Competition report - we did better :D

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No, not for me the subtle updating of the Weekend Plans thread, if I compete I am so elated when I get home that everyone has to know about it :D :D

We went out dressaging today to a new venue - well, we've been there to do hunter trials but not dressage. Jensen started the day off wonderfully by refusing to load, cue 2 of the lovely grooms on the yard with lunge whip (noise only I hasten to add!) and lunge lines. After 20 mins of hysterics he went on the trailer - it is so frustrating, he is just a pig-headed cob!

We fought our way through Gloucester's traffic - all those people wanting to go shopping....why, just why? - and got there on time. Tacked up, got on, went to the warm up and unsurprisingly with the little green sports cob I had tense, rigid with fear, non-breathing horse. Who knew you could do a 25 min warm up and a 5 min test without breathing?! There were moments of relaxation where I thought 'yes! at last!' but it was a very very busy venue so then he would see something else and giraffe horse would return...

Went to do our first test, Prelim 7. I hate this test - so long doing the same movement, I am doomed! Jensen looked at everything, felt tense and heavy on the right rein, but did more or less what he was meant to do in the right places. Canter - our bete noire at the moment - felt very very forward indeed, which was great (would much rather that than stuffy and bouncing on the spot!) but we did have a few problems braking! Loved the judge's comments "energetic horse, canter needs more balance and control" :D Rather surprised but pleased with 65.91% for third. That's my first goal achieved, 65% at prelim, he got 8's for his medium and free walk.

Second test was a long arena one, Prelim 17a... if you bothered reading last weeks report, you will know I cannot remember this test for love nor money, and OH was at home with man flu!!! Lovely girl at the venue said she would read for me, so off we went - got an 8 for our entry, "positive entry", yep the brakes weren't working again! Unfortunately my caller got lost in the middle of the test - in the same place as my OH did last week would you believe - but the very very generous judge didn't give me an error of course. It was billed to be a relaxed and encouraging event I suppose :) More 8's for his medium walk and walk on a long rein (proud!) and we finished on 66.55% and 7th!

Clearly some very generously marking judges today but overall I am really pleased, canter still needs a lot of work but it was never going to happen overnight. Jensen then refused to load on the way home.... grrrr... we got home eventually....

I have qualified for Trailblazers second rounds, woo hoo, I'll be interested to see how he does under more....ummm.... realistic judges? But really pleased with the forwardsness today, he tends to shut down at competitions so forwards is fantastic!!!!

Might be the schooling he has had from my Olympic 4* eventer yard owner,,,,,, ;)
 
was watching blue planet 11, amazing!!!!! sounds like you had fun and made some good progress today, be interesting to see what the trailblazers judges think....
 
Oh fabulous. Really well done on the 8s in particaulf and nice scores and placing a so obv the judge saw a lot to like. I'm going to look into doing trailblazers so interested in how you get on and what the standard is like!

More loading practice needed? I had a sticky loader. I use a dually and had some lessons with a NH bod and am now pretty good with even the most tricky *******. Dually and a long lead line is the best!
 
Obviously as the judge didn't mark an error of course there was no error of course! Well done on qualifying. Hopefully he will be more chilled out next time.
 
Thank you everyone :) I feel amazingly encouraged by yesterday even though I know the judges were being generous, we just need to get that sort of result regularly under any sort of judge now!

The loading is a nuisance to put it mildly, he isn’t frightened in the least he just plants and goes into stubborn cob mode! He was going in when I offered food and just stood quietly waiting, but the yard was quite busy when I was loading yesterday so he used that as an excuse to get distracted. If you try and push him on, or use lunge lines, or wave a whip in his direction, he gets bargy and ignorant.

I tried blindfolding him to get him on the trailer to get him home, so he fell over the ramp and landed on his knees (no damage done). I’m at a bit of a loss where to go now - I’ll try a Dually halter or similar!
 
Super well done :D Hard work paying off!

re the loading, have solved one tricky one (who was initially afraid but later not) and have got another who gets distracted and then switches off...
I think it boils down to basic daily discipline of teaching the horse to go where asked - in the manner requested - without question at all times.
That can be helpfully reinforced with whatever suitable equipment there is in terms of halters etc, but there is no substitute for that bit of training. The good bit is that you can practice it every time you handle the horse- leading out to the field, moving around the yard etc. I think we all get lazy with our horses when we know them, but tiny giveaways like the horse pulling to grass or choosing to walk on the side of the track instead of next to you or whatever , they all build up. Try and always choose where he puts his feet and where he is in relation to you, rather than just accepting that you get from a to b :) then it's just another choice for you and another a-b for him when you point him up the ramp!
 
Lévrier;13678014 said:
The loading is a nuisance to put it mildly, he isn’t frightened in the least he just plants and goes into stubborn cob mode! He was going in when I offered food and just stood quietly waiting, but the yard was quite busy when I was loading yesterday so he used that as an excuse to get distracted. If you try and push him on, or use lunge lines, or wave a whip in his direction, he gets bargy and ignorant.

I tried blindfolding him to get him on the trailer to get him home, so he fell over the ramp and landed on his knees (no damage done). I’m at a bit of a loss where to go now - I’ll try a Dually halter or similar!
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Well done on your comp!! Particularly the medium walk 8, I would be ecstatic with a 7 or even a 6 for mine lol.
On the loading, my boy is exactly the same - not scared, just eats his hay when he's on - but plants and refuses to go on and lunge lines and whips just make him bargy and rude as he's very backward to start with. For mine I found a stallion chain is like a miracle (and to a lesser extent a dually headcollar). Every horse is different but for mine, who it sounds like is similar to yours, with a stallion chain over the nose he just walks straight on Every Single Time with no arguing, pulling or fuss and it's such a miracle that I want to cry every time I load him. I genuinely get to go to shows on time, & without worrying about whether I'll get him home! Can't recommend trying it enough. I've forgotten to put it on a couple of times recently and it's reminded me how much I still need it lol.
 
Fantastic scores, especially the 8s! Well done :)

Any chance of going on a yard outing on a lorry (as I know you're on a big competitive yard)? I've found that having to shuffle horses around on the lorry during a competition day has improved my boys' loading no end! The quicker they get off an on again, the quicker they get to stand, eat haylage and doze again ;)
 
great report :D
We found a chain over the nose worked wonders with the yob when he went through a phase of being rude and planting, only took a couple of trips out and he remembered his manners again.
 
I’m liking the idea of the stallion chain :) I’ll give that a try - he is certainly more responsive with just a rope around his nose so that might be the key :)
 
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