It's windy and gloomy outside, but it hasn't rained yet. :-) Izzy and I did a dressage ride this morning. She was wonderful. The past two days she's just been so quiet and calm and willing that I think she might be drugged. Who knows? We had some really lovely moments. We're working on Izzy resting into a steady contact. She's still wiggly. She had her moments.
When she's good, though, she's really good. Wow.
In other news, there was a dressage schooling show this past weekend. I didn't sign up, which was good because I ended up spending the whole weekend in the hospital with my grandma. On hearing comments from people who did go, though, I'm really glad I didn't. The universal comment is that the judge was really cranky and irritable. She was rude in person and she scored according to her mood.
I suppose this is a faucet of showing and not every judge can be a good judge, but I find it troubling. Showing is expensive. I am on a very strict budget, so when I show, I want the absolute best experience possible. I cannot control variables like weather and Izzy deciding to be a nut, but I can control things like venue and cost. There is a cheap jumper show coming up that I'm not going to because I went last year and it was a miserable experience. There's another jumper show coming up that I'm dying to go to, but I don't have a trailer and no one else from the barn is going.
Anyways. I like dressage. I really do. I cannot afford to compete much, and this example makes me question the point of it. My goal for next year is to qualify for regionals in dressage. This was already going to be hard, because USEF considers me a professional for being too poor to afford board without mucking stalls to help out. (Professionals need a higher score to qualify.) Already, I was looking at having to put most of my eggs in one basket, since I can't afford many qualifying shows. And to go to a show and not qualify all because some judge has her panties in a twist? That irks me.
I'll probably be revamping my major goals for next year. I need them to be reasonable and measurable. I'll put more thought into it. In the mean time, I have zero desire to go to a dressage show in any capacity other than as a groom.
Generally, at the larger, recognized shows, I have found the judging to be pretty fair....no sign of judge "moodiness." But I've given up showing myself at least for the immediate future. It's a great way to test your training, but it has gotten sooooo expensive. I feel your pain in trying to decide what to do. It's really hard to spend all that money knowing you may not be a success or, worse, have a good time.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't that cranky judge get it together? Bringing personal crankiness to shows when you are a judge is very childish! Adults are not supposed to act that way, especially if you are wearing the judge's cloak! That makes me so mad for people who did their best and got the short end of the stick. I hope she went home, loloked at herself in the mirror and said, I really sucked today and it will not happen again.
ReplyDeleteOn th upside, though I am a western rider, I really like watching dressage. It is INCREDIBLE to me. One time Brandon's daughter (10 years old) was watching the Olympics dressage with me and she said, That doesn't look hard; the horse isn't doing anything. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I almost fainted. Don't worry, I told her what incredible talent it takes to do ANY of that stuff. When you do start showing, I will be rooting for you.
If you don't feel like showing, then don't, we oblige ourselves to do stuff all the time, even when we don't feel like it. You can still continue to train Izzy fro jumping and dressage and just enjoy the ride, no pressure to finish in a certain amount of time... Just enjoy the time spent with her, she seems wonderful!
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