First Dressage Test!

[sasquatch]

So on sunday I did my first dressage test (or two) with the new loan horse

I was very pleased with her, we didn't score as highly as I was hoping, but she was consistent across both tests and the comments imo were very fair and are things that I know need work, and that I have been working on both with myself and with her.

She warmed up very, very nicely. Was lovely and forward and coming down into a contact and bending as best as I've seen her. If she'd gone as nicely in the warm up in the test we probably would have scored higher. I think we had a small incident of both horse and rider getting a bit of stage fright. She was very behind my leg in both the tests, which made it harder to get her to take a contact, and my riding also got a bit sloppy. I really should have carried a whip, but as the only one I own is bright green as I have lost my schooling whip, I decided to leave the whip and wait and see how the warm up went, and as the warm up went well I assumed we'd be fine for the test. Oh how wrong I was. I also think the issue of slightly too tight breeches (eek! I really need to hit the gym, they were not as tight in January!) and my boots that for some reason are defiant to breaking in (which are 3 years old, and I spent a week wearing and riding in them to try and break them in, and have rode and used them for the last 3 years and they are still stiff as a board!) didn't help much with my position, but I have noticed my lower leg isn't as good as it used to be or should be as I had developed a bit of a chair seat whilst riding at uni as we did a lot of jumping, not much flatwork and not much work on our position and I've only just begun to really fix it.

Our prelim was before our intro, and we placed 5th in both classes so I was very pleased. I've never done a prelim before, due to B and his odd canter pace, so it was good experience for us both. I've only been riding her for about 3 weeks, and she hasn't really done very much and had only been ridden a few times a week (and from what I can gather, when ridden she wasn't really asked to work correctly but instead was just ridden through w/t/c and jumped) - I decided we'd do the prelim as it was prelim 1 and the only canter is two canter circle. Canter still needs some work, but I thought it was a nice easy test to start her with and see how it went.

photos were taken by a friend

 

[eggs]

Well done. Your mare certainly is not the first horse to drop behind the leg as you go up the centre line! I think most of us go a little tight without realising it - I certainly do. One of my horses is a bit of a monkey and knows if I am carrying a whip or not - it is certainly the answer with him. I had to throw a couple of tests in the early days by giving him a couple of good tickles up with the schooling whip everytime he dropped behind me.

 

[sasquatch]

Well done. Your mare certainly is not the first horse to drop behind the leg as you go up the centre line! I think most of us go a little tight without realising it - I certainly do. One of my horses is a bit of a monkey and knows if I am carrying a whip or not - it is certainly the answer with him. I had to throw a couple of tests in the early days by giving him a couple of good tickles up with the schooling whip everytime he dropped behind me.

Thank you, she's very different to B who would come into the arena, realise people were watching him, and go 'look at me!' (which wasn't always a good thing!) and then would need held back, if anything.

I think she's also the sort of horse who can tell when you don't have a whip, she rarely needs one used on her but just holding one seems to make a difference so I know for next time to make sure I have one. I also think I struggle to balance riding and remembering what I need to be doing when I ride with remembering the test and where we need to be doing certain things, lol. I had a caller for the intro test, which made it much easier and I felt I rode the second one much better as I was more focused on how she was going than remembering where we were going.

I also must apologise for the plaits, her mane has been rubbed out at the bottom and needs to be pulled and thinned. My plaiting skills are also non-existant, as B is a native type with a mane down to his shoulders!

 

[alainax]

Lovely photos well done!

 

[sasquatch]

Lovely photos well done!

thank you

I had a great lesson last night too, my instructor got on and rode her for a few minutes to see if I was the issue or she was, it turns out it was both as I'm still struggling with my hands but watching her ride did help as I was able to picture what I needed to be doing too, and then I did manage to get it in the end

 

[Pinkvboots]

well done don't be too hard on yourself its your first attempt and the horse behaved really well and you enjoyed it that's the main thing, I notice your using a jumping saddle which probably wont be helping your leg position as your riding with fairly short stirrups which I know you have to in a jumping saddle, but riding so short may not be helping as you sometimes tend to tilt forward a bit which in turn makes your leg come back.

I have one that can be a bit behind the leg sometimes I tend to be quite strict with my leg and if he doesn't move forward from a light aid he gets a sharp kick or flick of the whip, if you start like this everytime you ride I find you have a much more forward horse all of the time, maybe spend a few minutes at the start of schooling just getting a sharp response from your leg and hopefully she should get easier.

 

[sasquatch]

well done don't be too hard on yourself its your first attempt and the horse behaved really well and you enjoyed it that's the main thing, I notice your using a jumping saddle which probably wont be helping your leg position as your riding with fairly short stirrups which I know you have to in a jumping saddle, but riding so short may not be helping as you sometimes tend to tilt forward a bit which in turn makes your leg come back.

I have one that can be a bit behind the leg sometimes I tend to be quite strict with my leg and if he doesn't move forward from a light aid he gets a sharp kick or flick of the whip, if you start like this everytime you ride I find you have a much more forward horse all of the time, maybe spend a few minutes at the start of schooling just getting a sharp response from your leg and hopefully she should get easier.

the saddle is her owners saddle, and as she's only a short term loan and I don't think B's will fit her (and his is also black) it's the one I have to use. I find it does make me sit more in a chair seat with my leg too forward and upper body too far back, so the leaning forward may be counter-acting that. I've definitely found on her weaker rein in her canter I am finding it easier to ride in a lightened seat/standing or in a rising canter - which would be great, but at times they also tip me forward which doesn't help and my lower leg also seems to slip forward more in canter.

my lesson yesterday was really really good too and gave me lots of good things to work on with her, and even today I could see the improvement in her

 

[Pinkvboots]

fair enough if that's what she came with but it does look like the saddle that is causing some of your position issues, it may just be a case of getting more used to it as I believe you have had her that long, speak to your instructor about how you feel she should be able to offer you some help with that, it sounds like the lessons are really paying off and she is a very pretty little horse and maybe if it turns out a longer term loan you may be able to sort out a saddle that suits you better if you still think its causing you problems. good luck to the both of you

 

[sasquatch]

fair enough if that's what she came with but it does look like the saddle that is causing some of your position issues, it may just be a case of getting more used to it as I believe you have had her that long, speak to your instructor about how you feel she should be able to offer you some help with that, it sounds like the lessons are really paying off and she is a very pretty little horse and maybe if it turns out a longer term loan you may be able to sort out a saddle that suits you better if you still think its causing you problems. good luck to the both of you

thank you

I think I might try B's saddles on her just to see fit-wise what they're like (obviously if they don't fit I won't use them) but even if his jump saddle does fit rather than the GP his jump saddle holds your leg in a better position and I know I feel comfier in it too.

she has really surprised me in how nice she is to work with, at least to ride. she's very green in many ways as her owner hasn't done much with her and is quite novicey, but she seems to be more than happy to try and already has made a lot of progress and improvement in what to me feels like a relatively short time. I really couldn't ask for more