“All dressed up with somewhere to go” perfectly summed up my Saturday morning as Riley and I set off for Foxes Competition Centre to tackle our very first British Dressage Prelim test. This was a big day for us—not only were we competing in our first affiliated competition, but the test also included two twenty-metre circles, which have long been our nemesis. I had no illusions about executing them well, let alone making them look elegant.
Laura Parkes, my coach, had kindly plaited Riley for me—sparing me the transformation into the snappy dragon I usually become when faced with the surprisingly stressful task of creating awful plaits. So on this occasion, thanks to her, Riley had the most perfect plaits and actually looked like a proper dressage pony.
Hairnet malfunction
After arriving, we headed into the warm-up arena, but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t seem to steer properly—Riley was all over the place. Not the ideal start, especially considering the test I was about to ride demands precision. It also became clear that my lack of skill isn’t limited to plaiting; my attempt at securing my own hair in a bun barely survived half the warm-up before my hairnet and bands landed unceremoniously on the arena floor. Thankfully, Laura came to the rescue and swiftly fixed it so that we once again looked presentable.
Rider navigation error
As my test time approached, we made our way to the arena. Once inside, I focused on keeping Riley moving forward, and with the first half of the test consisting of walk and trot, I thought it would be fairly straightforward. However, despite having memorised the test and Laura calling it out for me, I still went wrong—missing a movement and having to loop back to correct it. Then came the canter work. The twenty-metre circles were just about passable, but unfortunately, Riley broke out of canter before completing one of them, which resulted in a 4. Before I knew it, I was going down the centre line and finishing the test. Laura and Kevin were waiting outside to congratulate me, but while they were all smiles, I felt deflated and annoyed at myself for going wrong.
Progress worth recognising.
Whilst we untacked and waited for our score sheet, I replayed the test in my head and decided to reframe it in a more positive way, rather than the absolute negativity I was showing. Yes, I had gone wrong, but I’d also just cantered two twenty-metre circles. Something which about a month or so ago wouldn’t have been possible. That, in itself, was progress worth recognising.
I headed to the office to collect my score sheet and was pleasantly surprised to see a score of 64% along with some encouraging comments. It was higher than I had expected, and considering I lost two marks for an error of course, it felt even more rewarding. A couple of comments in particular made me genuinely overjoyed—my twenty-metre trot circles were described as ‘accurate’ and there was a note praising my change of rein from E to B. Those small wins meant a lot.
I left the competition feeling elated, and the most special part of it all was just spending time with my super pony and feeling very proud of him.