HufflyPuffly
Well-Known Member
So our cunning plan was three part, but slightly fell apart at part B!
Part B of the master plan was a practise day at the venue organised by our regional officer to take advantage of judge training that was already planned. Now Topaz had gone well at part A, so I was hopeful of another confidence building day and in many ways it was. She warmed up well, didn't have to be led into the arena
, and felt ok. That was until the rein-back...
Now we are pretty darn good at rein-backs, not sure why Topaz has chosen to have them as a good point but we'll take it
. Unfortunately where it was placed in E45 meant we had to reverse towards the jump poles of doom 
. We stopped bang on the marker, lovely and square and then I held my seat asked for back and Topaz went 'WHAT, towards those poles , well I shall go back but whilst I attempt to spin round and stare out these hooligans of the showjump variety least the launch upon me whilst I'm not looking...' Now as you can imagine this meant for a rather hopeless attempt at rein-back and as this was advertised as a practise day for the AF I thought we'll try that again, Topaz still not for complying grudgingly took a step back and we moved on. The rest of the test wasn't too horrific but a little spooky still.
I never mind a terrible score when she's being a pain but what really shattered our confidence was the judge ripping me to shreds after the test
. Pointing out that you shouldn't attempt to re-do a move is fine and yes I was aware I would incur a -2 for it, but telling me that if I'd rode like that in a lesson with her would have resulted in 'words' was beyond not helpful! We were allowed another attempt, and this time due to being told off for being so 'handy' I kept the transition soft and rein-back short, to this time be told I hadn't prepared the trasition well enough as we weren't spot on the marker :rolleyes3:. Test went a little better the second time as Topaz was slightly more relaxed, but her canter suffered as she was tired , though my instructor told me to take the '4-beat canter' remark as we're just preparing for pirouettes anyway . Never had a judge tell me off before so I suppose it's something to learn from, but trying to steer a super spooky horse round a test as an amature is hard enough without fear that your attempts will be held in such contempt . Though saying that I absolutely know that the judge has no idea about our back story, so I think I need to man up and stop being so senstive about it really .
Part C of the master plan also went by the wayside when the venue had to cancel the warm-up classes, so I wasn't feeling particularly confident for the day! Though onto the actual day, due to the early start we forwent the arena walk so I didn't have to get up any earlier than the half four alarm. Warmed up ok, started tense and distracted but then really started to listen and chill. That was until we had to be led into the arena, again... Silly Topaz .
Test wasn't quite relaxed and fluid enough really, though there were some nice moments and the dreaded rein-back actually went ok (2 out of 3 judges awarded a 7). Slightly distracted in the extended walk by gawping out of the window always tricky when they drop you in walk though we just about managed no jog steps! Canter on the whole went well but still slight loss in rhythm when the tension crept in...
So overall super pleased with around the 62/63% mark. At this stage we'll take a plus 60% score with welcome arms! Plus looking at the results I was only 2% or so off the top ten so really not too shabby.
Also managed to get a video of my test which was fab to be able to watch it back, or maybe not, oh god my riding! Apparently I cannot keep still and appeared to be sliding off to the right for most of the test, and I wont even go into my leg position... Lots to work on as ever! From the practise day judges comments I think we will stay in the snaffle for a fair while yet, I need to be able to ride much stiller and with a much stronger core I think before we attempt the double.
[video]https://www.facebook.com/LeapofFaithDressage/videos/409669172552282/[/video]
Next goal is to attempt to qualify for winters before the end of the month! Always like a challenge.
x x
Part B of the master plan was a practise day at the venue organised by our regional officer to take advantage of judge training that was already planned. Now Topaz had gone well at part A, so I was hopeful of another confidence building day and in many ways it was. She warmed up well, didn't have to be led into the arena
, and felt ok. That was until the rein-back... Now we are pretty darn good at rein-backs, not sure why Topaz has chosen to have them as a good point but we'll take it
. Unfortunately where it was placed in E45 meant we had to reverse towards the jump poles of doom . We stopped bang on the marker, lovely and square and then I held my seat asked for back and Topaz went 'WHAT, towards those poles , well I shall go back but whilst I attempt to spin round and stare out these hooligans of the showjump variety least the launch upon me whilst I'm not looking...' Now as you can imagine this meant for a rather hopeless attempt at rein-back and as this was advertised as a practise day for the AF I thought we'll try that again, Topaz still not for complying grudgingly took a step back and we moved on. The rest of the test wasn't too horrific but a little spooky still. I never mind a terrible score when she's being a pain but what really shattered our confidence was the judge ripping me to shreds after the test
. Pointing out that you shouldn't attempt to re-do a move is fine and yes I was aware I would incur a -2 for it, but telling me that if I'd rode like that in a lesson with her would have resulted in 'words' was beyond not helpful! We were allowed another attempt, and this time due to being told off for being so 'handy' I kept the transition soft and rein-back short, to this time be told I hadn't prepared the trasition well enough as we weren't spot on the marker :rolleyes3:. Test went a little better the second time as Topaz was slightly more relaxed, but her canter suffered as she was tired , though my instructor told me to take the '4-beat canter' remark as we're just preparing for pirouettes anyway . Never had a judge tell me off before so I suppose it's something to learn from, but trying to steer a super spooky horse round a test as an amature is hard enough without fear that your attempts will be held in such contempt . Though saying that I absolutely know that the judge has no idea about our back story, so I think I need to man up and stop being so senstive about it really .Part C of the master plan also went by the wayside when the venue had to cancel the warm-up classes, so I wasn't feeling particularly confident for the day! Though onto the actual day, due to the early start we forwent the arena walk so I didn't have to get up any earlier than the half four alarm
. Warmed up ok, started tense and distracted but then really started to listen and chill. That was until we had to be led into the arena, again... Silly Topaz .Test wasn't quite relaxed and fluid enough really, though there were some nice moments and the dreaded rein-back actually went ok (2 out of 3 judges awarded a 7
). Slightly distracted in the extended walk by gawping out of the window always tricky when they drop you in walk though we just about managed no jog steps! Canter on the whole went well but still slight loss in rhythm when the tension crept in...So overall super pleased with around the 62/63% mark
. At this stage we'll take a plus 60% score with welcome arms! Plus looking at the results I was only 2% or so off the top ten so really not too shabby.
Also managed to get a video of my test which was fab to be able to watch it back, or maybe not, oh god my riding! Apparently I cannot keep still and appeared to be sliding off to the right for most of the test
, and I wont even go into my leg position... Lots to work on as ever! From the practise day judges comments I think we will stay in the snaffle for a fair while yet, I need to be able to ride much stiller and with a much stronger core I think before we attempt the double.[video]https://www.facebook.com/LeapofFaithDressage/videos/409669172552282/[/video]
Next goal is to attempt to qualify for winters before the end of the month! Always like a challenge
.x x
