Dressage With Gracie

Last Sunday, we had the 2nd of our 4 winter Dressage League competitions. This time I was
assigned Gracie who is a relatively new Horse to the yard. She is a Grey Mare who was
primarily used for hunting, and it was quite clear that she was lacking in her basic
training. However Gracie is very willing, and very forward going. I had ridden her a couple of times before, so I knew the Dressage test would be a challenge.

I immediately noticed improvements from the previous times I had ridden her, when warming up. She is very forward going in the trot, but wasn't running, which was her previous tendency.
It also used to be quite difficult to get her to canter, as she just used to change her trot to a run,
but I had no such difficulties. She is definitely improving as a Horse. We did a pretty reasonable test, with the only bad point being not able to bring her back to
trot in time afer the last canter.

I really enjoyed the test, and it was certainly a challenge. I was pleased and indeed a little surprised to finish 4th of the 6 competitors in
my grade.