OH TO BE PRETTY....

Live streaming Rolex Three Day is a blast.  I love the running commentary because its raw, unscripted and honest.  It was really a bit funny when they paired Bobby Costello and an Olympic Jumper rider (can not for the life of me remember who it was...  Sorry).   At one point, when a rider jumped off a bank into the water, she critiqued the ride... (not quoted/remembered) - Look at how the rider is behind the vertical and loses the reins...  time and accuracy is lost while they scramble to pull the horse together.  You could hear Bobby take a deep breath and gently, take her through the proper XC ride.  She never jumped to speak first from that point forward.

Novice - Valinor HT 2011
Kind of pretty...
Photo courtesy of http://www.flatlandsfoto.com/

Who hasn't heard or read threads that Eventers "GET IT DONE" that "Ooo, that was ugly but we were clear".  I've even seen our pride rear its ugly head when we talk about Equitation Riders or Hunters...  "pretty, perched on a perfect pony".  

Ok...  let me be the first to say...  I want to be effective as much as I want to be pretty!  My most favorite, exhilerating rides are those that are galloped forward and in stride.  I want that!  I want that!  I want that! 

{{{{Sigh}}}}

Groton House Farm Horse Trials begins in five days and I am entered at Novice Training (Training Dressage, Novice XC at Training Speed and Training Stadium Jumping).  I went for a lesson yesterday to tune up @ Training for GHF.  It was not pretty!  Actually, it was painfully awkward and a bit uncomfortable.  Keep in mind, not dangerous at all...  but seriously...  NOT PRETTY!

The move from Novice to Training seemed easy ...  "What is another 4 inches?  It is the width of my hand, the thickness of another rail and really, are you going to notice that on a 16.3+H horse?  Really?"  Nahhhh, is what I said when I entered.  Yesterday's lesson did not scare me.  My confidence is still intact.  But I have been humbled...

The jumps were just another 4" and they came up faster and I needed more pace, more hind end impulsion and I needed to be thinking quicker and reacting faster.  I had to balance Sug better while asking for more...  more...  more...  I HAD TO BE A BETTER RIDER!  And, if this was a performance appraisal...  I met standards...  not exceeded...  I just met standards.  {{{sigh}}}

At one point, I wanted to scream at my trainer, "Should I drop down?"  I really did.  Then the thought passed through my cluttered mind, "if she really thought I'd be a disaster or dangerous, she would say it".  Then I thought...  "Oh, it won't be pretty but I will be safe and I will complete."  I will get better, that I know...  I want pretty.  I want effective.  And I want it now!

I have 5 days... loads of determination and an inner cowgirl that roars.   Let's do it!