I don't think I got one of these last year.  The Table of Contents of the USDF Member Guide lists this as Volume 1 so I suspect it's a new USDF publication.  If I did get a different version of this last year, I never bothered to look at it.  I wish I had! This thing is 104 pages of everything you need to show.  

Beginning with the Table of Contents, there are five sections to the guide.  The sections dealing with USDF Awards and Championships are not very useful to me at this stage in my dressage career, but the rest is actually quite interesting.

• USDF Information and Membership Information: not to hard to understand.  This section explains the various types of memberships and educational programs offered by USDF.
• USDF Awards: I am not eligible for any of these yet, and right now, I don't care about national recognition.  I might never care, but I still like to educate myself.  The one award that does appeal to me is the Rider Awards, and page twenty-two of the guide explains how to earn your Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medals.  That is definitely something worth working for.
• Dressage Tests: now we're talking!  I have a page (here) with all of the USDF tests available for download, but the Member Guide has all of the tests, Introductory A through the FEI tests.  And they're listed in order.  What a handy reference.
• Glossary of Judging Terms: This may well be the most helpful part of the Member Guide.  The terms begin with Abduct: to move a limb away from the horse's midline  and finishes nine pages later with Working (Trot or Canter): A Pace in which the horse goes forward energetically but calmly, with a length of stride between that of the collected and medium paces.  The degree of uphill balance required is less than in the collected pace.  The Member Guide then goes on to list foreign terms and their translations.  Losgelassenheit anyone?  How about Schwung?  Included in this section is also the Pyramid of Training and an explanation of each term on the pyramid.
• Arena Set-Up: These two pages have very clear illustrations of both a standard and short arena.  The first picture shows the correct measurements for the distances between letters (5m for each quarter line, 6m to the first letters, and 12m between the rest of the letters on the standard arena).  There's also an illustration that shows the diagonal measurements: 44.72m for the short arena and 63.25m for the standard arena.  The last picture shows how to achieve a true right angle at the corners.  I am going to be using this picture during my Thanksgiving break.  I don't think my short arena has very square corners.

The Member Guide doesn't list a purchase price so I don't know if it is available to non-members, but it is almost worth joining USDF just to get the guide.  Click the photos for captions and larger views.

Today is Thanksgiving Day, the day Americans have set aside to express their gratitude for the good received.  For non-American readers, "in 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn't until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November."  - History.com. 

I am thankful for so many things, and no doubt you've been making your own list this week.  Here are some of the things for which I am grateful.

• I have a loving husband who recognizes my need to spend excessive time with my horses.  Not only does he tolerate my billions of hours spent at the barn, he encourages it.  For that, I am thankful.
• I have a stable, good paying job.  My job affords me the time to spend with my horses while at the same time (more than adequately) funds my obsession.  For that too, I am thankful.
• I am healthy and fit.  I try to make good nutritional and exercise choices, but really, health is God given.  For that, I am thankful.
• I have two healthy, personable, and hard working horses resting comfortably in their stalls this morning.  For this, I am very thankful.

Have a wonderful day of thanks.  Enjoy the time with your family, friends, and horses!

Wednesday is lesson night, again.  I need to count how many time I've started a post with that sentence.  The thing is that Wednesdays are now my favorite day of the week.  I know that's odd.  Who likes Wednesday? It's Hump day, it's mid-week, and there are still two to go.  But knowing that I get a lesson after work on Wednesday rejuvenates me and gives me that little high that gets me through the last two days of the work week.

I am a teacher.  That's what I get paid to do.  And yet, I find that I enjoy the opportunity to be a student.  My brain literally crackles during a lesson.  And since I am usually the one giving directions, grading work, and checking on progress, I know exactly what it takes to be a good student.  To get the most out of your lesson, follow some of these tips from a teacher.

1. Be on time.  For my trainer that means you get more lesson time.  She has other students before me and other students after.  It's not fair to the other students if I ooze into their lesson time.
2. On the other hand, don't be too early.  The rider(s) before me are concentrating and need the trainer's full attention.  My bored pony, who might be just standing at the fence, is a distraction for those who are working.  Additionally, the trainer is busy and has a schedule.  She might have chores planned for those 15 minutes before you arrive.
3. This goes without saying, no cell phones.  
4. Dress comfortably, but neatly.  Clothing that is bulky or flapping only distracts the eye and makes it more difficult for the trainer to evaluate your posture or arm position.  There are dress codes for a reason.
5. Bring your materials.  This might mean horse boots, a well-adjusted bridle, a saddle pad that doesn't slip, or a whip.  It shouldn't be your trainer's job to root around in her tack room for what you forgot.
6. Do your homework.  The trainer doesn't want to reteach the same lesson over and over.  You might continue to work on the same concept week after week, but you should have practiced since the last lesson.  You might still have problems, but with practice you should be able to explain to your trainer what problem that you're having so that she can help you get closer to mastery.
7. Follow the trainer's directions.  She probably has a plan and is laying a foundation for the next concept.  If you don't understand the purpose of the task, ask for clarification.  If you don't understand the objective, it is difficult to master it.
8. Even when the task is hard, it is important to try.  Don't complain, don't whine, don't fake it.  Genuinely try to do what she is asking of you.  If you simply don't get what the trainer is saying, ask, but ask a specific question.  I don't get it doesn't help the teacher help you.  Instead, ask in a way that shows what part you do understand.  This will give her a place from which to start the explanation. 
   
9. Be respectful.  This means coming with a good attitude and ready to get to work.  If your lessons are genuinely about learning, leave the baggage at the door.  Drop all of your problems at the gate, and be in the moment.  You will feel refreshed when you are finished and those problems may seem smaller on the way out.
10. End the lesson with a plan.  Do you know what you accomplished?  Do you know what you need to work on before you return?  Have an idea of where you need to go before you come back.  If you leave feeling confused, you'll just practice the same old mistakes when you're on your own.  And again, if you didn't understand, ask.  Ask what you need to work on.  Listen for a specific task.  Maybe it's simply opening your pelvis, bending your elbows, or slowing his pace.  When you leave, you need to know what your homework is.

Everyone of these ten tips are things that I encourage my students to do every day.  My honor roll students do them without thought.  Learning is only partly about the teacher.  Learning really comes from the student in spite of the teacher.  Good learners will learn no matter what.  Good learners matched with good teachers can accomplish marvelous things.

What must be done?  Well, it's fall (just barely here in sunny CA), and the 2011 calendar is drawing to a close. That means memberships for 2012 need to be renewed.  This has become an interesting topic, to me at least, since I just discovered that there are way, way more than 50 GMOs out there.

I have come to realize that not all dressage riders show.  That is a strange concept to me, but everyone gets to do dressage for their own personal reasons.  My way won't necessarily be their way.  I've already blogged about the fact that I am somewhat (okay, kind of a lot) motivated by extrinsic rewards, an 8 on a score sheet, or a blue ribbon out of a class of one.  I know that I wouldn't work so hard to improve my riding if there wasn't a place to demonstrate what we've learned.  I need the tests to confirm what we get as well as to determine what we don't yet get.

If you're going show, you have to pay.  Hence the membership renewal discussion.  I am happy to report that my 2012 memberships to the USEF, USDF, and CDS have all been paid for.  It wasn't as much as it sounds like since the California Dressage Society takes care of the payment to the United States Dressage Federation.  I paid $55 to the USEF and $70 to CDS.  Back when I was still competing in the endurance world, my memberships were nearly the same price: The American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) needed around $70 and Arabian Horse Association (AHA) needed another $50 - $60.  The year that I maintained memberships in both disciplines was an expensive one.  So for only $125, I am now ready for the 2012 show season.

Bring it on!

My mom found a new gizmo for me.  Regular readers will know that I like gizmos ... a lot.  Gizmos are just those handy tools that make barn life run more smoothly.  Over on the side there, scroll down a bit to see posts by topic, and you'll find a whole category devoted just to gizmos.

I wrote about the new barn not having electricity.  We have battery powered lanterns, tap lights, flash lights, and even solar flash lights, but it's still pretty dark once the sun sets.  My mom read about my lack of lighting and decided that the solution was one of those headlamps.  I was a bit skeptical.  Really?!?  Yes.  A headlamp? Yes.  How does it stay on your head?  Very well, thank you.  Won't it slide down over my eyes?  Nope.

I tried it out on Thursday night and couldn't believe how totally cool, awesome, helpful, fabulous that thing is! The model my mom picked out for me has two brightness levels and a third setting that emits a blueish/purplish light that doesn't interrupt your night vision.  The box said it was useful for night time fly fishing as the light makes the line glow(?).  Not really applicable at the barn, but hey, you never know!  The lamp itself also ratchets so that the light can be aimed more forward, up, or down.

The thing that makes the headlamp so cool is that it is hands free!  I know I can be a bit slow at times, but this is ridiculous.  How could I have not seen the benefits of this sooner?  Hands free at the barn?  Insert eye roll.  Of course that's a brilliant concept.  Let's see, I was able to mix feed without the armpit flashlight grip.  I was even able to carry both feed buckets at the same time without the aforementioned armpit flashlight grip. I was finally able to wipe down my saddle, something I do religiously after every ride, without guessing where the dust had landed.

I don't know where my mom bought this headlamp so I can't provide the usual link and average price, but I am fairly certain they are widely available so I'll let you Google the thing yourself.  And if the rest of you are using one of these, please feel free to let me know how much you like yours!

Thanks, Mom!

Click on the photos for captions and larger views.