USDF First Level - here we are!

Mia and I worked hard to get ready for this show because I really needed a "win". Not a ribbon win, but a "we did the thing, we can still do the thing, we aren't old and broken" thing. I really wanted to challenge ourselves as well. I could have done Training level, and we probably would have gotten a pretty good score. But we were working at second level back in 2021 and we were working so hard now, I felt like why not. Let's try first level and see what happens.

 

Originally my plan was to show First level Test 3, however that test has counter canter as an element and that is not a movement Mia and I have been practicing of late. The opposite, in fact, we have been doing simple to flying changes and I didn't want to throw a counter canter back in with a week to prepare. I also figured we should take the slightly easier route and so I entered us in First 1 and 2 for our first level debut. Would it have been smarter to go Training 3 and First 1? Probably. Do I always make good decisions? Well....I mean, I did enter First 1 and 2. Case closed.

The week leading up to the show was nerve wracking because I kept waiting on Mia to come up lame. Apparently I have some serious PTSD and I can attest that it isn't pleasant. I do think Mia was still slightly off in her hind where the abscess had been, but it was so slight, it is also maybe in my head (which is what the farrier said today when they saw Mia). I do think I can see it in the video though, especially at the walk.

In preparation for the show, I took two lessons and I did get some good feedback which helped. One big  takeaway one is that Mia really likes to quicken her tempo in the trot lengthening and I really need to work on getting bigger, not faster. If anything in a lengthening, Mia needs to go slower because she has no problem going faster. The other takeaway is that I need to give just a touch of rein in the canter because at this stage of our development, Mia can't stay balanced in the contact with shorter reins. Which is fair.

Our show was last Sunday and while I am a little disappointed in the scores, I am very happy in our accomplishment of Doing The Thing. Mia and I had a much better Test 1 than Test 2, I think a big part was because it was so hot and humid. By by the time Test 2 came around, Mia was completely over the day and I was fighting heat exhaustion due nary shade or clouds in sight for the prior 2.5 hours. The judge loved our entrances down centerline but hated Mia's canter. I can't fault her for that, Mia's canter is not great. We were nailed on Mia not being round enough, Mia's cadence being too fast, and her canter being too lateral, but you know what? I am still happy. Coming up? The test breakdowns.