I rode my second ever Fix-A-Test this week.

I had done one a ZILLION years ago, back when I didn’t know the difference between a leg yield and a half pass……

For that matter, I didn’t know the difference then between a 20 meter circle and a 15 meter circle.

For the uninitiated, a Fix-A-Test is where you ride a dressage test in front of a judge, they give you comments and suggestions and then you try to incorporate their comments and ride it again.

In retrospect I feel a bit sorry for the judge that endured my first Fix-A-Test.

I’ve improved my game just a bit since then.

But in case we haven’t met before,

nothing brings TheBadEventer closer to suicidal thoughts than your typical dressage lesson.

So I headed off for my Fix-A-Test and I was a bit intimidated.

It started off well, the judge asked me what I thought suppleness meant. When I replied, “flexibility and the ability to bend” he gave me an A+ for using the 2 words he uses to explain it.

After I rode my test he explained that my horse didn’t keep a steady bend around one of the 20 meter circles. She was bent and then straight and then bent and then straight, so I lost some points.

I had NO idea what he was talking about.

Later I watched the video and saw what he described.

Wow.

I didn’t even know that was a thing.

Yep!

Dressage still makes my eyes bleed!