dressage

For fifty years I’ve been trying to improve my riding skills. At this point I certainly know how I should be sitting, where my toes should be pointing, and to keep my elbows at my sides. I know it, but I can’t always do it. Like many women of a certain […]

Shorter Stirrups

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When I purchased Tonka (not quite six years ago), he went in a simple double-jointed snaffle with an oblong bean in the middle. This is considered one of the least intrusive bits that one can use. Tonka didn’t come with tack, so I tried to find a similar bit. After […]

A Change Of Bit

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We think that the neck injections have had a positive effect! I say “we” because I’ve been asking for outside opinions. The first day back on (after four days off to let the drugs stay put and work), I had Steph, my “jumping instructor” watch Tonka go. She said he […]

Neck Injections Progress?

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A horse has a lot of complicated moving parts, and often, when things aren’t right in how they’re moving, it’s because more than one piece has gone awry. Back in 2017, Tonka started twitching his head. Then he said it hurt to move. After a litany of diagnostic tests, we […]

Horse Neck Injections

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In my last blog, I wrote about how I felt that something wasn’t quite right with Tonka. He wasn’t lame. He was still letting me on (when he’s really hurting, he doesn’t), and he was game to do what was asked. But something was amiss. Was it how I was […]

Self-doubt Leads To…

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We all do it. We question whether we’re doing right by our horses. We question whether we’re riding them in a way that’s fair to them. We worry that their lack of physical perfection is due to something we’ve done, or haven’t done. We agonize over any pain or momentary […]

Self-doubt and Second-guessing

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On Sunday, Tonka and I went to a dressage schooling show. There will be no photos of us with a ribbon. Our score was one of the lowest that we’ve ever gotten – a 61.25 % I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care. I like those blue ribbons. […]

When A Low Score Is A Win

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I have a couple of adages that I ride and live by. One is ‘the slower you go, the faster you get there.’ Another is ‘the more you do, the more you do.’ I’m not a bold and brash rider. It’s all too easy to stay in my comfort zone. […]

The More You Do, The More You Do

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Tonka has been going well, and so I’m planning to take him to a couple of dressage shows later this summer. We’ll be doing First Level, Test 3. We’re used to having a whole dressage ring to ourselves to train in, but now we’re at a hunter/jumper barn, where there […]

H/J Cross-Training for Dressage

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