Lou_Lou123
Well-Known Member
This is a bit late as we actually went last sunday!
So, having given my horse far too long a holiday due to moving to Ireland and starting new job, I finally got him back into work and (just about) fit enough to do a couple of dressage tests. I hadn't done as much schooling as I would have liked, and the bit we had done involved spending as little time with hooves on the floor despite hacking to the school like a plod! I took him to the beach a couple of days before and he schooled quite well, so was hopeful (ish).
I entered prelim 18 and novice 20, and I was surprised at how well he warmed up having not been out for ages, he was reasonably quiet. A few 'moments' aka bucking across the school, so I kept it short for fear of upsetting another horse.
He went really nicely in the test apart from one buck into canter on the left rein, which the judge kindly referred to as tension. The comments were that it was a shame about the tension as he had nice rhythm and paces. So overall I was quite pleased, I achieved my aim which was not to get bucked off in the warm up or the test, and didn't make any mistakes!
Gave him a break in the lorry, and then went to warm up for the second test. More bucking this time so we didn't do much canter as the warm up was busier, plus the gap between the tests wasn't huge so we did the necessary but didn't over do it.
Again, he went nicely, not forward enough which I put down to not being quite as fit as he needs to be. There was a 20m circle in trot allowing the horse to stretch and he did that really well which is a huge improvement for him. Comments were similar, nice paces but not over back.
So I went to check the scores and we got 61.25% in the prelim and 60.8% in the novice. And we even got a rosette - we were first of two in the registered section (I know that's only a 50/50 chance, but I was still pleased) of the prelim and second of ten overall!
So a good day, but now wondering if he needs his back checking again? It's been checked four times over the last two years, as he has been quite difficult so I've had it done regularly to make sure that wasn't the cause. Teeth and saddle fine. Or do I just put it down to naughtiness?
Oh, and then on the way home we ran out of diesel as the gauge on the lorry at work is not very reliable and I'm still getting used to it...so a slightly long drive home, but luckily we were only 15 minutes from home so easy to sort!
Thanks for reading and leftover chicken pie and a glass of red if you got this far!
So, having given my horse far too long a holiday due to moving to Ireland and starting new job, I finally got him back into work and (just about) fit enough to do a couple of dressage tests. I hadn't done as much schooling as I would have liked, and the bit we had done involved spending as little time with hooves on the floor despite hacking to the school like a plod! I took him to the beach a couple of days before and he schooled quite well, so was hopeful (ish).
I entered prelim 18 and novice 20, and I was surprised at how well he warmed up having not been out for ages, he was reasonably quiet. A few 'moments' aka bucking across the school, so I kept it short for fear of upsetting another horse.
He went really nicely in the test apart from one buck into canter on the left rein, which the judge kindly referred to as tension. The comments were that it was a shame about the tension as he had nice rhythm and paces. So overall I was quite pleased, I achieved my aim which was not to get bucked off in the warm up or the test, and didn't make any mistakes!
Gave him a break in the lorry, and then went to warm up for the second test. More bucking this time so we didn't do much canter as the warm up was busier, plus the gap between the tests wasn't huge so we did the necessary but didn't over do it.
Again, he went nicely, not forward enough which I put down to not being quite as fit as he needs to be. There was a 20m circle in trot allowing the horse to stretch and he did that really well which is a huge improvement for him. Comments were similar, nice paces but not over back.
So I went to check the scores and we got 61.25% in the prelim and 60.8% in the novice. And we even got a rosette - we were first of two in the registered section (I know that's only a 50/50 chance, but I was still pleased) of the prelim and second of ten overall!
So a good day, but now wondering if he needs his back checking again? It's been checked four times over the last two years, as he has been quite difficult so I've had it done regularly to make sure that wasn't the cause. Teeth and saddle fine. Or do I just put it down to naughtiness?
Oh, and then on the way home we ran out of diesel as the gauge on the lorry at work is not very reliable and I'm still getting used to it...so a slightly long drive home, but luckily we were only 15 minutes from home so easy to sort!
Thanks for reading and leftover chicken pie and a glass of red if you got this far!