Under pressure

Upon reading my last post, I have to agree with several of you who said "don't be so hard on yourself." I put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed.

I don't mean blue ribbons (have plenty of those, it's not about that anymore). It's not really about the score because it's just a judge's opinion on that particular day. It's the fact that I want to go into that show arena and be the best we can  be. When my horse is explosive and dangerous to ride, I feel like I have failed him and myself. And everyone who supports me. I can't blame his behavior on anyone but myself. I raised him!

So we had a not so great show. It was a combination of 1) rain 2) early morning 3) it was chilly and 4) first show of the year. Not really setting us up for success!

I need to quit putting so much pressure on myself. Because it's just dressage. It's no big deal.

So I took the pressure off Hampton, and myself this week. We have done light lunging, trail rides and just basic flat work. No pressure. Keeping it easy. It has been nice and today he was a little fresh but was going quite nicely. He has never been so fit in his life and looks wonderful.

Next week is our big show. And by big show I mean it will be the largest dressage show I have ever attended as a competitor. (A CDI runs alongside the national show). Some of the other entrants include some BIG names in dressage land. A couple of horses I will be competing against are already proven PSG and I1 horses, and national champions.

We are WAY out of our league.

But .... because of that, all the pressure is off. I am going to go in there and do our best. We are not going to blow anyone away. We won't win. I am not holding my breath for my bronze scores. But it doesn't matter. It's not time to do that yet. It's time to go in the ring, and make sure the basics are there. To be accurate. To gain experience. If he needs a texas half halt during the test, this time I will HALF HALT the crap outta him instead of letting things get out of hand like last time.

But I suspect he will be fine this time around. We have a schooling day before hand, plus great ride times that will allow me to lunge him as well. Much more fair circumstances.

No pressure.

Setting myself up for success.

(let's hope it doesn't pour on us again!)