Finding the Rhythm, A Story of Show Warmup

Last month was our first weekend-long USDF show of the year. We headed out on a Friday, and showed 1st 2 and 2nd 1 both Saturday and Sunday. As a show I've often volunteered for, I am familiar with the management side. Showing in it was just as much fun, and seeing all the organizers and managers was wonderful. Harmony in the Park is truly a good and fun show to be a part of.

Getting to watch Kentucky-based Angela Jackson put in some stellar rides on her young horses and up and coming PSG horses was an added delight! 

However, this blog post is not about the show. Instead, I'm going to talk about the warm up and how a basic epiphany can totally turn around your riding. It's a story of redemption ... sorta. Okay, not really. It's just a story about me being silly and forgetting the basics, and everything turning awesome when I was reminded of them.

This horse is the handsomest. Hands down.

This is the first show I've ever been to where I have ever had a trainer around. I'm very much a "do it on my own" sort of rider, partly due to my geographical separation from my trainer and partially due to my incredibly independent streak. However, Nancy's quiet reminders were a godsend at this show and really helped break through to me and get me riding effectively on Saturday afternoon.

We'd been struggling with the shoulder-in, and Nancy immediately pointed out that I was pushing Guinness too much with my body. "Rhythm!" She reminded me. "And quit looking at the ground!"

I sat up, and started counting out my trot rhythm. Almost immediately, Guinness stopped the jerky lateral leaping he'd been doing, and smoothed out into a regular rhythm with much more relaxed bend. We weren't perfect (still slightly broken at the shoulder), but the overall feeling was much better and much more engaged.

So, we headed into the ring ... and managed a 60% at our Second Level debut! Check it out!