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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

Awful to Awesome?

3/21/2011

 
And here's the rest of yesterday's post ...

The other day on Facebook, Melissa Feather, Speedy G's breeder, commented that she would like to come and watch us at a show.  I was horrified.  We suck, we're lousy, we're showing I-NT-R-O-D-U-C-T-O-R-Y.  There is no way I want Speedy's BREEDER to come and see what a TERRIBLE job I'm doing with her horse!

I am a very confident horse owner.  I know with complete certainty that the health related decisions I make for my horses are spot on.  Confident owner, yes.  Confident endurance/trail rider, YES!  Dressage rider, got nothin' for ya.  Dressage has to be the most humbling of all equine disciplines.  And as Piglet's mom pointed out, it is a very personal journey.    

I truly see myself as a bumbling dork once my butt hits that black saddle.  I feel like a legless weeble-wobble.  You remember those egg-shaped toys that looked like a character?  That's me.  I feel so unsteady, out of balance, and ridiculous.  It seems as though everyone else out there rides so ... effortlessly.

I know what you're saying, she's just fishing for compliments.

Truly, it's not that.  I wish I could see myself honestly in relation to other riders.  My scores seem to suggest that I ride like everyone else.  I mean I scored a 63.5% MY FIRST TIME OUT!  How bad can I be?  I guess I need someone who doesn't know me at all and who has nothing personal invested in me to say, yep, you're doing pretty well.  Why don't you just do a little more of this and a little less of that ...  Maybe I could believe that.  

So back to the idea that dressage is personal.  I am definitely competing solely against myself.  I WANT to be better than Introductory, not because there's anything wrong with this level, I just don't want to be stuck at ANY level.  I want to advance because to me, it will mean that I am improving.
   
Okay ... blah, blah, blah, poor baby.  Want some cheese with that "whine?"  I know that's what you're thinking.  I am, too.  

So what's the point to all of this?  Is it that I need to recognize my strengths and build on them?  Get over myself, already? Just get out there and keep riding?  After that gloriously "connected" ride Speedy G gave me on Saturday, I do feel that we aren't stuck.  We are advancing.  Three days ago I wouldn't have considered writing that, and in three more days I'll probably be whining again.  

I guess I need to take it when we've got it and hold on to the feeling!
Lori
3/20/2011 10:58:20 pm

Karen, you are way too hard on yourself. lol
Dressage is hard, even for the most experienced of riders. It takes a very disciplined person to even be able to start it, much less want to excel.
You have gone from an endurance rider, where the 2 point stance is what is the most common way of going, to having to learn to sit and "feel" your horse.
I am impressed by all you have learned and accomplished! Good work! :)

Karen Sweaney
3/21/2011 09:53:28 am

Ah ... Lori. You're too kind. Thanks for the nice comments.

I can't figure out exactly why I am so honest in this blog. It makes me look like such a sucker for abuse! It seems somehow so ...wrong ... to point out all of ones fears and inadequacies, but doing so makes them seem more manageable to me. I want the world to NOT judge me too harshly when they can see for themselves the mistakes I make. Don't want anyone thinkin' I THINK I'm all that or anything! :0)


Comments are closed.

    About the Writer and Rider

    ​I am a lifelong rider. 
    I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010.
    ​Welcome to my dressage journey.
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    Photo by Lori Ovanessian

    About Speedy G

    ​Speedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
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    July 2020 (PC AJSK Photography)

    About Izzy

    Izzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
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Site Designed and Managed by: Karen Sweaney

Among other things, Karen is a Wife, Friend, Reader, Writer, Rider, Traveler, and Dog Lover
Contact her at bakersfielddressage@gmail.com
  • Home
  • About
  • My Horses
    • Horses
    • Imperioso
    • G Ima Starr FA
    • Sunshine
    • Nakota and Gideon
    • Corky
    • Sassy
    • Montoya DSA
    • Mickey Dee
    • Sydney
  • Show Results
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
    • 2010
  • Dressage Organizations
    • Dressage Organizations
    • Memberships
    • 2019 Dressage Tests
  • Local
    • Shopping List
  • Home