Had to write a quick update- seems that all this hard work of making him more accountable and responsible for his own work is really paying off for J and myself. We had a superb ride last night! J is getting stronger and is more agreeable from the very start of the ride. He is getting better about staying straight and loading that inside hind leg, which is really paying off in our 1-3 test work! We ran through the test yesterday and it was probably the best we have ever done the entire test! So hopefully we can carry this through to the show!
It was definitely a tough commitment to really ride him each and every step while making him carry himself, even through his tantrums, but it is really paying off! I wish I had done this years ago! But we live and learn...
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Chugging along!
So one of the biggest lessons I learned from the last show is that J needs to become stronger and needs to be more accountable and not slack off and be lazy. I've been trying to ride every ride with that in mind and pushing his endurance levels farther and farther while keeping everything fair to him. I've been more cognizant of him carrying himself for the entire ride and not using me to hold him up or get lazy.
Shelley and I had a great lesson last week, where we really worked on his connection to the outside rein and I finally had a big light bulb moment where I truly felt my horse be straight and be reliable on that outside rein. It felt wonderful- the connection was spongy, elastic and I could use my outside rein to half halt, get him more round, turn him, etc. I was also able to better control his body parts individually and independently of each other. We worked on a lot of shoulder-fore, where he would slow his tempo when he was correct, which Shelley said was natural due to it being harder for him. So I'd patiently ask him to truck along once his positioning was correct, so that he wouldn't get tight and blow the positioning. And that connection also helped me in keeping a correct position and using my core while keeping my shoulders back. As a result of this work and my consistency in my expectations, J has already become more reliable in his 1st level movements, which makes me very excited for our next show!
I sent in my entry for Silverwood on July 9th and 10th. This time I signed up for 1-2 and 1-3 (qualifying) on both days, as I seem to have issues with 1-1 and remembering the test! LOL! 1-2 seems much more flowing and sensible to me, so hopefully it won't be such a chore in remembering it as I ride it! My goals are: lots of half halts, make him carry himself the entire time and get my second qualifying score for championships. So hopefully we can accomplish that!
I have another lesson scheduled for Wednesday, so hopefully Shelley will have noticed an improvement in our work!
Shelley and I had a great lesson last week, where we really worked on his connection to the outside rein and I finally had a big light bulb moment where I truly felt my horse be straight and be reliable on that outside rein. It felt wonderful- the connection was spongy, elastic and I could use my outside rein to half halt, get him more round, turn him, etc. I was also able to better control his body parts individually and independently of each other. We worked on a lot of shoulder-fore, where he would slow his tempo when he was correct, which Shelley said was natural due to it being harder for him. So I'd patiently ask him to truck along once his positioning was correct, so that he wouldn't get tight and blow the positioning. And that connection also helped me in keeping a correct position and using my core while keeping my shoulders back. As a result of this work and my consistency in my expectations, J has already become more reliable in his 1st level movements, which makes me very excited for our next show!
I sent in my entry for Silverwood on July 9th and 10th. This time I signed up for 1-2 and 1-3 (qualifying) on both days, as I seem to have issues with 1-1 and remembering the test! LOL! 1-2 seems much more flowing and sensible to me, so hopefully it won't be such a chore in remembering it as I ride it! My goals are: lots of half halts, make him carry himself the entire time and get my second qualifying score for championships. So hopefully we can accomplish that!
I have another lesson scheduled for Wednesday, so hopefully Shelley will have noticed an improvement in our work!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Great first show!
So we survived our first show of the season! It was a really great weekend and I learned so much. Last week had started with extremely hot and humid weather, making training very difficult on both J and myself. But thankfully a front came in on Wednesday night and gave way to beautifully cool weather. On Thursday we trailered J up to Silverwood Farm, which is in Camp Lake, Wisconsin. I am incredibly lucky as I live within a one hour drive of three dressage facilities that regularly host USDF shows, and Silverwood is definitely my favorite of these three showgrounds. Shelley brought 2 horses that she was showing herself in training level and second level. J and I were scheduled to show in Rings 3 & 4, which worried me as J has previously had issues where Ring 4 is now placed, but I knew that he would just have to deal with it. I schooled him in the warm-up ring, Ring 3 and Ring 4 and while he was a bit tense, he held it together despite some of the other horses having some pretty spectacular meltdowns. I was proud of my little man! Shelley worked us through the test work and we called it a day.
Friday came with gloomy skies and cool temperatures, but that was great with me as I knew I would be sweating from all the hard work. I braided J up, gave him a quick lunge to assess his "rowdyness" level and set off to the warm-up ring for our first 1-3 test. I had paid for it to be a qualifying test and was in front of Curtis Sage, who has always had positive comments for J and I and has given us very generous scores in the past. Shelley helped me warm-up, but some first-show-of-the-year nerves popped up and I rode my test with way to much conservativeness. We had a few mistakes which resulted in a 60% (62% needed to qualify) score. Curtis was very rewarding on our good movements- several 8's- but we also scored several low scores on different movements. A few hours later I had rode test 1-1 in front of Curtis again, but this time was very different. I decided that I had been a passenger in the first test and I was not going to let that happen again, I was actually going to ride my horse! I sat up, made him half halt and used my aids much more clearly and directly. Our test went really well, despite the fact that I went off course! I had only done this once before, and much to my horror, I did it again! I don't use a reader at the shows, so I was on my own and had a total brain fart. But even with the 2 point errror, we still scored a 66.897% and won our class! It was a major breakthrough and made me remember that I have to ride each and every movement and not to let show nerves get the best of me!
On Saturday, the weather was still gloomy with about the same temperatures. My first test was 1-1 in front of Curtis again. I went into the warm-up with the detemination to ride him well and make him carry himself. The warm-up went really well and the test was smooth, except for ANOTHER mistake on my part!! UGH! I made a mistake on the placement of my downward trot transition! I then decided that test 1-1 is NOT for me! LOL! But despite our mistake, we still scored a 67.931% and won the class! A couple of hours later I showed test 1-3 in front of Kem Barbosa, who is a more conservative judge but has very fair and constructive comments. J was tired for his second ride of the day, telling me that I really need to work on his endurance. He was a bit dull and we had some moments when he was not through or over his back, which made the test very average. We scored a 60% again! Still no qualifying score. But I was still happy- I felt that I had ridden him much better than the 1-3 test the day before and we were making improvements with each and every test.
Sunday we had only signed up for one test- 1-3 and it was in front of Curtis Sage again. Shelley wasn't there, so I was on my own for warm-up, and J was VERY tired. I did my best to keep him forward and have some brillance in his movement, although it was difficult. J tried very hard and I rode every step of that test, and for that we were rewarded with a 67.097%!! I got my qualifying score!! I was so proud of him and myself! Now I just have to get a second qualifying score, which I will hopefully get at my next show on July 9th and 10th. Here are some pictures from the warm-up on Sunday-
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Friday came with gloomy skies and cool temperatures, but that was great with me as I knew I would be sweating from all the hard work. I braided J up, gave him a quick lunge to assess his "rowdyness" level and set off to the warm-up ring for our first 1-3 test. I had paid for it to be a qualifying test and was in front of Curtis Sage, who has always had positive comments for J and I and has given us very generous scores in the past. Shelley helped me warm-up, but some first-show-of-the-year nerves popped up and I rode my test with way to much conservativeness. We had a few mistakes which resulted in a 60% (62% needed to qualify) score. Curtis was very rewarding on our good movements- several 8's- but we also scored several low scores on different movements. A few hours later I had rode test 1-1 in front of Curtis again, but this time was very different. I decided that I had been a passenger in the first test and I was not going to let that happen again, I was actually going to ride my horse! I sat up, made him half halt and used my aids much more clearly and directly. Our test went really well, despite the fact that I went off course! I had only done this once before, and much to my horror, I did it again! I don't use a reader at the shows, so I was on my own and had a total brain fart. But even with the 2 point errror, we still scored a 66.897% and won our class! It was a major breakthrough and made me remember that I have to ride each and every movement and not to let show nerves get the best of me!
On Saturday, the weather was still gloomy with about the same temperatures. My first test was 1-1 in front of Curtis again. I went into the warm-up with the detemination to ride him well and make him carry himself. The warm-up went really well and the test was smooth, except for ANOTHER mistake on my part!! UGH! I made a mistake on the placement of my downward trot transition! I then decided that test 1-1 is NOT for me! LOL! But despite our mistake, we still scored a 67.931% and won the class! A couple of hours later I showed test 1-3 in front of Kem Barbosa, who is a more conservative judge but has very fair and constructive comments. J was tired for his second ride of the day, telling me that I really need to work on his endurance. He was a bit dull and we had some moments when he was not through or over his back, which made the test very average. We scored a 60% again! Still no qualifying score. But I was still happy- I felt that I had ridden him much better than the 1-3 test the day before and we were making improvements with each and every test.
Sunday we had only signed up for one test- 1-3 and it was in front of Curtis Sage again. Shelley wasn't there, so I was on my own for warm-up, and J was VERY tired. I did my best to keep him forward and have some brillance in his movement, although it was difficult. J tried very hard and I rode every step of that test, and for that we were rewarded with a 67.097%!! I got my qualifying score!! I was so proud of him and myself! Now I just have to get a second qualifying score, which I will hopefully get at my next show on July 9th and 10th. Here are some pictures from the warm-up on Sunday-
And here is J looking like Fabio after his braids were taken out
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