AP being a good boy for his fancy circles!

So, as most of you know, AP and I had plans of grandeur to attend our first dressage show this past weekend.  We were signed up to do Third Level Test 1 and Fourth Level Test 1, Friday through Sunday, a perfect opportunity to work through our issues with tension. Unfortunately and not surprisingly, things rarely go to plan.

We arrived at the horse show early Thursday afternoon to have a lesson. AP loves to roll in fresh shavings, so when I put him in his stall of knee high bedding, he did his ritualistic, enthusiastic roll.

He just happened to let his right front hoof hit the upper inside front left leg and it caused a slight laceration. He was of course fine right away, and we went and had a great lesson. Three hours later, his leg was swelling and AP, being the biggest baby of all time (my vet could tell you some ridiculous stories), was walking lame.  Very frustrated, I packed up and made the drive two hours home.

Within two hours of turnout and moving around, AP was already significantly sounder and less pouty, but I had resigned to the fact that due to the swelling and his dramatics, we wouldn’t be getting our desperately needed time in the fancy circles ring.  Two days of dressage show passed while AP sat at home and I got the young ones ridden.

However, the dressage gods must have shifted their favor, because on Sunday morning AP came in with the actual shape of a leg and 100% sound.  We loaded up and made our way back to Silverwood, much to AP’s shock and confusion when I opened the trailer door.

AP’s reward and our happy place

I am so thankful that things worked out to have at least one day of showing. My trainer, Kathryn Barry, immediately noticed that my elbows tense up at the show more than at home, and our entire warm up was focused on suppling and relaxing AP and making me conscientious about my own tension and nerves. When you don’t feel nerves mentally, it can be very difficult to pinpoint the physical manifestations.

The results really reflected how beneficial the experience was. Our first test was the Fourth Level 1, and we scored a 58 with an error. We then went back to the warm up, had a discussion of how I needed to ride things differently, and AP went back in the ring and scored a 64.3 in the Third Level 1, a score that would convert to an FEI score of 53.6!

That would be a huge improvement, and there are still so many points to shave off from that test.  Most importantly, when I was more supple in my elbows, AP was workmanlike, obedient, and steady.

As a reward, AP and I stopped at the Barrington Riding Center on our way home to get in a quick cross country school before Richland. We just popped up and down a bank, across a ditch, dropped into the water, and jumped a few technical questions.

With all the work, and sometimes drama, that goes into developing such an incredible animal, you do sometimes take your situation for granted and get lost in your system and program along with all the long hours and focus that are required. However, as I was sitting on this horse, walking out to do the thing that he loves more than anything after he just tried his very hardest to be excellent for the thing he is not so crazy about, I had a full appreciation for my partner and friend.

I felt so privileged to be the person on his back and such a sense of gratitude to be a part of his journey.  It just felt like being home, and it’s really these moments, amongst all the craziness associated with maintaining an elite athlete, that make me love this sport.  Go eventing!  And, dressage too I suppose.

AP, in his FLAIR Strip, all to excited to go galloping, a break from his dressage boot camp!

After reading the Grounded Eventer’s post about her love for dressage, I couldn’t help sharing about my upcoming weekend.  AP and I are going to a real dressage show, three days, two tests a day, and not a cross country jump in sight.  I made the decision that we would be doing lots of dressage boot camp and shows as we were having a meltdown circling the arena at Bromont.

This past winter in Florida, I was working extensively with Peter Gray and Jon Holling, both of which helped me improve my flatwork by leaps and bounds.  In one dressage lesson, Jon told me that AP should be scoring high 40s but at worst mid 50s in FEI competition, no excuses.

Peter expressed similar expectations when he told me that my practice test the week prior to Bromont would put me in the top 20%.  Since the movements were relatively new to AP, in particular the changes and half-pass, my focus was getting him the runs he needed for his cross county education with Rolex in mind for next year.  I thought that with more time and confirmation of the movements, the scores would come.

Bromont most definitely told me otherwise.  I had a week of incredible rides leading up to AP’s dressage test, and my warm up before going into the ring felt wonderful.  We walked into the arena and started circling the ring, and everything just fell apart.

I still am not sure how I got us through that test with a qualifying score.  The next hour or so after my test was incredibly nerve-wracking.  Had I just driven 19 hours total to not even get the dressage score I need for a Rolex qualifier?  And if I had, should I even use his legs and finish the competition?

Luckily, and likely due to the compassion and understanding of the judges, that wasn’t the case.  But in that hour, I decided that we were going to do something about this.

I went home to Illinois, and after AP’s five week vacation, we started taking dressage lessons every four to five days with my longtime trainer, Kathryn Barry.  This very much piggy-backed off of my program with Peter and Jon and Florida, and the progress has been significant.

The positioning in our half-passes is becoming more solid all the time and rather than getting two or three clean changes a ride, I maybe have two that aren’t.  With the work at home being up to par, we are now off to a proper dressage show to get a handle on the nerves and exuberance.

I’m hoping that with six tests in three days, we can finally start to address this and produce a good test next weekend for the CIC3* at Richland. My horse is going to be so disappointed when I walk into his stall with my dressage saddle on the second day of competition, but here’s to possibly, and finally, showing everyone the type of dressage horse that AP is capable of being!