Train of thought... downhill runaway

So, I have this thing where my brain is on overdrive most of the time (ask John! He'll tell you how much I think too much!). Those that have watched me ride P-man would never really realize it, but really that mass in my skull turns into Tourette's on crack. The funny thing is that I hold my breath sometimes when I jump, cutting off oxygen, which seems to slow things down a bit :)

But dressage is where I get all my dirty work done. The following is a random train of thought that may or may not happen during my dressage test...

Whistle... choo choo, that sounds like the beginning of that "Love Shack" love shack baby, yeah... down center line straight - straight don't spook at the letter or the judge or the grass or the dirt. AH we have to turn. Bend around my leg. Wait... did I turn the right direction... where to I turn next. THere's John -- I hope he's getting this on camera... I hope the camera works. I wonder when I'll get it put online cause I'm sure mom will want to see it. Is he leaning on me,he might be behind the bit, oh wait, canter NOW...up into the canter. Wait, that sucked... CAN WE JUST DO THAT AGAIN? Oh my gosh I'm tired. HOw can I hold this all together for one more 20 meter circle? What would happen if I just walked thru the rest of the test-- I bet that'd be entertaining. Or what if I just cantered in a half seat around the ring over and over and didn't stop for the whistle. Gosh I can't wait for cross country. Wait -- free walk -- [insert elevator music here]........... collect for Medium walk... please don't explode, please don't explode, please don't explode......and TROT. I totally am regretting not eating anything before this, what was I nervous about, this isn't so bad. Wait, its starting to rain, and rain means umbrellas and umbrellas mean CRAZY horse. I guess not, he doesn't care about the umbrellas... AH! apparently he does care about the single peice of grass that is 4 inches higher then the rest of the grass -- it is pretty weird that one peice of grass would be higher... maybe they need to have their mower looked at. Gosh I remember all the trouble we had with that mower at the FORK... glad I don't have to worry about that anymore. At least I have a cool job now. and it means I get to ride in cool tack like this pad I have on. I sure wish I hadn't dropped it in the mud on the way to tack the P-man up -- we'd sure look a bit more polished then what we do now. I hope my hair is staying in it's hair net at least.

HANDS UP... LEG ON... MOVE THRU. I guess going down center line was a bit late to start thinking of those minor details. OH well, at least that's over with. Halt -- Salute.... Smile (did I even do all the test?)...


Ok, so maybe I'm not that bad, but it sure feels like it sometimes. For instance, last night I was upping the ante on P-man a bit - asking him to be more together and uphill. Things were going well, but I felt something was missing. He would get a bit unbalanced when I changed his bend or when we did transitions. I could. not. get. it. right. And then, like a lightbulb in a dark house, I realized "oh, my leg is just hanging there... engage!" and suddlening my horse relaxed and would bend and mold and do whatever.

It's the simple things, really... and for some reason, I can't keep all the simple things together. :)


Leave for Virginia Horse Trials in 2 days! My good friend Tina said she had some ideas to get my brain out of my way, so hopefully things will work out well!