My granddaughter Adeline (age 9) was ready to go to the Dressage for Kids (D4K) Festival in Saugerties at Horseshows in the Sun (HITS) with her buddies from Frog Hollow Farm.

The seven girls packed up their supplies and went to the show.  There, they unloaded fifty-pound bags of bedding into the stalls and got them ready for their horses.  The first two horses arrived and were put in their stalls.  Then everything was set up and decorated by the time the other five horses came.  Adeline was riding Annie, aka Pistol Packin’ Annie, a mustang with a much nicer attitude than Peanut, the naughty Haflinger pony who had jumped out of the ring at Adeline’s first show.

The schooling tests were held on Day Two.  Annie had been cooped up in her stall all day and night, so she was feeling upset.  She was used to being able to roam free in the paddock. When Adeline opened the door to clean her stall, Annie decided to walk out to get some exercise, but was caught before any damage was done.  Before Adeline and Annie did their dressage test, Adeline’s trainer Nancy put Annie on the lunge line to give her a chance to work off some of her excess energy.  Annie cantered and kicked her heels up, happy to be out of her stall.  She got so excited that she stepped on the reins and broke them, so they had to be replaced.

Then Annie settled down, and she and Adeline did well in the schooling test, winning a third-place ribbon.  That afternoon, Adeline, her Ribbit Rider pals, and all the other young riders took the written tests on dressage.  Adeline and her friend Ivy got the highest scores in their age group, each earning a blue ribbon.

The next day was the real riding test.  Adeline and Annie stepped into the ring once again and got good scores on their dressage test. Ivy rode Dallas and got the same scores as Adeline. Both girls were very happy.

That afternoon they enjoyed an ice cream social and spent the rest of the day watching their fellow riders compete.  D4K was a great time for all the Ribbit Riders and for the many young riders who came from all over the country.