30/ SEPTEMBER/ OCTOBER 2021 THE RIDER
Never Knew What We Were Missing: Virtual Shows!
By Kathy Farrokhzad. In retrospect, it boggles
the mind. I mean, we’ve had the
technology for decades - and still, someone like me has never taken the steps neces- sary to actually run through the tests at home, video my- self from the judge’s per- spective, and then see how my horse and I actually AP- PEAR! Yes, I’ve had beautiful,
even professional pictures done. I’ve had people video my tests at the show. I’ve even had videos done at home - EXCEPT with a proper ring set-up and the camera at C. Maybe I’m the only one, and other people have done videos like these and benefitted immensely before going to the actual show? I don’t know. Anyway, this summer was an eye-opener for me and helped me make significant progress in the art of putting together a series of move- ments all in a row, smoothly and accurately, with good movement and ever-improv- ing my riding position and effectiveness. And in the end, who
benefitted most? My horse,
Dressage Online Interna- tional - a virtual show series based out of Great Britain. Anna, who is the brain be- hind the tech, has brought together competitors and judges from around the world! She uses custom-de- signed tests that loosely fol- low the British and USEF dressage levels, all the way from walk-trot to the “Elite Invitational” for FEI riders. PLUS there’s an in-hand class! You can compete in one class or participate in up to six shows for League awards, and even join an in- ternational team of 4 riders as part of the Team Compe- tition. All from the comfort of your own barn. The inter- national community that is developing from this initia- tive in incredible!
1. Personal Growth And in the end, this is
what showing is all about. By the time I’d prac-
of course! Here are the top 7 les-
sons I learned while step- ping into my first virtual shows - at home!
7. Set Up the Ring - Your- self!
There’s nothing more
educational than setting up your own ring! First off, you need to figure out the actual
measurements (or do some quick math to be as close as you can with your riding space). Then, you need to make a rectangle with straight lines - either with poles, or some kind of mark- ers such as upside-down buckets, pylons, or even jump standards. In any case, you need to delineate the perimeter of the ring! THEN - you get to figure out where the letters go! Trust me, you get better
and quicker at the set-up each time you go through it. But what a lot of insight you get, even if you’re a veteran show rider. Lining every- thing up gives you so much more understanding of the ring geometry and the spac- ing of the circles and various figures. As a sidenote, I noticed
with pleasure as measured dressage rings popped up at barns that never had them before! What a great way to inspire people to ride dres- sage more often!
6. Goalzzz I know not everyone is
This handsome 6-year-old, 16 hand gelding retired from the racetrack
sound and is now looking forward to a new career. With an experienced rider he should do well in the jumping ring or as a low-level eventer. If you're interested in meeting "Rocky” please contact LongRun!
goal oriented like I am. I don’t expect everyone to jump on the showing band- wagon, but let me tell you, there’s nothing like a dead- line to help me schedule rides and structure practices and put in the effort. I have a tendency to just go with the flow in my regular rides, and that might mean NOT being focused on improving a movement or making timely progress.
5. Practice Makes Perfect One of the best results
of doing the virtual shows at home is that you get to SEE HOW YOU DID before you send in the test. What an amazing concept! Someone might think
that checking your test will give you an advantage, and maybe that’s actually true. But when every competitor has the same advantage, there’s no one to benefit more than the rider and the horse! That’s because as you prob- ably know, feeling some- thing in riding can be very different from what it looks like. And every single time you watch your own video and how it looked, you learn something new! Like how straight your
entry center line REALLY IS! And how straight your halt is, and the trot off after the halt! Or how about the (un)evenness of your cir- cles? You get my drift. So then you try, try
again. You trouble-shoot, develop your skill, and guess what? You improve!
4. Focus on The Steps One of the greatest
benefits of the dressage “system” is the fact that the tests are based on a develop- mental, structured “training scale” and you get to ride at you and your horse’s level, no matter how “beginner” you are. In fact, if you are a first-time dressage rider, starting at the beginning is a huge benefit because then you get to develop step-by- step.
And if you’re more ad-
vanced, you get to check in with the tests to see exactly
where you are at this mo- ment in time, where your strengths are, and what holes you have in YOUR pro- gram! See what I mean?
3. Get Fit! Aye that’s one of the
greatest benefits of doing your show at home! Add the set-ups, the practices, the lessons and schooling, the video takes, and the re-takes - and you AND your horse end up on a conditioning program without
even
knowing it. What a great side-benefit.
2. Ready For In-Person Shows! One of the best benefits
of the virtual shows is the feedback you get on each test. Never before have we had access to our local judges, and alternatively, INTERNATIONAL judges the way we do now. I first participated in the Stepping Stone Virtual Dres- sage Series. Marissa took her usually in-person local shows online, used our own Cadora tests, and our own judges. It was so great to see familiar tests and judges par- ticipating, so I decided to take a chance and give vir- tual showing a try. Not only was I practicing the tests I would have ridden at a Cadora show, but I also got direct feedback from the ac- tual judges who would have been there. In this case, I know exactly what I need to work on to improve - and be ready for the in-person shows as they become avail- able.
And then I discovered
ticed and had feedback from both the local and interna- tional show circuits, I felt that I was not only be better prepared for
in-person
shows, but I went through the same important stages of development that is brought on by this thing called “horse riding”. First, I put emphasis on
developing my horse’s way of going, his balance and swing, and the effective communication that is re- quired by the test of your level. Developing better movement is is always better for the horse! But then, there was my
own development, that is ar- guably more important (that is the reason behind all things horse): the opportu- nity to keep improving my SELF, the stick-to-it-ness re- quired to get over the learn- ing bumps and mistakes, the desire to know how to make riding a pleasurable and healthy experience for my horse. For me, that’s where everything begins and ends. Now I wonder if virtual
shows will stay after the lockdowns. Because I, for one, will be looking to keep working on the tests - from home! Who wants to join me?
Bio: Kathy Farrokhzad is an EC coach and author of the Horse Listening book col- lection, Goal Setting For The Equestrian: A Personal Workbook, and the creator of the Practice Sessions on- line program. If you liked what you read here, check out her blog at HorseListen-
ing.com for many more arti- cles about horses, riding and life in general.
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