Dressage
For those of you who haven't heard me talk about this much, or for those of you who have and had no idea what I was talking about, I thought I'd explain dressage.
Why now? Well, for the first time in several years I'm going to a dressage show. I haven't been since before James got sick (this starts near the middle). (Man, even looking at that post made me sad. Yes, shake it off, ada. Don't let the drama get ya.)
Aaannyway, I went to the open arab show in October, just to get out, and had fun. So, I had decided to go to the next 'local' dressage show when it came up. And it's next Sunday. eek! My trainer K- is going to go with me, thank God. And I said 'local' because it's really two hours away, but it's not rated, it's just a fun show.
I keep telling myself I'll be happy with 50%, but I really want to get higher. Although he's a baby, never been in a full dressage ring. So, give us both slack.
What is dressage? The easiest way to understand is that it's like ice dancing. You have a partner you have to work with, and you have to do a set series of movements together. As you get better, the series of movements, or tests, get more difficult.
This is a good somewhat in depth description of dressage/competition/horses/etc. It explains the judging scale, which is from 10=OMGWTF that was AWESOME!!!, to 0=didn't do it, and how it is applied to the movements in the tests.
(BTW, 10s are *rare*. Very good people tend to get 60s-70%s. Brilliant rides are in the 80%s.)
This is an occasionally hilarious guide for spectators to the sport. I especially enjoyed #4 and #9. Of course, the comment I have for #4 is that they're never afraid of the thing that will actually kill them-like their owner/mommy. *rolls eyes*
So there ya go. A slightly interesting guide to dressage.
(and now I'm going to go to bed and make myself believe that I didn't jinx myself by talking about James. yes, my brain is stupid that way. *rolls eyes at self*)
ETA: Classical dressage is kind of my thing. One of the reasons why I went to an andalusian/lusitano breeder and baroque trainer when I got Zolar.
Why now? Well, for the first time in several years I'm going to a dressage show. I haven't been since before James got sick (this starts near the middle). (Man, even looking at that post made me sad. Yes, shake it off, ada. Don't let the drama get ya.)
Aaannyway, I went to the open arab show in October, just to get out, and had fun. So, I had decided to go to the next 'local' dressage show when it came up. And it's next Sunday. eek! My trainer K- is going to go with me, thank God. And I said 'local' because it's really two hours away, but it's not rated, it's just a fun show.
I keep telling myself I'll be happy with 50%, but I really want to get higher. Although he's a baby, never been in a full dressage ring. So, give us both slack.
What is dressage? The easiest way to understand is that it's like ice dancing. You have a partner you have to work with, and you have to do a set series of movements together. As you get better, the series of movements, or tests, get more difficult.
This is a good somewhat in depth description of dressage/competition/horses/etc. It explains the judging scale, which is from 10=OMGWTF that was AWESOME!!!, to 0=didn't do it, and how it is applied to the movements in the tests.
(BTW, 10s are *rare*. Very good people tend to get 60s-70%s. Brilliant rides are in the 80%s.)
This is an occasionally hilarious guide for spectators to the sport. I especially enjoyed #4 and #9. Of course, the comment I have for #4 is that they're never afraid of the thing that will actually kill them-like their owner/mommy. *rolls eyes*
So there ya go. A slightly interesting guide to dressage.
(and now I'm going to go to bed and make myself believe that I didn't jinx myself by talking about James. yes, my brain is stupid that way. *rolls eyes at self*)
ETA: Classical dressage is kind of my thing. One of the reasons why I went to an andalusian/lusitano breeder and baroque trainer when I got Zolar.