It was a Beautiful Weekend... for Not Riding

This weekend was beautiful, the weather was gorgeous for March.

It would have been a great weekend for riding, but I didn't even make it to the barn. I've been out of town for horse clinics for both of the last two weekends and so I needed to spend some time at home.

Instead, I did mountains of laundry, did some much needed spring cleaning around the house, had family over for lunch, played some disc golf, looked at china cabinets, and spent some time with my SO and our two cats.

The cats were so stoked to stare out the open window

I also had my first pilates class. It was good, I could feel that it will be good for my body control and core strength. I found it interesting how I was able to use my seat work from riding to have better control over my pelvis position than the other students in my intro class, I guess the cross-training concept works both ways! I look forward to my next class this week where we'll start working with equipment.

It was a great weekend and I don't regret any of the stuff that I did instead of riding. However, my first show of the season is this week and I'm officially starting to freak out!

It's just a indoor schooling show, but it's at a big facility. I'm entered into Walk-Trot A, Walk-Trot C, and Training 1. I don't feel ready at all, but I've really only ever been to one show with Kachina so we need the experience.

My goals for the show are just to practice the show environment - figuring out what kind of warm up we need, work in an actual dressage ring, focus on good basics and riding well when faced with the stress of being in front of a judge, etc. I have zero goals related to actual performance or score. We can worry about that stuff later in the season.

I'm going to braid because I need the practice, but Kachina is going to look like a fuzzy mess. She is only starting to shed out her winter coat, and it's still too cold to bathe. My Lucky Braids whitener spray that I got for Christmas is going to get a tough first test.

To be honest, if I hadn't agreed to haul my friend to the show months ago, I probably would have wussed out of sending in my entry last week. As it is, I'm committed. I'm not sure whether that's a good or bad thing lol

On the bright side, there don't seem to be many entries in my classes, so we might get a ribbon even if we're in last place! It will also be great to get some feedback from a judge to see what areas we need to focus on most.

I'm planning to go to the barn this evening to do a run through of some of the tests and see where we're at (though I'm scared to see what the answer is).

Anyone else terrified about starting their show season?