Firewell
Well-Known Member
Or something like that!
The weekend before last Jae and I went to our 2nd USA show! A dressage show about 45 mins away in Santa Barbara. We got there at just the right time, I was able to change my baby boy, pass him off to OH with a snack and jump aboard Jae with a comfortable half an hour to warm up. It was a super spooky venue with a well frequented bike path running just behind the warm up and competition arenas. Jae worked in well although we did find ourselves suddenly flying down the warm up at 100 miles an hour when about 10 bikes popped up out of nowhere and went whooshing past!
The first test I forgot my first salute. Here in America you halt and salute on the first centre line as well as the last. I remembered to halt but not salute ha ha. It felt like it was going Ok, that was until the last canter! Just as we struck off another few bikes went flying out from behind a hedge past us and off we shot up the arena with Jaes head between his legs lol. I got him back and carried on and finished without further incident but I was slightly red in the face, especially when the judge remarked that it wasnt a rodeo
!
We had an hour wait before the next class and in the mean time I really worked on getting him moving forwards off my leg. I have been practicing sharpening him up a lot at home, really getting him to shift his arse the moment my (tiny) spur touches his side. The quality of his work has improved because of this but he has become a bit hotter and a small amount of tension creeps in every now and again. He is very much the sort of horse that will adjust himself, if you slop along he does and if you are sharp he is! Its just keeping the balance right.
The 2nd test felt better, I remembered my halt and I thought the test was flowing quite nicely until the last canter again on the other rein this time and I flipping heard the whoosh of the bikes behind us and so was prepared for the canter-gallop transition (I said he was more reactive! ). It was a shame as it spoilt our stretchy trot which came next, it was the fastest stretchy trot in the world, I was trying to rise really slowly lol but it still felt like a chicken running.
We got a very happy 70% in the first test and were pipped into 2nd place by one of those combinations you know are the ones to beat when you see them in the warm up! The second test we got 68.2% and won yaaaaay! I was really pleased with the scores. We got 8s for the centre lines I saluted on which I was chuffed about as straightness is something I have been working my arse off on. We got a 4 and then a 5 in the tests for the rodeo/running incidents. In the first test his scores improved after the spook because he was more forwards and we got an 8 for our trot. In the 2nd test our scores declined after the spook because the stretchy trot was ruined and that is a double mark here in America. I think we got a 6 for it. The tests were pretty consistent with 7s and 8s and the odd 6.
All in all a really positive day, showing a fair bit of improvement. It was weird driving home from a competition down the 101 with the pacific ocean and palm trees at my side, it felt quite surreal!
Pretty poncy pony :-
Plans for the next month are two hunter/jumper shows (one of them rated eeeek) and all being well our first USEA event *gulp*!
Thanks for reading!!
The weekend before last Jae and I went to our 2nd USA show! A dressage show about 45 mins away in Santa Barbara. We got there at just the right time, I was able to change my baby boy, pass him off to OH with a snack and jump aboard Jae with a comfortable half an hour to warm up. It was a super spooky venue with a well frequented bike path running just behind the warm up and competition arenas. Jae worked in well although we did find ourselves suddenly flying down the warm up at 100 miles an hour when about 10 bikes popped up out of nowhere and went whooshing past!
The first test I forgot my first salute. Here in America you halt and salute on the first centre line as well as the last. I remembered to halt but not salute ha ha. It felt like it was going Ok, that was until the last canter! Just as we struck off another few bikes went flying out from behind a hedge past us and off we shot up the arena with Jaes head between his legs lol. I got him back and carried on and finished without further incident but I was slightly red in the face, especially when the judge remarked that it wasnt a rodeo
!We had an hour wait before the next class and in the mean time I really worked on getting him moving forwards off my leg. I have been practicing sharpening him up a lot at home, really getting him to shift his arse the moment my (tiny) spur touches his side. The quality of his work has improved because of this but he has become a bit hotter and a small amount of tension creeps in every now and again. He is very much the sort of horse that will adjust himself, if you slop along he does and if you are sharp he is! Its just keeping the balance right.
The 2nd test felt better, I remembered my halt and I thought the test was flowing quite nicely until the last canter again on the other rein this time and I flipping heard the whoosh of the bikes behind us and so was prepared for the canter-gallop transition (I said he was more reactive! ). It was a shame as it spoilt our stretchy trot which came next, it was the fastest stretchy trot in the world, I was trying to rise really slowly lol but it still felt like a chicken running.
We got a very happy 70% in the first test and were pipped into 2nd place by one of those combinations you know are the ones to beat when you see them in the warm up! The second test we got 68.2% and won yaaaaay! I was really pleased with the scores. We got 8s for the centre lines I saluted on which I was chuffed about as straightness is something I have been working my arse off on. We got a 4 and then a 5 in the tests for the rodeo/running incidents. In the first test his scores improved after the spook because he was more forwards and we got an 8 for our trot. In the 2nd test our scores declined after the spook because the stretchy trot was ruined and that is a double mark here in America. I think we got a 6 for it. The tests were pretty consistent with 7s and 8s and the odd 6.
All in all a really positive day, showing a fair bit of improvement. It was weird driving home from a competition down the 101 with the pacific ocean and palm trees at my side, it felt quite surreal!
Pretty poncy pony :-
Plans for the next month are two hunter/jumper shows (one of them rated eeeek) and all being well our first USEA event *gulp*!
Thanks for reading!!
