Versatility Vision – Ribbons and Patterns
I’d just like to start out with how difficult do you think it is to pull a tire on the end of a long rope in a mixture of finly ground rock and sand after a Hurricane Hermoine dumped a million inches of rain in the area last night. I had no idea, either. Nova and I practiced pulling a barrel in an arena and a few lighter things on a gravel road. In no way were we prepared to drag a 400 lb tire! ha Firstly there is a savvy skill with rope handing that I didn’t have. After Nova got her hind leg wrapped in the long rope and another little spook, we dropped the rope. At least I was smart enough to let go!
And that was our adventure into today. I continued to mess up the pattern. Finally, I remembered what Sally Scott told me a long while ago, “Concentrate”. Think about what you are doing and what is next.” You can’t float away into space cadetville thinking how wonderfully Nova is cantering.
Before the reining class, Thea quizzed me on the reining pattern. There’s an example of how things are in the versatility arena. Competitors help each other! I got it! Nova and I did the pattern wonderfully. Nova messed up our first canter depart with some examples of how well she can canter and stop at the same time. But we went right on and did magnificently in her spins and circles. Thea won the class. I got World Reserve Reining horse champion. I wonder if some of those high dollar reining horse champions need my coaching!