Thinking About the Move Up

Now that we're on the other side of these four shows, TC and I are in training mode, with some fun adventures planned.

The idea is to take the next six weeks off of showing and just work on all the things we've been working on to bring us up to the next level. First level, that is.

Maybe next time we ride a diagonal in the show ring, it will be
a trot lengthening! Hopefully on purpose!

I always like looking at the purpose of the level to make sure that I'm hitting all of those things first. Let's look at Training level and make sure we're already there:

To confirm that the horse demonstrates correct basics, is supple and moves freely forward in a clear rhythm with a steady tempo, accepting contact with the bit. 

That sounds pretty good. TC has a clear rhythm (four separate beats in walk, a great trot, and no lateral/four beating in the canter) and steady tempo and is quite good in the contact. He is supple, though does sometimes need to be reminded to step off my right leg. He moves freely forward, though I have been working to get that even more free. I think TC has correct basics, and we've never had a "needs more" comment other than the energy in our walk. He just likes to meander, okay? Been working on that ever since.

Now on to First level:

To confirm that the horse demonstrates correct basics, and in addition to the requirements of Training level, has developed the thrust to achieve improved balance and throughness and maintains a more consistent contact with the bit. 

I'm feeling pretty good about most of this. Obviously we're going to carry our correct basics over from Training, and I'm continuing to work on those on a daily basis. We then need to start having a bit more thrust and have better balance and throughness. I'll break that down.

TC has pretty powerful gaits, so I don't expect to have thrust problems unless he's behind my leg. By addressing the canter work the way I have been, I think we'll eliminate that tendency at the canter. The trot is good, and he does meander at the walk but riding more forward has been helping a lot.

TC is quite balanced for a Training level horse, so I'm not worried about that. The only time I could see balance come into play is during the stretch trot, Jeremy really nailed me for letting him plod, which puts him on his forehand. Not that TC really gets on his forehand even when he is on his forehand, but his wither does drop and that's not good.

Throughness is pretty good, though I have been diligently making sure that we maintain throughness in transitions. If something is going to go wrong, it's going to be us losing throughness in the canter transitions.

Even in the most downhill moment of canter... he's still pretty
uphill

Now that I know that we're pretty solidly confirmed on the purpose of the levels, we can move on to the movements. I'm hoping to show all three First level tests this fall, so I'll focus on all of the movements, but we'll see where we're at when it really comes down to it. If we can't get to that 1-3 test, or even to 1-2, this year, that's okay.

Here are the new movements:

Fifteen Meter Canter Circle
I'm schooling these somewhat regularly, but not in the dressage court. So we need to get in there (they're going to redo the footing so I've been avoiding it) and test it out. The thing about this movement for him is that it's a good spot for him to stall out to the left, so I've been working on getting him to step out of that when it happens. Hopefully just more time and better riding on my part will help with that tendency to go up and down and then buck buck buck when the turn gets a bit tight. Come on, TC, use that butt!


Lengthened Trot
These can be hit or miss. I've found that he really wants to just get quick in the trot rather than set back and lift in front. So that's been a bit frustrating, though not too surprising given his breed. If I ride him a bit UP and almost off the bit in trot, then roll my spurs up almost where the passage aid is, the lengthening feels really good. I think I'll help him out a bit like that for a while until he feels more comfortable in it.


Lengthened Canter
I've been schooling this a lot lately and it's getting better. The upward transition is really clear and uphill, though my aids are sometimes met with a lot more enthusiasm than I'd really like. The downwards aren't as enthusiastic, and we're working on that.

He's getting so light in color :( 

Leg Yield
I'm really pleased with where the leg yield has been, though I really need to kick our butts into gear and find more cadence in the steeper leg yields. I like the straightness in it, though I think we could improve on the throughness, which would improve the ground cover and expression. The leg yield doesn't break the trot down, but we're not yet at the point where it improves the trot like the shoulder-in does. I think that's on me, I kind of fucking hate leg yields.


Ten Meter Trot Circle
This is tricky for him because his trot is just ginormous. I also haven't been schooling small circles like this very much due to his previous injury, though I think he is balanced enough now where he's pretty safe from the circle. Not like I'm drilling them over and over again. This is another one that I just need to get in the dressage court to evaluate and see where we are.


Change of Lead Through Trot
This can be hit or miss, it's hard for me to come from canter to sitting trot because of TC's big gaits. That's no big deal since you can post at First, but it's a lot easier to ride when you can do a canter to trot transition and stay sitting. His downward canter transitions can sometimes be a bit rough, especially when I forget that downward transitions require leg. That's really it though, TC stays QUITE straight in this, which would be my only other concern. He almost never misses the lead either, so that's good.


Counter Canter Loop
We have been schooling this quite a bit and I trust TC to do it well at home now. He doesn't threaten to break or change, just sometimes makes the loop pointy if he thinks we're going across the diagonal.

Such a good pony

Overall I think we're right on track for a First level debut this fall. I don't think the tests will be a problem for us as long as I get that canter work fixed. The only worry I have is that we're going to be competing at new facilities in the fall, versus competing at the same facility we take lessons at.

So to add to this epic to do list: we need to get to some more new places in the next six weeks too!

Luckily TC is coming around quite well at new places, and I'm learning how to handle him. Plus, it's no big deal if we do Training 3 and First 1 at the first couple of shows to take the pressure off. Like I said, we're only two scores away from that training level horse certificate thing so I wouldn't say no to that.