I'll start with Eventing. The last few weeks I have been starting to condition my horse, not for anything big, but for the possibility that I might take him to an event. This idea surfaced after I moved my horse to a mostly eventing barn and started talking to the eventing trainers there. They made a very good point, I already know how to jump and I have been doing Dressage for a year, more then enough for the lowest level of eventing. Once the footing dries up and little more, I will be venturing out to the cross country field at our barn and start jumping the starter and beginner novice fences, just to see what it's like. If all goes well, we MIGHT do a Starter event towards the end of the summer.
The second idea is something I have been thinking about for a while, and finally have the opprotunity to try, Western Dressage. After riding western during the school year and becoming comfortable and happy in the "big saddle" I thought that Western Dressage might be right up my alley. I really love Classic Dressage, but I am still trying to find a place in the industry that really feels like home. So this is something that I want to try to see how it feels. Yesterday I rode in a Western Dressage lesson at a local barn (on a schooling horse) to get my feet wet. My next step is to attend a clinic at the same barn at the end of the month. I'm excited to learn more. The more I learn about it, the more excited I get. My biggest problem.....no western saddle. Which tends to be a problem when you want to compete in Western Dressage.I think my horse will be ok with it, it won't be any more work then he does now, but of course I will let him tell me if it's something we will keep doing.
So in the mean time, my search for a saddle continues. I have my perfect saddle in mind. An RS training saddle is my dream western saddle. They are so comfortable, they are built really nice, last forever and they seem to fit a wide range of horses. But finding one on a non-exsistant college budget is.....almost impossible. Oh well, I'll keep searching and playing the lottery, cause you know, it could happen, right?
Picture below: Butch, my first Colt Starting horse. She was sort of crazy,