Adequan Global Dressage Festival 0 CPEDI3*
Sparklez and I competed in our first CPEDI*** show at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, FL this past weekend. It was the biggest and most electrifying show ring I've been in yet. The weather was cold, windy, and rainy. The first day of warm up nothing was tied down so things were flapping in the fierce winds throughout the arena, people were working all around with men on ladders and people using staple guns. This continued through the week when on the second day of competition a truck pulled up at the top of the show ring and started slamming down large round tables down on the concrete in front of us. Through it all I couldn't be more proud of Sparklez. Though he would've happily done without all the distractions and scary things, he took care of me each day and we danced our way to the Grade II Champions in both our Team Test and Individual Championship Test.
I couldn't be more proud of Sparklez for trying his hardest in such a big environment. We've only been building our partnership for about a month, but he's an awesome, talented pony!
We have another CPEDI3* this weekend and we have been busy working on improving things from the last show to make things even better. I worked with Michel Assouline, our US Team coach who gave us some suggestions on improving our gaits. I also met with Andy Thomas, High Performance Human Science and Sports Medicine Advisor to the US Equestrian Teams. He was a great help with giving me tips to keep me centered and balanced in the saddle and finding ways to use my body and aids to the best of my ability so I can be a stronger rider. Sparklez and I have really been pushing things to be more accurate and ride the bigger gaits.
If you would like to support us in our journey, every little bit helps. You can also make a tax deductible donation through through the Southern California Equestrian Sports at: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=C39Y967TS3UH4
Feel free to contact me with any questions!
