December 10, 2018

Product Review (and Giveaway!): The Dressage Rider's Journal

Although I've stopped accepting free things to review on the blog, it felt different when a fellow blogger asked if she could give me a copy of her trainer's new Dressage training journal, and also give me a copy to giveaway on the blog.  So I said yes!  Thanks, Emilie!


(She actually didn't ask me to review it, but of course, I'm going to anyway.)

First, a perhaps surprising thought: I actually think this journal is even better for those of us going up the levels for the first time or those who have never taken Dressage seriously than it is for serious Dressage riders.  And that's not to say this isn't for serious Dressage riders, because it totally is, everyone could benefit from this journal.


But this is a journal that will ask you to sit down and apply some structure to your riding life.  It will gently ask you to think about what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how your every day activities are helping you reach your goals.  These are things that people showing Grand Prix likely have a better concept of than those of us stumbling through Second for the first time, because it does take that level of drive, structure and goal-setting to get that far.

It's HUGE!  More of a book than a journal.  10" iPad for scale

It spends just a few pages in the beginning asking you to think about high-level things - for example, you and your horse's strengths and weaknesses (side note: coming up with my weaknesses and Connor's strengths was way easier than the inverse.  Riding self-esteem may need work).


It also asks you to set goals.  And not just 2019 goals, but a series of goals.  My advice to you is not to skip the self-assessment, goals, and action plan sections, as much as I wanted to, because everything else in the journal should logically lead back toward what you write in these sections.  As someone who has almost superstitiously not set goals to this point, this is something I don't want to do, but should do.

The first 5 sections only amount to 14 pages out of a 187 page book, but they're very important to making the rest of the book effective.

Once you're done with the self-introspection part, the rest of the journal is set up in such a way to help you achieve those goals.  There's a box for each day where you can write what you did in your ride and lesson notes, there are arena diagrams (tons!) on which to write exercises or notes, and there are places to record test scores.



So far, there are just two things I wish it had: a place to write down all scores received on a particular movement through the season, and more than six slots for "Show Schedule". 

I'd like to be able to use the Show Schedule pages for both planning and organization.  I'd like to write down every show I could possibly attend in 2019, so that I can at a glance see them all together, and then cross off the ones I won't be attending as I go.  There's a strong possibility I'll attend more than 6 shows in 2019 too, so it really doesn't even have enough space just to catalog the ones I'm attending.



Bottom line: Everyone who sets foot in the sandbox could benefit from the level of structure and planning this journal gently eases you into, but especially those new to moving up the levels in eventing or Dressage stand to benefit the most from this journal.  A great concept!

What: The Dressage Rider's Journal - 2019 Planner & Calendar, Dressage Rider Organizer
Price: $29.95 on Amazon

I was given a copy of this book for free by a fellow blogger but all opinions in this review are my own.

Now for the giveaway!  Leave a comment on this post telling me about one horse-related goal you have for 2019 and then enter the Rafflecopter giveaway in the box below (RSS reader folks may need to click through to see it).  Your goal doesn't have to be competition or Dressage-oriented!

Giveaway runs from 12:00am EDT on Monday 12/10 through 12am EDT on Monday 12/17.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

18 comments:

  1. Honestly I just want to get my horse to 1st level. Which means my position needs ironed out and I need to figure out how to keep him soft and forward even when being asked to learn new things.

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  2. Ahh this looks so cool, I entered her giveaway and hoped so bad I would win 😂 but I did not.

    My horse related goal for 2019 is to keep up with lessons (as weather and finances allow), and get back in the show ring - 2018 was the first time in YEARS that I didn't show at all.

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  3. I'm super glad to hear that it has a thoughtful way of actually helping riders achieve their goals. A (non-blogger) friend of mine told me about 6 months ago that he wanted to go for his bronze. I was like, great! How are you gonna do it? And I got silence in return. I think that's one of the biggest challenges that riders face, especially if you don't have a coach who will really push you to have goals. How do I get from point A to point B? What are the small steps along the way? What are the big steps? It's hard to know if you don't know... you know?

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    1. I mean, that's why my approach to Dressage so far has been to "see how far I can get" instead of setting goals - because I don't know what I don't know. If I set a goal of Grand Prix for Connor is that realistic or totally outrageous? No idea. But, having short term goals at least is something I should do.

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    2. So true! I admit that in the past I have set goals but not had a solid plan to actually achieve those goals. I'm really trying to keep in mind "how are you gonna do it?" while making 2019 goals =)

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  4. Sounds like a useful tool. My goals for 2019 include continuing to have a good partnership with Jet, showing for year end awards at DLSC for the third year in a row, and having a a 60%+ test at First Level.

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  5. My goal is to qualify and attend RMDS championships at 1st level with Gav. :)

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  6. This looks great! I have a lot more thinking to do on my 2019 goals but one big one is to earn a horse and rider recognition award from my provincial dressage association. That involves scoring above 63% at 3 different shows. Since I don't have many shows to choose from that means I really need to develop consistency in my riding and improve movement quality overall so that I can get 63% even on a 'bad day'.

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  7. This is a really cool idea and especially caters to my Type A English-teacher-who-loves-writing-lesson-plans side haha. Goals for 2019 as of now include improving my core strength and smoothing out our upward canter transitions.

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  8. My goal is to lock down my canter. Right now its just not at the same quality as the trot, and he simply cannot maintain it for very long. It is the single most important thing I want to do this upcoming year. I then will move on to solidifying our lateral work so we can go out at First in a rated show.

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  9. I've been looking at these and wondering if would be of help. It does sound useful. My goal this year to have a horse that is relaxed and supple in our work- especially at shows.

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  10. This is so cool! I would love to have all of my students have one of these and I'm sure I'd get a lot out of it too. My main goals this year are to hit 70% at Second, to qualify and hopefully win All Breeds again, and to hopefully debut at Third. Also to have a lot of fun because that's the most important thing :)

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  11. I'm just popping in to say - yay! Thanks for doing this, Jen. I hope you enjoy the journal. :)

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  12. One goal I have to become the most confident XC rider this summer :)

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  13. I have this sitting on my amazon wish list. I think it looks so cool! One of my goals for next year is to get a grip on the lateral work so it's not so squirrelly!

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  14. My goal is to take my 3 foals I bred this year to some USDF breeding shows this year and begin work with their sire- I'm coming from the h/j world so have some work to do!

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  15. My goal is to show my horses this coming year. Usually I'm the dressage show mom.

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  16. My goal is to get my horse cantering more - which means I need to ride more consistently.

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