Lou_Lou123
Well-Known Member
So today was Wally and my second dressage competition following a year long break in the field due to changing job and having no time for him!
So, I managed to rope in a friend to come along and give me a hand and we set off with Wally and a miniature jack russell who refuses to be left at home if anyone goes out in the jeep...he loves a road trip and spent the journey trying to work out which window had the best view.
After getting slightly lost we arrived with just enough time to get tacked up and 25 minutes to warm up. Last time this was plenty but apparently the hedge was full of horse-eating monsters and we went in snorting and a little tense to do DI prelim 15. Spent the time before the bell went trying to convince Wally the horse in the mirror was not big and scary with limited success. He settled a little better once we got going and was delighted to get 65.7%. A little tense in right canter, but that is something we need to work on.
So on to DI novice 23, decided I needed to work harder in the warm up to get him to pay attention so lots of transitions, circles of varying sizes and he seemed a lot more relaxed. Luckily we were the first in the class and had a bit of time to trot around the arena for a couple of minutes and did quite a few transitions which seemed to help him relax and stop checking himself out in the mirror...what a tart!! he was much more consistent in the contact and I was really pleased with him. We got 66.4%, an improvement on last time. We still need to work on the medium trot and canter as he is inclined to fall on the forehand and rush a little.
Really pleased overall as when he was younger and we did a few tests the warm up consisted of bucking, snorting and generally trying to disrupt the warm up and tests consisted of staring at the walls and ceiling or surrounding scenery and tripping over the boards!
Fish pie and diet coke if you got this far, and any tips for mediums much appreciated!!
So, I managed to rope in a friend to come along and give me a hand and we set off with Wally and a miniature jack russell who refuses to be left at home if anyone goes out in the jeep...he loves a road trip and spent the journey trying to work out which window had the best view.
After getting slightly lost we arrived with just enough time to get tacked up and 25 minutes to warm up. Last time this was plenty but apparently the hedge was full of horse-eating monsters and we went in snorting and a little tense to do DI prelim 15. Spent the time before the bell went trying to convince Wally the horse in the mirror was not big and scary with limited success. He settled a little better once we got going and was delighted to get 65.7%. A little tense in right canter, but that is something we need to work on.
So on to DI novice 23, decided I needed to work harder in the warm up to get him to pay attention so lots of transitions, circles of varying sizes and he seemed a lot more relaxed. Luckily we were the first in the class and had a bit of time to trot around the arena for a couple of minutes and did quite a few transitions which seemed to help him relax and stop checking himself out in the mirror...what a tart!! he was much more consistent in the contact and I was really pleased with him. We got 66.4%, an improvement on last time. We still need to work on the medium trot and canter as he is inclined to fall on the forehand and rush a little.
Really pleased overall as when he was younger and we did a few tests the warm up consisted of bucking, snorting and generally trying to disrupt the warm up and tests consisted of staring at the walls and ceiling or surrounding scenery and tripping over the boards!
Fish pie and diet coke if you got this far, and any tips for mediums much appreciated!!
