The Idea of Order: Deciphering Your Dressage Test…

Grab some wine and settle in…

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Having just come back from our first show of the season, I have a renewed amusement at the deciphering of the handwriting on dressage tests. To be fair, it is difficult to be a scribe, particularly at the upper levels where things happen quite quickly (so mad props and a thank you to all of you who even attempt to do this!). Nevertheless, there is certainly some humor to be taken from some of the stuff written (scrawled illegibly?) on tests. My crew and I had a great chuckle over 5:00 am coffee going over some of the trickier comments.

Go Riding!

Morgane Schmidt Gabriel is a 35-year-old teacher/artist/dressage trainer/show announcer/ who still hasn’t quite decided what she wants to be when she grows up. A native Floridian, she now lives in Reno, NV, where she’s been able to confirm her suspicion that snow is utterly worthless. Though she has run the gamut of equestrian disciplines, her favorite is dressage. She was recently able to complete her USDF bronze and silver medals and is currently working on her gold. Generally speaking her life is largely ruled by Woody, a 14.2 hand beastly quarter horse, Willie, a now beastly 7-year-old Dutch gelding, and Stormy, her friend’s nearly all white paint gelding with a penchant for finding every mud hole and pee spot in existence. Visit her website at www.theideaoforder.com.

Photo (c) Tamara with the Camera