Chance and I had another great show March 9th – 13th!  We packed up and headed to Del Mar, CA on Wed. for The Dressage Affaire CDI.  We had a pretty large group from the barn going with Ashleigh showing Fab, Alex showing Ari, Tori showing Viktor, and Colby showing Capri.  It was a lot of fun and we all had a great time together. 

    I was really happy with Chance’s behaviour at this show, it was the first time I didn’t need to lunge him for over a year!  So on Thursday Chance and I had a lesson before the first day of showing.  It went pretty well and we had a lot of nice moments but there were definitely a couple little things that I wanted to clean up before our test, but as my mom always tells me, you don’t want to peak too early! haha 

     Then it was time for our first test on Friday.  There were 10 Young Riders in our class and it was a tough judging panel!  I didn’t let that get to me and just focused on my ride.  We put in a solid effort and were rewarded with a 65% and third place!  I was really happy with our result and felt that Chance and I had improved a lot since the last show.  Then on Saturday Chance and I had our first evening ride ever!  We had to go at 6:30 under the lights.  It actually was really fun and, besides one little spook, everything went really well!  We placed third once again with a 64.7%.  On Sunday, the last day of the show, it was time for our freestyle!  Chance was tired (and so was I!) but we really gave it our all and had a blast doing it!  We ended up with a 65.7% and second place.  Chance and I are now fully qualified for the Young Rider Championships this summer with a 65% average.  We will do one more show at the end of April in order to be able to drop our lowest score, and then we just have to wait and see who makes the team!

     Also, on March 26th and 27th Chance and I will be riding in a clinic taught by dressage trainer Shannon Peters!  I think it will be a great learning experience for us and I can’t wait to ride with Shannon.  Plus, The Dressage Foundation has given me a Renee Isler Grant to pay for the clinic!  Read the press release here: http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/newsDisplay/viewPR.aspx?id=6781. 

     Well, that’s about all for now.  I’ve been pretty busy as I just got a job grooming for an Adult Amateur dressage rider, have been elected onto the Arizona Dressage Association’s Board of Directors, and am taking extra classes in school in order to graduate early, among other things.  Life is hectic, but it sure is fun!  I’ll keep you updated on all of the important happenings going into the spring.

~Cat~