Dressage Day by Day

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...

This past year was a great year for me and Gadget. Although we had our ups and downs, I've learned a lot this year. We made our third level debut, earned our bronze medal in only two shows, improved the flying changes dramatically, and earned Champion for Adult Amateurs at third level in my GMO.  For 2014, I have several goals: Keep Gadget's back feeling good. I think I have found a good combo of chiro, shoeing, saddle fit, and vet maintenance to prevent him from getting sore rather than waiting until he's in pain. Hopefully it works this year. Continue improving Third Leve l. Last year was a great intro to third level, but I am finally learning to ride Gadget more uphill, which is improving everything. This year I want to try 3-2 and 3-3. The canter-halfpass is still tough for us, but it's looking better. I am going to work to fix things that are easy points -- halts, turn on the haunches, transitions, and good centerlines. I am going to focus on the quality o...