Dressage
Mom is into horses. Really into horses. Me, I like horses. Had lessons as a kid, took a memorable vacation to a dude ranch a few years back, and would like to ride again if my schedule ever allowed (most of my lessons have been English, but I prefer western). But Mom is really into the horses.
On Thursday afternoon we went out to one of the barns she rides at (Mom has a knack for finding horses she can groom and ride for free) for a dressage show. I liked the formal, testing part of the competition. All the horses and riders performed the same pattern so it was easy for a newbie to compare and figure out what was going on. The freestyle portion was really lost on me. The horsey set around me was oohing and ahhing but it was all lost on me, until the last two riders.
The last two riders have both competed for the USA internationally and they blew everyone else out of the water. Wow. It really is an amazing thing to see a horse and rider that are on the same page. Amazing to see an animal that large and powerful float and move so gracefully, and when the rider does nothing to distract you from the movement of the animal (even though they are in total control and directing those movements), it really is amazing.
Best part? I got lots of knitting done. Hopefully there will be pictures soon, but at the moment I am trying to figure out how to count to 144 again.
