Pre-Show Assessments

I’ve had a few people ask “how do you think you’ll do?” or “do you feel prepared?” or something along those lines for my show next weekend.  I found myself having a hard time answering those questions so I thought that I would delve further into it on here so I could perhaps figure out how to articulate myself better. 

I do feel prepared in that I don’t think I’m going to over-face Mort physically or mentally.  I feel prepared in that I think I have a good idea where our weak spots are.  Do I think we’ll walk away with a 75%?  Probably not.  Do I think we’ll walk away with a 50%?  Probably not that either.  “Doing well” is apparently hard for me to define.  So I’m going to come up with a few expectations and see how we stack up to those. 

Training Level Test Two

This (theoretically) should be a breeze for Mort.  Physically and mentally this is stuff we do every single ride.  My biggest concern is that it will actually not have enough “stuff” to keep Mort’s mind busy and his balance with me.  I may have to play with mini shoulder-fore or some leg-yields into a corner to keep us occupied.  Or he’ll relish the simple stuff and be happy to play along. 

First Level Test Two

Here I definitely know that our lengthenings won’t be magical.  I simply don’t have a good space to do these in the winter (the indoor is fairly small for a magical lengthening).  I work on adjusting his stride length every ride, just not to the extent that I always want to.  When the weather has been good we’ve gotten some decent examples in the field, but that work hasn’t been consistent enough for me to expect a whole lot this early in the spring.  I’m OK with that; if he just gives me what I’ve gotten at home I’ll be satisfied.

Both Tests

I have a concern with the geometry.  I don’t have a regulation dressage arena to work in regularly.  While this has some benefits (so much more space/time in a larger arena at a show), it definitely has some drawbacks when it comes to accuracy of figures.  I’ve ridden a lot of tests before, but not on Mort.  I will just have to be more aware that I’m not 100% certain how steep to make those leg yields, and keep an eye on my diagonals, etc. 

My second concern revolves around us being consistent.  When we’re really together and everything is working the way it should he’s getting to be pretty good.  But we still definitely have expressive transitions.  We have moments of being upside-down.  Sometimes he’s against my hands and sometimes he still hides from them.  All of these moments are less and less frequent, but they still happen.  There is at least one bad canter transition every ride (usually one of the first ones).  There are definitely times when my communication isn’t clear and he flounders.  Here’s to hoping these moments don’t happen during a test.  It’s all part of horse training and showing.  Moments will continue to happen forever and they’ll evolve over time into different problems. 

Overall I guess my answer is that I think we’ll do alright and that I hope we’ll do well.  I feel fairly prepared—Mort and I both need more work (and always will).  I don’t think he’ll be over-faced at all even if we’re not perfect.  We need practice in show situations and in a show arena.  This is what schooling shows are for, right?  I love the WWU schooling shows because they are so low-stress and the show manager does everything in her power to set up the riders for successful rides (babysitter horses, schooling in the show arena, getting back on if someone comes off, etc.).  Hopefully next week will be a wonderful way to really assess where Mort and I are right now, and that’s about as complicated as I should make it.