Dressage at Live Oak

Yesterday’s dressage test at Live Oak FELT GREAT!! ‘RettaRoo is really starting to get into this new level for her. She’s clearly is beginning to understand the test, and more importantly, like it. 

Photo by Tegan Henderson

We ended day one of the three day competition in 3rd place behind U.S. Equestrian Team members Ray Helmuth in First with Kendro, and Jennifer Thomson with Lexus. I think placing just behind two teams that represented the U.S. at the 2024 World Championships is a pretty nice place to be for Loretta’s 2nd 3* competition (the highest level of international competition for combined driving.)

Besides a lot of hard work on the movements over the past couple weeks, we’ve really focused on our warmup. I think that really helped Loretta get into the right frame of mind going up into the impressive Live Oak International stadium. 

Today we have a break from competition while the Youth Division and Para-drivers compete in their dressage phase. That means we’re going to be spending most of the day out on the marathon course, walking obstacles, and making our plan for Saturday. 

We expect to be on course around 12:30 or so on Saturday. You can follow along by going to https://www.liveoakinternational.com/watch-live where you can see updates on scores, schedules, and check out the live stream.