Unfortunately, this year I did not have the time to prepare a fancy infographic like years past, but I feel like these are fun to do all the same.
Without further ado, here is our 2019 riding season, specifically calculated and broken down into numbers for no other reason than for fun:
2019 Season by the Numbers
Since I rode multiple different tests this year, I'll break it down a bit further than just one number. However, out of all the tests I rode this year, our highest was a 69.3% for Training Level 3.
We did play around at First Level, so here are our highest marks for those:
Highest Score for First Level 1 - 68.1%
Highest Score for First Level 2 - 66.8%
For a first foray into First Level territory, I feel pretty good about the averages we hit. Of course, we didn't go to many shows in 2019, simply due to lack of shows available in our immediate area. Hopefully this year we can work more on sussing out Annie's Dressage ring anxiety/ buddy sourness issues and we can have less theatrics in the ring and more steadiness and reliability. In the end, it is something that can only be 'fixed' by miles anyways.
Highest Scored Movement
We had an interesting sprinkling of 8's throughout the year, with quite a few 7.5's.
8.0 - 20m canter circle at B (in a TL3 test)
8.0 - rider aids (in a FL 1 test)
Knowing me and Annie, the 8.0 on a canter circle is pretty awesome, considering the fact that the canter has been a really difficult gait to get our shit together in in the Dressage arena. Annie's go to is to cross fire or lead change when she gets tense and stressed (regardless of where I have her flexed), so it's been a journey to get things smoothed out. The fact most judges reward my tactful riding makes me believe it's something that'll just take time on Annie's part to get "settled" and less fractious in the ring.
We also did get a good deal of 7.5s for the following: working canter right lead (FL2), A down centerline, X halt salute (FL2), canter 15 meters (FL2), and FXH change rein (FL1).
Number of Tests Ridden
We rode a grand total of 11 tests throughout the entire year. The following numbers include the tests we rode from showing as well as the tests we rode at percentage days.
Training Level 2: 1
Training Level 3: 3
First Level 1: 3
First Level 2: 3
First Level Freestyle: 1
Number of Lessons Taken
For 2019 we took a grand total of: 13 lessons.
These were split amongst 4 clinicians, and hosted in 3 different venues. One of which was 5 hours away!
Lesson formats were a bit of everything - private, semi-private, group lessons and a good mix of flat, in-hand, dressage, and jumping. A little bit of everything!
Number of Shows Attended
There weren't many shows in 2019 in our immediate area, but we attended 2. One of which was a Dressage Only show, and the other was the BVX wherein we did a bit of everything (halter, jumping, dressage...).
Number of Outings
We hitched up and headed out for a grand total of ~20 adventures (there may be one or two that I am missing).
Of these 17 adventures, they broke down as follows:
We visited the Vet twice, once for an annual health check up and a second time when Annie's eye blew up.
Seven of these outings were for lessons.
A total of 4 outings were to our outdoor arena, once to partake in the fun cowboy challenge day I planned, another time to play with jumps, once to ride without having to hack home (which is about 20min to and from) and another time to meet up with the saddle fitter and try out a bunch of jump saddles (none of which worked well).
We also hauled out to two shows, as noted above.
Twice we hauled out to trail ride off property with friends, which was a lot of fun.
We also journeyed out once in the early Spring to ride in the indoor arena with a friend before all the snow melted.
And twice, we played at Percentage Days/ Clear Rounds.
Total of KM spent in the Saddle
We rode a total of 328.1 logged kilometers in Equilab. However, I did not track lessons, shows, or fun days. In addition, the Equilab app did not work properly for quite a few rides and subsequently read 0.3km for hour long rides, which is not accurate. Despite this, it's still a cool metric to play with!
Number of Ribbons Accumulated
1st place - 3
3rd place - 2
4th place - 3
5th place - 4
6th place - 2
Doing the season by the numbers is a fun way to recap what we did during the year and just how many adventures we had.
Finally completing this recap, however, has made me long even more for Spring... we were hit with another 8" of snow and I'm just so over it. I'm ready to swing a leg back up onto Annie, drive Spud, and play with Maizey. Unfortunately, I think that will take a bit longer than I would like. So, for now, we patiently wait for sunnier days and fast melting snow.
