So last week I was able to do two training sessions, as I didn't have one the week before. So I asked Shelley if she would be willing to ride him on Wednesday (as this was the day before Thanksgiving and would give me more time to prepare for hosting Thanksgiving dinner) and we could do the lesson on Friday. Shelley thought that was a great idea and agreed to it.
So Friday morning I met Shelley at the barn and we got right to work. Her big focus for this lesson was to really teach J to use his back and stretch his neck even more. He is pretty good about keeping a long neck, but Shelley really wanted to emphasize him stretching the 3-4 inches of neck right in front of his wither, which is a difficult area to access. When he does this, he will be effectively using his back and his gaits will get more swing (or schwung!). We did this by keeping a very consistent outside rein, keeping my hand close to the pommel/wither area, gripping with my thumb and forefinger and using suppling actions through my wrist and ring/pinkie fingers. I would ask for him to "yield" to the rein, and once I felt him give, I would soften my reins and push him forward to a bigger gait. At times he got tight, which I responded by keeping consistent pressure on the rein until he softened and then we would go back to work. At first he was pretty belligerent about it, throwing little temper tantrums and stomping his feet, but he soon learned that I would wait until he got good, so by the end of the lesson, he was pretty consistent.
By Sunday he had very few meltdowns and worked really nicely in all three gaits. He gets a little deep at times, but Shelley says not to worry about it right now and that once he is more consistently stretching that area above the withers, it will be easy to get him to a more proper "frame" with small half halts. But she wants to really encourage that stretch and swing, so a little deep isn't horrible. It does feel like he is lifting his back more honestly and his gaits are swinging more. Keith went to my lesson and observed that J's trot was significantly better, as he was using his hind end a lot better and had more articulation in his hocks.
My next lesson isn't until Saturday, so we'll be plugging along until then and hopefully Shelley will be happy with our work!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Minor hiccups...
Well, J and I had been (seemingly) back on track to consistent training, but lately I've been having some medical issues that have kept me from the barn more often then I care to admit. But hopefully things are being resolved in that department and we can get back to frequent rides.
I've been able to keep up on the weekly lessons with Shelley and we are really working on shifting his balance to his hind end while keeping his neck long and straight. We've been working on this through a couple of different exercises, doing full passes in walk and trot, counterflexion and spiraling in on a circle at the canter and turn on the forehands in walk and trot. The full passes can be difficult because of his urge to move forward instead of bringing his feet up directly underneath himself. So when he surges forward, I halt him, stretch his neck, back him up, stretch his neck again and ask him to move directly sideways, in either walk or trot. This keeps him from leaning on the bit, his legs underneath him and responsive to my aids. The counterflexion and spiraling-in in the canter is interesting as well, as I have to be super quick with my aids and super quick to put him back to correct flexion as he will throw flying changes, with he is using as an evasion technique.
I don't know if it is the work or the colder weather, but he is wanting to constantly break to the canter. So I have to make sure that he is really "on" the outside rein and stretching through the neck. I make sure my aids are soft and I'm not unintentionally telling him something through my legs or seat. He was also a bit stiff last week- we do carrot stretches (with mints though) before every ride and he was noticeable stiff last week. But each ride it got better and yesterday he was back to full range of motion. I will definitely have the acupuncturist/chiropractor work on him when they come out to the barn next.
J's first level work is getting more and more solid, even the lengthenings. So I'm still aiming for the show at Fields and Fences in January! It will be nice to get a couple of shows out of the way before the hot weather hits!
I've been able to keep up on the weekly lessons with Shelley and we are really working on shifting his balance to his hind end while keeping his neck long and straight. We've been working on this through a couple of different exercises, doing full passes in walk and trot, counterflexion and spiraling in on a circle at the canter and turn on the forehands in walk and trot. The full passes can be difficult because of his urge to move forward instead of bringing his feet up directly underneath himself. So when he surges forward, I halt him, stretch his neck, back him up, stretch his neck again and ask him to move directly sideways, in either walk or trot. This keeps him from leaning on the bit, his legs underneath him and responsive to my aids. The counterflexion and spiraling-in in the canter is interesting as well, as I have to be super quick with my aids and super quick to put him back to correct flexion as he will throw flying changes, with he is using as an evasion technique.
I don't know if it is the work or the colder weather, but he is wanting to constantly break to the canter. So I have to make sure that he is really "on" the outside rein and stretching through the neck. I make sure my aids are soft and I'm not unintentionally telling him something through my legs or seat. He was also a bit stiff last week- we do carrot stretches (with mints though) before every ride and he was noticeable stiff last week. But each ride it got better and yesterday he was back to full range of motion. I will definitely have the acupuncturist/chiropractor work on him when they come out to the barn next.
J's first level work is getting more and more solid, even the lengthenings. So I'm still aiming for the show at Fields and Fences in January! It will be nice to get a couple of shows out of the way before the hot weather hits!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Still alive and kicking!
So it has been ages since my last post... everything got in the way- life, work, laziness, etc. I also lost a little bit of focuse towards the end of our show season, so I cut it short and didn't even go to Regionals, although we had achieved our goal of qualifying and everything. I'm a little disappionted in myself, but ready to move on and get to next show season!
Our last show was in August at Silverwood and it was very hot and humid. Shelley had given us a very strenuous lesson on Thursday night and we went to Silverwood on Friday, where J was uncharacteristically tired and didn't have his normal "show off", big-chested attitude. I didn't work him long while schooling on Friday, hoping that he would recover by Saturday. We had two tests on Saturday and it felt like our hearts just weren't in it- we were both tired and didn't have much motivation. Our scores were low (compared to other scores from the season), but I really didn't feel bad about it, as I knew that we didn't try our hardest. I decided to scratch my class on Sunday, as J was still tired and I didn't want to push him and chance an injury. It wasn't the greatest show to end the season on, but I really felt that I had to take a break from the stress and pressure of showing. And with that, I took a month "off" of training with Shelley and just got back to enjoying my horse and spending quality time with him.
We got back into consistent training in October, and I immediately saw all the holes where I had let J (and myself) slide for that month off. Luckily J remembered a lot of it and once I became more diligent about riding him correctly again, he was back. So we are back to weekly lessons and J is doing really well. We are working the 2nd level movements and J seems to be handling the work well. Shelley rode him once while I was out of town, and taught him flying changes. For the next week, he was doing flying changes everywhere, even though I wasn't asking for them! At the last lesson, we really worked on moving his shoulder over and then asking his hind end to dramatically follow (like a turn on the forehand) in all three gaits. Once he was really responsive to my aids, I would add my outside aids, close up his outside hind and move into a shoulder-in or shoulder-fore. That exercise really helped a lot. Then Shelley rode him last week (as I was out of town for a work conference) and worked on flexion turns with him, so I've been doing both for this week and have my next lesson on Sunday.
I hope to get to the Fields and Fences winter series USDF shows this winter- they are scheduled for January and March- J has much more energy in the winter and if I can do those two shows, then I can do less shows in the heat of the summer and save him for Regionals. So that is the plan for now!
Our last show was in August at Silverwood and it was very hot and humid. Shelley had given us a very strenuous lesson on Thursday night and we went to Silverwood on Friday, where J was uncharacteristically tired and didn't have his normal "show off", big-chested attitude. I didn't work him long while schooling on Friday, hoping that he would recover by Saturday. We had two tests on Saturday and it felt like our hearts just weren't in it- we were both tired and didn't have much motivation. Our scores were low (compared to other scores from the season), but I really didn't feel bad about it, as I knew that we didn't try our hardest. I decided to scratch my class on Sunday, as J was still tired and I didn't want to push him and chance an injury. It wasn't the greatest show to end the season on, but I really felt that I had to take a break from the stress and pressure of showing. And with that, I took a month "off" of training with Shelley and just got back to enjoying my horse and spending quality time with him.
We got back into consistent training in October, and I immediately saw all the holes where I had let J (and myself) slide for that month off. Luckily J remembered a lot of it and once I became more diligent about riding him correctly again, he was back. So we are back to weekly lessons and J is doing really well. We are working the 2nd level movements and J seems to be handling the work well. Shelley rode him once while I was out of town, and taught him flying changes. For the next week, he was doing flying changes everywhere, even though I wasn't asking for them! At the last lesson, we really worked on moving his shoulder over and then asking his hind end to dramatically follow (like a turn on the forehand) in all three gaits. Once he was really responsive to my aids, I would add my outside aids, close up his outside hind and move into a shoulder-in or shoulder-fore. That exercise really helped a lot. Then Shelley rode him last week (as I was out of town for a work conference) and worked on flexion turns with him, so I've been doing both for this week and have my next lesson on Sunday.
I hope to get to the Fields and Fences winter series USDF shows this winter- they are scheduled for January and March- J has much more energy in the winter and if I can do those two shows, then I can do less shows in the heat of the summer and save him for Regionals. So that is the plan for now!
Monday, July 11, 2011
So much to do, so little time!
Yes, it has been awhile since my last post. It's been extremely hectic between getting a new position at work, friends and family outings and of course, riding both J and Radar.
The last show at Silverwood was such an eye opener for me, which resulted in a very positive change in our training. I realized that J was simply not holding up his end of the training "bargain" and he needed to be more accountable for himself in our daily rides. I became extremely focused on keeping proper position in the saddle and insisting that J work to adapt to me instead of him "talking me out of" it and allowing him to be lazy. See, J has a way of making me think that he cannot possible stay forward, round, straight and pushing off the hind end if I am sitting on my seatbones, keeping my shoulders back and a constant elastic connection in the reins. So I start to cave my upper body, lift my hands and round my shoulders, which gives me no power in my core to half halt and remind him to work off his hind end. So since the last show, I have been not giving away an inch in my position and even when J throws a hissy fit, I won't budge and I still keep my position and wait it out, teaching him that no matter how he tries to change the subject, it's not going to work anymore. These hissy fits have become less and less and he has learned that it is now a pointless release of energy for him. I've also been working on positioning him, not being satisfied if he is round and forward, but now asking him to bend through his back and weight his inside hind, which allows for more engagement and push. It seemed like such a huge endeavor at first, leaving me physically and mentally exhausted, but after two weeks of really not giving an inch, the change is nothing short of dramatic. And now my rides have been much less physically tolling on me because he is actually carrying himself and being more responsible in his own movement. It is such a wonderful feeling!
So I had a show at Silverwood this past weekend, showing 1-2 and 1-3 on Saturday and Sunday. Shelley was not able to coach me, but I was confident that I could do well on my own. He had an acupuncture treatment on Wednesday, where the vet was very happy with his progress and stated that he didn't have much work to do on him. Loren (the vet) immediately noticed that I had been diligently doing stretches and leg pulls with J, as he was very flexible and pleasant about the adjustment. J was a little sore in his hind end, but nothing abnormal for a horse doing the kind of work he is doing. On Friday we schooled at Silverwood, I didn't drill anything, just kept it very relaxed and to the point. He did a great job and sauntered around the showgrounds like an old pro. On Saturday we had test 1-3 first, which was a big class of 12 competitors. My goal was to earn my second (and last) qualifying score for championships, so the score had to be above a 62%. Since the class was so large, I wasn't concerned about trying to win the class or anything, as that seemed a bit unrealistic. He was a bit lazy in the warm-up ring, just being TOO relaxed, which I would have never guessed three years ago! I got into the ring and went to work, having to push him harder than I had wanted, but it was still a decent test, capable of earning at least a 62%. I later checked the scores and found that I had indeed gotten my qualifying score with a 63.226%, however I had also won that HUGE class as well! The judge scored fairly low, but was low across the board, so I was happy that it was all fair. I was thrilled to get my qualifying score and to win that class, which went far beyond my expectations. I showed 1-2 later in the day, where I decided to wear my smooth rowels instead of my knob spurs. It proved to be a very wise decision, as J was much more responsive and worked beautifully. The test went well except for a small issue in the free walk where I asked him for more impulsion without half-halting first and he had a couple steps of jog. I wasn't upset, as it was correctable. The judge (a different one then the previous test) had positive comments and scored us a 65.946%, which won us the class. I was so proud of my golden boy!
On Sunday we showed 1-2 first, under a very forgiving judge who tends to score high. I wore my rowels again and J warmed up really nicely. Again, we had improvements that could have been made, the largest being that he threw his haunches to the inside while I was bringing him back from the canter lengthen, so I tried to correct it and while doing that, he broke to the trot. I got him straight back into the canter and finished the test without any issues. J scored a 67.938%, but did not win that class, which was not a disappointment. I showed 1-3 later that day, although I had strongly considered scratching the test for a couple of reasons. First off, I had already earned my qualifying score, so riding that test wasn't truly necessary for championships, secondly, J had been so great all weekend and I didn't want to push him for no real reason behind it and take the risk of ending on a negative note, and thirdly, I had checked the judges scores for the day and couldn't help but notice that she was giving out pretty low scores. Now I know that it is not necessarily the best policy to scratch a test because of the possibility of getting a low score, but when year end awards depend on averages throughout the show season, those things must be taken into consideration. It's the nature of the beast of competition.
In the end, I decided to show him. I felt that both he and I should push ourselves and it would be more practice at a test that I would show at championships. I took J into the warm-up 20 minutes before our scheduled ride time and he was simply amazing- felt like I hadn't stopped riding him since the morning ride and required NO warm-up. I then realized that I had 20 minutes to waste and I didn't want to ride him too much as I didn't want to use him all up in the warm-up arena and have nothing left in the show arena. So I walking him on a long rein for quite awhile, keeping him marching and working over his back, but not doing much more then that. As the last rider was finishing her test, I got him back up on a shorter rein and back into the trot and canter. He had a really nice test, his leg yields were probably the best he had done to date. We did have a couple mistakes, we missed the first attempt at our change of lead through the trot, which was my fault as I didn't change his flexion before asking again. I corrected it though, which was noted on my test. We also had an issue with the second canter bending line, where he tripped, fell out of the canter, but we got ourselves back together and continued on. Keith noted that the lengthened trot was some of the best he had seen us do. So I was a little shocked when I found my score to be a 59%, although more shocked to see that some of the competitors that had scored higher then me were noticeably lacking in correctness. I was most surprised to read the judges comments, which did not seem to match my ride at all and were comments that I had not received all year long from any other judge. At first I was a bit disappointed, but I texted with Shelley and she gave me great advice and helped me to get over it. It's only one judges opinion, and fortunately one that seems to be out of the norm for this season. So we will keep trudging along and doing our best!
J will have today off from hard work, although I will probably walk him around, riding bareback in a halter, as we have terrible thunderstorms in the area today and he did not get to go outside, so I want to make sure he doesn't get stiff. Then we will get back to work tomorrow, getting ready for our next show on July 30th and 31st. Then we won't have another show until regional championships in Mason City, Iowa on September 9th-11th!
The last show at Silverwood was such an eye opener for me, which resulted in a very positive change in our training. I realized that J was simply not holding up his end of the training "bargain" and he needed to be more accountable for himself in our daily rides. I became extremely focused on keeping proper position in the saddle and insisting that J work to adapt to me instead of him "talking me out of" it and allowing him to be lazy. See, J has a way of making me think that he cannot possible stay forward, round, straight and pushing off the hind end if I am sitting on my seatbones, keeping my shoulders back and a constant elastic connection in the reins. So I start to cave my upper body, lift my hands and round my shoulders, which gives me no power in my core to half halt and remind him to work off his hind end. So since the last show, I have been not giving away an inch in my position and even when J throws a hissy fit, I won't budge and I still keep my position and wait it out, teaching him that no matter how he tries to change the subject, it's not going to work anymore. These hissy fits have become less and less and he has learned that it is now a pointless release of energy for him. I've also been working on positioning him, not being satisfied if he is round and forward, but now asking him to bend through his back and weight his inside hind, which allows for more engagement and push. It seemed like such a huge endeavor at first, leaving me physically and mentally exhausted, but after two weeks of really not giving an inch, the change is nothing short of dramatic. And now my rides have been much less physically tolling on me because he is actually carrying himself and being more responsible in his own movement. It is such a wonderful feeling!
So I had a show at Silverwood this past weekend, showing 1-2 and 1-3 on Saturday and Sunday. Shelley was not able to coach me, but I was confident that I could do well on my own. He had an acupuncture treatment on Wednesday, where the vet was very happy with his progress and stated that he didn't have much work to do on him. Loren (the vet) immediately noticed that I had been diligently doing stretches and leg pulls with J, as he was very flexible and pleasant about the adjustment. J was a little sore in his hind end, but nothing abnormal for a horse doing the kind of work he is doing. On Friday we schooled at Silverwood, I didn't drill anything, just kept it very relaxed and to the point. He did a great job and sauntered around the showgrounds like an old pro. On Saturday we had test 1-3 first, which was a big class of 12 competitors. My goal was to earn my second (and last) qualifying score for championships, so the score had to be above a 62%. Since the class was so large, I wasn't concerned about trying to win the class or anything, as that seemed a bit unrealistic. He was a bit lazy in the warm-up ring, just being TOO relaxed, which I would have never guessed three years ago! I got into the ring and went to work, having to push him harder than I had wanted, but it was still a decent test, capable of earning at least a 62%. I later checked the scores and found that I had indeed gotten my qualifying score with a 63.226%, however I had also won that HUGE class as well! The judge scored fairly low, but was low across the board, so I was happy that it was all fair. I was thrilled to get my qualifying score and to win that class, which went far beyond my expectations. I showed 1-2 later in the day, where I decided to wear my smooth rowels instead of my knob spurs. It proved to be a very wise decision, as J was much more responsive and worked beautifully. The test went well except for a small issue in the free walk where I asked him for more impulsion without half-halting first and he had a couple steps of jog. I wasn't upset, as it was correctable. The judge (a different one then the previous test) had positive comments and scored us a 65.946%, which won us the class. I was so proud of my golden boy!
On Sunday we showed 1-2 first, under a very forgiving judge who tends to score high. I wore my rowels again and J warmed up really nicely. Again, we had improvements that could have been made, the largest being that he threw his haunches to the inside while I was bringing him back from the canter lengthen, so I tried to correct it and while doing that, he broke to the trot. I got him straight back into the canter and finished the test without any issues. J scored a 67.938%, but did not win that class, which was not a disappointment. I showed 1-3 later that day, although I had strongly considered scratching the test for a couple of reasons. First off, I had already earned my qualifying score, so riding that test wasn't truly necessary for championships, secondly, J had been so great all weekend and I didn't want to push him for no real reason behind it and take the risk of ending on a negative note, and thirdly, I had checked the judges scores for the day and couldn't help but notice that she was giving out pretty low scores. Now I know that it is not necessarily the best policy to scratch a test because of the possibility of getting a low score, but when year end awards depend on averages throughout the show season, those things must be taken into consideration. It's the nature of the beast of competition.
In the end, I decided to show him. I felt that both he and I should push ourselves and it would be more practice at a test that I would show at championships. I took J into the warm-up 20 minutes before our scheduled ride time and he was simply amazing- felt like I hadn't stopped riding him since the morning ride and required NO warm-up. I then realized that I had 20 minutes to waste and I didn't want to ride him too much as I didn't want to use him all up in the warm-up arena and have nothing left in the show arena. So I walking him on a long rein for quite awhile, keeping him marching and working over his back, but not doing much more then that. As the last rider was finishing her test, I got him back up on a shorter rein and back into the trot and canter. He had a really nice test, his leg yields were probably the best he had done to date. We did have a couple mistakes, we missed the first attempt at our change of lead through the trot, which was my fault as I didn't change his flexion before asking again. I corrected it though, which was noted on my test. We also had an issue with the second canter bending line, where he tripped, fell out of the canter, but we got ourselves back together and continued on. Keith noted that the lengthened trot was some of the best he had seen us do. So I was a little shocked when I found my score to be a 59%, although more shocked to see that some of the competitors that had scored higher then me were noticeably lacking in correctness. I was most surprised to read the judges comments, which did not seem to match my ride at all and were comments that I had not received all year long from any other judge. At first I was a bit disappointed, but I texted with Shelley and she gave me great advice and helped me to get over it. It's only one judges opinion, and fortunately one that seems to be out of the norm for this season. So we will keep trudging along and doing our best!
J will have today off from hard work, although I will probably walk him around, riding bareback in a halter, as we have terrible thunderstorms in the area today and he did not get to go outside, so I want to make sure he doesn't get stiff. Then we will get back to work tomorrow, getting ready for our next show on July 30th and 31st. Then we won't have another show until regional championships in Mason City, Iowa on September 9th-11th!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Getting better and better!
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...
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...
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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