We are all in this together!

It has always been a goal of mine to show grand prix dressage.  This is something that seems to be at times all consuming and requiring a lot of mental energy.  This is the year, 2017 is the year of showing grand prix.  There are so many people involved in making that happen.

I have been interactively talking with a saddle fitter, specialty  lameness vet to keep the horse feeling his best, and then my farrier working with us on making sure Zac feels good as well.  I have also been taking as many lessons with my trainer, Amanda Johnson as I possibly can.  I do not live near her - so that makes it especially difficult.

I would not be here showing if it were not for Michelle Markquart and her kind gift of Zac. She really gave me a huge push in the right direction and spent months showing me how he worked.  This is a gift I can never re-pay but am so grateful to have had the opportunity. 

Riding the grand prix gives a rider the gift of learning how to set their horse up for success.  The grand prix test itself shows the rider how to set things up as it is structured to only work if the rider can do that.

As I am riding grand prix - I am understanding everything better and have better questions as a rider.  Oddly, it does not feel like I have mastered anything, it feels like now I have the language to talk to others about dressage and clarify things on a deeper level. 

Thank you Pam Powers for sticking it out with me.  Thank you Turner Equine for keeping Zac sound, thank you Michelle Markquart for the opportunity to ride Zac, thank you Amanda Johnson for your lessons and coaching.  Thank you to all of my students for your patience as I figured out how balance out the summer for all of us!

I look forward to learning a bit more about the language of dressage over the rest of the summer.  I have really taken notice of the people around me and which parts of dressage we all excel in.  We all seem to have different strengths and weaknesses and the conversations we have make us all better.