Not-So-Speedy Dressage
From Endurance to Dressage
Saturday was beautiful, so I did ride, but it wasn't much of a ride because my arena had some standing water in one corner. And while the surface was dry on the rest, it wasn't dry enough for a horse who might get sassy. Strike that. Dry enough for a horse with attitude. <Cough, cough> Izzy. On Sunday morning, I woke up to an unforcasted rainy day which meant even wetter footing. What. The. Heck. Last week, I shared photos of the rising Kern River. A day later, water engineers began increasing the outflow from under the Isabella Dam. A few days ago, the release rate was 414 SFD (1 Second-Foot-Day equals 646,325.5 Gallons). On Sunday, the flow had been increased to almost 3,000 SFD. You can do the math to get the exact number of gallons rushing past the barn. I'll just say this, it's a lot! So far, the water hasn't climbed our bank, but the neighbors across the river haven't been so lucky. Their lawns are now partly under water. The ranch sits a bit higher on the north side, but when it finally does reach our pastures, the neighbors on the south side will have water up to their back doors. It happened a few years ago, and back then their homes stayed dried. This year might be a different story. In the meantime, this once or twice-a-week rain is making it very challenging to ride with any consistency. I was certain that Saturday's bright sunshine and warm temperatures were going to give me most of my arena back. Nope. We have two more storms on the horizon, one today and another in the next week. Our meteorologist is predicting several more storms in the month of April. He even labeled our frustration as rain trauma. I don't know how "traumatic" it is, but it is certainly getting old. Most of you are rolling your eyes because you see rain and snow every winter. I'll admit it; this California girl enjoys our typically mild winters. I like being able to ride 360 days a year.
At least I can still clean tack and groom. Comments are closed.
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About the Writer and RiderI am a lifelong rider.
I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010. Welcome to my dressage journey. About Speedy GSpeedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
About IzzyIzzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
National Rider AwardsState Rider Awards
State Horse Awards
Working Towards:
CDS Sapphire Rider Award Third Level: 63.514% Third Level: 62.105% Fourth Level: Fourth Level: 2023 Show Season
Show Rating (***) CDS/USDF/USEF (*) CDS (s) Schooling (c) Clinic (r) Ride-a-Test Clinic 2023 Show Schedule
TBD 2023 Completed … Pending 2023 Qualifying Scores
Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC) Qualifying Training Level 3 Scores/2 Judges/60%: Score 1: Score 2: Score 3: Archives
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