Well, things have been going very well with Val and I, although we have yet to get to do a cross-country schooling because of the weather. Our dressage is finally clicking again, after it totally imploded over the winter, thanks to my "one response" riding that never changed no matter what Val needed... fortunately, that is on the road towards becoming better.
Now, we should have our first XC schooling of the year next Sunday, if the weather doesn't do anything stupid. That's going to be the huge deciding factor on the novice v. beginner novice question. We've been really stagnant this winter, and we definitely didn't hit our dressage and show jumping the way I thought we would. I really thought that by this time this year I'd be more than ready to go novice, but now I'm not so sure.
Could Val and I go Novice without huge mishaps and horrible accidents? Almost certainly. Would we be competitive at all? Would we have any shot at going to the AECs again? Would I be bored at beginner novice? It's those last three questions that are really holding me back. I'm an extremely competitive person, and that kind of pulls me two different ways- I want to push myself and do better (go novice) but I also want to place well and go to the AECs (stay beginner novice.) My desire to go to the AECs and NOT place last is incredibly strong!
Right now, I can tell you I'm really leaning towards staying BN for most of the season and maybe doing one novice towards the end of the year, but this XC schooling may change everything if things just go really, really well. We'll have to see.
This is probably a pretty boring update post, but I thought I'd let everyone know we're still alive and kickin'!
A New Name For A New Life
2 years ago
Glad to hear from you! I've been wondering you you are doing :)
ReplyDeleteI bet it will be easier for you to decide once you get back into the swing of things, too. I was supposed to ride in a XC derby clinic today but it got canceled because of bad weather, sigh...
Er, that should be HOW you are doing, not you you.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you. ;-) I've often wondered what it would be like to be competitive.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll make the best decision for the both of you, whatever it is.
Thank you guys :) I ended up not being able to go to the schooling on Sunday, which was super disappointing. There's another scheduled in a few weeks that we're going to for sure unless it's canceled.
ReplyDeleteI think you should go for it. Sandbagging to place better at a lower level does give us prettier ribbons, but I don't think it teaches us and our horses as much as challenging ourselves does. Poopy about not being able to school, but spring is definitely here and I hope good weather finds you soon!!
ReplyDeleteI stumbled onto your website from the blog list on "Eventing A Go-Go", and I have to say, WHAT a CUTE HORSE you have! Good for you and Val.
ReplyDeleteDid you go cross- country? We just did our first dressage show- our first step to another blue eyed eventer. Now we need to go school cross country as I would like to do a one day event this fall.
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