Caramac71
Well-Known Member
I think this is probably a slightly unusual problem, but I'm posting in the hope that someone may be able to offer some advice.
My daughters loan pony really enjoys doing flatwork and schooling, and gets particularly excitable when doing a dressage test. They compete at Prelim / Novice. The problem has got increasingly worse through the last few outings.
Pony warms up beautifully, but the second she gets into the arena and trots down the centre line, she is off like a rocket. My daughter then has to spend the entire test just trying to hold her and aim to get her transitions in the correct places, going for accuracy because there is no chance of getting the lovely movements she knows the pony is capable of. Towards the end of last summer they were scoring in the 70s in prelim and looked lovely and together. Now they are scoring late 50s / low 60s and look like they are having a major battle!
Some venues she is better at than others, but it seems to be a problem that is getting progressively worse. We have tried new venues as well as those she is familiar with, have travelled with and without companions, indoor and outdoor.
It is reflecting badly on her scores - she is dropping about 10% from what she was scoring at the end of last summer. Initially I suspected the wet weather was affecting the pony's mild arthritis and we increased her supplements, kept her warm, she has good turnout and comes in at night, she has regular Bowen treatments; in the last 6 weeks she has had vet (vaccinations/check), dentist, saddler and Bowen. I then blamed my daughter
for being uptight at shows (her non-dressagey friend came out for an outing to see if our pony was better with company, and beat her in prelim by 9% which I think added to her stress!). I thought the pony was picking up on her tension, although daughter was insisting that she wasn't tense, but pony was just being very strong.
Daughter doesn't practice full tests at home, because the pony is very clever and learns the tests quickly, then will anticipate and perform movements without being asked. So she will run through parts of a test, or do things in a different order, rather than doing a full test.
She had a lesson yesterday, was schooling beautifully, very obedient, really good transitions, soft, supple, etc. Then her trainer suggested running through her dressage tests. The minute she turned in trot down the centre line, it was like a switch had gone off in her. She went charging off, exactly how she has done in competitions. It was good that she did this with the trainer there, so she could see first hand what the problems are. They then practised half halts and then offering the pony the rein so that she had nothing to pull against. Trainer thinks that she now needs to just keep practising tests until they become less exciting and more like normal schooling. Obviously we can run through every test we have, not necessarily those she will be doing in competitions, to avoid the over anticipation.
Has anyone had this issue, and any other ideas of how else to overcome it?
My other question is, they are due to be competing on Sunday. If my daughter finds she has the same issues, is it acceptable for her to bring the pony back, maybe do walk/trot/walk transitions and get her listening before proceeding with the rest of the test. I appreciate she will lose marks but at the moment it's not about the scores anyway, it's just trying to break this habit of pony taking over during a test. Would she need to speak to the judge beforehand and/or enter H/C?
My daughters loan pony really enjoys doing flatwork and schooling, and gets particularly excitable when doing a dressage test. They compete at Prelim / Novice. The problem has got increasingly worse through the last few outings.
Pony warms up beautifully, but the second she gets into the arena and trots down the centre line, she is off like a rocket. My daughter then has to spend the entire test just trying to hold her and aim to get her transitions in the correct places, going for accuracy because there is no chance of getting the lovely movements she knows the pony is capable of. Towards the end of last summer they were scoring in the 70s in prelim and looked lovely and together. Now they are scoring late 50s / low 60s and look like they are having a major battle!
Some venues she is better at than others, but it seems to be a problem that is getting progressively worse. We have tried new venues as well as those she is familiar with, have travelled with and without companions, indoor and outdoor.
It is reflecting badly on her scores - she is dropping about 10% from what she was scoring at the end of last summer. Initially I suspected the wet weather was affecting the pony's mild arthritis and we increased her supplements, kept her warm, she has good turnout and comes in at night, she has regular Bowen treatments; in the last 6 weeks she has had vet (vaccinations/check), dentist, saddler and Bowen. I then blamed my daughter
for being uptight at shows (her non-dressagey friend came out for an outing to see if our pony was better with company, and beat her in prelim by 9% which I think added to her stress!). I thought the pony was picking up on her tension, although daughter was insisting that she wasn't tense, but pony was just being very strong.Daughter doesn't practice full tests at home, because the pony is very clever and learns the tests quickly, then will anticipate and perform movements without being asked. So she will run through parts of a test, or do things in a different order, rather than doing a full test.
She had a lesson yesterday, was schooling beautifully, very obedient, really good transitions, soft, supple, etc. Then her trainer suggested running through her dressage tests. The minute she turned in trot down the centre line, it was like a switch had gone off in her. She went charging off, exactly how she has done in competitions. It was good that she did this with the trainer there, so she could see first hand what the problems are. They then practised half halts and then offering the pony the rein so that she had nothing to pull against. Trainer thinks that she now needs to just keep practising tests until they become less exciting and more like normal schooling. Obviously we can run through every test we have, not necessarily those she will be doing in competitions, to avoid the over anticipation.
Has anyone had this issue, and any other ideas of how else to overcome it?
My other question is, they are due to be competing on Sunday. If my daughter finds she has the same issues, is it acceptable for her to bring the pony back, maybe do walk/trot/walk transitions and get her listening before proceeding with the rest of the test. I appreciate she will lose marks but at the moment it's not about the scores anyway, it's just trying to break this habit of pony taking over during a test. Would she need to speak to the judge beforehand and/or enter H/C?
