Not-So-Speedy Dressage
From Endurance to Dressage
I have a hard time saying goodbye. When I connect, it tends to be for a very long time. This week, I had to say goodbye to a very good friend. Sadly, I bid adieu to my last endurance saddle. It wasn't like I was ever going to really use it again, but having it helped me feel connected to a part of my life that was in many ways, defining. Not to be melodramatic, but riding your horse for 100 miles in one day does things to you. It changes you. It changes the relationship you have with your horse. Doing three of them in a single year gives you a sense of what you're made of like not much else can. You're a bad ass; you rock; you're part of a very elite group. And then a week passes and you're just a horse crazy lady who spends way too much time in the saddle. I am not that crazy lady any more; my husband would disagree. He doesn't understand that I am a different kind of crazy lady now - there's a difference. So that saddle just had to go. I've been thinking about selling it for several years now, but I just didn't have a need for the money. Now I do.
Sydney's stall is empty. I like to think it's just resting, gathering energy for it's next occupant. Yep. I am on the hunt for my next equine partner. I dig the Speedy pony, but I need two horses to love and share. One just doesn't fill me up enough. I posted the saddle at endurance.net, and within three days it sold to a NATRC rider in Tennessee. I hope it finds a good life with her. While I enjoyed the saddle and am certainly sad to see it go, the money will be used to pad my new horse savings account. Happy trails to you, endurance saddle. Keep your next rider as safe and comfortable as you did me.
9 Comments
I sold my old jumping saddle recently, and it was similarly difficult. It puts a seal on my decision to focus on dressage.
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Angela
11/20/2014 12:19:10 am
Congrats on the quick sale!
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lytha
11/20/2014 05:51:46 pm
oh no, i loved that saddle! but i get it, you've got to be practical. my 90s model thorogood dressage saddle is in america, maybe i should send for it. well, when my horse is less exciting to ride...
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I had similar feelings for my 3 (!!!!!) extra saddles I had just sitting around in addition to my cross country saddle and dressage saddle. I justified it by "oh it might fit my next horse". I had to abandon that thinking and ditch 4 of my 5 saddles (I kept the xc jump saddle- I love it and I wanted to keep something around for hacking through the woods or even jumping) when my horse decided he didn't like his dressage saddle anymore. I tried several on him, and he decided he liked the Jaguar XKC Monoflap dressage saddle (retail $4,000). I put everything I could on consignment at my local tack shop. I let some of them go for cheaper than I wanted, but I really needed them gone. My tack shop was selling the Jaguar for a bit less than retail, but it was still out of my ability to pay. There aren't many of the saddles in the US, I had to wait 3 months for one to be made in England, which gave my saddles plenty of time to sell so I only had to put up an extra $1,200 for it. It's sad to see the saddles go, but they funded something much more important!
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About the Writer and RiderI 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. About Speedy GSpeedy 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.
About IzzyIzzy 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.
National Rider AwardsState Rider Awards
State Horse Awards
Working Towards:
CDS Sapphire Rider Award Third Level: 63.514% Third Level: 62.105% Fourth Level: Fourth Level: 2023 Show Season
Show Rating (***) CDS/USDF/USEF (*) CDS (s) Schooling (c) Clinic (r) Ride-a-Test Clinic 2023 Show Schedule
TBD 2023 Completed … Pending 2023 Qualifying Scores
Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC) Qualifying Training Level 3 Scores/2 Judges/60%: Score 1: Score 2: Score 3: Archives
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