Thursday Classroom: Don't Let This Be You

Several things happen every spring like clockwork: the days get longer, the weather gets warmer, and coaches yell at their students for coming to flat lessons without knowing their dressage tests.  At least around my coaches, nothing is more predictable than the fact that you will get asked if you know your dressage test, and you will get yelled at if you do not.  It might be the tryptophan in the Thanksgiving turkey, or maybe the agony of riding for months in the cold, but something makes 95% of students forget that this will happen every single year, and then I have to go take a lesson after them, with the coach now in a foul mood and obsessing over details.  SO, consider this your friendly springtime reminder: save yourself 15 minutes of hearing about attention to detail and preparation by spending 5 minutes learning your test now.