I live in USDF Region 7 whose states include California, Nevada, and Hawaii. Nevada doesn't have a Group Member Organization, Hawaii has three, and  California has two - the California Dressage Society (CDS) and the Dressage Association of Southern California (DASC). To give you some idea of how big CDS is, I added up the membership from the three Hawaiian chapters and DASC. Together they total 156 members. In contrast, CDS has 3,196 recorded members.

The USDF Region 7 Championship is always held in conjunction with the CDS Championship. Every other year the location of the championship changes; one year it's held in Northern California and in the alternating year it's held in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank. Speedy and I competed in the CDS Horse of the Year (HOY) Championship classes in 2014.

For adult amateurs to qualify for CDS HOY at Second Level, the horse and rider team needs 5 scores of 61% or better (any test) from 4 different judges. Each year, whether I intend to go or not, I make it my goal to qualify.

As of July 31, only 20 riders have qualified for the CDS Championship show at Second Level. I am really proud to have made that list in our first year at Second Level. Additionally, our win at RAAC gives us a "bye" - an automatic qualification for the Championship show. 

Besides being thrilled to have qualified, I was equally excited to see that most of the Bakersfield dressage riders also qualified! We're a pretty small group of ladies, so to see Bakersfield so well represented is something worth cheering for. In total, six Bakersfield riders, including one junior, qualified for the CDS Championships. 

The championship show is pretty expensive, and I already spent a lot going to RAAC, so I don't think the championship show is in the cards for us this year. I am happy enough just to have qualified - twice! 

With more than 2,300 on its roster, CDS's membership makes up a hunk of USDF's membership. When the California Dressage Society makes big changes, they get noticed. A few weeks ago, I wrote about some changes that the CDS Board had made to the annual championship show. Those changes riled up enough of the membership that the CDS Executive Board held a meeting on February 7 and amended several of the changes.

Talk about democracy in action. The people spoke, their elected leaders listened. Here's a link to the survey results. While I wasn't upset by any of the changes, a lot of other people were. In the end, a few things remained the same:

1) CDS will not apply to host the USDF Breeders Championships West Coast Final. Not enough people seemed to care about that.

2) The CDS 4, 5, and 6 year old futurity classes will still be combined with Open and Adult Amateurs competing together with a concurrent Adult Amateur Futurity Challenge division. Again, this one didn't cause much of a fuss.

Or, GMOs for short. I've written about this topic before, but the more people I get to know around the country, the more interested I am in learning about their GMOs.

If you want to know more about the various GMOs, USDF has a handy little feature that lets you look at the list of GMOs grouped by region. First, you need to know your region:

When you know which region you want to look up, click the link here. It's an easy page to navigate. Find your region listed, and select. All of the GMOs in that region will be listed along with the GMO's USDF number - this isn't the number of members. Here is Region 7's list of GMO's.

If you then select a particular Club Name, like the California Dressage Society, you'll be taken to a page that lists the contact information, the group's website, and the full roster. Here's the page for CDS:

The California Dressage Society's USDF number is 700 with a roster of 1297 recorded members. Central Office's mailing address is shown along with the website. Contact information is also listed. I believe that Pauls's position is a paid one, so I can always reach her when I have a question. She is also very quick to return emails. 

​The California Dressage Society operates like a mini-USDF. Because of the huge area it covers and its sheer number of members, CDS is divided into thirty-three chapters, similar to GMOs. Each of the chapters operates independently of one another, based on what its members want and are willing to do. ​

My own chapter puts on four, CDS-rated shows each summer. They offer cash prizes for Open, AA, and Jr./YR class winners and over-all hight point winners, again divided by division. The chapter also hosts an annual awards banquet where additional year-end ribbons and cash prizes are awarded. Other, larger chapters host clinics, schooling shows, lectures, demonstrations, and so on. 

Like USDF, CDS offers rider incentives for earning certain scores and recognizes various levels of achievement. The new Gem Rider Award is one of those, along with Rosettes and other awards. CDS's Championship Show is held in conjunction with the USDF Region 7 Championship Show. Each year, CDS also holds an annual 3-day meeting and symposium for its members.

I have a feeling that for many of California's dressage riders, the member benefits that CDS and its chapters offer are more accessible and user-friendly than what USDF offers. I am sure that CDS is always working to grow its membership, but compared to most GMOs, it's already a colossal organization.

I would love to know more about your own GMO.

• Which GMO do you belong to?
• How many members does it have? Are there chapters?
• Does your GMO offer year end awards, rider incentives, or a championship show?

Big or little, GMOs can be a great place to either get started in the sport of dressage, or they can keep you motivated. What's yours like?

Thankfully, my final test of the show came bright and early on Sunday morning. The day dawned cloudy and cooler, which was a relief as it had been extremely hot all week. In fact, as I was saddling, there was a down pour of rain - typical for all you on the east coast, but for us, it was a rare (and mostly) welcome sight. 

My warm-up for the final test went really well. Chemaine coached me through my ride, encouraging me to get Speedy deeper and moving out with a better stride. He was a bit stiff and really wanted to be heavy in my hands, so Chemaine had me do a lot of bending and suppling of his neck.

Surprisingly, I felt really relaxed and wasn't worried about Speedy's stiffness. He was either going to let go and relax, or he wasn't. I was looking forward to the ride and was anxious to get out there and give it another try.

The test rode in nearly slow motion. I felt every stride and was very present. At one point, Speedy got really stiff and was bracing against my hand as we approached C, tracking right. All of a sudden I knew what was meant by having soft hands. I relaxed my shoulders and wrists, and Speedy immediately let go through his neck and poll. It was the first time that I've felt how tension in my body makes him tense. 

As I gave my final salute, my eyes filled with tears. I was really proud of our effort. I knew we weren't going to place as high as I had wanted (middle of the pack), but I had worked really hard and ridden to the absolute best of my ability. To most people, especially those in full training with more expensive horses, that might not have been enough. For me, for those few moments anyway, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment.

Our averaged score for this second test was a 62.000%. I think it's interesting that all five of my score sheets (one from the warm-up ride, two from the "A" ride, and two from this test) were all in the 62% range. That says something about our consistency and about the consistency within the field of judges.

Overall, we finished the Horse of the Year Training Level Championship class for Adult Amateurs in 16th place out of a field of 18 riders. We were "only" nine percentage points below the winner and a mere four percent from the middle of the pack. I am sure that's what the losers always say, but for me, knowing that I was somewhat close to the rest of the field encouraged me. We don't have that much farther to go.

To help me put the whole thing in perspective, a friend, who also competed, said this to me ...

No sour grapes here, just the reality of competing in a bigger fish pond. It's easy to be the big fish at schooling shows and smaller rated-shows. It's only when you venture out into the big leagues that you get to see how you and your horse truly stack up. 

There will always be someone better. I think the trick is to recognize your own success and value what you've managed to achieve while still pushing yourself to do more.

Some bloopers and Oh My!(s) tomorrow ...

My first championship ride was not until 4:14 in the afternoon, which meant I had all day to sit and do whatever I wanted. Right away I knew that Speedy needed to hit the trail again. I focused on everything that Chemaine had talked about. I got him deep and round and worked to get him off my inside leg by leg yielding across the trail and by doing a bit of a shoulder fore as we walked around the bridle path of LAEC.

I spent the rest of the day watching rides (there were nearly 1,500 of them) with my friend, Valerie who is an upper level rider and a great resource for tips and feedback. She actually rides a German Riding Pony to great success. We watched quite a few freestyles in the Equidome which was a lot of fun.

Chemaine met me in the warm-up ring. We again worked on getting Speedy deeper and wiling to go forward. Getting the bend with forward is our challenge right now, but we're getting it. Look at the second photo! 

What made this championship test so interesting, for me as a rider anyway, was that there was not only a C judge, but a judge at E. I know that's par for the course at CDIs, but for this small-town girl, I was impressed. I worried that having a judge at E would distract me, but just like having someone sitting in the box at C, I never even noticed they were there once I did my around the court trot by. I did make sure to thank the judge at E though as I exited the ring; I figured it couldn't hurt!

Here's the test ...

When we finished our final salute, I knew it wasn't a winning ride, but I knew it was the best that I could do. No matter how much better I may want to ride, the reality is that I can only perform as well as I am trained. Speedy isn't going to walk into the ring and start piaffing because he wants to. So while we didn't hit a home run, I know I worked hard and rode to the very best of my ability. 

At the RAAC, I let myself feel intimidated by the "better" riders, and I let myself get distracted during my final test. That didn't happen at the championship, and no one would have blamed me had that happened. I was really pleased with how focused I kept myself. I didn't make any mistakes, my transitions were on time, and I was riding in the moment every moment. That's the best I can ask of myself.

Part B Test tomorrow ...