Whether We Are Ready Or Not!

The night before a horse trial is always a tense one -- did I pack both girths? Is my armband where I think it is?  Did I remember to make a post-dressage snack for Encore?  Are both cameras charged?

Tomorrow's forecast in SoPines is clear and sunny, although windy and since the hosting farm is in the sandhills, footing should be nice -- although you always have to keep an eye on those pine needle patches, they can slip!  If I have any lucky at all, that sun will shine on Encore making his 2012 eventing debut.  He completed one horse trial last year at the Maiden level, so I'll start him at Beginner Novice this spring to build his confidence and begin to teach him the little routines of horse trial day.

But what will make or break our ride tomorrow won't be weather or footing or gear -- it will be whether I have the patience and calm to warm him up correctly.  The KEY is getting the horse supple.  You don't have to do x number of 20 metre circles or 5 perfect leg yields or a set number of gaits in each direction.  You need to produce a supple and attentive horse using whatever means are most effective to get him there. 

For Encore, this means bend, change the bend, bend back, counter bend, change bend again, leg yield on a spiral, bend again -- all the while my goal is to work him softer in the jaw and balanced beneath my seat.  If I can acheive that, then I will have succeeded. 

We'll be all over the warmup ring -- it's not about staying on the rail or using a common routine, it's about loosening and suppling my horse so he is round and on the aids when it is time for us to go in the ring.  It doesn't matter how we get there as long as we arrive.

I'll trot my horse down centerline at 10:43 am tomorrow and as we turn right to begin our test, everyone will know whether or not I've achieved my goal and that moment of truth will set the tone for the rest of our day.

Categories: dressage, horse trials