HOT

It stormed big here last night! And so it was very very humid this morning. The ponies were good. Went up to the main barn and swept up the entryway, got rid of a lot of dirt and leaves--that took about an hour. I ordered the feed. They were taking the day off since they just got back from a show, so I went back to the house and had lunch and a nice two hour nap! Then I got up and did the horses again. Took Hick for a little ride bareback. He missed me. But I think he's really startling to settle in finally, because he didn't seem like desperate to get out of the field. We tried to explore the one 'trail' on the farm but it was really grown and we didn't have much luck. So we went up to the jump ring and ran into Kassidy. She took some pictures of us hopping over some little stuff, Hickory-style--you guys back home at the farm know what that is. We were just messing around and it was fun. I headed him at the bank complex that they have in the little x-country area and he was suuuuuch a good boy just hopped right up it like it was nothing! Ate some grass (Hickory, not me :) ). Put Hick up, and Kassidy drove us over to Flying Cross, where two of my shows are going to be this summer. It is like somebody's hobby farm FULL of cross-country stuff. KHP style. I'm now really itching big time to go school xc!!

Brandon--
Dressage (pronounced /ˈdrɛsɑːʒ/ or /drɨˈsɑːʒ/) (a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a path and destination of competitive horse training, with competitions held at all levels from amateur to the Olympics. Its fundamental purpose is to develop, through standardized progressive training methods, a horse's natural athletic ability and willingness to perform, thereby maximizing its potential as a riding horse. At the peak of a dressage horse's gymnastic development, it can smoothly respond to a skilled rider's minimal aids by performing the requested movement while remaining relaxed and appearing effortless. Dressage is occasionally referred to as "Horse Ballet" (cf. nl:Dressuur). Although the discipline has ancient roots, dressage was first recognized as an important equestrian pursuit in Europe during the Renaissance. The great European riding masters of that period developed a sequential training system that has changed little since then. Classical dressage is still considered the basis of trained modern dressage.

Early European aristocrats displayed their horses' training in equestrian pageants, but in modern dressage competition, successful training at the various levels is demonstrated through the performance of "tests" of prescribed series of movements within a standard arena. Judges evaluate each movement on the basis of an objective standard appropriate to the level of the test and assign each movement a score from zero to ten - zero being "not executed" and 10 being "excellent". A score of 9 is considered "very good" and is considered a particularly high mark, while a competitor achieving all 6s (or 60% overall) should be considering moving on to the next level.
--thank you wikipedia