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!
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!
Saturday morning I set out to have a lesson with my dressage trainer. My primary reasons to get a lesson were to both school at the facility where we're showing pretty soon, to see where we were at in terms of trainer's super long to do list for us to fix, and to continue to work on my tracking-left and right-canter-transition woes.
I was probably a bit too trusting of TC when we got to the facility. He was a little nervous, but I could tell he wasn't thaaat nervous. He whinnied once or twice, and was doing some half-assed pawing. He got in trouble trying to walk off while bridling, and I probably got after him too much. He was pretty upset after that and didn't want me to get on. I hopped on (shoulda done ground work first, oops) and he went to go backwards, but then spun and I had to kind of growl at him to get him forward.
That turned into him having what used to be a mental breakdown and what is currently just too much negative tension as he screamed and spooked and jigged down the driveway. All the while I stayed on a loose rein and talked to him about how he's fucking been here before, twice. He wanted to go in the covered arena, but I saw a poor innocent soul in there who we might accidentally terrorize, so I walked up to the dressage court instead. He settled for a second on the way up, then spooked hard at a pile of shavings.
I wasn't too upset that he was upset. Trainer had said she was in the car so I was happy to have a lesson if he was a little up. There's a very real chance that he'll pop out of the trailer even worse at the shows and I was happy to have help.
Only got video going left, oops
In what is becoming true TC fashion, however, the second we were in the arena walking around the outside of the dressage court, he took a big deep breath and while he maintained some spookiness (horse is just spooky), he was totally fine for the rest of the day, even not caring about the shavings pile on the way back to the covered arena to warm up. Horse loves his work. I still want to work on him being more confident just walking around places, but I do like that I can put him any work environment and he settles in.
We warmed up in the covered arena, and things went super well. He was a bit up, but settled right in as we started working. This amount of up really worked for us, I felt like it was the exact amount of positive tension I wanted in him. He was maneuverable and had a bit of pizazz in his step, but he was still relaxed, aside from the occasional spook, he's a spooky horse so whatever.
The only thing that wasn't better was the canter. His canter in non-home places is still taking a while to develop. Tracey complained about that in my lesson- that he seems to just give me one canter. At home I feel like maybe I'm willing to take more risks in my half halting, or maybe that he's less distracted or less tense so he's willing to sit down more. I dunno. Either way I took note that his canter felt less than stellar adjustability-wise.
When his rider learns how to sit properly, he's going to be so fancy
After warming up down below, I headed up to the dressage court to find it vacant, great! Tracey joined me after I trotted around a bit and I told her about my canter transition woes. I also really stressed that I'm riding in a couple of shows coming up so I knew we couldn't totally fix them and I really didn't want to get on his case about him. But if we could at least diagnose the problem, that would be ideal.
We worked a bit in trot first though, and I'm happy to report that I didn't get as many comments about his connection as I had in June! I got a lot of comments about how I need to ride in a court more often (our court is the last arena to have its footing redone so I've been avoiding it) because I was riding a bit drunk. But that's something that is easily fixable. I was more focused on the lack of comments on his connection! Fuck conformation excuses! Go TC!
After fixing the trot work, I was told to sit the trot and then go into canter. I've sort of been avoiding the sitting trot, having figured out how to ride a shit canter transition from posting trot. I went to sit the trot and he immediately hollowed his back and went to stop. Tracey told me to take weight from my seat and distribute it down to my thighs to sit a little lighter. She said 60% weight in the seat, 40% in my thigh.
The difference was astounding. Not only did TC keep his back up and not go to stop, he gave me STELLAR canter transitions. And sure he's again not completely through, but at this point I will take him just picking it up when I ask him to without any delays or theatrics.
I struggle so much to the left ugh
We played a bit with the T3 pattern, the loop always gets people, and sure enough, it got me a bit too. Tracey wanted me to show a little more changes of bend, and watch that sometimes I overshoot my centerline. This is again just a symptom of not riding in the dressage court enough.
TC chose this moment to suddenly be terrified of a bush in the corner. Tracey said that every horse thinks there is a rabbit living under there, probably a killer rabbit. Other than that though, everything rode super well, the whole test feels like it's edging on too easy. I'm kind of addicted to this feeling though- that there's no movement in the test where I feel like the apocalypse might happen. With Rico moving up so fast it felt like a big gamble a lot of the time. I know that if I ride well and if TC keeps his head about killer rabbits, we'll be okay.
Tracey agreed, and said that she thinks TC's gaits are a 7. She says that she would start at a 7 but take him down to a 6 or 6.5 if he spooked. She said he wasn't being bad, just young and she doesn't like punishing riders for that too much as long as the horse is doing what they are asked of. So where the score comes down isn't the spook (which she doesn't consider a disobedience, at least at Training) but if he gets himself retracted in the neck or tight in the back. Then she'd say 6, braced. She also handed me my ass by telling me that any score below 7 that isn't because of a spook is therefore my fault for riding my geometry poorly. Ah okay.
Just a couple more rides to go, and all I'll be working on is geometry and making sure I don't fuck up any more transitions. Or maybe I just won't ride until the show and let TC practice without me.
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!
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
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.
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.
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.
