Things We Learned

I feel like 2017 was a bit tough, learning wise. The super steep learning curve of the previous year was gone, and in it's place was a lot of miniscule breakthroughs.

Bridget's biggest breakthrough came towards the end of the year, when she regained the forward we worked so hard for, and figured out how to keep the energy even as we ask for collection. I've heard dressage people talk about a Second Level wall, and I'd have to say it was a thing for us. I think in general, we were able to tie a lot of concepts together this year - she needs to have more strength and balance and react more quickly, but she knows all of the movements at second now. A big improvement over last year when I felt like she thought it was all too hard and pulled the "don't wanna" card every ride.

Fingers super crossed re: the bucking me off downhill thing. The little brat certainly learned how at our spring XC camp, but it's a skill that's not been put to use recently.

As for me...the big change here is that I'm finally admitting dressage is my happy place and shifting my focus there. It seems a bit wasteful to be at a really good eventing barn and decide to do dressage only, but luckily my coach EC has been making a similar switch in her own riding over the past few years. We'll still jump now and then for fun, but I'm letting go of any show/event goals involving moving up a level or two this year.

Getting out to a few more "big" shows really helped with my show nerves this year, although I nearly had a meltdown on SJ day of our last event. Another reason I'm sticking mostly to dressage shows next year...remembering all the rules and courses x3 still gives me enough anxiety on the day that it's not much fun. I think a good part of why I relaxed and rode better at the dressage show was because I knew the tests inside and out and wasn't worried about forgetting them.