Camaro and I went to a show last month. Our first as a team, my first in 30 years, and his first in several years. Also, his first as a dressage horse and my second dressage test ever.
We were supposed to ride one test (Intro A) on Saturday, and one test (Intro B) on Sunday. Except about two hours before our ride time on Saturday, the heavens opened and it poured. And poured. And poured. The dressage arena flooded. I watched horses and riders that were much more seasoned than Camaro and I slip in the saturated footing while riding their tests. And I decided that I really didn't want to die that day. No way were Camaro and I going splashing and sliding around to perform our very first test. He was all ready pretty wired, and I had a wonky left knee giving me pain.
At first, I thought I would scratch Intro A. But then a friend suggested that I see if I could reschedule my ride from Saturday afternoon to sometime on Sunday. That would mean seeing if there were still slots available for Sunday, and if so, riding two tests in one day.
So many people scratched on Saturday afternoon and just hauled their horses home that I was able to reschedule my Intro A ride to Sunday morning. There was a slot available an hour after my Intro B ride time. Which is how we rode the harder Intro B as our debut test (which Camaro was waaayyy better than I could have hoped) and Intro A as our second test (in which Camaro was about as distracted as I'd feared he would be).
Oh, and Sunday was a beautiful day weather-wise, as you can see by our picture below. And the dressage arena had mostly dried up, with only a few wet spots to splash through.
As I said, Intro B went well. Intro A, however, was a challenge. The judge was kind, and gave me a pointer after the final salute in Intro A. She pointed out to me that I had fallen into one of my old nemeses in riding: burying my hands (see in above picture). Ugh! As soon as I repaired my position, Camaro rounded nicely through his back and onto the bit. And with that correct connection, his brain was less distractable by the things around us.
Camaro sporting his home permanent forelock once I took out his braids.
We had to wait until the end of the show on Sunday to see our test sheets and find out how we'd scored. Once the final rider had finished the final test, and scores compared in the show office, the test sheets were available for pick up. And I was honestly amazed at what marks Camaro and I had received. To read the tests, with the scores for each movement and the judge's comments was really great. Really affirming that I do, actually, know what I'm doing and my horse is capable of his new career.
We scored mostly 7's and 7.5's. Honestly, I'd been hoping we'd at least get a 5 on everything. I dreaded anything less than a 5, and was quite happy to see our lowest score was a 6, on our rough Intro A ride. We totaled a 70.94% on Intro A, coming in 3rd in that class, and a 72.19% on our nicer Intro B ride earning 4th in that one. Oh my goodness, I hadn't counted on taking home ribbons!!
What have we been up to since our show? Well, earning scores in the 70's on our dressage debut tells me that we can't keep showing the easy walk-trot Intro A and B tests. That we really should be upping our game and cantering. There is another show in September that I would like to go to, and my goal is to show Intro C, which has cantering in it. Maybe even going out at Training Level too.
I've bitten the bullet, and since the beginning of July, Camaro and I have been cantering. Some days he's really balanced and relaxed in his departs, and some days he kinda falls apart and stresses to the right. But he always nails the correct lead, and his balanced canter is beautiful, smooth, and I'm really looking forward to developing it further.
The picture I sent my barn owner/friend the first day we cantered.
I'd told her to hold me accountable and ask me at the end of July how many times I've cantered him.
She offered to print out a calendar page for July and tape it above my saddle rack for me to put stars on for each day we canter.
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