I’m sure this is obvious by now from my several months of
posts and training recaps, but a few months I went back to the not so warm
embrace of dressage.
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| Phyllis Stein pin <3 |
I can’t say that there was one thing that brought me back to
it. Mostly, it just felt nice to work on
it. In some ways, dressage can be
addictive. There are few things that
bring me the satisfaction of a really smooth canter transition or a really
forward, but relaxed trot or canter that your horse is stretching into. That may sound insane and likely pretty
boring to most of you, but it’s true for me.
This has brought about a few different not so nice feelings in me.
For one, it makes me feel a bit guilty. My bff and horse-riding buddy is a skilled and
talented rider (a more effective and patient rider than I’ve ever been), but
she’s just not all that enthused by dressage.
She’s noticed my lack of desire to jump and I think it bums her out,
which bums me out.
As for stadium – well, I still like it, but only at small fence
heights. As my friend’s horse became
more confident in his abilities to jump (and boy, does he have some ability!)
the jumps slowly crept up in size. They’re
at a place that I just don’t enjoy jumping at (2’6”). I’m happy to jump around at 2 feet, but I’m
not happy jumping 2’3” – 2’6” courses.
It drives me nuts and embarrasses me that it scares me, but it
does. I have to pep talk myself over
that fence height, and pep talking oneself and ones horse through an entire
ride isn’t what I consider fun. So I don’t
do it very often.
I also feel like a bit of an asshole. Ever since my first training session on a
cross-country course I kinda knew deep down that what I really liked about
riding in the great outdoors isn’t jumping things – it’s just cantering along
at a brisk, but controlled pace. Now –
if there was such a sport that just required outdoor controlled-cantering, I’d
be like “SIGN ME UP!”, but that’s not eventing.
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| Random puppy picture to break up word garbarge |
I am absolutely all about pushing myself and my riding
abilities, but what I’m not into is pushing myself into areas that make me
nervous every single ride. It seemed
like a natural fit to start working on dressage again and I feel like I came back
to it fresh and inspired.
Anyways… I haven’t said all this before, because as I
mentioned above – it doesn’t give me the greatest feels, but I felt that an
explanation was in order before I have a post on what is about to occur *cough*
dressage saddle shopping *cough*. J
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| Top - December, Bottom - November - I'm seeing progress! |
There's nothing wrong with doing what makes you happy! You can't make other people happy even if you love them. Do what makes you and Gav happiest, life's too short to do anything else.
ReplyDeleteAlso - YAY Dressage saddle shopping! I know from experience that Castleberry Cobs might be the hardest animals in the world to fit a Dressage saddle to, so holler if you want any brand recommendations. By the time we found my current one, Connor had tried 14 that didn't work, most of them different brands. It's not so much the width that gets you as they front-to-back shape of them. Most brands just did not work and were never going to work even if they were the right width - and I see that Gav's back is very similar to Connor's.
Thanks Jen :) I've actually been thinking of your and Connor's career jump to dressage a lot recently.
DeleteKeep your fingers crossed for me! We have our saddle fitter coming out on Saturday with about 8 different saddles from 5 different saddle makers (Keith Bryan, Adam Ellis, Prestige, Ideal, and Selleria Equipe). Gav currently goes in a Prestige that fits him great, so I think we may find our winner there, but I've heard good things about the Keith Bryan model and it's effin gorgeous.
I am betting it might be the same saddle fitter my barnmate used when she lived in Colorado. That's how she got her Adam Ellis. She LOVED her! Good luck, sounds great!
DeleteYES! If it's the same fitter she is awesome! Bev Harrison with the Tack Collection. Super knowledgeable lady.
DeleteThat's so funny! I think it is the same lady. Bryn's Adam Ellis is the reason I ended up with an Adam Ellis. So Bev has kicked off a saddle purchase she didn't even know about, lol.
DeleteIt doesn't sound insane or boring to me at all. I definitely get tired of just doing dressage and dabble with other things, but in the end, it's what I truly love. Whatever makes you happy and continue to enjoy riding is something to be proud of.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jodi! I love that you worked cattle! I would loooove to get Gav out to do something like that. He is terrified of cows (most livestock really) and I think it'd be good for him to learn that he can move them around.
DeleteRiding takes a lot of commitment of both time and money and I don't think its fair if we burden ourselves as riders to do things we do not enjoy or feel safe doing. Recognizing those things in ourselves is super hard, so you should be super proud for knowing what you do and don't want to do.
ReplyDeleteThanks L. It took a long time for me to really recognize it and even longer for me to be able to say it out loud to anyone. :)
DeleteOh goodness, I could have written this - I'm climbing fully aboard the dressage train this year too. I think you've got to do whatever keeps you happy and motivated. Life is too short and horses too expensive to not enjoy yourself.
ReplyDeleteI just read your post the other day. :) I guess you and I can compare dressage notes going forward ;)
DeleteI think focusing on dressage is a great call. Horse stuff should be fun! I am honestly never going to want to jump giant scary things, that's just not me. But I'm happy jumping tiny things, doing some dressaging and trail riding.
ReplyDeleteI think you and I are pretty similar in our enjoyment of jumping tiny things ;) I love to trail ride and try to get Gav out at least once a week. It's so good for their minds.
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