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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

It's Official!

11/21/2015

 
I know it's kind of silly to get excited about USDF Rider Performance Awards, but I can't help it.

When I first started on this dressage journey, an early trainer told me that most riders never make it past Training Level. At the time, I felt a little discouraged. Did that mean that dressage was so hard that riders felt forced to quit at the very earliest stages?

I wondered if I should even bother. But then I rationalized that there was no way it could be any harder than the sport of endurance. When I first started endurance riding I thought that there was no possible way I could ever get a horse fit enough to complete 100 miles in one day. Not only did I ultimately start and finish five 100 milers, I did three of them in one year on the same horse.
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Montoya DSA at the 20 Mule Team 100 miler in 2000. We finished 22 out of 43 starters with a ride time of 16 hours and 15 minutes. The winner ran the 100 miles in 8 hours and 45 minutes - twice as fast!!!!
The percentage of endurance riders who compete at the 100 mile level is admittedly quite low relative to the number of riders competing at the shorter distances, but you don't have to be an elite athlete to do it. And I'll admit that the list of riders who do 3 hundred milers in a single year is probably really small. I am certain it's fewer than 100, and it might even be smaller than 50. Or, that's how it was when I was competing back in the early 1990s and the 2000s. 

I share all of this not to leave you with the impression that I was some kind of super star in the sport - not even close. I was just a run of the mill rider with a pretty nice horse (I only paid $1,000 for her). We trained consistently, had a lot of good luck, and made good choices in vets and farriers. I also dug deep that year and persevered; endurance racing has a huge mental component.

​I lost Montoya to an unusual colic in January of 2010 just a week after competing at the Fire Mountain 50 miler. She was 20 years old. Speedy had been doing some endurance races, but he wasn't nearly as gung ho about it as Montoya. I did a few more races on him during the spring, but then I decided to take a break from endurance training and racing. We entered the Just Coe Crazy 55 miler in early June (which we didn't complete) and did our first dressage show three weeks later!
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Intro A or B (I can't remember which one this was). Not bad for a rookie dressage rider and an endurance horse!
I don't know if that early trainer was right or not. Do most riders top out at Training Level? I guess it has a lot to do with where you live. In a dressage desert like Bakersfield, it's probably true. In a dressage mecca like Ventura or San Diego, the majority of riders probably get farther in the sport before they start to plateau. 

Either way, having earned my First Level Rider Performance Award feels like a big deal to me. I don't have the patch yet, but USDF finally posted it to USDFScores.com which means it is now official.
Picture
It's not 100 miles in a single day, but it feels equally as good!
Endurance riders know how ridiculously hard it is to get a horse through a hundred miler. Even so, a run of the mill rider can get it done with hard work and attention to detail.

The same hard work and attention to detail can get an average rider like myself through the dressage levels. I think most dressage riders can appreciate the journey that a horse and rider team must make in order to earn their scores for any of the Rider Performance Awards. You don't have to be an elite horse and rider team to do it, but with consistent work, a little luck, and good horse keeping choices, most riders can get it done.

I am really proud of this award because I know how much work it took for us to earn it. It will be displayed with pride.
Desirea link
11/21/2015 08:01:45 am

Very impressive Karen! Congratulations!

Bakersfield Dressage link
11/21/2015 08:21:47 am

Thanks, Desirea. Now Second Level is sitting there like a ginormous challenge, taunting me! :0)

Paola link
11/21/2015 10:18:10 am

Congratulations! You've really proved that hard work and perseverance can get you far!

Bakersfield Dressage link
11/22/2015 05:59:40 am

Thanks, Paola. I don't feel like I work harder than anyone else, but it has felt like it is taking forever to get anywhere. :0)

Amie Cline
11/21/2015 05:53:06 pm

Congratulations! I couldn't help but notice in scrolling through, the picture of Speedy doing Intro and the picture of him in 2014 in your "about" paragraph. What a huge difference in his appearance, a testament to your hard work through the levels!

Bakersfield Dressage link
11/21/2015 07:28:05 pm

Thank you for your kind words, Amie. Speedy could be the poster child for "most improved." Me too for that matter. :0)

Of course, in those early photos he's only 5 or 6 which means he was still growing and developing - Arabs are notoriously later bloomers. LOL

We're making the slowest progress possible - no point in rushing it, but it does seem to be a good choice for the both of us. Thanks for commenting. :0)

Teresa link
11/22/2015 03:56:33 am

congratulations! you worked hard and deserved it

Bakersfield Dressage link
11/22/2015 06:00:27 am

Thanks, Teresa, but why can't we get there just a wee bit faster?! :0)

jenj
11/23/2015 06:54:12 am

It's not silly at all, it's a HUGE accomplishment! You should be super proud of yourself and of Speedy - you've both worked hard and you have something to show for it!

Bakersfield Dressage link
11/23/2015 07:21:21 am

Thanks, Jen. I am not sure it's huge or anything, but at least it's something. A trainer that I know posted something on my Facebook wall about how all I need is just four more scores for a Bronze. I teased her about how easy she made it sound. When you put it like that, "just four more scores," it DOES seem easier. If those scores were at First, I could whip it out quickly. But as you know, it's those scores at Third that are are going to take the longest. :0)

Cathryn k link
11/23/2015 10:43:50 am

Your blog is so inspirational to me <3

Bakersfield Dressage link
11/23/2015 06:07:56 pm

Thank you, Cathryn, that's really kind of you to say. Like most bloggers, I write for myself. It's therapeutic - I know you know what that feels like. :0)

It's also a great way to connect with other like minded riders. I especially enjoy hearing from readers as they share their own stories. Yours in particular is interesting - i've ALWAYS wanted to learn to drive horses, although minis or ponies seems a lot safer and more practical. :0)

Please feel free to share more often!

bonita link
11/23/2015 06:17:42 pm

Not silly at all - I'm so excited for you! You and Speedy are totally mine and Copper's inspiration, and it's so thrilling that you've made it so far!!

Bakersfield Dressage link
11/24/2015 05:51:05 am

Thank you, Bonita. While we certainly never aspire to "inspire," the thing that I like most about our story is that we are as non-traditional as can be, and we're STILL making it happen, I mean really - an ex-endurance racer riding an Arabian, neither of whom had a formal riding lesson until five years ago?

If WE can do it, anyone can! That's what makes dressage so fantastic as a sport - anyone on any kind of horse really can get out there and do it. I enjoy showing people that you don't need a fancy warmblood. Of course Speedy and will probably never ride a Grand Prix, but you never know. :0)

emma link
11/24/2015 05:52:03 am

congratulations!!! it *is* a big deal - esp as one of probably many riders out there who hope to one day get the same thing ;)

Bakersfield Dressage link
11/24/2015 06:08:07 am

Thanks, Emma. Like I told Bonita above, if an ex-endurance racer and her Arabian can move through the levels of dressage, ANYONE can. I know you'll be sharing your own dressage accomplishments very soon. Please wait until the doc gives the okay on riding though, No one needs to be in THAT much of a hurry to get a bronze. :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.
    Picture
    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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    March 2021 (PC Tess Michelle Photography)

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    National Rider Awards

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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
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