their classes as they go. Eventually they level up into the next higher show group.

The grades, the Letters L, R, N, W, represent the quality of the competition available. In real life, a local show is one held by the local horseman's association, or the county 4-H program. When horses do well there, their owners may decide to take them to the Regional shows, where the best horses from local shows are brought together from a wider area. Think of a state-wide competition. The best of those horses go on National Level shows, where the best from a whole country may be represented. Finally, there are the World class shows, where the best horses from many nations compete with each other.

The levels are a short-hand for what sort of classes are being run. Level 1 is the halter classes, horses shown inhand. Level 2 is horses being ridden on the flat at a walk, trot, and canter. Level 3 is horses that have begun jumping and are being shown over relatively low fences set out in relatively simple patterns. From there on, the each level will have higher and wider jumps in more and more tricky layouts and patterns, requiring more and more planning by the riders and agility from the horses to successfully finish the course, until we get to the best of the best, the Grand Prix shows.