Hurts so good

A real good lesson today, I think, even though it is 11 p.m. and my foot muscles still hurt.

To keep my legs from pushing the stirrups and my feet toward the front of the horse, Dada tied the stirrups on to the saddle in the back. My feet, which tend to drop, were held straight.

It worked perfectly: I felt steadier and I could use my legs better to urge Louie on (now, I just have to remember to do it consistently instead of occasionally). It was also easier to use my legs to shift my weight to the left so I don't always hang off Louie's right.

The only downside was that my feet weren't used to being in that position and they started hurting as I rode. By the end of the lesson, my leg was having spasms when I tried to shift my weight.

But it was a good lesson. Take a look at the photo. Louie looks pretty good, right? I think he is collected even. And he walked like that for a while, even did a few circles like that.

Apparently I am no longer a beginner. Dada used to tell me to look at the center of the circle to ride it. Today, though, she told me to watch where I was going and that you only look at the center when you are starting out. Huh.

And I am glad when I am sore. I figure it means a muscle is being tested.

Dada is one smart cookie.

And the lesson was good even after we finished. Lisa brought me a breakfast sandwich and took Claren for a dip in her pool there at Baileywyck Farm. And Kate didn't even complain about having a damp dog in her car for the ride home.

My freestyle ride

Here is a video of my ride on Sunday, the one where I came in fifth. At the end we are really dragging. I just saw the show results, though, and on Saturday I beat Athens Dude!

Pick up your reins

Uh-oh, Dada worked me today. Really. No resting on the old laurels for Matt.

Morven Park's fall show is in September, and Dada has decided I will win and there was some mention of the world championships.

We worked on three things today, my first lesson in Middleburg. It is great out there. All I have to do to win is: Hold my hands still and control Louie by wiggling my fingers, use my legs to "walk" with Louie and encourage his pace, and always, always, always keep contact with Louie by holding the reins taut. But not so taut that it in any way impedes Louie's progress. Just enough so that Louie holds his head down.

And I also have to watch where I am going and constantly shift my body to the left. that's it.

Any one of these things is a little overwhelming, trying to do all of them ... Yikes. Especially, the reins thing.

Apparently, Dada was going easy on me before, but now she is going to lay down the dressage law.

Dada thinks I can do them all by September because she said there were moments were I looked perfect. I didn't have the heart to tell her those moments were probably just luck as I was sliding from one wobbly position to the next.

Maybe, though, I will trust that Dada knows more about riding and maybe I can do this stuff. I guess we'll find out in September.

A few final words ... on the show

So close. My messed-up halt on Day 1, my easiest figure and a silly blunder apparaently cost me second place. It was that close.

Victory cake. My sister made me a yellow-ribbon cake. I loved it, even if it reminded me of Squidward from Spongebob. Thanks, em.

Photos. Most of the ones I have so far are real dark. But my sister was there Saturday and has tons. She has a top-notch camera and knows how to use it, so I will post them this weekend, I hope. Also, I have videos coming. Here are a few photos, including the cake.

Pink?

Yesterday, I was thinking about making dressage more manly. Apparently, it is not by coming in fifth, which I did today. You get a pink ribbon. At least my 4-year-old niece liked it.

I was disappointed in my ride today, even though everyone said it was good. My mom said she thought it was better than the one on Saturday. But I was frustrated.

I was supposed to ride at 3:03, but after I was on Louie they told Dada I was not riding until 3:15. I don't know what happened. I rode third like I was scheduled. But everything got pushed back.

The upshot was I was sitting on Louie way too long. I was tired. Louie was probably bored if not tired. I don't think our heads were in the game.

This was a freestyle ride, which is set to music. We finally rode in and waited at the midpoint for the music to start. And waited. And waited. It is hard to keep a horse still for so long, but we did pretty well.

Finally, it started but I was disappointed with my first figure 8. I kept trying to urge Louie on, but it was tough for both of us.

This judge was pretty sparse in her comments, too, just saying I needed energy.

Oh well. It was great fun, and several friends came out to watch. I can't wait to start practicing again to improve.

Third place, but I ain't yellow

I guaranteed a fifth-place finish, and I came in third!

Louie did most of the work, though, but I'll take the yellow ribbon. It is twice as long as any of my blue ribbons.

My first decision today was whether to make my dainty white gloved more manly.

I have some blisters on my hand, so I figured if I did not wear a band-aid, ooze and blood would leach out through my glove. It would be like in the movie "the Natural" when the catcher sees blood on Robert Redford's uniform before he hits the home run.

It would also be nasty, I thought, so I decided to go with a band-aid.

Then I had to decide on good luck charms. I went with a Bruce Springsteen ticket, a Batman action figure and my grandmother's medal from a local senior Olympics.

That might have been the toughest thing I did. I mean: You try narrowing down your choices when all of your toys are begging to go, swearing that they are the luckiest.

We got to the show and my fans started trickling in: two sisters, two nieces, two nephews and a brother-in-law, plus the women who drove Louie over and three folks Dada met in Middleburg. My parents drove me, so they were there, too.

Suddenly, though, my expectations for my finish got real low. Dada introduced me to a rider she met at the Paralympics in Athens. His name is Keith, but I will refer to him as Athens Dude.

Athens Dude had a U.S. Paralympic coach with him named Missy Ransehousen. I met her in Gladstone, and she acted like she remembered me. He also had a passle of fine-looking young ladies as his helpers. Just saying.

Then it was time to ride.

Mounting was a bit of a challenge as there was no ramped mounting block, and it had a hole in it, too.

But we made it and then I was in the arena riding.

My worst figure was the easiest one. I was just supposed to halt Louie at point A. But I pulled the reins too hard and he began to back up. We recovered, though. My figure 8s were better than I thought. The serpentines, too.

The biggest problem for the judge was that Louie and I lacked energy. I tried as hard as I could to kick Louie into a nice rhythm and energy, but it is hard to do. Louie needs to bend into curves more, and that is my fault, too. I need to lead him better.

But the judge liked my accuracy and equestrian skill. And she wrote that I had a "great mind!" and that I was "very precise." Louie got the best praise -- "lovely horse!" she wrote.

I don't know for sure, but I imagine Athens Dude won.

Tomorrow will be fun.

Thanks Dada and Kate for making all this possible.

A new color

More later, but for you, my legions of adoring fans, here are my results. I came in third, a yellow ribbon. YEAH ME!

I guess I'm ready

It was a crazy lesson today that left me a little unsure I am ready for the weekend.

First, I told Kate to make the wrong stirrup lower so I was off-balance during my whole first ride.

Then I thought Dada said I could not do a figure eight for my 10-meter circles, so I did not do the figure eight, but tried to do something else. and so on. Plus, by the end of the lesson I was so tired I could hardly move move my legs.

Dada said she had been hoping for a lesson like this -- to get all the bad things out of the way before the competition. Hopefully, I did that.

I certainly won't be getting cocky.

This was my last lesson before the show. It was also my last lesson at Spirit Field. Spirit is moving to a better facility in Middleburg. I am not going to think about that until later. Now, though, I am riding my tests in my mind.

Ride times set

This is it; I guess I am just about ready for this weekend. I have one more lesson, but they posted the ride times yesterday for the VADA/Nova Summer Licensed Dressage Show. I ride at 3:46 Saturday and 2:58 Sunday. I think that is last Saturday and first Sunday. I suppose there is strategy in going early or late, but I'll just go and have fun so I win no matter what.

I did look: There are four other para-equestrian riders. I actually know one. We rode in Colorado and at Gladstone. Anyway, I guarantee at least a fifth-place finish.

2 videos

See my tests.



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