A Enter Spooking

The second day of the show started off well. TC actually let me braid him without taking everything out of my pockets and distributing the contents across the cross ties. It was much cooler that day, so I was glad that I got to the show facility a bit early. TC and I went for a short walk to go get my First 1 test from the day before and visited the warm up.

He was thinking about playing here and I look like I've  never
been on the back of a horse before, but I love this picture

I read the comments from 1-1 and was a bit disappointed. There were moments where she threw us 7s, but the overall comments cited needing more impulsion. She really wanted him to cover a lot more ground, which is totally fair. She also circled suppleness of the back and engagement of the hindquarters, and also noted that he "explodes at times."

At this point in TC's abilities at shows, this is too much to ask of him. I can get more oomph in his gaits, but that's at the expense of tension. We're still working on relaxation in new places. So as I was walking around, I decided to scratch my First level test that day. It's just not worth it if we're not meeting the general expectations of the level. I'm not willing to push him past positive tension in the show ring. He just needs to mature a little bit more first. I'm glad I did it the first day, even just to know that First is still beyond our capabilities in a new place.

When we get a little tense, we get a little expressive

He's actually putting on muscle, yay

Knowing that we just had one test, I did some extra work in warm up before Training 2. TC once again started out a bit tight and then settled in that arena. It takes him a good five minutes to settle in a new arena, which is pretty much as long as a Training level test lasts. Cool.

Warm up went well, I was able to do some more transitions than before and also cantered him a fair amount. I figured I wanted a different problem than the porpoising from the day before (spoiler alert, I got it).

We headed over to the dressage court early and I used their small square arena off the show ring to trot and canter around. I figured it'd help a lot, and he did porpoise a few times there, so that was good. I shut him down a bit more firmly than I had in the show ring the day before, and soon he was quietly cantering around.

Around the outside of the arena, we trotted and trotted. He felt really good! I was thinking that this test may actually go pretty well. Then we entered the arena.

A: Enter Spooking... ugh

Why did I name my stupid blog the way I did? It was just a placeholder name but then I got some followers and it seemed odd to change it. I'm still thinking about changing it even after so many years!

So yah I literally turned up centerline and he was like FUCK YES SHOWING and tried to take off into the arena. I shut him down and then trotted over to X and halted, laughing. The judge gave me a 6.5 (the halt and after the halt was quite good) and said "nice recovery :)"

After that, the test went super! I let him out further for the stretch circle, which raised our score from a 6 and 6.5 the day before to an 8. The canter work was pretty brilliant, grabbing us a bunch of 7.5s. I was pleasantly surprised by that. He did go to play a little bit in each direction, but I stopped him and it actually just made the canter more impressive. The judge said "good call" for one of them and "he responded!" in another. Good pony.

We only had one more issue in the ring, where instead of doing a quiet walk to trot transition at C, in front of the judge, he tried to take off again. Again I stopped him quickly and went to work, but that gave us a 5 and the following trot circle was tense.

Across the diagonal

Thinking about running off but making the right decision

Overall we grabbed a 70% and second place, right behind the judge who was judging at the show three years ago when I got my Gold! I don't mind losing (only by three points, why did you zip off with me twice, pony!) to someone like that. She's an amazing rider.

The overall comments were great, the judge clearly was a lot happier with him the second day (and he was more relaxed so that makes sense). Said that if I could get him softer in his poll and more connected, that he was going to be great. That's exactly what we're working on! So that's great to have everything really consistent like that.

Across the diagonal

Such a good pony

The whole show was such a good experience. Even though the scores were not as great as they could have been, I was so happy by the end of the weekend. We went to a new place. We competed in a rated show. We didn't totally embarrass ourselves. I wasn't scared.

We have a long way to go still with showing, but given that I wasn't riding this horse at the beginning of the year because he scared me so much, I'm REALLY happy.

Our fall adventures aren't quite over, but the show season is. I have some fun stuff planned this fall with TC, but the pressure is off until the spring. It feels good to have had almost a full season with him, definitely didn't expect that at the beginning of the year!

Loves to Show

This past weekend, TC and I were at our final show of the year! I had been feeling very apprehensive coming up to the show. Very apprehensive. Like to the point where I wanted to scratch. Even putting him in the trailer, I thought about turning the other way on the freeway and heading down to the one day event that Kate and her crowd was at the same weekend and just being like "I JUST WANT TO PLAY IN THE WATER COMPLEX AND JUMP A TINY LOG OKAY?" but no, I paid for this show, and we were going.

So much could go wrong. TC hasn't been to a brand new facility since the Jeremy Steinberg clinic, where he was fine, but very tense. This was a brand new facility. I had also had my Tracey lesson deflate me a bit, so the last week of riding, TC had been bucking in the canter like... the whole time. Or slamming on the brakes as we went into canter and sticking his head straight up in the air. Or running sideways kicking out at my right leg/seat bone/side in general. It was a rough week.

AND because I'm a genius, I signed him up for First 1, why not try a new level while we're at it?

I do like how his canter is developing rideability-wise

Such a good egg

But this show is important to me. It's the show I got my Gold at three years ago. I wanted to do this show the first year I had TC, but then he was a little nutty. Then the second year I almost signed up but he was still really not quite there. This time, we were going. I tried to feel the nostalgia and look at my three medals in the mirror as much as I could, but I was mostly in survival mode.

TC came off the trailer as he always does in a new place... with lots of presence. He was definitely more relaxed than he was for Jeremy's clinic, so that was good to see. He hasn't traveled a lot this fall due to me being sick and then gone for like every weekend. But he's slooowwwwly starting to figure out that the places I'm taking him are not horse cemeteries.

We went on a short walk near the show ring and then into the warm up. I've never thought this place was spooky, Rico never cared about it. And TC was surprisingly unspooky. He just hated the eurocizer that you had to walk by to get to the warm up arena. You know you've been on one, right, TC? I trotted him in the round pen near the warm up and all he wanted to do was stare into warm up and poke the people sitting near the round pen with his nose.

So I figured, fuck it, took him back to the trailer to tack up, and just got on him right then. I had my longe line, but never needed it.

Floppy ears :) 

Sassy 

The first five minutes of warm up were me riding a basilisk. He snaked his neck around and around and bounced around at trot and canter. At first I was pretty certain that I wanted to get off the pony ride. A few people goosed us and he was threatening to take off with me. I really didn't want to be THAT person in warm up. Luckily, the weather was on our side. It was 85 degrees outside and he still has his winter coat. It only took about five minutes for it to really hit him, so by the time I was even thinking that this whole show was a bad idea, he settled into work.

We had a GREAT warm up. My plan was to go and just get as far as we could at this show. By the end of warm up, he felt super through and quiet, but not too tired. At that point, I was ecstatic to be at the show. Talk about feeling ALL the emotions that day.

Despite the good warm up, as we walked to the show arena, it really hit me. I'm about to go into an arena my horse has never been in, and put a permanent score on his record. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. I started to really get nervous.

Me wondering if this is a good idea

Looking mostly under control

But there wasn't toooooo much to be worried about. TC trotted around that arena like he owned it. He didn't care when the horse in front of us left. He didn't care when a guy at the house nearby started murdering babies cutting wood or something. He didn't care about a motorcycle going by. He didn't care about the automatic gate opening for a trailer (he cared a little). He just strutted his stuff and we got some really good scores. Lots of 7s and even an 8 on a canter transition!

Unfortunately, strutting his stuff meant LEAPING in all the canter work. Remember my issue keeping him in front of the leg in the show ring? Well, we now have a new issue. I asked him to canter and he was like FUCK YES I LOVE TO CANTER LET'S DO THIS and porpoised down the long side, then put in a respectable circle. The other direction he picked it up real nice (8!), then porpoised for most of the circle (5!). Mmmkay.

The last bit of porpoising was kind of hilarious. I could tell he was just SO EXCITED TO BE SHOWING. I really love how much he seems to love showing. He gets nervous in new places, but I think I've done a good job this year with all of the shows, making it super fun for him.

Too fun.

I got to the end of the test and dissolved into laughter. It was such a bad test. But I mean, I walked him out of this brand new arena on a loose rein and he was totally chill and proud of himself.

Coiling

Could you not?

A few strides later I mostly had him under control. PS, I stand up
when he acts up because of my back injury, I'm safe from whiplash
up there and better able to control him. It just looks silly

Our First level test was nothing to write home about either. He squealed into trot while going around the outside of the arena, so we had some rough bits in the trot in the beginning. Then he porpoised in the first canter transition so refused to do his canter lengthening at all (he gave me a "but I'm so tired after leaping, could we not?"). Then threatened to run off with me the entire fifteen meter circle and onto the diagonal.

The other way at the canter wasn't too much better, though we did show a lengthening! The highlight for me was the last trot lengthening, which just felt downright powerful. But he was a bit tight over his back in general in it though, so the judge marked us down accordingly.

Honestly, I wasn't in a great mood directly after the first day because it just felt like a letdown. We started the year scoring in the 70s and we were now solidly in the low to mid 60s (61 and change at 1-1 due to some unfortunately placed 5s; 66 and change at T2 again due to unfortunate lower scores in the double coefficients).

But when I got home I realized that being annoyed at the results was, in itself, a win. He was so good there that my annoyance wasn't "my horse ran away with me every ten steps in the show ring" or "my horse wouldn't get near the judge's booth" or "my horse terrified me and I don't want to ride him anymore." It was "my horse thinks that showing is the most fun ever and couldn't contain his excitement enough for me to get higher numbers written on this piece of paper."

Trot trot trot

He is always SO proud of himself after tests

We still had the next day, so I was eager to just get more miles put on him and ignore the scores. There is time to obsess over scores later. I was not going to let it ruin the fact that I had a really fun day with my horse at a brand new place. It was the first fun day in a long time. He is hilarious and maybe thought that leaping through the tests was a good way to cheer me up. In a way, it definitely worked.

Four for Four

Yesterday was the last show of our rated show series that TC and I were doing over at my trainer's barn.

My ride times were later in the day again, though not nearly as late as last time. I pulled in and got everything all situated, tacked the horse up, and got into the warm up with 20 minutes or so to warm up.

Good pony

After last show, I decided to try two new things: give myself less time to warm up and give myself more horse in general the day of the show.

Now that we've been to this facility I think six times, I feel pretty confident that TC isn't going to randomly come out like a crazy horse who needs 40-50 minutes of warm up for Training level. I also learned at the last show with two breaks in canter that I probably wanted more horse so TC had more energy to keep cantering in the show ring. The like thirty seconds of canter required at Training level is so hard guys. Even when you're schooling Second at home and canter for 10-12 minutes a day. So hard. Poor TC.

A bit up around the outside

In warm up I felt like I had a ton of horse, but TC held it together really well. The thing I like about this horse is for the most part, when he has energy, he will always chill at the walk. He might prance or swing his neck around, but he's not a ticking time bomb. It's the reason why I can leave him sitting for a week and get on with no longe.

So I felt totally safe as we went into our first test, Training 2. This test always rides well for TC. And yesterday was no exception. We walked away with a few eights (a diagonal, a trot circle, our last centerline, and rider position) and lots of 7s and 7.5s. Unfortunately, while there were no antics in the canter like breaking, TC was really up for the canter work but STILL behind my leg. Something is still going on in the show ring with him in the canter work. The judge marked us down accordingly with some 7s and a couple 6.5s. We also got, for the first time, a comment about how TC was behind the vertical a bit. Definitely due to having more horse in the show ring, good to know.

We still walked away with a 71.3% though! So that felt really good.

SASS

Training 3 didn't go as well. It got a bit cooler so TC was a little more distracted. And we had a few giant bobbles in the test, like when TC tripped into the right lead and then decided to let us all know how he felt about tripping by leaping into the air and kicking at the place he tripped. Cue giant eye roll. You tell 'em, TC.

In Training 2 I had accidentally not handed my phone off and it hadn't budged out of my back brace, so I didn't even think to hand it off in Training 3. Well, unfortunately that bobble started to dislodge it and by the time we were trotting, it was out of my back brace. I somehow caught it with my hand and had a decision to make coming in to the stretch circle: do it with my phone in my hand, try to shove my phone back into my back brace, or toss my phone out of the arena. So I tossed it. TC spooked at it a little but still put in a good stretch trot for him (still a 6.5 in the show ring though, the curse of the friesian, though we're working on it).

After the test, I had to hop off and grab my phone, leading to much laughing from the audience. At least the judge didn't notice!

Unfortunately due to some additional tension in the canter, TC's scores came way down and we ended with a 65.68%. I honestly thought that was a little low, but I also think that I've been being spoiled a bit too with a bunch of high scores on this horse. We got a lot more 6.5s than last test, and nothing over a 7, which hasn't ever happened before. I thought there were some places where he could have given us a 7.5 but I also haven't watched the video yet.

Me saying "oh well" to a bad test and me
having to throw my phone out of the show
ring... at least it didn't happen at the FEI level!

But it wasn't a bad show by any means! I'm really proud of TC these last four shows, he's really figured his shit out, gotten us some good scores (five of eight scores over 70! all over 65!), and given me a lot of confidence about our future.

We still have a long way to go until First level is possible with similar success, but we've got nearly two months before the next set of shows starts. And when I think about where TC and I were at the end of June.... well, I think two months is quite a long time for some good improvement on both of our parts.

I'm not sure if the next step is to grab two more Training level scores to finish out TC's Training level performance certificate thing, or if we'll make the jump to First. I wish this show had made that decision really obvious to me, but we'll be doing a lot more test riding and a few lessons between now and then where I can really make that decision.

But regardless of what might happen in October, we will continue perfecting all that First level stuff and hopefully hit the trail some too!

Rated Show Debut

I had wanted to post a little about the show yesterday and be able to split this post into two pieces, but I had a ridiculous day dealing with my car that started shuttering on the highway. That could be a whole post in itself. But this is a horse blog, not a complain-about-my-car blog.

About to turn up centerline

There are two major parts to this post that I had wanted to split. Because not only was it a literal win in that TC and I won both classes with scores in the 70s, but it was a figurative win in that for a very long time, I didn't think we'd ever make it into the rated show ring.

I'm going to start with the latter because I can be quick. This horse has been a real tricky horse for me. Not because he's some special snowflake horse who needs a special snowflake rider who is the only one who understands him, but because he came into my life at a time where I was transitioning from professional to pro-amateur (a pro living an ammy lifestyle?). He then got pretty seriously injured right as some behavioral issues reared (literally and figuratively at one point lol) their ugly head. So when he came back to me from rehab, not only did we have the physical issues of his previous suspensory injury to deal with, we had those lurking behavioral issues.

Aside from all that, we also had a very green horse without much life experience that needed to be trained and exposed to everything. And he proved tricky in that way to me too. Behavioral problems, physical problems, experience problems, and training problems. Only one of those things (the last one) did I feel comfortable with. But we pushed through and here we are.

First rated show, first test, first time wearing all my medals in
a rated show, first forelock braid

So this show was a win before we were winning everything, even just signing up was a win. Because three months ago we were in schooling shows and I was wondering if I'd ever feel confident enough at a new place to buy his memberships.

Six months ago I was terrified of riding this horse because every time I tried, he stood on his hind legs or galloped away with me.

Nine months ago I was still in training and struggling to ride him in the covered arena, especially when horses left the arena, you know, like they do in the show ring.

Twelve months ago I was riding in the round pen and my trainer had to ride him first each day.

Fifteen months ago I was driving out to see him in rehab every single week to hear about how nutty he was and how hot he was and how reactive he was.

Eighteen months ago he ripped his suspensory out of its origin site and I wasn't sure if today would ever be possible.

And two and a half years ago I started riding a horse who was just about 15 rides undersaddle, who showed me only a fraction of what he is capable of today. I didn't think much of this horse, guys, I thought I was settling because of my budget.

Not settling

..... but we won everything!

My ride times were in the early afternoon so I drove over hoping to get there early enough to wander around the ranch with him. He's been to this facility three times now and has always been SUPER good, but you never know- especially with the tents and loudspeaker for the show.

TC came out a little excited, but we immediately walked over to the show ring. He tried to take me into warm up, but I saw there was someone in there longeing and didn't want to disturb them. The more we walked, the better he got. He's still very concerned about traveling, but the moment you put him to work he's totally chill. Some ground work as we were walking (halt, walk on, halt, walk on) was enough to help him relax.

Canter work, she liked it, I felt meh about it

Much to my pleasant surprise, we were allowed to walk around the outside of the show arena since the show hadn't started yet. TC didn't look at all concerned about it, but I figured it'd be a good idea anyway. He didn't care. Like not at all, he stretched out and peed as we walked slowly around the outside of the ring (then lol he spooked at his own pee spot when we came back in to show).

I tacked him up and we headed into warm up and he was just perfect aside from the canter transitions. They weren't bad, but they weren't good. I knew we'd have issues with the canter and so I did a few in a row.

Tracey was nearby and gave me some quick tips about the work to the left, which seemed to work because our left scores were better than our right, despite me really feeling like I just can't ride left anymore.

I didn't really do much in warm up other than some transitions though. I knew his stretch trot would be fine (8.5) and his free walk was just going to be what it was (7.5) since no amount of warm up prevents him from going OMG WHAT IS THAT (happened in T3 lol). And Training 2 really has no other interesting bits in it. So off we went. I hope the video works. There's a lot of me dicking around at the beginning waiting for the bell.

Training 2 rode pretty well and started off with a bang. We earned a 9 on our first center line, a 7 on our first circle (to the right, the right scores were lower than the left), and an 8.5 on our diagonal. The canter work was a 6 for the transition because I literally had to smack him and kick him to get him into it. Then a 6.5 on the circle saying that he was a bit resistant. Yeah I'd say that since he tried to stop the whole time. Those lower scores killed us because the canter circle is a double coefficient.

We came back with an 8 on the downward and an 8.5 on the stretch circle (never thought I'd wish for the stretch to be a double coefficient!). Downward was an 8.5 and then the free walk was a 7.5 because he was stepping a bit wide with his right hind. Noted. The judge really nailed me on my ability to ride to the RIGHT vs the left. So now I can't ride in either direction? Ugh okay.

The high and low scores continued with an 8.5 on our trot circle, an 8 on our diagonal, and an 8 on the downward. But then we also got a 6 on our walk to trot transition, which was silly of me, he got a bit retracted, a 6 on our canter transition which again was lethargic and off the bit. And then stupidly, he started bucking in his right canter circle so we got a glorious 5.

Overall marks were exciting. An 8 on gaits with the comment "bounding gaits, articulate," a 7.5 on impulsion, and an 8 on rider position. Dragging us down was the 6 on submission becasue of his canter transitions and a 7 on rider correct aids, probably because I poked and prodded him through the canter work. Comments were about getting more throughness on the right side and shifting my weight right, which is definitely a problem of mine.

Final score was a 71.923% and first place out of one! But I'll take the ribbon, that was the high score so far that day.

Centerline

I put TC back at the trailer to eat and he hung out until my next test. I ran up to get my T2 test and to watch Kate go (she did AMAZING at 1-2 on Mox with a great score, I'll let her tell the whole story though).

Back on TC for the second test and he felt great. My main goal was to basically just go in and have another test like that. I knew that if I just rode him the same, he'd get another 70. No need to put any pressure on. I did, however, want more energy out of him just because he was a bit tricky in the canter and I didn't want to have any more bucks. A few more jazzy transitions in warm up and off we went. Again hopefully this works, and again lots of dicking around as I just wanted to stand and wait for the bell vs trotting around and wearing him out.

We again grabbed a good centerline score- 8.5 Then a really exciting 8 on the first loop since I'm kind of awful at those. It felt good to get that! We had better canter scores this time- a 7 on the transition to the left lead and a 7.5 on both the circle and across the diagonal. That to me felt slightly out of control, but the judge LOVED his canter, said that he had "nice jump" which is so funny since I don't think his canter is all that good but he sure does have jump. We got an 8.5 on the downward from trot to walk saying that he was quite uphill. Then a 7.5 on our free walk because he stared literally right at my people who were watching and was probably like "GUYS LOOK I AM WALKING AREN'T I BEING AMAZING?!?!" He'll figure out how to ignore his friends soon.

We then had a 7 on our next loop, citing a loss of connection, he basically didn't really come through in the right turn, so then the left turn wasn't great. Ugh oh well. We got a 6 on the following canter transition too because he was peetering out and I had to poke him into it. But we came back with an 8.5 on the canter circle! Good pony with apparently nice jump and balance. Wow for a horse who had no balance to speak of in the canter when I got him, sure feels nice to get such a high score on a canter movement!

At this point I'm cantering down the longside and totally forget my test. I know we do a stretch at B and then centerline, but I forget if we trot at M or C. As I'm debating how to do that (do I skip M and trot at C and risk a bell? Do I trot at M and take an error or a point deduction for trotting early?), he broke right at M. I got a 7 with "nice balance" but then a -2 for the error. Oops. I was so distracted by my incompetence that I forgot to really get him bending before the stretch, so we got a 6.5 on that and then a 6.5 on our final centerline, both because he was leaning on his right shoulder, which he does when I'm not fucking riding him. Ugh. Don't dwell on your past mistakes and plummet your scores, Megan.

Canter slowly becoming more uphill, also he looks ENORMOUS
when my leg slips back lol

Collectives were AMAZING once again. This time with a bit more pizazz in his trot, he got an 8.5 on gaits!! That doesn't happen! Rico would get 7.5s at the most, maybe an 8 every now and then. But for my cheap young horse to get an 8.5?!

We also got a 7.5 again on impulsion, this time with the words "nice connection" written in. What. This horse put me through hell and back with his sensitivity in the bridle and tendency to get super btv and curled when he was a young horse. Nice connection. Yes, yes it is.

I got demoted to a 7.5 for rider position, probably for my ugly riding at the end and general need to poke him at the canter to keep him on task. And then a 6.5 on submission, probably up because we didn't buck (yay). And our usual 7 on ride effectiveness.

Score was a 72.272% and first place, this time against a couple of other riders! As I left the ring, the judge called out to me "I like your horse!" and I said "me too!" or something of the sort. I couldn't remember, I was just so happy.

TC likes the camera the most, this was
during my free walk in T3 lol

Overall it was an AMAZING show. TC was perfect, I was... fine, the show was super well run, I loved having friends there (Kate and then I ran into 2-3 other people I knew) and my mom and bf came to watch. TC totally improved his image in bf's eyes, since the last show bf was at, TC was a bit of a nut.

It was so fun to feel 100% ready for my tests, I haven't felt that way in a very long time because I was always pushing myself to get medals and move up quickly. There were a lot less nerves on my part, which helped TC learn that shows are super super fun! He got lots of attention and pets and even some carrots.

On our crappier loop

 So, officially TC has a show record now! And I told him this year that I'd buy him a new browband (as if he cares) if he either scored in the 70s or earned a show high point ribbon. He did the former, so he gets a browband. If anyone has any ideas, let me know, it just has to be a V browband and price point under $100- colors are silver, white, black, gray, and navy. I have one in mind but I'm open to suggestions.

TC also earned a score above 65% at Training 2 or above, so when I send in a copy of his test, he will be a Bronze Elite Friesian Sporthorse in the FSA (vs right now he is in the main book). They do it for geldings too, so that's cool. Next stop for the Silver is Third, so we have quite a while. Fun to have him earn a little award already though.

He can look pretty fancy sometimes

After this, we have another show on Sunday at the same place. Different judge, so I have no expectations. I know TC isn't everyone's cup of tea, so I'm curious to see how he scores. I gave him yesterday off so we only have two more rides until the show, not enough time to fix anything. I'm mostly just keeping him exercised and trying to make sure I don't fuck anything up. Easier said than done! 

Memberships and Test Riding

This last week, TC and I hit a big milestone. I've wanted to be able to do a rated show on him for years now. I thought we might be able to do one the fall when he was four years old, but I got my previous job and moved him to a place where I had no trainer, no trailer, and eventually no confidence. Then he got hurt.

The next year (last year) I had wanted to show him but he was still so much horse for me and was a dingbat in new places. I was also recovering financially from vet bills and being unemployed, so it seemed silly to show him when I a) needed to buy all his member$hip$ and b) didn't think we'd score well anyway.

Then this spring he and I worked on our relationship and took the pressure off of rated shows. Coming into the summer though, I was itching to get out of the schooling show ring and put some real scores on this sucker.

He's getting so light in front, I mean this was back in May but
still!

I chose two shows at the end of July that are held at my trainer's barn. The major pros of doing these shows are that we have been to this facility twice now with no theatrics, it's not a million degrees there for a July show, the shows tend to be small and quiet, and the judges weren't too terrifying (though they aren't the world's most generous judges either). The only con is that there is no place to longe, which isn't a problem for us because I just do ground work before getting on. Oh and I struggle with hauling in there because it's a bit cramped for turning around, but luckily it's been long enough since I've shown where my mom wants to come watch!

I'm just going to do Training 2 and 3 at each show. I want to make an attempt at All Breeds, and you have to get eight scores from four different judges at four different shows, including two at the highest test of the level. So by the end of these two shows, we'll be halfway there. I just felt like First level was too much of a push because he's still learning about counter canter and I have a less rideable canter in tests. I'd rather not rush to get shit scores on him when we can totally do training level easily.

Free walk can look like this all day long

So what better way to celebrate buying his memberships and planning for a show than to test ride (and probably call the vet because any time I try to make plans for the future something explodes). And on Tuesday night we did just that.

I warmed up pretty briefly. I had wanted to ride both tests back to back, then work on some lengthenings. The day before we had done a ton of collected canter work, so trot lengthenings sounded like a good way of making progress without making him sore or sour to the collected work.

The tests are getting easier and easier to ride. I mean they're easy tests. But his rideability is so much better now. I don't feel like I'm having to do any sort of oh god hold it together let's just get through this type of riding. Except in the left lead canter sometimes... But we're getting there.

Remove boots, braid pony, put on show clothes, and just do this

Training 2 was foot perfect except the right lead canter transition. The geometry was easy, the transitions were prompt and through, the centerlines were straight, and he even halted square both times. But damn that one transition. He's still a little weak in his canter transitions in general, and this is definitely a tricky thing to fix. He stays most through and is most prompt/unlikely to make a mistake when he's a little amped in trot, but if I ride him that amped in trot, he's like riding a powder keg and I feel like he's going to explode at any minute.

Doing that in a show is a bad idea.

So what I need to do is a) more canter transitions at home to prep, b) more canter transitions in warm up, and c) amp his trot up right before asking. I did none of those things for this test, so he hesitated, so I tapped him, so he took off in a giant trot, so we had to come around again. Once in canter though, it rode super well, so just need to work on solidifying those transitions.

Good pony

Training 3 rode super well too. Except that he was probably on the edge of powder keg mode. I know it's good to ride him when he's like that, he's more likely to be like that at shows, and he's not being bad, he's just SUPER ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT WORKING. And a lot of my riding needs to be redirected at keeping him quiet. But even then he gets really enthused about listening to me about THAT so then he slows down too much. I'm slowly becoming more seamless about how I'm handling this- add energy to my seat when he gets behind me, take energy away from my seat when he gets amped. With time he'll settle, I'm sure.

But even with having to manage him, the test was again super easy. The only thing I noticed that could use work is that I played with not changing my posting diagonal for the loops and that was a bad idea. It's probably me but switching diagonals as I pass quarter line really helps me with the geometry and bend. As such, the bend in the middle of each loop wasn't great. I feel like he never really shifted weight to the new outside rein/old inside rein so was then tighter on the new inside shoulder.

The canter work went well except he went to break as we passed C in the first canter where he needed to go across the diagonal. As such, we lost tone in the canter and he got flat and quick. Definitely need to practice that and ride it more firmly. The downward was shockingly okay though, actually all of his canter trot transitions were really good all day- schooling simple changes has really helped him figure out how to actively slow down.

Generally I was REALLY happy with where both tests are. The major goals for our first rated shows are as follows, and I think we'll be okay:

- earn above a 65% on either test (this is for the FSA bronze elite status that he can get)
- keep our median Training level score above 60%

And of course, have fun, be sound, and stay in the court so that all four tests count. Other than those two things (and really, I just need the 65% at some point, not at this show), I have no expectations!

Literally could we just have a repeat of this schooling show at
the rated shows?

On the to do list was to get memberships (check, I gave all my money and one limb to USDF/USEF to get him lifetime memberships and to renew mine), to get his ownership transferred to me in the FSA (ready to mail), to pull his mane (ugh), to practice braiding his forelock (he is going to be so obnoxious), and to get another lesson at trainer's barn. Then it's show time!

A Closer Look: Training Level

In hopes of fostering discussion and giving me some more things to write about while waiting for the pony to get better, I came up with an idea for a series.

I've written about the dressage levels before, but kind of sporadically, and I suppose we did go over the new tests last winter... BUT I think it'd be fun to dissect each level and each test within the level. My main goal is to look at the progression from Training level to Grand Prix and see how each level (and test) contributes to the training of dressage horses.

So, without further ado: Training Level

Featuring: Rico and teenage Megan at Training level!

Purpose of the Levels

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.

My interpretation is that Training level is a test of the basics (which take a while to get right). Can you get through a whole test while keeping your horse a) forward, b) steady in the tempo, and c) on the bit? Great, you'll be fine at Training level. Um, we have some work to do on that.

Two notes for this level are that 1) the halt can be ridden through the walk (and should not be marked down for that specifically) and 2) you can ride the trot sitting or posting (except for the stretch circle is always posting).

Training is where a lot of people start when they start showing at rated shows- and at schooling shows too. Actually my trainer friend told me the other day that since I was an FEI rider, I couldn't start at Intro at a rated show. She seriously had me convinced. But then that's apparently just her rule that she's applying to me. We've already done intro at a few schooling shows, so I'm on board with starting at Training level this summer (PLEASE) or fall (slightly more reasonable) or next year (likely).

Beginning of free walk, quit poking that lazy horse so much, Megan
Ah but you won't learn that for another 7 years

Training 1

I do think that T1 is a nice first test. The trot work is pretty standard- circles in the middle, which I think are easier for people to make the correct shape, since lots of people tend to fall into the corners when the circles are at A or C.

The canter work is set up well for a lot of horses. For others (ahem, mine), that openness going from the short side to the long side as you ask for the canter may encourage some to leave. But it could be good motivation for a better trained lazier horse who may feel like there's room to pick up the canter vs on a short side. I think that's probably why they moved it from picking up the canter in the second half to picking it up in the first quarter.

The free walk is in a great place and only across a short diagonal, this way you have enough medium walk to theoretically get the horse back to you and take your time. This is great for a tense young horse, I like having that extra room to get everything in gear before I have to relinquish contact.

I like that they dumped the stretch circle out of this test. I think it's a lot to ask of a green rider or green horse to be able to correctly stretch down at a show. T1 now allows you to not have to either a) practice a shitty stretch circle and b) not give away your reins and resort to wings and prayers to make it through a whole circle with reduced control.

The coefficients are on the trot circles and free walk, making the score pretty friendly for a horse with a better trot than canter.

Nice trot, Rico!

Training 2

The thing I love about this test is how much trot there is (but don't get your hopes up score-wise, since the canter work has a double coefficient- means both trot and canter are weighted basically the same). It's a bit longer than T1, which is great for a young horse who needs to settle down or a rider to chill a bit. I think one downside for a young horse though, is that you switch directions right before you canter, so the horse has only one bit of a taste of the new direction before you have to canter. But they put the transition in the corner, so that's nice.

The canter is again set up in a way where the horse is looking down a long side as you pick it up, which can be helpful depending on your horse. Unfortunately for young speedy horses, you need to make it half way down the long side before you get to circle, this could lead to exciting things. Hence the increased difficulty of the level.

The stretch circle returns at T2 and it's not located in a very kind place IMO. Some horses do stretch better after the canter, and for those horses, this is an excellent placement. But I think for a lot of horses who may get unbalanced at the canter, the stretch circle adds some difficulty. The best thing to do is just get your trot transition as early as possible.

The coefficients are the canter circles and the free walk. I think it's great they don't throw a double coefficient on your stretch circle at this point.

Damn he was a nice horse, now he is fat and furry

Training 3

This is a great test. I think it's a really good stepping stone between T2 and 1-1. There is added difficulty in a few places.

First, the trot work involves no circles. I, for one, am reliant on circles when my horse has a case of the dumb, so that alone makes it a good test of the general influence the rider supposedly has over the horse. The loops are the bane to a lot of peoples' existences and I can see why. The movement basically makes fun of any idea of straightness or suppleness you may think you have and puts your failure on display. For this movement, practicing it is key, but the best way to really get better at it is to make sure that your horse is supple in both directions and is even in both reins and off both legs (hey sound like familiar requirements for the leg yields coming up? especially that zig zag).

Second, the canter is quite a bit longer. This is a great thing for some horses, but for a lot of them, it's a lot. Especially when you consider that 1-1 has the exact same amount of canter (but I think that's more 1-1's fault than T3). I think it's a good thing though, it's a fairly safe/generic series of movements and from now on, the canter work gets long, so you may as well jump right in.

The coefficients are the free walk and stretch circle, pretty normal coefficients.

* Yes there is a Training level Rider Test, I'll be doing the three rider tests together because they're more similar to each other than to the level they are at. Look for that probably after the Second level edition of this series. Unless I forget. Then look for it much later.

Haven't quite learned how to sit the canter yet, or put him on
the bit, both of those took... um... quite a while

Overall

I like all these tests, I think they are fairly cohesive and provide decent stepping stones from Intro to First level. As we look at First level (next week or whenever I get along to writing it), keep in mind the trot loops and where the downward transition was placed (X) in T3. Those are hints at future movements.


Feel free to add any thoughts!

Test Riding T1/T2

Friday's ride went surprisingly well given how much energy TC had. It felt really good to have my forward horse back, since he is usually quite behind the leg in small arenas (like the covered) and a little quieter with other horses (like when I ride amidst beach ball polo, beginner lessons, and roping). I also took him off his alfalfa (he gets alfalfa pellets, just no hay) so was worried I was depriving him of nutrients and that he was slowly starving to death... but no, that is not happening. I just overreact all the fucking time on occasion.

Wandering after Friday's ride

I optimistically didn't put any longeing stuff on him, figuring that if he was REALLY bad, I would just turn him out that day and ride him on Saturday.

He was a bit high, but he wasn't retracted in the neck, meaning that he was legitimately rideable. We worked on spiraling in and out, as well as the exercise Barbi had me do in both of my lessons this summer with her. By the time he settled, I had a super responsive horse who was also relaxed over his topline but still felt super powerful. We finally managed to walk the line between tension (without being insane) and relaxation (without being lazy) and that place is pretty amazing. It's also scary because it feels like I'm riding a cannon that is juuust about to explode.

What better use of our time then, than to do some test riding?

I had to quickly remember what T1 and T2 looked like, since it's been... since 2005 since I've showed them. I've had students show them more recently though, so I have no excuse for not keeping them memorized.

Yay an arena to test ride in

Training 1 went well, I actually judged it in my head, then recorded it in an excel document and came out with a 62 and change. It was mostly the canter work that slowed us down. There were no major mistakes, but as his canter is a solid 5.5 right now and his walk work is all 5s and 6s, we're just not going to make up the difference with our trot scores unless we get like solid 9s. Which we wont.


Let me go through the test-

1. A- Down centerline, X- halt, salute, proceed working trot
This wasn't so pretty, he wanted to lengthen, I wanted to halt, and we had a moment where he regressed back to the horse who simply couldn't halt. But he was pretty straight and prompt off my aid moving forward. I threw a 6 at this.

2. C- Track left; E- Circle left 20m
He was really good in this circle. I would have said 7. He was bending nicely, the circle was accurately ridden, he was super steady. The only thing keeping us from higher marks here is the fact that he just isn't an 8 mover. I like that this test weights the trot circles x 2.

3. A- Circle left 20m, developing left lead canter in first quarter of circle
This transition was prompt but hollow for what I thought was probably a 5.5, it's just how we do. Note that this canter transition being so early on the circle implies to my horse that we're about to take off down the long side. Definitely something to consider at a show.

4. AFB- Working canter
He went to gallop down the long side and got a bit of a hump in his back so I stood up a bit because again, that's how we do. Another 5.5, or maybe even a 5 because of my behavior.

5. Between B&M- Working trot
This was actually good, but the canter we start in isn't balanced so the trot isn't the most amazing thing afterward. I would think 6.

6. C- Medium walk
He was all about walking at this point, so he dumped a bit into the transition. Then he proceeded to walk so freakishly slowly. I would assume a 6, but it could be lower. The transition was slightly abrupt and the walk was slow. But he has a good quality walk soooo maybe a 6.

Spooking at different colored ground on Friday

7. E-F- Change rein, free walk; F- medium walk
This was hilariously bad for the first half and the second half I was actually really happy with him. Except that he fucking walks SO SLOWLY in the free walk. He looks like he is looking for a place to roll. So a solid 5 for that. And a double coefficient which is depressing.

8. A- Working trot
This was just good, I would have thrown us a 6.5 on it. He isn't great at the walk but he is good at the trot, so I can't see us breaking into 7s until I can get the walk under control. We should be getting 7.5-8.5 on these- he has a great walk and a great trot and he's incredibly steady in the transition. But the walk is just too slow.

9. E- Circle right 20m
Another great trot circle for a 7 x2. Again the scope of his trot needs to be bigger for an 8. I don't think we're going to be seeing 8s until Second or Third when I can get some collection and passage on this horse.

10. C- Circle right 20m developing right lead canter in first quarter of circle
He spooked in the corner for this so ducked a shoulder, but it was still quite a good transition. Probably a 5.5 or 6.

11. CMB- working canter
He was actually SUPER good down this long side, so I could see us earning as much as a 6.5 on this.

12. Between B&F- working trot
He was actually good in this, but again he just isn't the most balanced animal in the trot from the canter. He'll get there, but until then, we're in 6 land again.

13. A- down centerline, X- Halt, salute
This was really good for him, but again he ducked, but not as bad as the first time. I bet this would have been a 6.5

I took a quick fence video (which turned out crooked and I'm too
lazy to crop it) after Friday's ride

Collectives:

Gaits: 6.5 x1
Just due to his canter, I think it will take a bit until we're scoring 7s on gaits. I think at his best, he'll have an 8 walk, 7.5 trot, and a 6.5 canter. But right now the walk is slow (6), the trot is fine (7), and the canter is atrocious (5.5).

Impulsion 7 x2
He was quite forward and relaxed, so I can see this score being pretty good. He's very soft over his topline at home- that relaxation they're looking for in the lower back. But I am afraid at shows we'd be in the 6-6.5 range for impulsion, not because of the energy, but because of the tension. I'm afraid he's going to look like shitty baby Totilas.

Submission 6 x2
Just for the canter, walk work, and his topline being a bit short sometimes. I don't think he's bad enough to warrant less than a 6- I think when they get less than that it's due to either unsteadiness, not being on the bit, or acting up. He's very steady, is pretty good about staying on the bit, and doesn't act up, but his walk is slow, the canter is big, and he gets short in the neck.

Rider position 7 x1
I leaned a bit at the canter and I look down like I've been paid to do it. I don't see my rider scores being all too high. I don't give off that elegance I did at the upper levels on my well trained horse. I'm too busy running around picking up pony parts and gluing them back onto my pony.

Rider aids 6 x1
My aids suck. The end. I should have the canter better under control. I should be able to push him more forward in walk, and I should be able to lengthen his neck. It's frustrating because I feel like as a rider, I'm actually doing a pretty good job with him, but I know that it just isn't enough. Maybe a judge would see through that, but it's unlikely.


So not bad, right? I was pretty proud of him. It was definitely a good test for where we're at. I need to get used to his tendencies, he jigged once in the walk work, he needs more support into canter, and I need to plan ahead a bit more. I feel like Training is such a big step down from the GP that I don't take it as seriously. Like oh I have so much time to prepare, I'll just wait. Well, I'm also on a FOUR year old who needs all that time to prepare. Lesson learned.

He's so cute

Despite him being a little tired, I pushed into test 2. It was so bad

Training 2

1. A- Enter working trot, X- halt, salute, proceed working trot
This was the one highlight of the test. After learning more about centerlines in T1, he was on board for T2's centerline.

2. C- track right; B- circle right 20m
He was so distracted by the cows that he tried to canter on the circle.

3. KXM- change rein
He made a move to lengthen his trot and I just went with it.

4. Between C&H- working canter left lead
He got distracted again by the cows so didn't respond to my aid. So then I leaned at him, and then he got confused. Then I leaned sideways, so he picked up the wrong lead, then I finally gave up and just trotted down to the circle.

5. E circle left 20m
I had to wrench him around the circle. I dunno what happened, but he no longer had control over his legs.

6. Between E&K- working trot
He was counter flexed into this because again, COWS (which have been there the whole time btw).

At least there were no mirrors to get distracted by

7. A- stretchy circle
This was so bad, he basically just relaxed over his back and went like he was supposed to go. So right now all this movement is doing is demonstrating how much better my horse goes when I let go of his face. Damn it.

8. Between A&F- medium walk; FE- Change Rein
I tried to get him more forward in walk so we just jigged.

9. EM- Change rein, free walk, M- Medium walk
Yah he didn't do this because we were facing the pasture horses.

10. C- Working trot
As we went to pick up the trot, he dropped his shoulder to the inside to get a better look at the cows and I had a bit WTF WAS THAT moment as a rider because I wasn't paying attention.

11. E- Circle left 20m
He thought that cantering was appropriate again.

12. FXH- Change Rein
By this point I was just playing, we did another lengthening here.

13. Between C&M- Working canter right lead
This was awful, couldn't get the correct lead so again I just waited until the circle.

14. B- Circle right 20m
Then he was just tired here so he broke.

15. Between B&F- Working trot
I just kept him trotting from our break, poor pony.

A- Down centerline; X- Halt, salute
I totally forgot to halt at X. It's fine, I meant to do that...

Conformation shot, his topline is filling in a bit!

It was hilariously bad. He didn't mean to be bad, he was just kind of done with riding well before I was (because it was SUNNY and WARM and DAYTIME) so he did his best.

I was super proud of him for not using his energy for evil. I love that moderately terrifying feeling I get on days like that where he feels like he might just explode but then decides to pump himself up in trot or canter.

The canter quality in the first test was as good as it's ever been (Sunday night edit: not as good as the canter quality in our ride on Sunday!). We have a very very long way to go with the canter, and honestly it may never even be good enough for Second and I'll have to cut my losses and sell him to a lower level ammy than I had planned, but the fact that we're improving at all at the canter gives me a sliver of hope. Come on cantering!

Night rides = weird yellow pictures

I think I'm going to see about arranging a lesson with Heidi over Thanksgiving. She has a way of both being blunt with me about a horse's potential while being the sort of person who thinks that you can go from Prix St George to Grand Prix in a year! I think I need some help understanding the quality of my horse. I swing heavily back and forth between thinking he's an amazing prospect for the FEI levels and thinking that I should prepare to sell him in two years as a First schooling Second horse rather than in five or eight as a Third+ horse. I want someone who has a lot of young horse experience to inspire me a bit :) I still think he's a great horse! I just want to make sure that I'm not putting to much on him.