The Second Level Slog Continues

Yesterday, I wrote about slogging through Second Level with a 61%. I looked up the meaning of slogging - to work hard over a period of time; you'll notice that there's nothing in the definition about being successful. Slogging also means to toil, labor, plod, and exert oneself. Uh ... yep. 

Here's the video for Saturday's next test, Second Level Test 3.

When I first saw the score, a disappointing 57.561%, my initial reaction was that the judge was being too tough. Upon further reflection, I realized that the score was actually pretty good. After all, she gave us ten 6s which translate to satisfactory and five 6.5s which mean almost fairly good. So of the twenty-seven movements able to be scored, fifteen of them were at least satisfactory or better. That's more than half. The remainder of the scores were 5s and 5.5s with a pair of (insufficient) 4s.

Early morning walk before Saturday's rides.

Throughout my not-so-speedy dressage journey, my process has always been the same. I analyze my tests to see where our strengths lie, and I work to build on them. I also study our weakness, and I focus on turning the 5s to 5.5s. Eventually, they become 6s, and before I know it, we're scoring consistently in the mid to upper 60s.

I know we have a lot that we have to fix before we're getting scores in the 60s, but I'm having fun, and I feel like we're almost ready to be competitive.

Tomorrow, day two's tests including some bloopers and the best worst comment ever!