July 21, 2006: Half Full and Trying Not to Spill

After a week off, we were given permission to go back to work on Wednesday. It turned out that Quila DID injure herself, but not in an “important” way. She apparently damaged her “curb” ligament, which isn’t important to locomotion, and since she’s not lame, there’s no reason not to return to work... so continue the Bute for a few days for any muscles soreness that will result from having laid off for the week, and continue icing to treat the residual heat and swelling, but otherwise life as usual.

Great, right?

Not exactly. Quila’s memory is not the greatest, you see, and she apparently forgot the meaning of half halt during her “vacation,” or, at the very least, how to pay attention to me while I’m riding, so that she will notice when I am giving one. She also became incredibly stiff, and was having trouble bending to the right the first few days, though that was MUCH better today (the third day back). On Wednesday, we had a miserable ride. “Half halt?” she said. “What's a half halt? In fact, what's a halt? Or a down transition?” She wasn't being naughty. She was just daydreaming, and couldn't keep her concentration on me to save her life. We were walking. I asked for a halt. We were still walking. I asked again, louder (but NO PULLING--I could not, would not pull--yank, yes--but pull, no). Still no response. Whack, whack, whack with the whip. Quila startles a bit. “What? Oh. Were you talking to me? Could you repeat? Oh. Halt? Um, yes. Let me see. How does that go? Oh. Yeah. Right. Here you go.” Very frustrating ride.

Today was a little better, in that she was paying attention to me most of the time, but we’ve lost a lot of ground. We just aren’t working together as a team, and performing as we were before she got hurt, and I don’t feel the confidence I had in our ability to compete that I did earlier. We were not so confirmed at Test 4 that we could afford the time off, I’m afraid (or at least I wasn’t, and for me it was more than 2 weeks out of the saddle, because you can hardly count the single ride I had between Pebble Beach and her injury). It looks like a huge hole that we need to dig ourselves out of in order to be ready to show next weekend...

I talked to Jürgen, and we agreed to wait until the very last minute to decide whether or not to scratch for the show. I want to qualify for the USDF Region 7 Championships more than anything else--it was my one big goal for this season (actually, it was my goal last season, but Quila’s lameness kept us from achieving it. I really thought we’d have a chance at it this year, though). If we’re going to do it, we MUST show next weekend, and score 62% or better on one of the two days (ideally on both of them). But I don’t want to go out and show if we’re not ready... we’ve had enough tests with scores in the 50’s, and they aren’t confidence building for either one of us. We don’t need to go out and have a bad experience. So, unless we have improved to the point where we are communicating and functioning as a team, I will stay home and say goodbye to my dream for this season. It’s the only reasonable thing to do. I’m trying to remain upbeat for now... but boy, it looks a long way from where we are and where we need to be.