The Struggle is Real - Part 1

I am definitely an under-achieving over-achiever when it comes to dressage. This is hard for me because I tend to be pretty good at the things in which I am interested. Why I chose dressage, I'll never know as it is a discipline where perfection is unattainable unless your name is Charlotte, Carl, or Isabell.

I am not making excuses here, but dang is Second Level hard. On Sunday, Speedy and I gave it yet another go. For the first time this show season, I didn't have a horrendous migraine, and while I may still be drugged up, the drugs weren't making me loopy. And you know what? We scored WORSE than before. Insert HUGE eye roll here.

I think we have straightness down pat.

Again, I am not making excuses, but this judge was tough. I rarely, if ever complain about my scores. If anything, I tend to discredit our higher scores believing the judge to be overly generous. I am not doing that again. Out of 23 posted scores (not counting 1 elimination or any of the scratches), 10 scores were in the 40s and 50s. I'll do the math for you; that's 43%.

On the other hand, the judge also handed out some very nice scores. The top two scores were a 71% and a 75%. The rest of the scores were all in the 60s. This either means that this show attracted a LOT of sucky riders and a few good ones, or the judging was a little tough. I guess it depends on who you ask.

A little behind the bit - we're still working on that.

Each time I move up to a new level, the struggle is the same. I work hard, I cross my fingers, and I pray for a 60%. Instead of the 60, I bring home scores in the 50s. Eventually, we get better, and I start looking for scores in the mid-60s. Then comes the day where I start praying for a 70%. That's when I know we're ready to move up. We're not there yet. Speedy and I are still stuck in the land of the high 50s.

The Simple Change through walk.

We had some nice moments on our Second Level Test 1. Our free walk earned a 7 which was great as it has a double coefficient. Our walk to canter at C earned another 7 as did our halt at X. We also had a smattering of 6s for our rein back, the simple changes, and our medium canter. The rest of the test was filled with 4s and 5s. ​

Medium canter.

I did make two errors that were not Speedy's fault. On our second 10-meter canter circle, I glanced down and swore we were on the wrong lead. I brought him back to trot and picked up the left lead. Doing that put us out of position for the counter canter from F to E so I halted again, turned back toward A and picked up the left lead again so I could counter canter back to the rail at E. Out of the 20 possible points for those two movements, I earned 7 points. Ouch. And as it turns out, I was on the correct lead to begin with.

Canter at C.

I knew it wasn't a great test, and I was frustrated for second guessing myself. Our score was a dismal 56.515%. Certainly not what I was hoping for, but at least we had a few good moments. I have some homework to do for sure, especially on my sitting trot. Like I told my trainer, last May when I rode with Hilda Gurney at the CDS Adult Amateur Clinic, I couldn't sit the trot for more than two strides. Now, here I am sitting for a whole test. It may not be pretty, but it's getting better.

​Here's the video.

Test 2 Tomorrow.