Dino and I had a shot at doing something really spectacular at our dressage show today…..and I totally blew it! We both made mistakes. Only my mistake was MUCH bigger than Dino’s… And my mistake cost us the chance to do something pretty cool.
Our first class was a warm up class for us….Training Level 2. This was a chance to get us in the arena and check things out. The show was running way behind and we ended up standing there waiting for our class for at least 30 minutes. That put Dino straight into siesta mode, which is generally a one way ticket for last place in a dressage test.For the most part though, Dino was decently responsive. Our big mistake in this class came at an upward transition from trot to canter. The transition is directly in front of the judge, so there was no way of hiding it. It went something like this:
Me: Dino it is time to canter now.
Dino: ZZZZZZZZ
Me: We need to canter now! That letter is approaching fast….
Dino: Huh? Did you say something???
Me: Oh %^$#@! Are we really going to pass the letter without cantering???? This is really unheard of for you. CANTER NOW or ELSE!
Dino: Huh? Canter? Geez. You don’t need to yell!
In the end, Dino still pulled a 70 in the class. That put him in first place and gave him the honor of receiving the second highest score of the day from that judge. Not bad. Dino’s mistake still worked out for him. I wasn’t so lucky.
The next two classes were in First Level. The classes were open to professionals and amateurs alike, and we were lucky enough to be competing against a Grand Prix level rider (achieved her Gold Medal) as well as the Judge from our previous show. How cool is that? Maybe if we had a perfect test, we would have some fun bragging rights!
The first test went pretty well. Overall, I thought Dino did a good job. There were a couple of of places where we left points on the table, but we are still learning. In the end, we lost to the Grand Prix rider by less than a half a percent (0.46). So close, but no prize! (We did beat the Judge though, so that counts for something).
On our last test, I soooo wanted to go for it. That’s what make this even worse. It was our first time showing this particular test, and we had never even practiced it in a real dressage arena before, so things can get a little fuzzy. And, of course, they did. Freaking off course right at the start of the test. HUGE mistake and a straight 2 point deduction. If that wasn’t painful enough, without the 2 point penalty, WE WOULD HAVE WON FIRST & BEAT THE GRAND PRIX RIDER! We could have had some fun bragging rights, but instead I have a red ribbon and the”I totally blew it” story. Not my favorite consolation prize. Maybe next time…
Del Mar Horse Girl 
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