Rationally, I understand that stating, ‘I will go to a horse show this weekend’ will not cause … nope, I can’t say it, even at the cost of weak prose … bad things to happen.
Between Mathilda, car trouble, and the weather, I missed one show and most of my winter lessons. I was fortunate to ride at two of the Winter Tournament shows, but the scheduling was stressfully close on both occasions. I’m a little twitchy.
I have left my plans for the the show as open as possible. I haven’t paid in advance. I’m riding a horse who will be there anyway. I have refused to acknowledge that I’m going until I’m ready to roll down the driveway.
Part of this is practical. Mathilda has shown an amazing ability to turn punk the morning of a horse show. Or so it seems.
Confirmation bias. Over-developed sense of responsibility. Observer error. Yes, yes, I KNOW these things. But I still FEEL that the slightest gesture of commitment on my part will cause everything to go to hell, and furthermore, to do so in a creative and mind-wrenching way that I had not even considered.
So.
Show this weekend. maybe. possibly. cross fingers.
Show this weekend (maybe. possibly. cross fingers. superstition scares me from being more definite. more on this tomorrow.) My first big show of the year, i.e. an open show with performance classes rather than a fun show for lesson students. It will be at held in at a show arena rather than at a local barn. Time to break out the shirt/vest/tie combo.
I’m ready. Mentally, that is. Physically, not so much.
In Obedience Epiphany, I expounded on my theory of the dressage horse versus the saddle seat show horse. Short version: “What’s next?” versus “Here we go!”
I asked my saddle seat instructor for her response to this post. It is her stated goal to train the horses so well that they can to do their jobs without their riders. In my previous riding life, having your trainer do all the work was something, if not to be ashamed of, at least not to boast about. You could buy a trained horse or have the trainer ride the horse around a new level to give a good experience. Maybe. But if the trainer needed to tune your horse daily, that made you a dressage queen or hunter princess. Neither are terms of affection.
However.
I think it goes to the goal of the riding style. The ideal of a well-trained ASB is that he (or she) trucks around on his own, stylin’ along while the rider sits in comfort and admires the scenery. A saddle seat trainer in an open class might be holding the horses’s hoof every stride, but needs to make it look as if the horse is on effortless autopilot. Whereas a dressage horse is supposed to be in a close dialogue with the rider. If the dressage horse is on autopilot, the rider needs to make it look as if she’s leading the parade. Again, neither one is good or bad. Both are equally hard to do well. Just different.
Of course, it’s not that clear cut. I’m wandering in the realm of abstract theory. A place I know overly well. While the goals of the two disciplines diverge, the realities are closer together. Dressage horses know their jobs. ASBs need a supportive ride. Between any two riding styles, I think there is about 50% overlap and 50% wildly different. Depends which angle one wishes to pursue. Whether one is a lumper or a splitter.
So what is the take-away and what does it have to do with my ride on Saturday?
Sam at home
Ready, Aim, Fire
When Sam & I trot into the ring, correction, when Sam & I “bust up in there”, all I’m gonna do is ride straight & let the corners of the arena turn him. No circles. No bending. No setting up for jumps. There is nothing to do except …
Ease On Down The Road
Sam is not a DIY hot rod, nor a junker farm truck that sticks going into third gear. Sam is well-maintained, luxury sedan. My mechanics have rotated the tires, waxed the hood, and filled the tank. So, I shall sit down, sit back, and pilot my ride to a Diana Ross soundtrack, cranked from 33 to 45 rpm.
We’ll see if all this mental preparation can substitute for serious lack of saddle time.
(Note: I was going use A for my April Announcement About A to Z. I ended up using that on Sunday. That left me in a late scramble to get ideas for today. Hence the cheesy clip show)
Note on ordering: Given the option, I always list in reverse alphabetical order. Revenge from a childhood spent at the back of the line with a T last name. Nor did I have the distinction of being the very end. Master V and/or Miss Z always beat me to that.
Second note: five of the 12 posts are from my saddle seat life. That sounds about the right ratio.
Third note: None of the posts are about Rodney. If he wants to feature in a retrospective, he should pull his socks up and do something featureable.
Fourth note: The idea of list as narrative device was inspired by Listful Thinking. Given the number of lists I make to get through life, I really should have thought of this.
End-of-the-month meta post. Previous posts on blogging here.
Over at Whatever, John Scalzi took reader suggestions for post subjects: Reader Request Week 2014: Get Your Requests In! He’s been doing a week of 8 to 11 entries for the last six years. It seems to work for him. So I thought I’d give it a try. The requesting, not the week.
What should I write about? What personal &/or obscure topics have I not addressed that you would find interesting? I would be particularly intrigued to hear from those of you who know me only through the blog. I have no idea what image of myself I project.
Granted, all the words are as accurate as I can make them. I’m not subtle enough to adopt an intentional persona. But, the picture must – of necessity – be incomplete. For example, if I see a photo of a blogger after reading several entries, the person never looks the way I imagined.
Given my April A to Z project, if your requests happened to concern late-occurring or obscure letters of the English alphabet, that would be lovely.
Alternatively, are there questions I should put in a faq?
If you would rather not leave a public suggestion in the comments, feel free to email me at the blog eddress: rodneyssaga@gmail.com.
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Gratuitous Cat Picture
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Virtual Brush Box 