Mr. Oats experiments with Prix Caprilli

Click to access Prix%20Caprilli,%20All%20Three%20Tests.pdf

Tests seen here- and woah, they were so COOL!

I forgot I had printed out copies for my trainer to work on (for fun) and she remembered and pulled them out during our lessons, and for her other lessons.

A Prix Caprilli is a dressage test with fences (very small ones) incorporated. So we have a series of dressage shows coming up, and what better way to practice ‘testing’ without riding the actual tests? Use Prix Caprilli and keep things interesting!

We rode the Intro level test- w/t and 2 small cross-rails, and then we rode the 1 Level test- and wow it was one of the crazier tests I have ever ridden…No chance to start obsessing over the fences, it’s all  you can do to keep going! Oats loved it, he didn’t have a single chance to get snarky or pissy with me. He and I were so focused! We definitely screwed up on them, but it was fun to just try it out for fun!

That was Wednesday, and for Thurs, I rode a bit during a lesson, so focused on some flatwork and getting a ‘short’ uphill canter, and when the lesson was over, schooled over some crossrails left over from the Prix Caprilli as a small course- outside line, diagonal, diagonal, diagonal, etc.

He was good, except my straightness really suffered. ARGH. It felt like Oats was saying you can either have ‘pace’ OR you can have ‘straight’…Not both. Oh well! Work to do.