Another schooling show: It could have been worse

Our local GMO is continuing to hold safe, socially-distanced schooling shows, so Leo and I did another one last weekend and rode 2-1 twice. It was a new venue, and based on our lack of warmup at the last show, I planned to leave PLENTY of time for him to get comfortable.

I also needed time to do something with this mop.

And it's a good thing I did. He was totally chill for tacking and grooming at the trailer, and was good for our 10 minute walk in-hand to look at some things. The arena was pretty scary - mirrors at one end, big judge's booth at the other, pallets and hay bales stacked on the uphill side, and it was away from everyone else. He took exception to a giant smoker outside the arena but was otherwise reasonable. A little up, as one might expect of a young horse on a cool morning in a strange place, but nothing bad.

Can we talk about how scary this arena was for a moment?

I hopped on and started walking on the grass outside the teeny warmup space. I had planned to do a lot of walking on a long rein, then gradually pick him up, like we do at home. About two minutes in, he did this very odd squeal-and-strike move which he has never done before. I laughed it off and we kept walking, although my husband said, "Well that was weird" as we walked past him. Shortly after, Leo squealed, hopped and twisted, then kicked out. He has NEVER done anything like that in the two years I've had him, so I took the hint and (heart pounding) got off. 

At least our Pumpkin Spice Haffie outfit worked out!

Luckily there was a round pen on site, so we went over, I stripped off his bridle, then stepped back and told him to "go play." He took off bucking and squealing, which he continued to do both directions for about ten minutes. I haven't had to lunge this horse in probably 18 months, so this was completely out of character for him. In hindsight, I'm SO glad he was polite enough to let me know he needed some time to play instead of just dumping me (because he absolutely could have dumped me), and I'm glad I heeded his warning. Note to self: pack lunge equipment from now on, because he may need a little time on the line at shows.

By the time he was done playing, he was blowing and steaming, and we only had about ten minutes before our ride. I re-bridled him and hopped back on to a much more relaxed-feeling pony. It turned out the rider before us had scratched, so we did our warmup in the actual dressage arena. I crammed in as many transitions as I could, and getting him to focus on me. When the bell finally rang, I felt at least prepared if not completely ready.

Supposed to be shoulder in. Is definitely not shoulder in. Significant amounts of side-eye though.

Annnd we actually put in a focused, mostly mistake-free test? He was not at all collected - between running in the round pen and our lack of warmup, he just wasn't really on my seat the way he is at home, and was heavier in my hand than usual. But he did all the things where he was supposed to more or less how he was supposed to, and did not look at a single thing for the entire ride. Considering how we started the day, I will absolutely take it!

I kept trying to rebalance this medium trot but nope. You can see how much he's on the forehand given his RH is almost off the ground but his weight is still supported by his LF. 

There are so, so many things that need work, and I can't reproduce what we have at home off-site yet. We still don't have the warmup we need to produce quality work, and I have enough problems with my own balance and straightness that I can't help him enough when things go south.

Like this 10 m canter circle which is definitely larger than 10 m.

Probably because of how crooked I get at times. Lawdy.

Still, the test scored a 64.5%, which felt generous. We pulled some 7s for the canter work and walk work, but he just needs more collection and our mediums in all gaits need more ground cover. I feel like this is something that will get better as he gets stronger - I see glimpses of it at home, but sustained power and balance just don't exist yet. And it's not as if he's got ground-covering gaits to begin with!

We did the test a second time, but only had two rides between tests so I kept it to walk work and a few canter transitions.  Honestly, I should have just scratched the second one, as he too tired to put in a better effort. We made our way around, but blew all three canter departs (ugh, like the previous show) and he was even more strung out for this test. We finished with a 60.7%, but it felt like it should have been in the 58% range. Oh well, lesson learned, and that's really what these schooling shows are all about.

There aren't any more schooling shows this year, but there is a rated show at the same venue in early December with local judges. I'm tempted to go so Leo can experience an overnight show, but we'll see where we are in another few weeks. I'd actually need to like... find my show coat, which hasn't seen the light of day since November 2018, when Taran and I went third level for the first and only time. Sniff... fond memories. 

Video of the first test

 

 

Second Level take two: Slow. The. Fuck. Down.

Brego's death has cast a bit of a shadow on Wyvern Oaks. You never quite realize how much a presence affects everyone until it has gone. The whole place somehow feels a bit quieter, a bit emptier. Taran is despondent, and Paddy still occasionally calls for his big BFF.

And yet, life goes on without him.

This weekend, we had a schooling show where I did 2-1 and 2-2. Coming into it, I had high hopes that we were much more prepared than we were a few months ago. Taran is more through, better balanced, and has moments where he really shines in the movements. We'd had a lesson Thursday where his w/c/w transitions were really spot on. His counter-canter is stronger, and his transitions from medium to collected canter are actually starting to look like transitions instead of hopes and prayers. I'd even accidentally put on too much outside leg in the canter and he did a few strides of half pass (OMGOMGOMG). Plus, I'm trying out a new saddle that puts my leg in a MUCH better place, and really lets me sit around him.

Naturally, we nailed the warmup and then we both ran out of steam in the tests.

I find that it takes an incredible amount of core strength to ride a collected canter, and Taran doesn't yet the strength to do much collection, so I have to work really hard to help him. You simply cannot hold collection together with your hands, you HAVE to ride it forward and up from your seat and leg, and I just couldn't do it for very long in either test. The sloppier I got, the sloppier and less balanced he got. We had a lot of breaks, and a lot of very poor w/c/w transitions, despite the fact I know we can do those well. I also let him get very quick in the trot for 2-1, in part because I was soooo tense and that caused him to shorten up.

Like this was supposed to be a medium trot. Whoops.

If that canter were any less collected it would be a medium.

One of our more... expressive... walk/canter transitions. At least I know he can rock back on his haunches?

For 2-2, I realized that I didn't have the stamina to ride a tense test, so I made a conscious effort to relax and sit and slow down, and I think it helped. It was still a messy test, but it felt slightly less hurried and rushed.

A better centerline.

It's a shoulder in, can't you tell?

He can really step under himself if I ride him right and let him use his back.

When we were crossing centerline to do our two walk pirouettes, Taran took a HARD look at the shadow made by the covered arena. There's not much you can do when your horse has a moment except smile and kick on. Rather funny but we scored a 6.5 on both pirouettes.

OMG WHO PUT THAT THERE!!!

The judge's comments on both tests can be summed up to "Needs balance and collection and SLOW DOWN." Totally, 100% accurate. Sure, we can do certain things really well at home some of the time, but this is a whole new thing for us both and it's upping the game significantly. I feel like the tests were overall better than the one we did in June (really? June? Damn, that was AGES ago) but we scored about the same (57.7 on 2-1 and 58.4 on 2-2). So while certain aspects of our rides are better, we have a long way to go before we can really put in a solid test. Fortunately we have all winter for me to get into shape so I can ride better!

Taran 2-1

Taran 2-2

Sort of Second Level

The dressage show scene in Texas is pretty much over between Memorial Day and Labor Day, because nobody wants to ride when it's 100 degrees out. However, I wanted to squeeze in one last hurrah and signed up for a schooling show this last weekend.

I opted to do 2-2, because 2-1 has like 9812738750123 simple changes plus rein back, which Taran currently does not do under saddle. And 2-3 is just... nope. Not yet. But I thought we could fake our way through 2-2.

And fake it we did. We can certainly DO all the movements in 2-2, and sometimes we actually do them really well. Taran has a collected trot, and he has a collected canter. And when he's balanced and on my aids and I'm not pulling on his face, he feels amazing and light, and sooo through his back. A canter/walk transition is as easy as sitting up and adding leg, a medium trot is as easy as opening the door and pushing him up into it.

But we're not there consistently right now. I struggle with feeling when he's engaged and when he's quick and short. I carry him too much and don't demand that he carry himself. If I can't get him through and over his back, and truly connected, the movements are disjointed because they stop right behind the saddle. If I don't keep him straight in canter, he quits or swaps leads. If I get grabby with my hands and forget to use leg... well, I have pictures for that. 

And of course, I did all the wrong things and none of the right things in our test on Saturday. I mean, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good either. It wasn't how I wanted to ride. Taran was a good sport and made a huge effort for me, but you can see at every turn I'm not making it easy for him. I didn't go in there to own it, I went in there to survive. And survival is usually not very pretty.

When you start with this as your centerline, you know it's not going to be good.

I think there was an Intro level horse that was this inverted in the halt.

FYI, sitting medium trot is HARD. I'm happy I stayed on, even if I leaned back like a pro. At least Taran looks good!

Shoulder in

Haunches in? Or maybe a leg yield down the rail?

Walk pirouette. I was actually really happy that he didn't plant a hind foot and do a reining spin.

Obviously this is a second-level trot/canter transition.

That moment you realize your're not entirely on the left lead for your counter-canter half circle...  

... watch the hind leg come through... 

At least he can sort of do changes?

I managed to hold it together for the second counter-canter.

In case you've ever wondered what happens when your horse is cantering on his forehand, and you ask for a canter/walk transition with LOTS of hand and take your leg off completely, here you go:

Look, my horse has two legs!

Sliding stop for a 10.

Final halt/salute. I think the judge was as happy that we were done as I was.

If you want to see the whole thing, here's the video. You're welcome for the laugh.

Oh yeah, final score was a 58.84, and we were the only ones in our class so we got a blue participation ribbon. 

Stepping up to second more of a leap, at least for us - I've only done one 2nd level test about 15 years ago, and Taran has never done it. We have a LOT of work to do to make it solid. Better body control for me (my outside leg hangs there like a dead fish, I swear, and could I BE any grabbier with my hands???), a better feel, more strength and straightness for him... when we are able to put those things together, it works. It's a matter of chipping away at the mountain. I have a plan for the summer that involves a LOT of trainer rides for him and lessons for me, so hopefully the combination will put us in a more solid place by the time things start back up in the fall. I feel like I'm just barely beginning to get to the fun part of dressage, but damn, the fun part is harder work than ever!