Dreams 1

And finally... Just for fun a poem with more than a ring of truth about it!!!
To those who watch a Dressage Day The following-quite frankly-may Sound like it s my imagination But it happens all across the nation
		You ,Dressage Queen, one day meandered Upon a Dressage Show - and wondered Just how attractive it all looked And from this day you were just hooked
Once bitten by the Dressage bug It is like some addictive drug You dream of winning every class Spectators cheering as you pass
		You know that you could shortly be At the top of the dressage tree If you just had a proper horse Not one which is - well let s say - Coarse
You sell your trusted old campaigner You hire an expensive trainer Who sets upon to find a Winner While your poor bank-account gets thinner
		At last you find a smashing mare At twice the price you thought was fair You pay some more to have her trained The bills soon stop to make you faint
But barely 2 months down the line When everything at last seems fine Penelope goes and pulls a muscle When shying from a paper s rustle
		Performing "movements not required" !! ! Your horse gets sold - your trainer fired And with a new one you proceed New trainer s wise words you do heed
Yet Pixie doesn't work out either Passage ? Piaffe ? She can do neither In fact she barely walks and trots Despite the fact she did cost lots
		So off you go and buy another: A Grand Prix horsie's big bay brother New trainer is at last ecstatic His Praise of Balthasar s emphatic
Yet you yourself can t ride the creature His only one redeeming feature Is that your trainer can compete him While you continue just to feed him
		Your trainer gets to ride the critter While you yourself pick up the litter The trainer basks in all the glory And only you know all the story
For our Sport we all must suffer And get more stoic - and get tougher But every now and then I wonder If maybe you re not just the funder
		Of someone else s great success While your own Riding skills regress What happened to your own ambitions While someone else wins competitions ?
I guess I wanted you to know: No matter how much cash you blow Unless you are prepared to ride You'll end up standing at the side
N.B. Normally 'The Joy of Horses' is generally devoted to non fiction articles, but we thought you would enjoy Petra's poem.