Second Level At a USDF Show

Well, we finally made it to a USDF show at Second Level. It was a week or two ago, but as you know, I haven't been feeling my best. Here's the quick version of what happened.

There is a spoiler alert though - we weren't fabulous. We were barely mediocre. On Saturday, we earned a 62.879% for Test 1 and a 58.846% for Test 2. On Sunday, we earned a 57.576% for Test 1 and a similar 57.821% for Test 2. Low, but you know what? I'll take it. At least we showed up.

Medium Trot

Once again I battled migraines. Our Friday warm up went only so-so. I know our simple change still needs a lot of work, especially after the counter canter, so Chemaine helped me work through them. The whole time I rode though it felt as though I was in a fog. And that fog followed me around all weekend.

We rode at 8:07 on Sunday morning.

Somehow I bumbled through my two tests on Saturday earning at least one decent score. I tried to forget about the pounding in my head, and to most everyone, I probably looked pretty normal. The truth was that I fluctuated from hey, I am standing up and walking to Oh my gosh I think I am dying as I sobbed in pain.

Saturday evening was the worst. I was in serious pain and barely slept. I wondered how I was going to get through Sunday. 

Home away from home.

As I've mentioned about 10,000 times already, I am not a quitter. I sucked it up and plowed through those last two tests. Having some great friends around really helped. Just like the day before, we had some solid moments (6.0s and 7.0s) and a few moments that made everyone wince (I finally earned a 2.0).

Speedy's always a real champ.

Migraine or no, I am not that disappointed with our scores. We earned a lot of 6.0s and 7.0s. The movements that we know well earned us great scores, and the what the hell? moments were just blips. As soon as we improve in those areas, we'll be earning mid-60 scores quite easily.

While I wish I could have earned a 60% on Sunday, I am happy with the one good score we did earn. That single score went a long way toward helping me achieve some of my goals.

• We are now qualified for the CDS Regional Adult Amateur Competition in August.
• We earned another CDS Championship Show qualifying score.
• We now have the first of four scores needed for our USDF Rider Performance Award at Second Level.
• And not like it moves us any closer, but that 62.8% score counts towards a bronze medal. What's to complain about?

Our next show is a CDS-rated show in late May. After that we'll tackle another USDF show in mid-June. That gives me a good chunk of time to polish up that simple change and tweak the shoulder in. I am genuinely pleased with our progress and feel no rush to get through Second Level. I think we'll be here for a while.