Ginger the horse's dressage test at her first big recognized competition last weekend [View all]

[riderinthestorm]

This will probably be like watching paint dry for most of you but this is Ginger, the horse you helped name, at her first big recognized competition doing her dressage test. The dressage phase is a precision test of the horse's obedience and harmony with the rider. For her, it was the first phase of a three day event which also encompassed stadium jumping and a cross country gallop/jump over 20 natural obstacles.

Magical Thyme expressed interest in seeing Ginger's progression dressage-wise after 6 months of training (she came off the track the last week of November and I bought her the first week of December). Who knows? Maybe some of you are also interested!

Ginger finished in 6th place out of 29 in her division. She loves jumping and has mastered jumping fearlessly into water, over ditches, up and down banks, over small log cabins and tables etc. For dressage she's not super steady yet and aficionados will notice she's constantly bouncing between being overflexed and more or less correct (free walk on a loose rein?! Ha! Its actually lucky she didn't bolt or scoot during that part). She's growing stronger every day as she gains the musculature necessary to carry herself and her rider (my husband). For now, she's still very green but the basics of straightness, rhythm, obedience and submission are self-evident imo. Next time I'll post video of her jumping which should be a tad bit more interesting for most...