Enter at "A" or "Why I Ride Dressage"

Update on the dressage ring.... it is completed! It even has letters ( as per my previous post). 
Francis and I decided to make a "border" for the ring with railroad ties. He had some and I tracked down some more on Kijii.... the ones I bought were not as good but we put them on the far side and far end of the ring so they are not so noticeable. If we find other nicer ones later they are easily replace. Again budget was a factor and these were a bargain.

Originally I was just going to put a fence around the ring to keep the horses out that would also mark the 20-40 perimeter. However, after we decided to put the railroad tie border, we still needed a fence to keep snoopy horses out, so they don't decide its their own personal sandbox to roll and play in at liberty. So Francis spent the weekend digging post holes and putting up a perimeter fence. He used two strands of yellow rope that had made up the temporary fence we had initially. Yes, I want white fat rope but do you have any idea how much rope is???? Seriously spending almost $1000 on white rope or plastic chain ( which is what I really wanted) is just ludicrous and so we settled for the rope we had bought on sale at the local Canadian Tire store  $10/roll and I think it ended up using about 5 rolls... hmm easy decision.. $1000 versus $50.

The letters are temporary as Marina and I plan to make bigger painted wooden ones over the winter. With my age, I need the letters to be a bit bigger but this is all we could find for now. White rubbish bins from the Dollar Store with black stick on stencils........hey presto dressage markers!

And here it is already to be used this week..... so excited. Marina's friend, Claudia, is visiting from Germany this week and so we get the privilege of riding with a high level German rider and try out the new toy ( dressage arena) while "playing dressage". What an end to a great summer of riding and building a dream...........

It is hard to see but all the letter markers are in place ready to guide as as we practice geometry figures- 20, 15, 10 meter circles, diagonal lines, 3 and 4 loop serpentines, straight down the sides, and where we practice precision, transitions, lateral movements..............all in the name of improving our riding, our horses way of going and most importantly building a relationship with the horses we so love and admire. To many people and even riders, dressage is "boring", but when you suddenly achieve for the first time a transition, or figure or movement that was elusive for so long.... the slow burning ember that is your soul, and hope and dreams, bursts into flame and you suddenly want it again, and better than before. For one thing riding has taught me is that you NEVER arrive at your destination... it is all about the journey and the challenges and moments of despair and glory along the way. One day you are ready to toss it in, sell your gear and your horse,and then you have a fleeting moment of "YES, this is it!!" and you are committed all over again to hours of practice and patience as you persevere to find that elusive thing......improvement... You hear Olympic level riders tell people that one day can be magnificent and another not so good, that they continue to practice and strive for improvement.... and I am no Olympic level Grand Prix level rider.... just a girl and her horse, forming a relationship, built on trust, understanding, patience and yes trying to "play at dressage" along the way.  Don't get me wrong, I love just hacking out in the fields and woods around home, and going on excursions, but I still love "boring flat work".... the nuances, that one thing that is suddenly there that wasn't yesterday, be it a trot to canter transition, a shoulder in, or just getting a relaxed walk on a loose rein................and then I want it again, and again, and again, ....I don't even have the "independent seat and aids" established and I have been riding for years, but I keep hoping one day I will get it...it sure is not for the lack of trying on my part. I have no desire to compete..and maybe I shouldn't call  what I do "dressage", but hey I like the fancy word and my dear Francis is French and "flat work" sounds boring!!!  I mean it even has the word "work" in it for gosh sake.  Doesn't Dressage make you think of princes, magical steeds, Avatars? and dreams? and so I do "dressage"............