So you complete a competition, you get your dressage sheet back, you get a placing of some sort, what do you do? Throw it all in the bin? File it all in a special folder titled "My journey to the Olympics: Part 1"? Add a new dot point on a graph that forever marks the rise and rise of your horse?
Which one do you think I do?
Ok ok, stop laughing. Yes I do put it in a folder, but not with the title above. Each horse has it's own folder, and all Dressage tests, cross country course maps, and associated paperwork go in there. I review the Dressage tests briefly, see what's worst (which means I need to work on it), see what's best (which means I need to keep working on it), and then it just gets filed away ... forever.
Well recently, the West Gippsland Equestrian Expo offered two places to be won in a Masterclass with Heath Ryan. Of course, I jumped at the chance and applied.
I'll wait for you to stop laughing again.
One of the things the application form asked for was your Dressage results, placings, percentages, size of the competition, accomplishments, with a very strong implication that they expected to see some improvement in your results over time.
Well I was stumped, because I suddenly realised that I don't keep such detailed records of my horses' progress. I get a general feel of how they are going, and whether they are ready to progress, if they have any particular weak points, or what they are good at. I can feel when my training is slipping backwards. I compare placings, more or less, but I don't track percentages from one Dressage test to the next!
I decided to enter Lil in the Masterclass competition, and so I dug out her results. I am afraid that it became a rather sobering experience, as her scores map out a very clear roller coaster. Somewhere between 56% and 60%. Pretty much irrespective of the level.
As an Eventer, Dressage is only one of three disciplines that we practice. So to see little improvement in a year is probably acceptable if you happen to be focusing on the other disciplines. However, Dressage is the foundation, it is the key to better jumping, so it is very important.
I must say, that this has all inspired me to keep a better track of my competition results and I have designed a little spreadsheet to help me track it. It includes a little graph to keep track of my Dressage scores.
The other thing the application asked for was a photo of you on your horse - fair enough - and a 30 second video, no more than 2M in size, of you and your horse doing walk, trot and canter.
I'm still laughing about that one myself.
Which one do you think I do?
Ok ok, stop laughing. Yes I do put it in a folder, but not with the title above. Each horse has it's own folder, and all Dressage tests, cross country course maps, and associated paperwork go in there. I review the Dressage tests briefly, see what's worst (which means I need to work on it), see what's best (which means I need to keep working on it), and then it just gets filed away ... forever.
Well recently, the West Gippsland Equestrian Expo offered two places to be won in a Masterclass with Heath Ryan. Of course, I jumped at the chance and applied.
I'll wait for you to stop laughing again.
One of the things the application form asked for was your Dressage results, placings, percentages, size of the competition, accomplishments, with a very strong implication that they expected to see some improvement in your results over time.
Well I was stumped, because I suddenly realised that I don't keep such detailed records of my horses' progress. I get a general feel of how they are going, and whether they are ready to progress, if they have any particular weak points, or what they are good at. I can feel when my training is slipping backwards. I compare placings, more or less, but I don't track percentages from one Dressage test to the next!
I decided to enter Lil in the Masterclass competition, and so I dug out her results. I am afraid that it became a rather sobering experience, as her scores map out a very clear roller coaster. Somewhere between 56% and 60%. Pretty much irrespective of the level.
As an Eventer, Dressage is only one of three disciplines that we practice. So to see little improvement in a year is probably acceptable if you happen to be focusing on the other disciplines. However, Dressage is the foundation, it is the key to better jumping, so it is very important.
I must say, that this has all inspired me to keep a better track of my competition results and I have designed a little spreadsheet to help me track it. It includes a little graph to keep track of my Dressage scores.
The other thing the application asked for was a photo of you on your horse - fair enough - and a 30 second video, no more than 2M in size, of you and your horse doing walk, trot and canter.
I'm still laughing about that one myself.
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