Lots of happy news!

So I have been neglecting to update this again, but I have so much good news!

The biggest news is that I won the Carol Lavell Gifted Scholarship from the Dressage Foundation for Region 1!!! This means that I get $1000 to spend toward concentrated time spent with my horse away from work and other distractions to focus on training. I am beyond thrilled and can't wait to get to bootcamp with Kristin Stein! I'll also be writing about my experience for the dressage foundation, which will be a fun opportunity as well.

Other big news: Gadget and I were champions at Third Level and Fourth Level for Adult Amateurs in the Western Pennsylvania Dressage Association year end awards. Our average at Third Level based on the scores submitted was over 70%! Not only did we win those big, beautiful ribbons, but we also won the Joe Lane award for highest score achieved between 2nd and 4th level. It's a beautiful glass award, and I was so surprised and thrilled to win it!

More big news: Gadget finished the year as champion for the Performance Horse Registry for Adult Amateurs and Open classes at third level for USDF year end awards! We are going to have our picture in the USDF yearbook!

This year was the best horsey year that I have ever had and one that I really never imagined could happen with Gadget. Gadget and I have had so many huge breakthroughs that I really can tangibly feel the progress. I now feel that Prix St. George is a realistic goal to have for us. It may take a little while yet, but it feels within reach. THAT is an amazing feeling.

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When old becomes new - update to my old Pikeur Diana!

Here is the finished product! It was a plain black jacket so I added white and light blue trim with RHINESTONES! It's very sparkly! Here's a closeup of the collar, which looks better than the pocket. Now I am going to try to add coordinating trim (minus the rhinestones) to the saddle pad.

Catch-up Post -- Putting Together the Puzzle

It's been a long time since I have actually written any updates about Iggy. Partly, that is because it is difficult to write about things when you are still very much in the experimental stage. I think I have loved dressage since I was a teenager because of the constant experimenting, strategizing, and problem solving of every ride. I love the intellectual side of it. However, puzzles are more fun when you are making progress toward solving them. They are less fun when you spend a lot of time wondering if you have made progress, stayed the same, or actually screwed things up. From Iggy's first show - trying to keep the big canter in one piece! Iggy is my puzzle. He is a puzzle that makes my eyes light up and my heart sing when I see him. He has this sweet baby face and the personality of a labradoodle. When I look at him, he is everything I ever wanted. Yet, our journey has not been quite as straight forward as I thought it might be. When I sat on Iggy for the first tim...

Third Level Test 1 - with comments from Judge Natalie Lamping

Here is a practice test of third level test 1 that I rode on April 27, 2013. I then submitted the test for an online evaluation by Judge Natalie Lamping at horseshow.com. I was pleasantly surprised to get a 63.2% (which may be a bit generous in the spirit of a schooling show) from Judge Lamping. This test was before my "breakthrough" of collecting the canter the next weekend. She correctly notes that the canter still needs a good bit of work. However, our turn on haunches have improved dramatically from that year, which is great since they are a coefficient score! My right flying change received a 7, and if I can line up the left one to be clean, it is an even better change. See my scores and comments from Natalie Lamping below: Apr 27th, 2013 April Dressage Festival 2011 USEF Level 3 Dressage - Test 1 Judged by Natalie Lamping Featuring Lindsey S Score: 241/380 (63.29%) 2nd place Overall Rows Test Rows # Tests Score Coef Err Comments 1 A ...

Dressage Day by Day

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