Dressage Day by Day

NEW YEAR, NEW GOALS! I usually love reviewing my goals, progress and dreaming up new goals for the coming year, but this year was a tough one with the loss of my dear Gadget. I read a great set of articles on the Chronicle of the Horse by Matt Brown about how to shift your thinking about goal-setting. He makes the argument against fixed, outcome goals and to instead set more of "growth mindset," process-oriented goals.  And here's a link to the first article:  http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/a-case-for-not-focusing-on-your-goals-part-1  They are totally worth reading. I think dressage requires a strong focus on the "process" and I've always enjoyed thinking about the little things that build to success. However, I will totally admit to being outcome goal driven. I love setting specific score goals and even the goal of mastering a movement. Just as Gadget taught me lots of humility and patience, Iggy is going to drive those lessons home in a who...

Obviously, I am very goal-oriented and I will work harder knowing that I set a certain goal. I also love mentally checking them off through the year. Last year, I set the following goals:   GOALS FOR 2015 Learn how to set up and ride the working canter pirouette.  We are now reliably getting the smaller pirouette canter, but I still don't have a feel for this movement. I need more instruction so that I can feel more confident schooling it at home. Check! Although I haven't been schooling actual half or quarter pirouettes much this year, in the last couple months, they have finally started coming together. I definitely still have a lot to learn in this movement, but we've made huge progress in the pirouettes. Get consistent 3 tempis.  These oddly feel easier than the 4 tempis. However, it still takes me several attempts before I get in the rhythm of the aids and it sure doesn't feel easy yet. I hope these become more flowing this year. Check! The threes are feeli...

So Gadget and I attended our first regional championship and it was great. The atmosphere felt like that of a big horse show and the quality of the horses was incredible. Lexington, Virginia was cool and crisp, and Gadget was very on edge when we arrived on Wednesday. He didn't really quite settle, but Kristin coached me through the ride and we got some good work. On Thursday I rode 4-1 early in the morning and it felt like Gadget was still on edge. He was trying to be good, but he seemed to be waiting for a boogey man around the corner. I didn't feel like I had much rideability, but Gadget mostly held it together and his changes were really lovely. We won the class with a 64% I was perplexed as it didn't feel like a winning ride. In the afternoon, I rode 3-3, and felt like I had more rideability. I came out of the ring happier with the my ride, so I was perplexed when it only scored a 61% from the same judge that gave us the win in the morning. Gadget was having some un...