Emerald Classic I - Sometimes all the hard work pays off

Showing last year was very much a struggle for me. Paddy's adorable and all, but he has some very fundamental issues with tempo and balance that make him a very physical, tricky ride. I put in an enormous amount of time and effort and training and the best we were able to do was a 66%, under a super nice judge.

On Saturday, Taran and I scored a 70.962, on our first test.  And a 67.727 on our second one. I can't even tell you how excited I am and how much it feels like I'm finally "getting it" - even if it's not on my own horse.

Training level test 2 - 70.962.

Score sheet for T-2

Training level test 3 - 67.727

Score sheet for T-3

You'll notice the canter break in T-3. He was tired, and I lost his hind end. I should have ridden him through it a bit more, but hind sight is ever 20/20. Interestingly, we got a 5.5 on that instead of the 4 that I thought we were supposed to get for the break. Still, I'll take it.

Taran was SO AMAZING in warmup. So forward, so fluid. We even had really good canter transitions! Of course, he didn't feel as good in the sandbox, because I get rather stiff in my arms in when I'm nervous. I also have a tendency to revert to my pulling habit, instead of pushing him forward into the bridle, if things start to go south - and we all know how that helps absolutely no-one. If I think about maintaining the tempo and carrying my hands up and forward, it works so much better.

We totally won the warmup.

He doesn't even look like the same horse from a few months ago.

We ended up getting first in T-2 and second for T-3 - and if I hadn't blown the canter we would have likely been first. Even better, the T-3 score was good enough to qualify for both the SWDC championships and the GAIC championships. What a fantastic day - I couldn't have asked for any more!