When I halted and saluted at X at the end of my first test, I was very pleased. Our figures felt good. Speedy G wasn't bracing in his neck like he has been doing, he felt relaxed, and he kept a nice steady rhythm. When I saw my score sheet later that morning, I was even more pleased. There were no fives, and we even scored an eight for our medium walk! My Collective Marks had more sevens than sixes, and the judge's further remarks were, Many nice movements shown! At times horse stiffens back and proper connection in bridle was lost. These are much better comments than we've received in the past.
When I got home, I pulled out my score sheet from August and was very pleased that my scores had gone up for several movements, none of my scores went down, and the judge's remarks suggested that we had fixed some of our earlier problems.
I know you're sensing the "but ..." that's coming. Here it is: as I watched the video, my little heart sank. Why weren't my elbows more bent? Why was my rein so loose? And where in the holy heck did that chair position come from? Cue the let-down sound track ... dun dun dun DUN. I know I am very critical of myself, probably too critical. But the truth is that false rah rahs won't help me learn. If I truly want to improve, and I do, then I have to honestly evaluate my riding. We were better. I know that. I just wanted it to be a lot better.
Here's the video of Introductory Test B with the judges's scoresheet after. Watch and judge for yourself. Oh, my final percentage was 65.625% which was my goal for the day. Why am I disappointed?
When I got home, I pulled out my score sheet from August and was very pleased that my scores had gone up for several movements, none of my scores went down, and the judge's remarks suggested that we had fixed some of our earlier problems.
I know you're sensing the "but ..." that's coming. Here it is: as I watched the video, my little heart sank. Why weren't my elbows more bent? Why was my rein so loose? And where in the holy heck did that chair position come from? Cue the let-down sound track ... dun dun dun DUN. I know I am very critical of myself, probably too critical. But the truth is that false rah rahs won't help me learn. If I truly want to improve, and I do, then I have to honestly evaluate my riding. We were better. I know that. I just wanted it to be a lot better.
Here's the video of Introductory Test B with the judges's scoresheet after. Watch and judge for yourself. Oh, my final percentage was 65.625% which was my goal for the day. Why am I disappointed?
