HufflyPuffly
Well-Known Member
Our goal for this year is to claim our PSG qualification, we did two Advanced tests last year meaning we have until July to do our PSG.
Since last year, I have moved house and moved the horses! So lots of breaks in our training, lots of stress and a new yard with facilities that mean schooling is not quite as much fun as galloping about or exploring the amazing hacking
... Along side this I decided we had to work on the basics more and sort out the strength of the right canter, sort out the submission through our transitions and mostly get that right change consistently clean! All super important but equally very good excuses of putting off doing the actual deed .
The horses have finally started to settle from the move and Topaz has been going amazingly in our lessons, between Di Breeze and Dane Rawlins they have left no stone un-turned to find what works for bonkers carriage horses. So when an unaffiliated show came up that went up to PSG, it seemed like a perfect opportunity... I still had to be talked into it and enter at the last second 🙈.
"what if we're just not ready"
The little voice of doubt ever ready to keep us in the safe zone of training and not being labelled as failed!
Onto the day in question, I had to work the morning (after being in London the day before, perfect preparation lol), so zero prep, dirty horse and tack 🙈 we arrived just in time to walk, trot and canter before the first test, AM91 to try for our Hickstead Masters qualification! So going pretty much straight in (sorry Topaz 😘), we were not warmed up quite enough and so the main body of work suffered a little, but Topaz was willing and trying hard for a very fair 63% and fourth. However, big however, we did manage to get all but two changes to score 7’s 🙌ðŸ», huge breakthrough! Not a score that will set anyone on fire but it's always worth reading the sheets and seeing what went well and what needs improvement from the judge, those 7's for our right change made my day.
Onto the main event for me (most people were there mainly for the semi-final for the Hickstead Masters lol) the PSG 😬, Topaz tried her bloody socks off. I'd collected my whip as it was hot and doing two hard'ish tests I knew stamina might run out, it certainly had a galvanizing effect lol. Trot work felt really secure and she blasted some extensions out that I’ve no idea where they came from 😂, next time I will be ready to half halt and keep that neck up 😉. We had been working on them in our last lesson and I think the penny might have dropped, but I was so surprised I just didn't slow the tempo and get her uphill, but amazing to feel her go! Canter work, zigzag started well (7 for the first part including that right change!) but I didn’t keep both sides equal so rushed the second half, this might have been me overthinking the first change as it is the dreaded right change, but something I know to fix in future. I then totally cocked the first pirouette line up, slap the rider lol Topaz totally saved my bacon, it's super lucky she is talented for the pirouettes! Second pirouette I kept big as she is green at this level and it was hot and well maybe that's enough excuses 😂. The tempi’s didn’t happen 😂🙈, started thought ooo we’re doing it, and then it all went tits up 🙈, partly me thinking we weren't going to get them (negative visualization works just as effectively as positive visualization!), but also I've not been doing enough sequence changes recently. But we picked ourselves up and carried on to finish!
We not only completed our first PSG but we only went and came second (of three) and managed a very respectable 61.97% 🙌ðŸ»ðŸ™ŒðŸ»ðŸ™ŒðŸ»ðŸ™ŒðŸ»ðŸ™ŒðŸ», so unbelievably proud of Topaz 🤩.
Picture by the lovely Kate of Shutter Bugz Photography.
Just need to do some tidying up and more sequence changes and we'll be good to do it for real
Since last year, I have moved house and moved the horses! So lots of breaks in our training, lots of stress and a new yard with facilities that mean schooling is not quite as much fun as galloping about or exploring the amazing hacking
... Along side this I decided we had to work on the basics more and sort out the strength of the right canter, sort out the submission through our transitions and mostly get that right change consistently clean! All super important but equally very good excuses of putting off doing the actual deed .
The horses have finally started to settle from the move and Topaz has been going amazingly in our lessons, between Di Breeze and Dane Rawlins they have left no stone un-turned to find what works for bonkers carriage horses
. So when an unaffiliated show came up that went up to PSG, it seemed like a perfect opportunity... I still had to be talked into it and enter at the last second 🙈. "what if we're just not ready"
The little voice of doubt ever ready to keep us in the safe zone of training and not being labelled as failed!
Onto the day in question, I had to work the morning (after being in London the day before, perfect preparation lol), so zero prep, dirty horse and tack 🙈 we arrived just in time to walk, trot and canter before the first test, AM91 to try for our Hickstead Masters qualification! So going pretty much straight in (sorry Topaz 😘), we were not warmed up quite enough and so the main body of work suffered a little, but Topaz was willing and trying hard for a very fair 63% and fourth. However, big however, we did manage to get all but two changes to score 7’s 🙌ðŸ», huge breakthrough! Not a score that will set anyone on fire but it's always worth reading the sheets and seeing what went well and what needs improvement from the judge, those 7's for our right change made my day
.Onto the main event for me (most people were there mainly for the semi-final for the Hickstead Masters lol) the PSG 😬, Topaz tried her bloody socks off
. I'd collected my whip as it was hot and doing two hard'ish tests I knew stamina might run out, it certainly had a galvanizing effect lol. Trot work felt really secure and she blasted some extensions out that I’ve no idea where they came from 😂, next time I will be ready to half halt and keep that neck up 😉. We had been working on them in our last lesson and I think the penny might have dropped, but I was so surprised I just didn't slow the tempo and get her uphill, but amazing to feel her go! Canter work, zigzag started well (7 for the first part including that right change!) but I didn’t keep both sides equal so rushed the second half, this might have been me overthinking the first change as it is the dreaded right change, but something I know to fix in future. I then totally cocked the first pirouette line up, slap the rider lol Topaz totally saved my bacon, it's super lucky she is talented for the pirouettes! Second pirouette I kept big as she is green at this level and it was hot and well maybe that's enough excuses 😂. The tempi’s didn’t happen 😂🙈, started thought ooo we’re doing it, and then it all went tits up 🙈, partly me thinking we weren't going to get them (negative visualization works just as effectively as positive visualization!), but also I've not been doing enough sequence changes recently. But we picked ourselves up and carried on to finish!We not only completed our first PSG but we only went and came second (of three) and managed a very respectable 61.97% 🙌ðŸ»ðŸ™ŒðŸ»ðŸ™ŒðŸ»ðŸ™ŒðŸ»ðŸ™ŒðŸ», so unbelievably proud of Topaz 🤩.
Picture by the lovely Kate of Shutter Bugz Photography.
Just need to do some tidying up and more sequence changes and we'll be good to do it for real
