Filling in Holes

I'm excitedly preparing for the first show of the year in a few weeks and this year's goals are looking a bit different than previous years. I've always stuck with the "one level a year" protocol. In 2017, we did Training, in 2018, we did First, in 2019, we did Second, and in 2020, we did Third. Theoretically we should be aiming to do Fourth level this year, but after a tough year with the pandemic, I've decided that I just want to stay at Third level and have a good time. 

I mean, there are definitely good reasons to stay at Third. TC has some holes in the level that I would normally have addressed over the fall and winter, but we got derailed with the fires, the smoke, and then turning my training program on its head and changing trainers. 

The holes are all things that are going to impact our ability to move up to Fourth, so I figured rather than sitting around waiting for Fourth, we'd work on those holes and continue at Third level for regionals. Kill two birds with one stone basically, put in the work to prepare for Fourth while still getting to show at a level below and enjoy the work being relatively easy. 

I figured I'd chat about where these holes are! This will help me be able to look back on them as we approach regionals and a lot of these holes are going to be necessary to fill in so that we can move up to Fourth level. 

More pictures of the trail because that's the most
important thing at this point lol 

Throughness & Balance in the Changes

TC's changes have come on clean and fairly straight, but the throughness and balance have always been an issue in addition to him not always being completely on my aids. We are going to work HARD this year getting those single changes picture perfect. That means that he jumps through the back and stays more uphill (or at least level!) in the changes. 

For Fourth level, obviously the changes need to be so confirmed that we can do tempi changes out of them. We need to end up doing three tempis at Fourth and while I can get him to do fours, they aren't easy peasy, they depend a lot on the quickness of my aids and me picking up the pieces after every change. 

Collection

Collection is a tough thing for TC and it really bit us in the ass last year. I don't like it when comments talk about the basics. I like it when comments say things like "needs more bend in the half passes" or "could show more difference in the medium canters" or something movement related. When comments talk about basics, that's no fun. So this year my goal is to eliminate those comments about his level of collection. 

For Fourth level, we are obviously going to need collection, lots more of it too. He needs to show collected walk and canter pirouettes, he also needs to show more collection in trot as well. That canter to halt transition on centerline is also going to be tough for us, even canter to walk on a straight line is hard at this point! Definitely working on this, probably the most. 

Such a good boy

Bigger Show Facilities

One of the things I've avoided thus far is going to big shows with TC. We go to rated shows, sure, but they're local rated shows, smaller ones. Shows with two rings going at the most, usually just one. Shows we can haul into and haul out of in one day. Shows without much atmosphere. But this year, I want to tackle that, and tackle it at a level where we have enough stuff going on to entertain us but not so much that I can't hoist him through the test. I'm hoping that by the end of this year, he'll be happy to show wherever! 

At Fourth, we could still show locally, obviously, but I'd really like to go to some of these bigger shows a few times a year and feel confident that he could show there even at the harder levels. I don't think he'll be my CDI horse, I don't know if I want the pressure myself! But if he would be, I want to start tackling these bigger shows with more atmosphere at this relatively simple level first. 

In Front of the Leg at Shows

It was interesting to see how behind the leg TC was at our shows in 2020. I think that it was the way I was riding him, because he was rather sticky at home as well and now he's hot to my leg aids. But I still want to get a bit more of a "conductor" feeling in the show ring at Third level rather than having to chase him around the ring picking up the pieces. I'll be curious if he's back to normal at our first show of this year or if it takes him a few shows to feel like he can stay in front of me. 

There's NO way that we are going to get through any of the Fourth level tests without him staying in front of my leg. I can't imagine riding a canter pirouette if I'm having to hoist him along like I was doing last year. So that will have to get better before his Fourth level debut! 

It's so pretty when it's green!

Reliability in the Walk Pirouettes

So, our first walk pirouettes at our first show last year were 8s and 9s, mostly 9s actually! But then in our second show, TC stuck for the first time ever and we got 4s and 5s on them. That was SUCH a bummer because we still scored so well and we could have nudged those scores up. I don't know exactly what happened there but we haven't schooled them much this winter so I still need to figure it out.  I'll be working on getting these solidly in the 8-9 range again and reliably there. 

The walk pirouettes need to carry us for Fourth level for a while. I just don't see this horse getting a reliable canter pirouette on him for a while, so showing the judge that I DO in fact know how to ride a pirouette and gathering some scores that make up for the lower pirouette scores at first will be helpful to have. 

Lengthen the Neck

Similar to the behind the leg problem, TC was also getting short in the neck in our 2020 shows. He was being ridden short in the neck at home though, so I think that now that I'm getting his neck longer, he'll stay that way in the show ring. But it's definitely on my to do list to get "short in the neck" off the comments section of our tests. 

Oh man, for Fourth level, it's going to be tough to not get that neck back at me as we add the more collected movements like pirouettes or the more technical movements like the zig zag or tempi changes. If I can't keep his neck long through a Third level test, it's never going to happen at Fourth level and I could see him getting himself so retracted in the neck that we simply can't perform some of the movements (esp tempis and canter pirouettes). 

And more trails too!

So while it feels like we're stagnating at Third level doing the same thing two years in a row, I really firmly believe that we need this additional year to lay the groundwork so that we can do Fourth level, and really the FEI levels, successfully. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast, after all!

After these last few lessons and how TC has been going, I'm feeling more and more confident that this is just what we need and that there will be nothing stopping us from dominating at Fourth level and beyond.