abbijay
Well-Known Member
So this weekend has been dressage heavy for me and Alfie the Clydesdale.
Saturday we had a lesson with our new instructor that was (by our standards) brilliant. We were prepping for Mondays dressage test of Novice 28 (our 3rd novice and first time not doing N30) so she asked us, have you done any counter canter? We have played on occasion but Ive never done it in a lesson so no idea whether we were on the right track or not. We ran through the move and, given that canter is by far his worst pace, she was pleasantly surprised to discover that he just returned to the track. I wasnt at all surprised but then her favourite phrase lets try an experiment popped up. Ive spent years trying to perfect picking up the correct canter lead so both Alfie and I were horrified at the idea of picking up counter canter! A couple of attempts and we got it and cantered a half 20m circle. We were all rather chuffed with ourselves. We had a few minutes break during which my hubby and kids turned up then it was time for our next experiment. After she sat on Alfie a few weeks ago she commented that he was easier to get doing shoulder in than her Inter 2 horse and that he finds all the sideways stuff very easy. So our first attempt at travers for this instructor we have done tiny bits before but it was always a bit kick pull she talked me through the aids and the how and before I knew it the big daft lad was going very nicely with his bum in! So apparently half-pass is only travers on a diagonal line so lets move on to that It wasnt perfect and it wasnt pretty but I got a couple of steps of it! And because the family had turned up I also have this saved on video for posterity sakes!! I actually own a sideways-clydie!
Sunday the boy was hacked by his sharer but the family wanted to go and play in the afternoon so we did lead rein pony rides for the 4 yo twins and then my hubby was pressganged into his annual ride. Hes no rider, cant do rising trot to save his life but is an excellent passenger and a genuine pre-ride judge test pilot if the horse can do it for bumbling hubby he can do it for anyone. I talked him through the basic aids and he got a lovely walk to canter from him. Im rather proud of them both for that.
Monday was a bit different, Ive never done a party on a school night before. Mostly because he was so difficult to load but as that is improving (not fixed but better) I thought Id take the chance. We entered the novice for 3 reasons 1, its on later so less pressure on us, 2, I like a challenge and 3, there are normally fewer entries so were practically guaranteed a rosette! The warm up went as well as I could have hoped for, supple and flexible (by our standards). A number of his fan club were there and asking my sharer if he was the Alfie Arclid! We went in the ring and I should have known from the frown the judge gave me as I rode past with my beaming grin that this probably wasnt going to be great score. We tripped on our first canter half 15m circle and lost 2 movements (4s) as a result and then a serious brain f4rt meant I forgot that I needed to do a medium trot so that was another 2 marks down the drain. But I was pleased enough with how hed gone and, bless his heart, hed tried as well as he possibly could for me. We got 56.5% which is probably fair but the judges comments were a bit of a kick in the teeth, does not have enough balance or engagement for this level of test. Its only riding club level and we were just trying our best so for a judge to basically say you are not good enough is harsh, especially with a score somewhere between sufficient and satisfactory. Who cares right, I got a lovely purple 6th place rosette (out of 6) in a Novice dressage test on a horse I was told 18 months ago that I would be lucky to ever ride again.
Now there are 2 weeks until Cheshire Show when we have 2 demos to perform and a HOYS qualifier class to go and smile our way around! We wont be in the ribbons but there wont be another Arclid Alfie/Va-legwarmers there and no one will be enjoying quite as much as we will. If youre not enjoying it <<THIS>> much, youre doing it wrong!
Saturday we had a lesson with our new instructor that was (by our standards) brilliant. We were prepping for Mondays dressage test of Novice 28 (our 3rd novice and first time not doing N30) so she asked us, have you done any counter canter? We have played on occasion but Ive never done it in a lesson so no idea whether we were on the right track or not. We ran through the move and, given that canter is by far his worst pace, she was pleasantly surprised to discover that he just returned to the track. I wasnt at all surprised but then her favourite phrase lets try an experiment popped up. Ive spent years trying to perfect picking up the correct canter lead so both Alfie and I were horrified at the idea of picking up counter canter! A couple of attempts and we got it and cantered a half 20m circle. We were all rather chuffed with ourselves. We had a few minutes break during which my hubby and kids turned up then it was time for our next experiment. After she sat on Alfie a few weeks ago she commented that he was easier to get doing shoulder in than her Inter 2 horse and that he finds all the sideways stuff very easy. So our first attempt at travers for this instructor we have done tiny bits before but it was always a bit kick pull she talked me through the aids and the how and before I knew it the big daft lad was going very nicely with his bum in! So apparently half-pass is only travers on a diagonal line so lets move on to that It wasnt perfect and it wasnt pretty but I got a couple of steps of it! And because the family had turned up I also have this saved on video for posterity sakes!! I actually own a sideways-clydie!
Sunday the boy was hacked by his sharer but the family wanted to go and play in the afternoon so we did lead rein pony rides for the 4 yo twins and then my hubby was pressganged into his annual ride. Hes no rider, cant do rising trot to save his life but is an excellent passenger and a genuine pre-ride judge test pilot if the horse can do it for bumbling hubby he can do it for anyone. I talked him through the basic aids and he got a lovely walk to canter from him. Im rather proud of them both for that.
Monday was a bit different, Ive never done a party on a school night before. Mostly because he was so difficult to load but as that is improving (not fixed but better) I thought Id take the chance. We entered the novice for 3 reasons 1, its on later so less pressure on us, 2, I like a challenge and 3, there are normally fewer entries so were practically guaranteed a rosette! The warm up went as well as I could have hoped for, supple and flexible (by our standards). A number of his fan club were there and asking my sharer if he was the Alfie Arclid! We went in the ring and I should have known from the frown the judge gave me as I rode past with my beaming grin that this probably wasnt going to be great score. We tripped on our first canter half 15m circle and lost 2 movements (4s) as a result and then a serious brain f4rt meant I forgot that I needed to do a medium trot so that was another 2 marks down the drain. But I was pleased enough with how hed gone and, bless his heart, hed tried as well as he possibly could for me. We got 56.5% which is probably fair but the judges comments were a bit of a kick in the teeth, does not have enough balance or engagement for this level of test. Its only riding club level and we were just trying our best so for a judge to basically say you are not good enough is harsh, especially with a score somewhere between sufficient and satisfactory. Who cares right, I got a lovely purple 6th place rosette (out of 6) in a Novice dressage test on a horse I was told 18 months ago that I would be lucky to ever ride again.
Now there are 2 weeks until Cheshire Show when we have 2 demos to perform and a HOYS qualifier class to go and smile our way around! We wont be in the ribbons but there wont be another Arclid Alfie/Va-legwarmers there and no one will be enjoying quite as much as we will. If youre not enjoying it <<THIS>> much, youre doing it wrong!
