Cob Jockey

With being a part of my GP trainer's show team and (hopefully) getting my amateur status back, this year felt like the year to "go for it" for the first time in terms of year-end awards. Plus that whole post-pandemic (are we there yet)? YOLO feeling.

Pony Cup 2017, the last time I was able to go.

And I'm paying for that decision, literally, in terms of more membership fees than I've ever paid in my life. Up to this point, I've been a GMO-only, don't-care-about-Regionals-and-All-Breeds kind of rider. So I thought it would be an interesting exercise in self-flagellation to see how much "going for it" costs.

Anyone else feeling the membership rodeo pain?

Just entered my first rated show in two years.

*gulp*

If we can do our tests in a rhombus-shaped half-assed 20x60 with no fence and grass up to Connor's knees and undulating terrain, doing it on manicured sand should be easy, right?

It's a 3 day show at the HHP 20 minutes from my house, and GP trainer is coming, which will make it the first time EVER I've had a coach to warm me up at a rated show, and the first time ever she'll be the one coaching me.

There are a lot of unknowns with this show, which is in mid-May. 

Will I have my amateur status back by then? 

I'm currently in the process of getting that done and damn that is an involved process. I had to write a letter explaining my whole situation and how it's changed, get that notarized, and ship that off with a $50 check. Additionally, I had to get two active senior USEF members to write letters stating the same on my behalf, and they both had to get that notarized, and THEN when the USEF receives all of that, there's a hearing to determine if I can be an amateur again. Good times.

Rainbow after the storm on Saturday

Will Connor be able to do two tests in one day? 

I haven't done two tests in one day since 2017, and the 4th test of that weekend is the only time we scored below 60 at a rated show. But GP trainer pointed out a lot has changed for both of us since then. So on this coming Saturday at the annual kick-off-the-season schooling show, I'm entered for two tests (2-1 and 2-3). If that goes well, I'll ride two tests a day at the rated show in May, but if it doesn't, I'll cherry pick what I want to ride based on times and how he feels.

Updated conformation photos because I'm about to have a second go-around with Eq Saddle Science because I JUST CAN'T QUIT THEM OKAY. More on this later.

 

Are we ready for 2-3?

I entered 2-3 over 2-2 for a number of reasons. It's a qualifying test and if I'm becoming an amateur again, well, let's try to qualify for stuff. 2-2 is a less friendly test mentally to both of us - it's less symmetrical to memorize, and it offers a lot of places for Connor to check out mentally in the canter work. Plus, the canter work in 2-3 is actually easier than 2-2 for him - his counter canter work is suddenly amazing, and simple changes on the short diagonal are better for us than trying to manage both the serpentine shape and the mid-serpentine changes in 2-2. That said, we're not going to score 70% on it, and I don't know how GP trainer will feel about that. It's a whole new ball game actually having a coach for rated shows (reminder that my previous trainer was an eventing trainer, and with few exceptions, typically didn't attend straight Dressage shows to warm me up).

This canter, for like five whole minutes, twice a day. Doable, right?

 

Are they going to allow spectators by then?

USEF hasn't updated it's COVID show rules since what, last May? We know a LOT more about the virus by now, including that outdoor transmission is extremely unlikely as the viral particulates dissipate into the air. I sure hope they update the rules by then to allow spectators, since this is a "home show" for me, but who knows.

It looks like he's wearing a Cardinals hat backwards in this photo and that makes me laugh. We're slowly filling in that right side!

 

A few things I do know:

- It's a 3 day show, but I'm only entering for Saturday/Sunday because it's Nick's birthday on Friday.

- I'm going to be riding in my brown jump saddle and black bridle. All those fears I used to have in 2017 about not looking legit enough for a rated Dressage show...lol.

- I'm excited to be a part of a show team again, with banners, and teammates that will be staying the night at my house (we'll be fully vaccinated with full antibodies by then!), and we're hosting dinner for them one night that weekend.

- EquestrianEntries.com felt like a foreign land to me after 2 years away from it. Someone please go be their UX designer and copy editor, there are a lot of easy wins to make that more user friendly.

Here goes nothing!

If you're like me, you have the spatial reasoning skills of a five year old, and reading through a written Dressage test makes your head swim.  If you're also like me, you've been using the EquiTests smartphone app for the last eight years to memorize your tests visually.

Me at 5.  Spatial reasoning skills stopped developing around this time.  Only halfway joking!

Sure, it wasn't without its faults, but it worked great.  Unfortunately the developer EOL'd it a couple of years ago, so I was excited when the USDF stepped in and said they'd release an app in time for the 2019 tests.  That app is now out as of today (*sort of - see the end of this post), so I wanted to do an in-depth review so you could decide if you wanted it or not.

(I am still having Blogger photo problems, so if you're reading this in an RSS reader please click through to my actual site to see clear photos of the app.  Thanks!)


First thing's first: this app does everything the EquiTests app did and more.  You can still move forward and back through test instructions that are also laid out visually on a Dressage court.  Unlike EquiTests, the 2019 TestPro app also shows you the entire test on the left and highlights it as you go (if you want - you can toggle that) so that you know where in the test you are.

On.  This is a much more efficient use of screen real estate than the same screen on the EquiTests app, which had a ton of blank space.

Off.  No it does not center or give you more real estate when the test is toggled off, so that option is really only good for reducing visual clutter.

If the inline instructions aren't enough, you can click the blue "PDF" button next to the test title and pull up the judge's scorecard for that test instantly.



The "gear" icon brings up tons of settings, including color choices, playback speed options, and competition mode, which we'll get to in a bit.


 You can also optionally turn on "previous movements" and "forward highlights" to remind you where you're going to and coming from in a test.


And you can optionally turn on the center lines, the centerline letters, or an overlay of 1m squares.

All of that off

1m gridlines and centerline letters on

Centerline letters and centerlines on

I've shown you screenshots of a lot of trotting so far, so I wanted to point out that just like EquiTests, this app also delineates gait and sub-gait with color and...ant sizes...?

Collected walk is small gold ants in purple, extended walk is long white ants in purple.  Don't tell me those are horses because this totally looks like ant Dressage to me!

For what it's worth, they do seem to also delineate bend direction with the ants, which is cool.

Now for the biggest "new" feature compared to the old EquiTests app: you can turn on Competition Mode to hide the test panel and trace your test with your finger to test yourself.


If you get it right, it highlights it automatically with the ant horses.  If you get it wrong, I had thought it was supposed to tell me I was wrong, but instead it just...sits there and lets you doodle until you hit the "play" button to check your work.

I kinda want to ride this test pattern...

So either I haven't fully figured that feature out, or they have a bit of a problem with what is otherwise a pretty intuitive user experience (or both, because good UX should be easily understood, JENJ WHERE YOU AT!)

Finally, once you get used to this app, it's going to be this UI your whole career, even when you hit FEI (although you do have to re-buy each version).  It was NOT written by the USEF/USDF, but by a company called Lion Dog Apps Limited that has re-used this same app for FEI Dressage, FEI Eventing Dressage, FEI Para Dressage, and Dressage Ireland and British Dressage.


Now for a couple bummers.  First, this app is $16.99.  Which, fine, the old one was $9.99, but the old one was basically maintained by a single person as far as I could tell from release notes.

I have a suspicion this unusually high price is because of either the relatively small number of Dressage riders out there and the even smaller percentage of them that are tech-forward enough to want this app (read: gotta charge more to make it worth the developer's time when your audience is that small), or because of the usual "equestrian stuff costs more" thing.  Or both.  Or maybe the USEF is taking a cut.  I have no idea.


Either way...I bought it, and you probably will too.  It's not like anyone else is waiting in the wings to develop one of these apps, this is not an app anyone is going to get rich on, let's be real with ourselves.  And since it's either this or my poor spatial reasoning skills, I choose to look at it as $4.25 per show season or four Starbucks lattes or one meal at Chipotle (because who goes to Chipotle and doesn't get chips and guac, am I right?)

The other bummer:  they're not going to release an Android version of this until June of 2019.  That's something that used to happen a lot in the early days of smartphones but isn't super common these days, so it's a bummer that they're treating the #1 smartphone by US market share as a second class citizen.

Just sayin'.  #teamandroid #openecosystem

That said, I put this on my work iPad, and I'm honestly glad it's not on my phone.  I don't have an iPhone to test with, but it's a really pleasant user experience to have this much real estate on the iPad to work with in the app, especially for Competition Mode.  If you have a tablet available, I would strongly consider downloading this app to it in addition to your phone. 

Bottom line: Yes, it's expensive for an app.  Yes, it's worth it.

What: 2019 TestPro USDF Dressage Test App
Price: $16.99 for up to six devices that use the same Apple ID
Supported Operating Systems: iOS today, Android support expected mid-2019

I bought this app with my own hard earned cash and this post was not sponsored by or influenced by any third parties.

Last weekend's rated show was eye opening.  Saturday's 1-3 was our highest score ever by 0.2% but really...we did the same test we've ridden for 18 months now, only with a lot less tension owing to my better position.

I was frustrated that all that progress we've made was not demonstrated in the scores or the way I rode.  My position was great, my piloting was not. Overnight, I studied every comment on that score sheet until I could recite the test with the comments.  I also thought about how NK always tells me I ride him too politely.  And we BROUGHT IT.  I rode the s*** out of Sunday's 1-3.

Not pictured: Karen off to the side shaking a tree branch at Connor

We scored our highest ever by 4+%, 66.618%, good for second by 0.3% in the open division to a good local pro.  (And remember, I have done an embarrassing number of 1-3's at this point.  Slow learner and all that.  I sincerely dislike this test.)

I joined my local USDF GMO for the first time in 2016, and my first thought upon registering was "Oh wow, this registration process is...clunky."

A long time ago, when I was 19ish, I decided to double major in Equine Studies and Digital Media Communications in college.  I thought I would offer equine business owners complete technology services: website, sales photography/videography, stable management software, etc.

19ish me and Venice, with Mary in the background

And then I discovered that I HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE websites. They're finicky, they change constantly, and managing them annoys me.  And then I fell in love with the high tech industry and my career path totally changed.

#careerpath #pleasedon'tbecomeobsoleteanytimesoon

But I did get those degrees and I do make the occasional exception. And when I went through that registration process earlier this year (which involved filling out a .rtf file out in WordPad, manually calculating your total, and going to PayPal.com to do a "Send Money" or mailing a check), I knew I wanted to help change it.

My brain on this .rtf file: "Let me help you!"

So, as it goes with volunteer organizations, I offered to help and immediately was told I was on a committee.  Heh.  I never heard from them, though, and started researching platforms, plugins, and prices, knowing I would have to present them with a functional rough draft rather than getting hung up on details with a committee.

Finding a plugin/platform that would allow me to collect PayPal payments and didn't cost an arm and a leg was hard, yo!  I eventually settled on hosted Wordpress with a paid-for plugin (one time, $30) called FormMaker Pro.  I also had to pay for a new domain name and site because the current site isn't built on WordPress.  (My long game is to get them to turn the entire site over to me and consolidate the two...gotta take that goal one step at a time, though...)


For anyone who may be looking for something similar for their GMO or other organization, I really like it.  When the user clicks "Submit", it drops them off at a PayPal checkout page with the correct total based on the options they chose.  It also automatically sends the user a personalized welcome email, and emails their sign up info to the membership chair.  You can also pull an Excel spreadsheet of sign ups at any time.

The committee and the club ended up loving it and putting it straight into service.  Right now we are only using it for memberships and generic volunteer interest, but in the future, it could be used for schooling show entries (online Coggins uploads and PayPal entry fee payments!!), actual show volunteer sign ups, committee sign ups, annual meeting dinner reservations, and more.

Here is a link to our new membership form.  Since this crowd is savvy enough to set up blogs, are any of you volunteering to do tech work for an equine organization?

For once, I have a great show recap and more pictures of me sitting on my horse than I know what to do with (1,218 pictures, to be exact, it's a miracle!) and I have absolutely zero time in which to write about it thanks to work!  I'm hoping to blog about it on the plane to Vegas on Friday evening.

(Side note: are there any bloggers in Vegas?  I'm there for work all next week.  There's a tack shop there that appears to be the only stateside tack store that carries the CWD conditioner right now, you can bet I'll be making an appearance there, but it would be great to do it with another blogger!)

In summary, though: I went in to my first rated with no expectations and came out with the score I needed for ride offs, both of my First Level bronze scores, and a shiny, shiny horse.

So shiny, all thanks to supergroom Mary.

But we don't take ourselves THAT seriously.

Mary's method of getting Connor from the barn where we park our trailers to Connor's barn had everyone laughing hysterically.  Yes, he's still braided, yes, she rode a quarter mile down the street like that, and yes, those boots are fabulous.

Catch you all on Friday!