Avandarre In Dressage
15 FOLLOWERS
Obsessive pursuit of perfection by the imperfect rider. I started this blog as a way to share with my parents my adventures with horses (Ava specifically).
Avandarre In Dressage
3y ago
I’m 2 full weeks out from Derby day, not counting week of derby. I don’t understand why I must become an anxiety riddled mess weeks before a competition. It serves no purpose, and robs me of precious sleep. And yet…. here I am, anxiety riddled. We’ve been preparing for this for months now. Learning about ..read more
Avandarre In Dressage
3y ago
Our very first cross-county schooling adventure was a blast! Also an eye-opener about what it’ll take to successfully complete the Starter level next month. I’ve added a video of our outing, but before that… image this: There we were, at the cross-country schooling grounds, on a blazingly hot, windless Saturday. Me, in my brand new ..read more
Avandarre In Dressage
3y ago
I’ve now had 3 whole lessons on cross country portion of eventing. This has emboldened me to the point where I registered for my first “Derby”. A Derby, I learned, is basically a crash course in eventing. Smash every phase into an afternoon and the survivor wins. The Derby I’ve sign up for is in ..read more
Avandarre In Dressage
3y ago
Levi and I had our first eventing lesson last month. My expectations for the lesson were rock bottom low considering he nearly face plants when cantering on flat ground sometimes. I also haven’t exactly made the greatest progress on his canter over the summer. Plus, he’s not the most agile horse I’ve ridden. And sometimes ..read more
Avandarre In Dressage
3y ago
I find that understanding “connection” in dressage is the hardest part. Like, I know that we should have communication with the horse through the reins, that the horse should seek the contact, that the horse should happily follow wherever i want to put the bit… But that doesn’t really encompass what connection means. That’s just ..read more
Avandarre In Dressage
3y ago
I always feel so ridiculous when i have to get after a horse. Here I am, swatting at their knees (because that’s as high as I can reach) while this big oaf is desperately attempting to avoid my ineffectual slap. Big being a relative term ..read more
Avandarre In Dressage
4y ago
No, really.. he’s not in the pasture. A tree fell on the fence a bit ago and squashed the 4 strands of wire straight to the ground. Levi made his escape and I found him happily munching the (definitely much greener) grass on the other side of the fence. This is my first “escapee” since ..read more
Avandarre In Dressage
4y ago
Levi Levi’s steering has greatly improved. He’s beginning to understand the outside rein/leg aid. Now he’s finding new ways to evade being straight. lol I started teaching Levi shoulder-in and haunches-in about a month and a half ago. At the walk, I can get about half the arena length of SI both ways. To the ..read more
Avandarre In Dressage
4y ago
The neighbor’s new horse, Yogi, has settled in well. Levi was not happy about the new gentleman intruder hanging around Joy. I had to separate Joy from them. Which was fine, because she really shouldn’t be on spring grass anyway. Last year I made her wear the muzzle and she hated every second of it ..read more
Avandarre In Dressage
4y ago
Things have been going well here (I better knock on wood). Levi and Joy have their own little special bond and everyone knows the routines. Life is good. Yeah, there’s a pandemic, and the world is crashing, but my little sphere is safe and happy. The neighbor messaged me last week. She bought a horse ..read more