catembi
Well-Known Member
Adrian is a 5 yo ISH who can behave at home & in lessons, but goes a bit bananas at shows.
The bsja is coming on - in the money twice in the last couple of weeks - but it's also the undoing of our dressage cos Adrian is *sure* that white boards = jumps.
So usually he's bucking, running off & being unpleasant in the warmup cos even if there aren't any jumps up, he can see poles & wings. Also, the more I warm up, the crosser he gets cos he's like, 'ffs, mum, can we *stop* with the circles & DO SOME JUMPING?????'
Our last few dr outings have involved bucking, getting run off with, jumping out
, not physically being able to halt at the end & leaping in the air & going 'uurrrgghhhh' every now & then. Decided to do 2 tests today, the idea being i) for him to get used to the boards & stop 'locking on' a la jumping ii) for him to relax & do as he was told.
Started off tentatively warming up for prelim 1 to see if the back end was going to stay on the floor. It was a bit
to start with, but all of a sudden he decided to relax & get on with it, & I was really
. My mood didn't last long tho cos as soon as we went to do our test, the switch in his brain went to 'off'. Very excited & not listening, bucked into canter & then ran off (& I mean *really* ran off) mouth turned to iron. Didn't help that 2 muppets with a dog decided to pop up next to the judges' box just to give us something else to look at. Grrrr.
Was sooooo disappointed. I mean, the warm up was fine, then 2 mins later he's atrocious.
Not fair!!
Had 90 mins between tests so went to learn the 2nd one & then warmed up for another 45 mins, hoping to wear him out a bit. Didn't work cos he was getting stronger & buckier, altho every now & then he really settled into a rhythm.
Off we went for test 2, prelim 4. A bit uneven - a couple of *huge* bucks into canter, altho he didn't run off. In between the fireworks we had some really nice bits, then he'd spoil it by being a tw*t. But overall it was calmer, I didn't have any 'OMG I can't stop, OMG OMG' moments & he *did* halt at the end.
V surprised & pleased to come 4th in the 1st test with 61.5%, bit
to get 60% in the 2nd test cos it was nowhere near so
as the first one. Best comment - 'onward bound'!!! Yeah, tell me about it!!
Positive from today:-
1) Didn't have to use the wall to stop.
2) Didn't jump out or cross the boards in any way.
3) Got some 7's
4) Didn't forget either test, despite the airs above the ground
5) No 'locking on' to the boards - I did have help with this tho - normally The College boards are about a foot off the ground, slotted into cone shaped 'wings' but today they were flat on the ground so looked less jump-like.
Am now completely worn out but have got to recuperate by tomo cos we've got a jumping lesson!!
So usually he's bucking, running off & being unpleasant in the warmup cos even if there aren't any jumps up, he can see poles & wings. Also, the more I warm up, the crosser he gets cos he's like, 'ffs, mum, can we *stop* with the circles & DO SOME JUMPING?????'
Our last few dr outings have involved bucking, getting run off with, jumping out
Started off tentatively warming up for prelim 1 to see if the back end was going to stay on the floor. It was a bit
Was sooooo disappointed. I mean, the warm up was fine, then 2 mins later he's atrocious.
Had 90 mins between tests so went to learn the 2nd one & then warmed up for another 45 mins, hoping to wear him out a bit. Didn't work cos he was getting stronger & buckier, altho every now & then he really settled into a rhythm.
Off we went for test 2, prelim 4. A bit uneven - a couple of *huge* bucks into canter, altho he didn't run off. In between the fireworks we had some really nice bits, then he'd spoil it by being a tw*t. But overall it was calmer, I didn't have any 'OMG I can't stop, OMG OMG' moments & he *did* halt at the end.
V surprised & pleased to come 4th in the 1st test with 61.5%, bit
Positive from today:-
1) Didn't have to use the wall to stop.
2) Didn't jump out or cross the boards in any way.
3) Got some 7's
4) Didn't forget either test, despite the airs above the ground
5) No 'locking on' to the boards - I did have help with this tho - normally The College boards are about a foot off the ground, slotted into cone shaped 'wings' but today they were flat on the ground so looked less jump-like.
Am now completely worn out but have got to recuperate by tomo cos we've got a jumping lesson!!
