Not-So-Speedy Dressage
From Endurance to Dressage
I am pretty sure I've never told you this story ... One of my all time favorite snacks is potato chips. I love them all: Ruffles, Pringles, Lay's, Doritos, and especially Cheetos. I really, really like Cheetos. Back when I was still endurance racing, the one big treat that I always gave myself was a bag of chips for the drive home. After riding 50 or 100 miles, I was always starving and depleted of electrolytes, and chips just hit the spot. Many years of chips in Blue Truck after an endurance race passed. Eventually, I quit endurance riding and made the transition to dressage. As it turned out, two days of showing had the same effect; I was also hot, tired, and feeling the need to munch on chips on the drive home, so the tradition of a bag of Cheetos or Lay's continued. After 17 or 18 years of eating chips on the way home from an equine-filled weekend, I discovered that I had a very bad habit. It was funny enough that I had to tell my frequent traveling partner about it. Kathy, who has been my endurance partner, moral support for Izzy, and Pivo holder extraordinaire, often came with me as I traveled with my horses and those bags of chips. I think I was cleaning my truck one day when I noticed that the entire corner of my seat, next to the center console, was COVERED with an orange stain. I realized that while eating chips for all of those years, I had been wiping the grease off my fingers on the corner of Blue Truck's seat. Earlier this week, Kathy tagged me in a Facebook post with the meme above. Come to think of it, I never checked HER side of the truck. She ate as many Cheetos as I did. When I bought Newt, I broke that habit. Now, whenever Kathy and I travel, she checks my seat for the tell-tale sign of orange, and we laugh all the way home, munching on our bag of chips.
Orange is still the color of truth. 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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