is Charlie a First Level horse?

My history and relationship with dressage is.... maybe a bit complicated. Tho probably not especially uncommon.

Through all my years of riding, I could *recognize* the most superficial, obvious attributes of the riding style ("round, on the bit"), but actually *achieving* those results always felt like an enigma to me. Mysterious and inaccessible. So very, very very different from how I could ride.

maybe he could be a good dressage horse after all??

It wasn't until I decided to event with Isabel that we began to tackle this head-on. Initially I had exactly zero concept of how naturally gifted and talented Isabel was for the dressage... But eventually with the right coaching we grew to be a pretty good team, imho.

Isabel thus taught me a fairly deep appreciation for dressage. By the end of our time together, we were pretty solid at all things first level (and riding the eventing level equivalents of first level at shows), and schooling most of second level.

And to be perfectly honest, if I didn't have a deeply rooted desire to jump, I would have shifted our focus purely to dressage and kept at it with Isabel.

collage of the best moments from charlie's earliest efforts in the dressage court

As it is, tho, things change and now my landscape looks entirely different. Now I have a Charlie haha. And he is no Isabel in the dressage ring. He's built like a brontosaurus with lumbering labored gaits to match lol.

But he's a good boy. And while his gaits aren't flashy, they are correct(ish). His walk and canter in particular are very strong - arguably fundamentally better than Isabel's, tho she was maybe freer in her movement.

tho of course, here at 'Fraidy Cat Eventing we celebrate those.... other moments too haha

Charlie's capacity for handling pressure is.... well, not even close to Isabel's -- she was extremely special in that regard. But he's learning. I tend to view a horse's capacity for pressure as analogous to a muscle strength. With care, practice, and thoughtful repetition, it can be built and developed. And so Charlie has learned to accept more and more pressure.

Over the course of this past year, I've become really comfortable and confident in Charlie's progress as a solidly Training Level dressage horse. But if you recall, one of my goals was to be schooling all of First by the end of the year. Which.... Each time I checked in with the goals, I felt a little queasy about that. It felt very far away.

showing off how far he's come to wrapping up the 2017 season 

That is.... until I actually went back and revisited those tests haha. Upon reading through 1-1 again, it occurred to me that.... maybe Charlie is closer than I thought.

This might sound stupid, but that was kinda a revolutionary thought for me haha. Somehow, without realizing it, all my previous feelings about the mysterious inaccessibility of dressage had started creeping back into my mind and clouding my judgement as I restarted this very green OTTB.

and kicking off the 2018 season in.... some sort of frozen style lol

Going back to revisit Charlie's progress through this refreshed perspective, what I see more than anything else this past year is how far Charlie has come in his longitudinal balance. That is, his balance from nose to tail, his ability to shift more and more weight to his hindquarters.

Which, incidentally, the purpose of First Level specifically says that one of the distinguishing factors between First and Training is the horse's development of more thrust to achieve improved balance and throughness.

This proficiency is demonstrated in the tests through smaller circles (10m at trot and 15m at canter), the ability to lengthen stride in trot and canter, and the balance and suppleness necessary for leg yields and counter canter loops.

elegant charlie <3

Turns out.... Charlie routinely schools all of those things. Actually, almost every ride. So when I reread those tests.... it was kinda almost like a sack of bricks fell on my head lol. Like, "OMG wait, maybe we actually could do this!" Which sounds silly writing it out like that, but there ya have it.

Obviously tho, there's a big difference in schooling individual movements vs putting them all together, one on top of the other, in a test pattern. In my schooling rides, I generally don't ride a movement without feeling like we're prepared for it. Like if I want to leg yield down the quarter line, but we lose balance in the turn? We just circle out, fix our balance, and try again. Nbd.

by mid summer he really seems to have things figured out

So while we have experience with all of these pieces, I don't actually have a concept yet of how they'd all come together for us in a test environment. Tho since figuring out we're closer to being ready for this level than I previously thought, I've started at least stringing a few movements together in practice. Testing the waters, so to speak.

Realistically, tho, I'm pretty relaxed when it comes to the idea of "moving up." Obviously dressage is different from jumping --- there's substantially less inherent risk in the attitude of, "What the hell, let's give it a shot!" Even so, tho, I tend to be the biggest factor in holding myself back. Impostor syndrome is REAL, y'all.

And certainly there will always be people who believe you shouldn't move up a level until you're consistently scoring 7s across the board at your current level. Or that you should be so confirmed to the new level that even on your worst day, you can get through a test. But eh, I don't really subscribe to those opinions.

closing out the season with an accurate, obedient and competitive test

As far as I can tell, esp after a year spent volunteering and observing riders at all eventing and dressage levels, the biggest difference in riders at higher levels is that.... well, they're out there doing it. Mistakes still happen. Things can always fall apart or be messy when horses are involved. In any particular class at any given level, there are always stronger and weaker entries.

But there's something very real to be said for the riders who take the plunge and go for it. So I'm putting it out there now: I've come to the conclusion that Charlie is ready to try on a First Level test for size. And am hopeful we'll get some opportunities this winter to hit up some schooling shows. Ya know. To see what happens haha.

always more to work on. always. but feels like the next step is within reach!

Have you ever had similar "epiphanies" about your horse's training? Like waking up one morning to realize that, suddenly your green bean isn't so green anymore? Or that something that used to be a huge challenge now comes easily?

Likewise, do you feel similarly about moving up a level? Are you more likely to just kinda go for it, or more likely to be more reserved to really ensure that you're 110% ready before entering at A? Does it depend on the situation? Or the horse?