So it has been a little while since I have written anything. I had a lesson with Shelley about a week ago and while she was happy with J's response times, she noted that he was too short in the neck. So we really worked on stretching his neck while keeping the response time up. He's forever looking for a crack in the "door" from which to escape having to carry himself correctly, whether it be by throwing a shoulder out a little bit, getting a bit crooked in his hind end, bending his neck insignificantly, getting a hair too deep in the reins or shortening his neck. It is a constant game of "what is J trying to do now and correct it quickly to move onto the next correction". My lesson was a bit disappointing and upsetting because it made me realize that it will never be good enough and it will never be correct. J is not built to do dressage and I'm not the quickest rider with the best skills, so that combination makes it very difficult to get everything correct. Despite my horse having a huge heart and trying as hard as he can for me, it's never going to be enough. But we will keep plowing through and doing the best we can, even if it is not enough.
So... enough of me feeling sorry for myself... a majority of the past week and weekend I attended my first NHRA reining show at Gordyville! It was a whole different experience than dressage and very fascinating to watch the warm-up pen and the show pen. My barn owner (who has now become my good friend) Tawney and another boarder at the barn (who I have become friends with) Elizabeth were both showing. Tawney is making a come back to the reining scene after having some time off and Elizabeth was showing her first NHRA show with her new-ish horse, Jessie. Apparently the top names in reining were present because they were holding a derby on Saturday that had lots of prize money to be won, so the place was packed and had around 400 horses there! Tawney did awesome and won both her classes on Thursday! She won money, jackets, a trophy and a plaque. It was really great! Elizabeth did great too- she rode three times and with each ride her scores got better and better. She even won some money in one of her classes! But most important is that we all had a great time filled with lots and lots of laughing!
So onto the "Anky" part... I had previously taken a reining lesson from Tawney and got to (attempt) the movements like spins, sliding stops, lead changes, roll backs, etc. It was an absolute blast! And I love to show... so Tawney and I had a conversation on the way home and thought that it might be fun for me to do some reining along with my dressage. So we have a plan in the works that may allow me to learn and show reining, but we'll see if it works out. I would really love to have a sport where I can be competitive, but not have the pressure of scores counting for year-end awards and just enjoying it for the friends, adrenaline rush and showing. So we shall see!
And in the meantime, I'm working hard with J, just trying to do the best we can with what we are.
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