It was on paper an absolute disaster! If you were told you were merely 'Sufficient' or 'Satisfactory' with the next level down being 'insufficient' it's safe to say you probably wouldn't class that as a win. However, despite a score of 59% and a test that looked like a stressed ironing board who couldn't stay on the track was having a go at Dressage, it was, for me personally, a very successful day.
The whole point of signing up for dressage this winter was so get Estrid out to venue's in the hope that exposure will reduce her stressiness. The added bonus is it will, in time, improve her balance, suppleness and strength. It is also excellent practice for a mass start, as the warm up arena isn't dissimilar to a mass start warm up. It has also focused my training and given me deadlines to work towards, which always increases my motivation to train and be consistent.
Estrid was good as gold when I got her off the trailer to walk around the venue, she was then less well behaved for the standing still to tack up process but then an absolute angel in the warm up arena. Her paces were sharp, short and choppy, her nose was in he air and she was tense but she was trying and she didn't freak out, so a huge win in my book.
For the actual test she was very tense and hollow, she lacked rhythm and suppleness but she went through the motions and we made it through the test without any major dramatics, so another win towards our goals. On the rider side I didn't forget the test but I did forget to breath and relax and actually ride. I was just steering the ship in the general direction rather than actually properly riding and helping her out, so it was also excellent practice for my nerves and great to reflect back on what I could have done better.
She was particularly sassy when we took her back to the trailer but I'm hoping that this will improve and we may even enter a competition where we can do multiple tests so she gets used to the on/off, in/out that will also reflect vet gated rides.
Such poor performance on paper has given me a good baseline to work towards getting those marks up but most importantly we did it and we will try again until we get it ( I'd really like to score an 8, which is 'Good' in dressage terms). I am actively working on letting go of negative thoughts, especially that little voice saying 'everyone's watching how bad you are', dressage is a supreme way to practice this for me, I find it stressful to put this footage out into the world but at the end of the day, I'm doing my best with the skills I have and I'm trying to get better, I'm proud of that. I don't need to be perfect, I just need to progress.
Thanks for watching,
Beth