Nerves

I just checked the Waredaca site and the times are up for Sunday.  We will be riding dressage a bit after ten, and jumping/xc a bit after noon.  Seeing it up like that, with our names plastered out there for everybody to see, has suddenly made me really nervous.  I have that weird feeling inside that I usually only get the morning of a show, not four days beforehand.

I have decided to just sort of surrender myself to whatever happens in dressage, which is probably the best possible stance to take.  Now I just have to remember to actually breathe when I enter the ring   We actually had a much better ride the other day- I tried a flash noseband, but also took a step back from the work we’d been doing and just sort of… I don’t know, rode him more like a hunter.  I gave him a longer rein, didn’t push for quite as much forward (that seems to get him more rankled- probably because it’s harder!), and just quit caring about doing it right so much (and the head tossing/twisting, or the resistance when I ask for downward transitions).

I know that sounds wrong, one should never quit caring!  But being as I have such a tenuous grasp on my sanity lately, it was making me intensely neurotic trying to focus so hard.  All the things floating through my head while riding were turning me into a mess – trying so hard to keep my hands still, my hips soft, my leg here, my shoulders there, my weight over there… I was starting to feel like I was failing the horse, even though the reality was that things weren’t that bad at all.

So, Martians to Kelly:  it’s OK if it’s not perfect.  Quit trying so hard and just have fun! 

And you know what? That totally works. 

So anyway- those of you in Maryland who might be in the vicinity of Waredaca- please feel free to stop by and meet us!  Regardless of how we do (especially in dressage) Klondike and I really love to have a fan club.  We’ll be wearing royal blue, since it’s the color of the CANTER logo (unfortunately I couldn’t quite pull off getting said logo embroidered on my saddlepad in time.  So sad!).  If you haven’t met this horse, you REALLY have to!