Friday, December 26, 2014

The last show of the year

Our last show of the year was another dressage schooling show, on the 13th. Then work and life exploded and I've had no time to blog until now... end of the year is always so busy!

I had hoped that our last show of the year would be some sort of awesome. We’ve been working hard, making great progress – surely it would all come together somehow.

Best laid plans, right?

To start, I didn’t get to ride Paddy the entire week before. Between holiday obligations and being sick, I missed my lesson and all my practice rides too. Strike one. In addition, the show now requires competitors to have a stall, even if you’re just there during the day. Fuzzypony and I decided to make the most of it and haul out Friday, so that we could get a practice ride in Friday night and leave the boys overnight. Paddy’s not used to being in a stall, and he and Taran are super attached. So when I got him out for our practice ride, he spent the first 30 minutes screaming his head off for his buddy. We did eventually get some good work in, but you know how they say that if your last ride before the show sucks, you’re going to do well? By that criteria, we were going to KICK ASS on Saturday. At least he didn't try to buck me off or anything.

On Saturday, I got Paddy out an hour before our ride, figuring I would give him plenty of time to walk since he’d been stuck in a stall all night. It was a good thing I did, because he powerwalked for 25 of those 30 minutes. He was super distracted and was “that horse,” screaming for his buddy. Awesome! Eventually, we started working through our new warmup routine, and he actually settled in pretty quickly. As usual, he took my requests to move away from my leg as requests to trot, and couldn’t possibly be bothered to listen to my seat. We worked on those things until he was listening, and then moved on to trot and canter. We had some super good work, and then I made the mistake of taking a break about 7 minutes out from our first ride, Tr-3.

The problem with taking a break is that Paddy sometimes thinks he’s done. We only did one lap around the arena on a long rein, but when I went to put him back together, it was like starting over from scratch. He ignored my leg and my seat. I started pulling on the reins (because hey, that always helps, right?), and then it was our turn to go. He grabbed the bit, put his head down, and charged up centerline. From then on, he was calling all the shots. I felt like all the work we've been doing just flew out the window and we were back to our previous train-wreck selves. After he came blasting across the diagonal on the canter/trot transition with me hauling on the reins and leaning back over his ass to get him to trot (about 1:30 in the vid), I almost pulled him up and called it quits. It was truly the worst test we've ever done. But I sucked it up and tried to put the blown movements behind us, and we finished anyway. And that disaster transition? We got a 7 on it. Apparently the judged missed the tug-of-war we had going on, and wrote that she liked our energy. Uh, thanks.


We left the arena, and I knew we had two rides before 1-2 to get our shit back together. I immediately started working him off my seat - ask for trot, immediately walk off the seat. Trot, then walk. Over and over again until we could get it with just a thought. Then I started with 10 meter figure 8s, with walks every half-circle and change of direction. I asked for one canter each way, only half a circle, but very obedient and balanced. We also drilled leg yields and shoulder ins, with 10 meter circles on either end, and lots of transitions. He got no breaks, not even to go into the arena. 

And you know what? It worked. He was SO MUCH better off my seat and leg. He was SO MUCH more obedient (let's just ignore that samba he did on the first halt, shall we?). Our trot lengthenings - especially the second half of the second one where I really went for it - actually kinda happened (canter lengthenings, not so much, especially the transitions back to regular canter). I can see that we are starting to make them work.  Our leg yields were much better than our last test, although you can see where he leads with his shoulder, then is straight, then his haunches, then is straight... lol! Rider needs more practice obviously. 

And here is an excellent picture of me having a love affair with my right rein. Dear right hand: we really need to talk. 

This helps nobody, right hand. Please stop now. 

The moment I felt him start to become unbalanced, I half-halted him with my seat. No, it wasn't forward and relaxed. Yes, he was behind the vertical for a lot of the ride. No, his canter wasn't as balanced as it has been. But we came back from our sucky first ride and we made it happen, so I am proud of that. In some ways it was much better than our first attempt at 1-2, and in other ways, it was much worse. Now we just need to find a happy medium!



We got a 59% and change on Tr-3 and a 58% and change on 1-2. The scoring was tough but fair, except for the 7 on the downward transition in Tr-3 which I think was a gift. Still, those are the worst scores we've gotten to date, so it was pretty disappointing. I know we are doing much better work at home, but right now we're just not consistent.

On the bright side, I really learned a lot about what Paddy needs to put in a good test. We need to do more overnight shows so that we (well, I) can get better at dealing with being away from Paddy's BFF. I learned that he needs a good long walk warmup if he's been in a stall. He also cannot have a break more than about 15-20 minutes from going into the arena, or he thinks he's done and takes much too long to get his brain back in his head. And it's pretty apparent that we will always put in a better second test than first test, so if we are ever going for scores, we need to plan carefully so that the more important test is the second one. 

I also learned that despite having a week off before the show, he's kind enough not to try to dump me in the dirt, even if his generosity didn't extend to being a superstar in the arena. Oh well, you can only get by so much on being cute!




23 comments:

  1. I really love how you carry your hands. And if your horse was heavy and lugging on you, girl you do an outstanding job of faking it 'till you make it! Your warm up routine is pretty much what I have to do with my horse. I warm him up and DO NOT give him a break. He even trots directly from the warmup into the ring (if possible). No stopping. Do not pass go. Once in the ring, right back to checking the buttons - forward and back, off the leg. Some horses just think they are done if you give them a break or too long of a break. Live and learn I guess! lol!

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    1. Paddy does not open his mouth, ever, so it's impossible to tell that he's pulling like a freight train. He can be light and responsive, but from one second to the next it can change to heavy and unbalanced. It's funny how the test looks versus how it feels - it really doesn't look THAT bad, but man, it rode like crap.

      Good to know that I'm not the only one whose horse isn't allowed to have a break, ever. Live and learn!

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  2. sorry it wasn't the outing that you were hoping for - but sounds like you got a lot out of it all the same! Paddy looks adorable as always!! (and i kinda love his 'energy' too lol)

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    1. That's his "I'm NAAAAUUUGHTYYYY" energy. On him, it just looks cute. Sigh...

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  3. I'm in the land of slow internet this week so couldn't watch the videos :( but it sounds like a good show in that it was a good learning experience at least! I have a few horses in my barn who just CAN'T have breaks at shows. The second they get a break, they won't go back to work willingly. Rico was one for a long time until the FEI levels when he finally figured out that if he was good when I picked him up, he could have breaks.

    Don't get too down about the scores- no lesson and no rides the week before, starting with crazy whinnying... sounds like you did super well given the circumstances! And yay no bucking you off!!

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    1. It was definitely good for experience, and isn't that the whole point of a schooling show? The scores were a disappointment, but it was more that we just didn't perform as well as we could. However, given the circumstances, I can't complain too much, and there's always next year!

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  4. Learning experiences- not anyone's favorite kind of show!

    You guys looked totally cute, which I think definitely deserves a couple of bonus points.

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    1. Learning experiences aren't the best, but I'd rather that happen at a schooling show than at an expensive recognized show!

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  5. Just means there is lots of room for improvement this year :) I think the last show of 2014 was not destined to be great for the Austin bloggers!

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    1. Lol, that's true, PLENTY of room for improvement! ;)

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  6. Hi jenj - your Secret Santa here... please tell me that you got your package. USPS states left "at" mailbox, which had me worried. (well justified terminal usps skepticism)

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    1. I DID!!! THANK YOU!!! I'll do a post on it tomorrow... SO EXCITED!

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    2. Yay! So sorry to be a pest - where I live the mail is very unreliable. Took a little trip to worst case scenario land there... ;D

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  7. It is frustrating when you have been making so much progress and then if seems like you are back to square one at a show. He did have some nice moments. He was really engaged after the last canter to trot in 1-2 test. I can see that the leg yields and trot lengthenings are coming along, too.

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    1. Yes, it is frustrating, but the bottom line is that we weren't prepared for this and he's still not very consistent. Still, there were some good things and I learned a lot, so all in all, it was worth it!

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  8. I think away overnight shows are going to blow my horse's mind. Can you guys practice going to a different barn and staying in a stall for a lesson/clinic/fun ride? Apollo and I will be doing that as a litmus test for show season hysteria.

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    1. We haul out to every single lesson so Paddy's quite well-traveled and new places don't faze him. It's the staying in a stall overnight and not being able to see his buddy that makes him lose his marbles. That and no riding the week before didn't help, lol!

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  9. It takes a while before you learn what all to do to get the best performance. Keep at it -- you are already getting it all figured out :-)

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    1. Tracy, it sure does! Every ride, every show I learn something different, so hopefully by the time it really counts, we'll have our stuff together!

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  10. I'm just catching up with various blogs I read and skim-read so not sure how the prep was going but just thought I would comment as your post had a great reflection form and I am sure you guys will do much better next time :) He looks like he's so much fun and that nervous energy will find its way out as his focus on you increases :)

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    1. Wiola, thanks for commenting! Paddy really is such fun to ride, and that's the most important thing. We just need to be more consistent and relaxed to put in really good tests, and that will come with time and better riding. :)

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  11. Sorry to hear that things didn't quite go to plan. These little blips are the building blocks that will all come together to help make you the formidable team you are destined to be.
    Sounds to me like you were able to turn it around after a poor first test and unfortunate circumstances derailing your prep.
    When your hard work and training clicks at an event your fellow competitors won't stand a chance against your awesome moves & P Bears cuteness ♡

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    1. I don't know about fellow competitors not standing a chance, lol! We'll always get bonus points for cute but we sure aren't going to get 8s for gaits, ever. That's OK, though, I'm really in it for the fun and the learning. That's the most important part!

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