Week 3!

 This week I was very busy! I had a horse show that I went to, which was a lot of fun. It was an eventing show, where I rode three times each day. The first ride was Dressage, where the rider performs an exact sequence of movements in a pattern, which is scored by a judge or judges. This phase tests the horse's ability to demonstrate balance, rhythm, suppleness, and most importantly obedience based on the rider's cues or "aids." After Dressage is Cross Country, Cross-country is the most well-known phase of eventing and proves the horse's speed, endurance, and jumping ability over varied terrain and solid obstacles. The third phase, show jumping, tests horses' and riders' precision over a series of colorful fences made of lightweight rails which are easily knocked down. This final phase tests the stamina and recovery of the horse after the very tiring cross-country phase.

In addition to the horses I showed in last week's post, I also rode a client's horse named Rodger. He is an 8-year-old OTTB and we are working on some basics like accepting contact and jumping grids. 

Besides all of the riding, I have been studying and making plans for more teaching and working student opportunities this summer. This week I wrapped up the majority of my disease studying, and I now know a lot about various equine diseases, including PPID (Cushing's), insulin resistance/metabolic syndrome, herpes myeloencephalopathy, botulism, Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, ringworm, sarcoid, summer sores, gastric ulcers, Equine viral arteritis, Potomac horse fever, EPM (Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis), tooth problems, and roaring. I have also started learning more about nutrition by listening to a good podcast I found and reading.