iknowmyvalue
Well-Known Member
Things have been a bit manic with me in the last week so I haven't got the chance to write this up until now but thought I'd do a quick report on our PC regional qualifiers!
We were the first to go at 9am, so a nice early start for me at 4:30am to bath and plait
Got there nice and early to give ourselves plenty of time to warm up, I was quite happy to be going first as thought it would be nice and quiet, so Henry would be nice and settled, that's what everyone says with young horses right? Go first when it's quiet so they don't get wound up? Well when have horses ever followed the rules 
We were the first to arrive, got Henry off the trailer and he was incredibly offended by this fact. The minute he noticed he was the first one there the theatrics started, he was screaming his head off, trying to go off round the showground and find the other horses he thought should be there, wouldn't stand still... The next lorry arrived with 3 ponies and he shouted at them until all 3 were tied up satisfactorily close to our trailer for his majesty's liking, though he didn't really settle until a few more lorries/trailers were around, when he went back to his usual calm, quiet, easy to handle self... Lesson learnt, we do not want to be the first to arrive again
He warmed up horrifically for the first test, spooking at everything constantly, calling to the other horses... There were a particular set of horse eating jump wings which we apparently could not possibly go near for fear of death. Luckily I'd left a good 45mins/hour to warm up so by the time we went in he was a bit more settled, and he was generally going quite nicely (though said jump wings still had horse eating potential). Test felt okay, I didn't feel it was his best work, and I felt he was still a bit tense and "spooky" (not big spooks, just little wobbles) but I knew we had been accurate and there were no real disasters. But apparently the test looked much better than it rode, and I am always my own worst critic I know that, and we came 2nd with 67.5% and some lovely comments. So I was thrilled with that!
Second test was the regional qualifier, so a "harder" test and a bigger and more competitive class. He warmed up so much better for this class, I think the long warmup for the first test and then having a little time to relax at the trailer between classes helped him relax. I was a little intimidated by some of the horses/ponies I saw in the warmup, they all looked very pro compared to us! Went in to do a lovely, sweet test, which I felt was much better than the first one. I would have been happy with whatever score we got, as he just gets better every time we go out, but I was over the moon with 66.5%, less than 2% behind 1st, and 4th place! A team 6th meant that we have qualified for champs at Keysoe in September, I don't know if I can go yet but I'm still thrilled.
We still have a lot to work on, the spooking is slightly annoying because I feel like it's really holding us back at the moment, but I have to remember that he's not done a lot or seen a lot, and he is a sensitive soul, so I think patience and exposure are the real keys here! I also must remember that the first dressage test we did about 6/7 months ago, I could barely get him into trot he was so tense, so that's a definite improvement. Also this was only his 2nd prelim level test, as canter is something he's really struggled with, but seems to be coming together now and scoring 6.5s and 7s in these 2 tests!
He looks a bit different now to when I tried him less than a year ago!
We were the first to go at 9am, so a nice early start for me at 4:30am to bath and plait
Got there nice and early to give ourselves plenty of time to warm up, I was quite happy to be going first as thought it would be nice and quiet, so Henry would be nice and settled, that's what everyone says with young horses right? Go first when it's quiet so they don't get wound up? Well when have horses ever followed the rules We were the first to arrive, got Henry off the trailer and he was incredibly offended by this fact. The minute he noticed he was the first one there the theatrics started, he was screaming his head off, trying to go off round the showground and find the other horses he thought should be there, wouldn't stand still... The next lorry arrived with 3 ponies and he shouted at them until all 3 were tied up satisfactorily close to our trailer for his majesty's liking, though he didn't really settle until a few more lorries/trailers were around, when he went back to his usual calm, quiet, easy to handle self... Lesson learnt, we do not want to be the first to arrive again He warmed up horrifically for the first test, spooking at everything constantly, calling to the other horses... There were a particular set of horse eating jump wings which we apparently could not possibly go near for fear of death. Luckily I'd left a good 45mins/hour to warm up so by the time we went in he was a bit more settled, and he was generally going quite nicely (though said jump wings still had horse eating potential). Test felt okay, I didn't feel it was his best work, and I felt he was still a bit tense and "spooky" (not big spooks, just little wobbles) but I knew we had been accurate and there were no real disasters. But apparently the test looked much better than it rode, and I am always my own worst critic I know that, and we came 2nd with 67.5% and some lovely comments. So I was thrilled with that!
Second test was the regional qualifier, so a "harder" test and a bigger and more competitive class. He warmed up so much better for this class, I think the long warmup for the first test and then having a little time to relax at the trailer between classes helped him relax. I was a little intimidated by some of the horses/ponies I saw in the warmup, they all looked very pro compared to us! Went in to do a lovely, sweet test, which I felt was much better than the first one. I would have been happy with whatever score we got, as he just gets better every time we go out, but I was over the moon with 66.5%, less than 2% behind 1st, and 4th place! A team 6th meant that we have qualified for champs at Keysoe in September, I don't know if I can go yet but I'm still thrilled.
We still have a lot to work on, the spooking is slightly annoying because I feel like it's really holding us back at the moment, but I have to remember that he's not done a lot or seen a lot, and he is a sensitive soul, so I think patience and exposure are the real keys here! I also must remember that the first dressage test we did about 6/7 months ago, I could barely get him into trot he was so tense, so that's a definite improvement. Also this was only his 2nd prelim level test, as canter is something he's really struggled with, but seems to be coming together now and scoring 6.5s and 7s in these 2 tests!
He looks a bit different now to when I tried him less than a year ago!
