Day Six

I left for the barn about 8am. It was already humid. I harnessed DL up and long lined her like Larry did last night. We had numerous relaxed halts. Josh headed Dawna Lisa as I hitched her. Josh jumped on the back and we headed out to do some serious track work for 40 minutes. Josh had never been out on this side of Black Prong but I knew the trails fairly well since this had been where we have ridden. We had a top notch work out and I felt very good about many things including her cantering up a small hill. We were cooking!
When we got back to the dressage area, Josh and I did the dressage test. I was very pleased with the test since we had three short but solid halts. She moved deep into the corners and I really liked our thirty meter circles and the teardrops back on track. We returned to the barn the long way through the trails and DL was not tired in the least. I definitely think she is in perfect shape for the marathon.
I did a very good washing of the carriage and Bob greased the vehicle for me. The beautiful medium marathon blue vehicle is in near perfect shape with hardly a scratch on it. I feel very lucky to have this vehicle to use. Pat came over ans said that she was doing a course walk. I met her over there with my car so I could leave. We drove all of Section E including the track areas. The signage looks top notch for the thirty gates we have to do and the KM markers are a tiny bit difficult to see since the course is marked for all levels. I have to remember that GREEN is my color. Since green is my favorite color, I am not too worried.
Pat and walked all six of the hazards. I think the hazards are more open than last year at Nature Coast. I have to do four gates. Pat and I talked about all of the hazards at length. I have decided to take a couple of the closer gaits wider and more flowing. I know that Larry could do them tighter but I want to be able to see each gait well before I get to it. I know how easy it is to get flustered and miss things. Been there, done that. My goal is to have a smooth ride and enjoy myself. Pat was a tremendous help showing me some of the ways I can stay safe. Yes, I need to walk the hazards at least twice or three times more but I have good start.
I went back and finished the washing of the carriage. Man, does time fly when you have so many things to do. I went back to see Larry’s test that was suppose to be 11:34am. Things were running a bit behind but they took a shorter break to make up some of the time. Rivage is doing a tremendous job over what I saw last year. He and Cody are an elegant pair with lovely movement and the best I saw of the five pairs I watched. Even though Larry was not delighted with his test that a couple of baubles, I thought it was awesome in the movement department. I guess I am not too far off the mark since Larry is in first place.
I went back to the barn and did a good washing of the harness. About this time Sue Hanson and Josh were getting ready for their advanced test. America, a Lipizzaner mare, is a saint. After seeing them off, I jumped into the car and drove over. I got to watch several people drive this VERY hard test that includes two figure eights with reins in one hand and TWO canters. I have NO aspirations to drive this test. I don’t like the canter piece and think I would go to pairs before driving this test. LOL! Isn’t that a wild statement. I better start taking to Maggie (Dawna Lisa’s full sister) about this.
After fiddling around in the barn for some minutes, I got DL ready for our 5:30 lesson with Larry. I did some more long lining with halts as in the morning. We only worked DL on track for about 7 minutes before going to another dressage arena to try the test. I don’t think I drove the test as well as I did in the morning in the other arena I know better but we still had some good moments. Two of our halts were NOT like this morning. Larry watched me carefully and he saw something that he didn’t see yesterday. At the halt, I have a tendency to lower the reins and keep more contact than DL likes. I think it is nasty habit from pleasure driving days and coming into the lineup were I drop my hands closer to my lap. BY keeping my hands up higher and dropping contact while she is actual standing, I am getting better results along with the fact I can give a quicker correction. This seemed to work much better than fighting it out. I am going o have to REALLY think about this. I feel much better about this and I was able to do several nice halts after this change in my approach. It is odd how we get into habits that we don’t even KNOW we have. It definitely is a perfect example of how another set of eyes can see what you are doing wrong.
I am planning to be at the barn at 7am and give DL a nice track workout for about 45 minutes with a nice bath for DL after. We go at 11:54am. Pat and I talk about the presentation piece since I was worried about my colors. Pat thinks I should go with the lovely new hat I bought at Nature Coast last year being green and black, my black jacket and green and black apron. I DO love the hat. While the colors are not perfect for the vehicle, I think it matters little since I am using a marathon vehicle in dressage. I will get nicked for this anyway.
I am feeling like ALL the pieces are finally falling into place. I worry about the little things this don’t REALLY matter in the big picture that I am actually finally doing a CDE with my beloved Dawna Lisa. My aspirations are to be competitive BUT I have to realize that I haven’t done this stuff in years and years. I have a great pony with a huge heart and this has been about the best week I have had doing horsey things in my life. I need to wipe my doubts away and NOT wake at 4:30 am (last night) worrying about stuff. I have bigger stuff to worry about being the marathon! Yours, Claudia