Taking some notes from the Doug Payne play book I decided to try surviving hone some skills in Jumper Land and Dressage Land.
After not only surviving…. but winning some money at a jumper show, I got brave enough to make an appearance at a dressage show. My fearless steed has a few knucklehead moves that he ONLY tries out at competitions………
During my last lesson the instructor pointed out that because he only pulls these little stunts IN THE RING……. AT THE SHOW that eventually…………. I would be forced to school him through the problem IN THE RING…….. AT A SHOW.
That had never really occurred to me as an option. I had always been told to “pretend I meant to do that” when things went wrong…………of course that rarely improves your score when your horse tries to EXIT STAGE LEFT at the gate…………….
With this newly acquired wisdom, I decided I had better make an appearance at a dressage show to try this out.
My biggest concern……………..was it even possible to remember that many tests?
I decided to go for it and signed up for a zillion FIVE tests.
Bad Eventer has Memory Skillz………..oh yes……..
After scrambling to borrow a shadbelly at my last attempt at an FEI event…….
I finally bought one.
I decided I’d better see if I could even stand riding in it…..I’m often the Princess & the Pea and the tiniest things drive me nuts. I wanted to be sure I wasn’t going to have some kind of apoplectic fit while wearing it. The planned dressage-y adventure was a schooling show which seemed like the perfect opportunity to give the new attire a test run.
Seeing that it was 104 degrees in the shade I just tossed it on over my vented shirt.
BUT…..just before I entered the arena my hair tie fell off….turning my tidy little bun into…….
Figuring that I would tie it up in between tests I went for it………….shadbelly plus flapping hair………..
And THAT is how Bad Eventer OFFICIALLY became Bad Dressage Rider
haha awesome judges comment. hope the tests went well at least!