Sara and Lady's Southern Adventure: Tact and Diplomacy: Dressage Day at AECs

I usually focus so intently that I don’t hear much of what is said over the loudspeakers while I’m competing, but today something caught my attention: “…Now entering the arena for the Advanced Championships is Sara Gartland riding Always A Lady…” As I cantered across the Grand Prix arena towards my dressage ring, I took a deep breath, smiled, and soaked it all in. It was a pretty awesome feeling, especially because 12 hours earlier I wasn’t sure if I would actually be competing…

Wednesday was supposed to be my easy-going, get-organized day between the drive and the start of competition, but Miss Lady gave me a pretty good scare. All day she seemed a little drawn up, but she never drinks well while shipping so I figured she was just catching up on her fluids still. Then while I was bathing her after riding, I noticed that she was especially tense across her back and was even more drawn up. Also, as I ran my hand across the underside of her belly she I found a large bump that she reacted very strongly to me touching. With the combination of concerns, we made the decision to call the vet, who ruled out the possibility of colic (YAY!) but thought that she had been stung or had an allergic reaction to something. In the morning today, everything looked much better, but those who know Lady know that she doesn’t need much of an excuse to give me a hard time in the dressage ring. So I had to ride very “diplomatically” and definitely gave up a few points because I didn’t push her quite as much as usual. However, given the circumstances, I was very pleased with my test and felt that certain parts were much improved from my last ride at Millbrook. My mom tried to record my test with the new camera and got some of the trot work and some of the canter work…hopefully I uploaded it correctly!

Also, I finally got the pictures from the various devices onto my computer, so here’s a glimpse of Chattahoochee Hills (which is now an incorporated town, and also was the site for one of the Zac Brown Band music videos).