Showing Off

It was so much fun to be back in the show ring with Speedy G. That dude truly is a star. What makes showing him so enjoyable is that he clearly likes the attention and the opportunity to strut his stuff. No matter where we go, Speedy always attracts attention. People just like him.

Photo by Gordon Walter

I've mentioned before that Bakersfield doesn't have enough riders to really support a show, and this endeavor was true to form. There were 11 rides for the day spread out over 4 people. We had two juniors, an open rider, and me as the only adult amateur.

There was some drama upon arrival, but when does a show go perfectly well? Things got sorted out, and Speedy and I hit the warm up. We were the first team of the day. Chemaine was there coaching us, so in no time she had us ready to go.

Photo by Gordon Walter

When we entered at A, I felt a sense of coming home. I love showing Speedy; he just makes things fun. My next thought was about how long it had been since I'd ridden a test where I had aspirations of doing more than just not dying (aka showing Izzy).

I quickly realized that I was having a hard time seeing the letters (they were low). Since I rarely get to school in a dressage court, I didn't have a good sense of exactly which pylon held the letter. I made some mistakes that affected our score. I felt like I was doing a lot of reactive riding instead of being proactive. Fortunately, the judge must have thought my geometry was better than I did because she didn't mark me down for that. 

Photo by Gordon Walter

When I gave my final salute at X, I smiled. In spite of feeling rusty, I really liked the test and was more than happy with the ride. It certainly wasn't perfect, but all of the elements were there; we didn't fake anything. There was actually a lengthening at the trot and while the judge felt my canter lengthening was conservative, at least we got it and came back without falling on our face or crashing into anything. 

First Level Test 2 - 64.060%

The score was more than good enough to count as a qualifying score for CDS's Regional Adult Amateur Competition, a show that we've won twice. It's also more than good enough to count for our first Rosette Award for my plaque.

I love the 7.5, especially since it's for the leg yield, a movement we struggle with! The rest of the scores are pretty solid as well.

I don't know how well you can see it, but we earned an 8 for the 15-meter canter circle to the right. I am beyond tickled with that score!

For both tests, a weakness did show up which was totally my fault. Speedy's halts were terrible! I was very surprised by this because that's one place where we historically pick up points - as in the occasional 8. After the show, I realized that we haven't worked on the halt in a long time. We'll be fixing that.

Test 3 tomorrow!