The Perfect Dressage Test

It has been a long summer full of lots of riding, schooling and showing (yes I consider 5 shows a lot!), oh and also a big wedding too... Our dressage is slowly improving. We are now past the point where I want to hang on for dear life and now into more of a compromising situation - you give, I give. My hands have gotten much more softer, my seat much more stable and my core more stronger yet more supple.  That's a lot to achieve in just one summer and I wouldn't have achieved it without my amazing coach who is nothing but encouraging (I don't learn well when I'm told I suck - lesson #1 find a coach who teaching methods best suit you). Unfortunately, I am still at the point where I ride best when I'm being instructed, left independent of my coach, my riding tends to go backwards. Hence why I always feel that my dressage tests don't reflect my true potential - but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day! Someday, I will stop over-worrying about remembering the test and start concentrating on the art of the perfect test (bending in the corners, straight lines, acceptance of the bridle, balance and that forever craved but not yet acheived "uphill" motion). Someday.... *sigh*  Perhaps a swig of Baileys before my test will help?