Jump Start HT: Dressage

Can't think of a way to start this post, so I'm kicking it off with this adorableness:

All photos in this post courtesy of my mom!  My dad overheard a Dressage spectator say "They shouldn't let horses like that in the ring, they earn 5 points right off the bat just for being cute."

Where to start?

First time showing at the Kentucky Horse Park - AMAZING.  Derby winner Go For Gin got frisky in his paddock and ran next to me and Connor for a second as we hacked back from Dressage warmup on Friday night.  Ahhhhhhhhhh!  Totally cool.

Could have done without the Paso Fino World Championships going on at the same place though - you ever seen this in real life before?  

It's terrifying to the other horses.  So many eventers were losing their minds over tons of little Pasos vibrating around the complex with these giant men on their backs, sounding like little jackhammers.  Wild.

Anyway!  I was not expecting a lot out of Dressage at this show.  Since the first week of September we had done TWO Dressage rides (and that means two rides in the loose ring instead of the elevator).  I hadn't run through my test, (though I rarely do), and I hadn't felt that magic feeling in Connor's Dressage in a while.

He felt great Friday night in practice, so I didn't do a whole lot with him.  Saturday morning, I got up and got busy:

I love braiding so much.  It's like meditation.  I will do any of your braids for you, any time!

I knew my trainer would be with our most junior rider in Show Jumping right before my ride, so I got to work on my own, thinking she'd be there soon.  I ended up warming up almost entirely on my own, which was nerve-wracking, but ended up okay.  He felt in front of my leg and obedient, but lacking sparkle, and I didn't know what to do to get it.  

Warmup

Luckily my trainer ran in when I was on deck and told me to let him go a little bit in the reins to gain the sparkle, and that was the last advice I got before I went in.

Personally, I felt like the test was workmanlike compared to Fox River Valley, and I can't wait to see the video my mom has - maybe I've been going for the wrong feeling in Dressage all along (or the judges looked at us differently.) At FRV I was obsessive about figures (and still got dinged for them), practiced the canter-trot downward transition on a straight line endlessly, and had him so on my aids and in tune to me, he forgot the rest of the world existed.

But I did let go with the reins, using my shopping bag elbows and trying to align my body correctly.  My trainer said the test was a lot less tense on his part than at FRV, and that must have been the key, because the judge wrote "Harmony and partnership clearly shown!  Well balanced ride".  

Positive comments were straight, steady tempo, well-balanced, prompt transition, correctly ridden through turn, and stepped to balanced halt.  Negatives were 'a little tight in neck', 'a little tight through neck & back', 'little stiffening' (see a trend?), and 'should maintain stretch down and forward' in free walk.  Even still, she only gave me one 6 and the rest were all 7s and 8s.

Happy scratches from my trainer.

My dad meeting Connor for the first time!

Hacking back with this random girl.  This was taken minutes before both of our horses were spooked so badly by the Pasos, we re-routed a different way back.

We ended up tied for first with a 28 after Dressage - new best score for us!