I attended a horse show this past weekend, the Canterbury “Summer Sizzler” Dressage event in Newberry, Florida to be exact. I can assure you it was aptly named! I came away with more than heat exhaustion, however; I acquired some real Horse Sense from observing the events.

My wife was there along with a group of three talented women in their late teens to mid 20’s and their trainer, who were competing in various tests of precision riding over the course of two days. I know very little about horses and even less about riding them, but I was fascinated by the overall scene and impressed by the beautifully-orchestrated performances. Here’s what I witnessed:

• meticulous preparation, down to the tiniest details, of both horse and rider;
• pre-show practice and rehearsal of what to expect in the show ring;
• laser-like focus on each event and its numerous elements (there are over 20 graded sections woven together in each test);
• performance following a well-defined plan, even though various sections somehow didn’t go exactly according to plan, as the horse responded differently to cues than intended (or occasionally did not!);
• continuous adaptation to changing conditions, such that if one section of a test didn’t go especially well, there was refocus and an opportunity to do better in the next section;
• for those who kept their head in the game throughout each test and “stayed connected” to the horse, despite some minor glitches, an overall good score was usually achieved;
• amazing support of each rider for the others: encouragement beforehand, support during, careful group analysis of each test afterward and celebration of good scores.