By Claire Pollard for Equine Business Management class.
“Life is like a dressage test. If you are too busy thinking
about your last move, the next one won’t be any good either.” – Anonymous
While those words hold very true,
sometimes looking back can give good insight. When I first came to St. Andrews
as a freshman four years ago, I wanted to try something different. I had grown up riding saddleseat and had
gaited trail horses at home, but was always fascinated by dressage. I signed up for two dressage lessons my first
semester and decided to give it a shot. I had to then make a decision as to
whether or not I wanted to try out for the
Intercollegiate Dressage Team. I had
planned to wait until my sophomore year, but with a little prompting from the
team coach, Jackie Dwelle, I thought I could at least try out. With two lessons
under my belt, I tried out and made it as an Intro rider.
I quickly learned just how
challenging dressage is as I was taught that “dressage is not a speed event”,
circles should never be “pancaked shaped” and that suddenly high school
geometry became important again. I learned that sitting the trot requires ab
muscles and that getting a horse on the bit was not nearly as easy as people
made it look. I did not do well showing my freshman year at the Intro level,
but I was completely hooked. I watched my senior teammates make it to Nationals
as a team and vowed silently to myself that I, too, would get to go before I
graduated. I also calculated if I worked hard enough, I could possibly ride at
First Level by the time I was a senior…
I did slightly better showing my
sophomore year at Intro, but not by much. Dressage was very frustrating,
especially when you have ten minutes to figure out a horse and ride a perfectly
executed test. I grew as a rider thanks to Jackie despite my lack of success in
the show ring and became even more addicted to the sport. To my dismay, my
intro eligibility expired after two years and my junior year, I moved up to
Lower Training. I was dismayed. I had hardly succeeded at Intro and now was
expected to ride a harder test?! I experienced my share of frustrations and
highs and lows. I learned to lose and lose gracefully. I learned that even if
you did not get a ribbon, you still gained something and that was what to fix
for next time. I learned that attitude is everything and that experience is
more valuable than that coveted blue ribbon.
Time was running out. I was now a
senior in college and had one year left if my Nationals dream was to become a
reality. I spent part of the summer interning with Vicki Kelley at Antares
Dressage in Pinehurst and she helped greatly improving both my knowledge and
riding abilities. I moved up yet another level in IDA to Upper Training. Then,
it finally paid off. The first show of the season I won my first blue ribbon
for dressage and was high point rider for the day at the show NC State hosted.
I continued to be competitive throughout the season, placing well and finally
seeing some success. Through the season, I remained close in points for the
lead for the Upper Training Division. It finally came down to where I could not
beat her to win the division, but could finish Reserve Champion with a shot at
a wild card slot for Nationals and I did. After a lengthy wait, I found out
that I do indeed get to travel to Ohio for IDA Nationals to represent St.
Andrews as an individual, achieving that silent promise I made to myself
freshman year.
There is no way I could have done
it without the help from coaches at St. Andrews who pushed me to be my best.
Jackie Dwelle, Lindsey Agaliotis, and Carla Wennberg all taught me valuable
lessons about the sport of dressage. St. Andrews gave me the opportunity to
take something I had no knowledge of and really run with it. And as for my
First Level promise made freshman year? While I did not compete First Level for
IDA, I rode my first First Level test at a schooling show in Pinehurst,
checking off that goal as well. It has truly been an awesome experience and I
would not trade it for anything.
The next goal on my list to accomplish?
Finally teaching my grandmother how to pronounce “dressage.”
