Congratulations to Rita and Nicky

Thanks, Pops, for posting these photos for me. I was hesitant to get into the show, especially the dressage test, because Nicky has a mind of her own. We practiced the patterns for weeks and I still was not satisfied with her response to my cues. On the day of the show, I told her "This is it! You have to listen to me and try to do what I ask of you." And she did! We did the 3 gaits, regular walk, medium walk and flat walk, which are what Tennessee Walkers do, and we did our 20 meter circles and diagonals and rein changes, and out of a perfect score of 160 we got 99. My instructor assured me that this was good for a first timer like myself. The equitation is based on how you handle the horse: the pleasure is based on how the horse responds to you. Now we have resumed training to learn how to canter correctly, so I can move to the next level of the dressage test. To stay young, you never stop learning, and we're having fun doing this!