Schooling Third Level Test 1

Since riding with Tanya, TC has been fabulous, if a bit high. The ride after her lesson, we couldn't wander around the ranch like we usually do because he kept jumping out of his skin. The minute we were in the arena, he relaxed mentally and was so excited to practice what we'd learned. Then on Monday, the same thing happened, he walked on tip toes being all weird until we got into the arena and then he was all business (except a small bolt away from the UPS truck). Never thought I'd have a horse who was more interested in working than I am.

Learning to be uphill!

I'm primarily working on inflating him up and getting  him to commit to being in that place. His canter is the toughest gait to get that commitment from him, so we've been doing a lot of that. The trot is pretty good, though it's quick to lose suppleness, so we've been schooling more lateral work and some circles/spiraling in and out.

All of this work culminated in my confidence that we could probably get through Third Level Test 1. Honestly, 3-1 is a relatively easy and simple test. The half pass only happens in trot and is not very steep, the trot extension/medium are split in the test (so you don't have to kill your abs), the canter work is exceptionally easy and short.

Really, the big parts of that test are the flying changes (which aren't even a double coefficient) and making sure there's a difference between the medium and extended paces. Honestly, I've seen plenty of people snag 60s or even 65s without having changes or the paces well defined.

Happy that I'm giving him water nearer to his
dry stall so he doesn't have to walk in the mud

So the fact that TC has run through 2-3 comfortably meant that the minute I had changes, he'd find 3-1 easy. And he did!

His changes were great in warm up, we were in the court so this was yet another new arena for him to do them in. His trot shoulder-in, haunches-in, and half pass were great too. So I figured I'd throw him at the test in the end, and it was clean, aside from the bolt!

The horse loves centerlines, so he charged up to his halt and was all excited, he was a little confused about not turning off centerline into a medium, so we had a stutter step into the shoulder-in. The lateral work pattern could flow better, the 10m half circle after shoulder-in was a little overbent at first as I left his shoulders on the rail a step too long. Then the half pass was quite good, though I rode it probably too steep. He just learned his zig zag, so the corner rode well as he willingly switched bend.

The first medium felt amazing, he got very elevated in front and stayed that way for most of the length of the long side. It just needs practice, which I need to do carefully. All the walk work was easy. I could have ridden the first walk pirouette better, it was just a bit big and I let him slow down a bit. The next one was picture perfect. His walk-canter transitions still need work, so he got a little crooked at C.

I opted to underride the medium canter because he had already spooked at the UPS truck. The 10m canter circle rode easily and then his change was ENORMOUS and clean. The other direction rode very well too, though the change wasn't as good, I think it was clean but he slowed down to do it and then stuttered afterward. Final trot extension wasn't great only because I was experimenting with getting more hind end without letting him out the front so much and he didn't understand. No problem, just gotta work on it.

I started my clinic at 7:15 last Sunday, the sunrise
was beautiful!

So I have a nice long to do list with most of it being kind of easy. Throughness and responsiveness in the walk-canter transitions, getting my head out of my ass for the walk pirouettes, bigger walk for the free walk (he wants to jig, it's very annoying), better suppleness in the lateral work, and continued work on the changes.

I was so proud of him! He's really taking to the Third level work so well, it gives me so much hope for his future. I was explaining to boyfriend that there are three big "jumps" for horses in dressage. The First - Second level jump, the early-Fourth to late-Fourth/PSG level jump, and the Intermediare I-II jump. Basically: collection/counter canter; pirouettes/tempis; piaffe/passage.

TC has surpassed the first of those three jumps and he's very comfortable where he's at. Hopefully he will take to the canter pirouettes well, I know the tempi changes will be easy (fitting them all in one long side might not be easy), then we'll find out how his piaffe and passage are going to come on hopefully this year! So by the end of this year, I hope to know whether he'll make it all the way.

Delicious

My stretch goal for this year suddenly is to see if we can do the 4-1 at the November show we might go to. Then next year is all Fourth level as we prepare for Prix St George. Two years from now, that shadbelly might have to fit me again! But that's all on whether I can swing regular lessons, still working on that.