Not-So-Speedy Dressage
From Endurance to Dressage
Yep, my man, Speedy G. I hadn't ridden him since early August. After body work and hock injections didn't ease his lameness, under my vet's recommendation, I took him over to Alamo Pintado for a thorough lameness exam. As it turned out, Speedy's left hock was well on its way to fusing. He should have been lame long ago, but the guy hung on long enough to earn us a USDF Bronze Medal. You have to love horses with heart. His must be huge! My plan had been to give him the fall and winter off, but when a young woman reached out to me about local riding and training opportunities, I introduced her to Speedy. T has now ridden Speedy a few times, and it seems like a good match. She's just learning which means the work is pretty easy, and easy work is what Speedy seems to need. T is getting married soon, so she's been busy with wedding preparations which means she hasn't been able to ride for the past week or so. Since Speedy has been 100% sound, I decided to hop on him on Saturday to see how he felt. I don't know who had more fun, him or me. I only rode him for 15 minutes, but he was ready for whatever I asked. We started with some easy trot work with a few trot to canter to trot transitions; I was mostly checking to see what has happened since T has been riding him. I also wanted to give him a little bit of a tune up to make sure his status as school master was still deserved.
After reminding him that yes, he can still go in a soft and round frame, I decided to see if he was willing to give me some flying changes. Boy, did he! We did one each way, and both were crisp and clean. And then, just to see if we could, I asked for three changes across the diagonal, a movement from Fourth Level, test 1. Easy peasy. Speedy G gave them to me as if we've been schooling them every day. I'm going to stick with my plan of low level rides through the fall and winter, but I am definitely going to hop on board every now and then to check in on him. Both vets thought it likely that he'd need to retire from upper level work, but they didn't rule it out completely. If Speedy's game for more work this spring, I am in! Comments are closed.
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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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