Tillie's first show back of the season - Fair Hill

I was feeling a tad worried going into Fair Hill...I really only started digging in to prep about two and a half weeks out. I realized the week before, I had yet to ride my dressage test at all on Tillie let alone some of the movements...nor had I stadium jumped her.

Ummm unprepared much?

Attempting to prep for braiding all by myself!

But our jump prep felt great and our final dressage lesson the day before felt really good, relaxed and consistent even through the test.

I did it! Although not beautiful, I did not melt down

I got her all cleaned up and braided...which if any of you remember is a big deal for me lol. I am not a good braider and in the past would get about 3 braids in before losing it and calling someone for help. So was super proud I did it!

Tucked in and ready to go

Tillie the next morning was really offended I left her in all night...so lesson learned, we will try next time putting her in the smaller paddock with Kiss and hope she keeps her braids in. Because her angst lead to some major issues in our dressage test...like 44.5 points of issues to be exact.

Yea not great. Especially since our flatwork has greatly improved. You can see she just was persnickety and super tense....and it led to me getting flustered. The head flicking...well not ideal and I believe to know the cause and working towards fixing it:

I will say, I didnt feel horrible when I saw a few other riders in my open division with similar scores (I mean we were dead last, but at least we didnt canter out of the ring like that one time though). I had Ryan Wood, Jenny brannigan and similar quality riders in my division...OH and Icabod crane. You know Phillip Dutton's previous mount. 

F- ME. 

We could have used this relaxation in dressage

So new focus...dressage boot camp for a week (currently happening). I was feeling really frustrated and resolved to get this figured out because I KNOW we can do better and more than that we have to do better. I was however happier with her canter and trot lengthenings over previous tests...even if the score didnt reflect it.

But on to jumping!

Tillie warmed up amazingly well. Got all the distances, leads and was forward but would rebalance and jumping like a beast. I opted to go in early and felt ready. The course had a lot more combinations than I was expecting, which were a huge issue for us last season we competed. So I prayed our last jump lesson paid off and we would keep the rails up.

So jump one...we pull a rail. Not exactly how Id like to start...and left lead, not sure where that went?! But I will fess up to the first rail. I got too impatient and didnt keep her balanced...I dropped her before.

But all the hard stuff she nailed and was adjustable and responsive...through the second line however she felt pretty darn heavy. She did respond to be, but I had what felt like 25 lbs in both reins.

We pulled the last oxer's rail as well...as you can see in the video, she got low and I didnt hang out long enough in the turn to get her back so we basically came in low and hot.

But we survived and at this point still in the qualification for waredaca...so XC it is.

Out we went...I had the goal to get as close to time as possible knowing full well I tend to run her too slow. 

She came out strong. Like way too strong. So I had to keep her in check more than i would have liked the first few fences. 

You can see here her pulling my arms off down the hill...and i was thinking oh god if this is the whole course I might die. But knew after jump 4 we had a downhill to a good uphill stretch to let her have at it and get out that pent up energy. 

It worked and rest of the jumps came nice and steady out of a good distance...without always adding!

So not exactly the first outing I had anticipated. BUT there was a lot to like despite the frustrating lows. At least coming out of this i know what we need work on. We at least got the qualification needed for waredaca so 3 more to go!

A few people recommended trying perfect prep or something before dressage...if anyone has suggestions on show day help for relaxation please let me know!

Yet another Novice competition recap - Dressage

I feel like this 2016 season is flying by, yet I reflect back to our first event of the season at BN and am amazed at how forever ago it seems. So many things have changed some not as good, but most things for the better. The more we do all the things and do all the shows, the more I am learning...not only about showing and Tillie, but myself as a person.

Peaking out of the trailer after our go for the day and hanging out to watch our buddies!

Turns out, I am pretty damn confident (outwardly at least)...mostly its a face to pep talk myself. But also I am really super competitive with myself - Ill touch more on this later in this post. But I feel like the dialogue in my head is not super confident...mostly repeating "balance yourself mare!" over and over, but I do feel like that warp-like time speed thing when jumping is starting to become normal speed which allows me to process and make better judgements. I know its allowing me to be a smarter rider.

Like approaching the giant bench in a tree line expecting a questioning Tillie,
riding it more confident so she comes at it guns blazing.

All this repetition is allowing me to be a smarter rider BECAUSE we have been doing it and experiencing all the different ways to answer the questions being asked. The result is slowly chipping away and smoothing out some rough edges. Dont get me wrong, it isnt perfect, nor will it ever be, but I am really proud of the horse Tillie is becoming.

How we feel before stressage

It was a really early wake up call for this show since I knew the time between our dressage and jump rounds wasnt quite enough to untack, walk the courses, come back, stud and retack...If you have ever been to Fair Hill, you'll know its quite a hike to the jump portion of the event so I wanted to have more time to stud and be sure those were good with the ground being as rock hard as it was.

4:41 arriving at the barn

Even with really awesome stranger eventers offering us rides, I still felt a bit rushed and had just under 30 minutes to warm up for dressage. It sounds like a decent time, and at home it would be 10 min warm up 20 min working, but at a show Tillie gets unfocused and untrusting. She isnt bad, she doesnt misbehave or act up like she did a mere few months ago, but the best description is just protective and wont let her guard down. It is as if she holds her breath the entire time and lets it out right after we halt.

Almost done our test!!

I was pleasantly surprised with how she warmed up...and how quickly as well. It wasnt the horse I get at C lessons in dressage, but she was working well and working without soooo much help from me. She knew her job, would bending and listen to my aids willingly more so than any other show. Her canter warm up was flawless...I was a bit worried to push much more because she felt so great and comfortable. Sure, not 100% relaxed, but would go in whatever rhythm I put her in, bend off my leg and I didnt need nearly as much softening or half halts off my rein to get her attention.

Sneak peak at the final results...; ) and alllll the hay for the spoiled girl

While I dont think our dressage score of 30 reflected how happy I was with the test, I was thrilled. Tillie did pick up more tension once we got down to the ring (or I did)...but it sits slightly lower from warm up so she kept wanting to peek up there to see what was going on. It was never obvious, but she didnt want to work in the bridle as much this test. With that said, She was consistent. Something we have lacked in past tests, particularly in rhythm. I also felt like I was less micromanaging her and could leave her alone more.

Her canter in particular impressed me the most. It felt smooth...something it hasnt ever felt in competition before. I didnt feel worried about getting her back to trot and her trot after felt way more free and promising of what we may get in later competitions.

Anyway here is our test:

There is a lot more to like about this test. It was clean enough to get us into third - WHICH btw we were competing in the open division with only a handful of other riders one of which is my own trainer Dom Schramm who kicked all our butts with a 22!!! The 2nd place rider had a 29 and change followed by myself. So needless to say, I am really hopeful with  more dressage work we can be up there with the big guns!

While a 30 is still ok, I am determined to get us into the 20's more regularly (see the self competitive thing I mentioned earlier).  I am hopeful this will happen and know we have it in us. 

Our Novice debut in detail - Dressage

Of course I am still very excited about how smoothly things went at this event...it was put on by a local pony club so we did compete against mostly against pony clubbers (ok ok, its not like it was all children here...there were adults too). It was their home turf and I honestly thought more outside competitors would come to this event with how much it was being chatted about in our smallish horse community here.

Tillie had her game face on from the minute we loaded on the trailer

I have never been to their event before, but have done a paper chase here when I first got Tillie a few years ago. I had asked around and done my research before entering because I wanted a friendly lower key event for our first novice.

It was exactly what I needed for my own nerves. I knew many of the people there which put me at ease and made it feel just like a ride at home almost. Sure nerves crept in a little...but for the most part it felt relaxed. I think it also helped I had a dressage lesson with C the night before that was one of our best to date complete with really big extensions that C said made her get chills (eek! my OTTB can dressage!!).

Anyway...I opted to ride in my jump tack, because lately the one I have been borrowing has been really making me crooked and twist. C agreed that my jump tack was the best shes seen me look compared to the others and Tillie goes well in it so to use it. I am in the process of getting my hands on a custom saddlery VLX for quite the steal :) but I didnt get it in time for this.

Probably the best feeling part of the test

Immediately upon arrival I was put at ease at seeing the dressage ring with footing inside an arena. After all the rain we have had I was a bit nervous at what a grass ring would be like. Plus there was only one ring running which was nice and a huge factor as to why this event was so chill.

The warm up was in grass, but shockingly the footing wasnt too terrible. It was a bit sticky but at least it wasnt muddy or sloppy. I was relieved at this point because I knew I needed to use studs, but could wait until after dressage to think about them. (Side note: This was the first event Tillie and I used studs...I have applied them many times on my trainers horses when grooming for him, but this was a first for my own personal horse).

Hello uphill downward canter to trot transition!

Tillie was so relaxed and calm during warm up. Luckily we didnt have to share with more than 3 other horses at any given time so that definitely helped. It was quite muggy and humid, so I really didnt do a ton in warm up despite getting on 30 min early. I reminded myself all our training has been done, its just do what is needed to get her supple and alert without being too reactive. C gave us some pointers for warm up which were super helpful...we threw in some trot extensions to get her opening up and me more comfortable riding a more open trot needed in novice.

Let me tell you, my new Smartpak purchase (at Rolex) of the Bradley Performance show shirt really came in handy because of the nice cool mesh under arms. I also rode in their new white piper full seats which I think looked pretty sharp!

Anyway...we were about ready to go. Once we were on deck, we headed up to the ring which I wasnt of fan of this small part because it meant we had to stand still and wait while the rider before us did their test. Tillie was quiet and fine standing, but I prefer to allow her to keep moving as much as possible before going into the ring.

Sure enough, as soon as we stepped foot in the arena to get going again while the judge finished commenting the previous test, Tillie coiled up and was too interested in looking around.

At least she was good for her canter!

She started sucking back a bit and not really being soft in my hand so that she was super reactive to my leg...right after the judge rang the bell and I prepared to enter the ring, Tillie broke into the smallest canter. I circled regrouped, took a sigh out and told her to chill and we entered.

When she gets like this, straight lines are a bit questionable...so I knew right away we were slightly off our centerline and I knew I couldnt do a whole lot to "fix" it since she was pretty wound up.

I just focused on the rhythm and being VERY quiet with my hands to set a "this is where we need to be" tone before expecting anything else.

Canter left lead also went well

She slowly started to relax and I was able to start applying more aids...and then I forgot a portion of my test (Novice B you trot circle before cantering...well the second trot circle I skipped and went right to canter).

It was a lovely transition both times though! And we didnt let it set us back, in fact it really helped her in her trot circle to relax a little more.

She's so soft here! Excuse whatever the F I am doing with my upper body though

The judge was super nice and said not to worry, my error didnt hurt us too badly and it was a nice test. Tillie seemed quite please with herself and I have a rule to not go look at scores...so I threw Tillie back on the trailer and set out to walk my course. 

By the time I got back the trailer next to us in good spirits and in a friendly competition way said "You beat me in dressage and are currently first!!! better not have any rails!"

I was delighted, but more eager to see my actual score rather than placing. 

So long story long, I know we need to work on more relaxation in our dressage and try to get the same great feeling we get at home and in lessons in the ring. 

But here is the video of our test!:

Dressage Fix a test results

Sunday was our first show of the season and I really thought the nerves would get to me. Granted it wasnt a full three phase event...and I think because it was a dressage fix-a-test, I went into it thinking more or less like it was a clinic. An opportunity to learn, which I should try to channel towards ALL shows no matter what format they are. So my overall goal for 2016 - stop being so nervous for shows.

Tillie certainly wasnt nervous

It was a great way to ease into showing because of a few reasons:

•  it was at the same farm we go to most Saturdays for jump lessons so Tillie was familiar with the surroundings, as was I.
• Trailering has become not as big a deal with how much we've been doing it lately.
• Fix-a-test format meant less horses and people around crowding warm up or making the atmosphere soooo busy which can get Tillie wound up

Warm up

By the time I got to the farm to tack up, the rain had started. Not really ideal, but hey we eventers can handle a bit of rain. I fell in love with my new trailer even more after I had plenty of room and was able to get her fully tacked up in the trailer to save us both from getting too wet in that process. Tillie was a bit unsettled initially standing on the trailer without a buddy but once she got a good look around and was moving, we warmed up like a well oiled machine. I tried my best to go into warm up with a plan, keep it to a minimum and save the schooling for home. Just push the buttons, get her moving and let what we've been working on reflect itself in the test. 

(This mindset is a pretty huge step for me since I have always had a tendency to approach show day tests like they have to be perfect). 

Test #1

I went in confident and for the first time rode my horse in a test...what I mean by that is, she was soft and not a ball of energy like she has been in past shows and I had a much more rideable horse. I still chose to ride it smart, not pushing for too much but rode it very much like I would have at any other event (which really means reserved to make sure we dont have any bucking fits or attempts to jump out of the ring). 

I was pretty pleased with the ride I got and felt it was better than average for us. Tillie was obedient despite being a bit leery of certain areas of the ring and gave a solid effort. I didnt get ANY sass in canter in or out and her trot transitions from the canter were nicer than past tests where she offered them without leaning like a freight train on me.

Here is the footage from that test:

Right after finishing the test the judge was very nice and asked how this test felt in relation to previous tests. I told her it felt pretty darn good and it was our first Novice test and that we have been doing BN up until this point. She looked a bit surprised and said, well good news is for a Novice test your ride was above average and quite good, but we will talk about how to make it better and think how this would rate at a rated/recognized show where the small stuff matters more and the competition is tougher. 

Whew that surely is a relief to hear we are riding well at the level we are aiming for...

Some things she said about this test:

• Nicely ridden and adored Tillie - "SUPER cool mare"
• Tactfully ridden, a bit reserved and felt Tillie had a lot more swing and action to offer in her movements but could tell I was holding it back
• Right side was weaker (Ill elaborate in a minute)

here is the score sheet:

\

Workshop Portion

So we moved on to the discussion/fixing portion of the fix a test. The judge shocked me and said that tracking right was scored lower across the board and gave away easy points because Tillie was lowering her inside right shoulder, losing the left hind and just more inconsistent that way. Typically this is our stronger side and bending her this way tends to be easier for me. She RAVED about how beautiful her left lead canter was and then disappointed in the right lead. 

whomp whomp.

So she sent us out and tried to get us lifting the right shoulder by activating the left hind. Here is where I got a bit lost if you will...maybe I am just so used to the way C teaches but nothing seemed to jive here. I found the instruction a bit vague and repetitive without really helping. Now, I admit, I can be a bit dense at times when riding in lessons because I think sooo hard so it takes a bit before the "AHA" moment happens...I clearly understood the issue, I just didnt understand clearly how to fix it based on what was being instructed.

She had me track left first so I could feel what felt correct in the trot and canter. Then switching to right rein she asked if Tillie jumps that way...whomp whomp again. I said well yes she has had a tendency to jump down hill but much less recently. (side note: I recently did a dressage clinic where the clinician asked how she jumped and was shocked when I said she isnt always uphill so goes to show it depends on the day still for us). 

 So the judge kept telling me to fix this side by riding it like I would approach a fence. Which isnt wrong, and I am sure works for most, but it didnt really connect for me. She also said ride the outside more but have her follow that outside connection more. This felt a bit contradictory to me, BUT I also know dressage can be when generalized, but the timing of when to do one or the other is when the magic happens. That timing to create the lift just wasnt coming under this instruction. 

She recommended riding square turns at home to help fix this issue. Sure! Homework, I love that! But honestly I am quite eager to get in a lesson with C to delve deeper and get a better understanding of how she would have us fix it. 

So time to think about how to change and improve the next test...I honestly walked away prepping for the second ride through to just be more brave and let tillie move out more. 

Second Test

Tillie started feeling a bit tired by the time we got to ride this test. It was the first time ever I had to ride leg on leg off and really drive her forward in the trot and canter. I didnt hate it, and can attest that shes been more like this at home too which leads me to think she is just getting more rideable, but I realize I need to stay on top of our conditioning. It isnt a great feeling to ask for go and not have it from my usually hot to trot mare. 

She felt pretty good again through this test. Her canter trot to canter transitions felt like they got rushed because of trying to use what the judge said, but she didnt fault us for it and even said she preferred to see that then the shortening / backing off she saw in the first test. 

I felt like our center line halt salute would have scored better, but All in all felt it was a nice improvement :)

I am not entirely sure how they ribboned this show, but when my helper came running out with these my inner kid got very excited. 

In conclusion, it was a great success and did exactly what I wanted and needed the show to do. 1) not be so nervous and really just ride a the test, trust Tillie and settle into a good place. Tillie was far more rideable than any other test Ive ever ridden leading me to be excited for what 2016 will bring us pending cross country schooling of course lol. 

Biding Time until winter is over....so we dressage

So far we have been pretty lucky with winter...its been fairly warm and mild until the biggest snow fall in the history of our state's snow fall happened (and I am not exaggerating...it really was the largest recorded snow fall in the history of my state).

Sooo much snow...and this is from a few weeks later!!!

The snow fall was enough to put me over the edge...because it means not being able to ride unless I haul out and my job has been limiting that happening since no one wants a stranger in their barn later then 8pm. So anyway, I havent been riding nearly as much as Id like to and its sad. Very sad.

BUT once in a while I can haul somewhere and shockingly Tillie has been pretty behaved and, better yet, ready to work with a nice work ethic.

Is it me or does she look eeevvvvilll here?

Without boring you all too much longer on the intro, I scheduled a dressage lesson with C and finally got the opportunity to try hauling with my trailer with the partition open to see if Tillie's scrambling around turns would be better, worse or the same. 

Luckily all of our self loading practice came into to great use here since with keeping the divider open means no butt bar. I did minimally put up a lead rope but if Tillie realllly wanted to run backwards out of the trailer she could break it easily...but shes really good about waiting for me to ask her to back out.

Night hauling makes taking pictures harder :(

Tillie didnt scramble AT ALL...and majority of the time did keep herself fairly straight, but around turns you could see her swing her butt and angle herself. So I think I need to get myself a wider trailer and haul like this in the meantime...

Lesson Time: (sadly had no one their to take pics or videos)
I get on and just start going through the normal motions of loose rein walk around the whole indoor both directions a few times while waiting for C to finish another lesson. Tillie was quiet, had a bit of a speed walk going on, but not terribly looky like she can be. 

I start picking her up in the walk a bit to test her mood and see how much resistance Id be dealing with once C was ready...and Tillie was quite pleasant and even with a longer rein moved right into contact without missing a beat. Typically even after warming up walk trot canter, going from a loose rein to contact isnt as smooth as this! 

Once C started with our lesson we moved into a trot fairly quickly and her first transition was quite nice and she stayed connected without going inverted. Another Win! We treadmilled it at the trot a bit just to let her warm up...and C thought she looked off right front so we did a few changes of posting diagonals and changing direction see if it was worse on turns or a certain direction....but luckily it went away and Tillie seemed not bothered at all so we pressed on. 

C right away when I trotted again said "no bigger trot then this" which was interesting because I felt like we werent covering enough ground....I attribute this to me getting more comfortable riding her trot now and not always trying or needing to slow things down. 

Can winter and the early darkness be over yet?!

Tillie was pretty consistent in the trot and we worked on getting more inside bend both directions...for this ride, her right bend was much harder. My inside rein would end up touching her neck which C pointed out there should be a clear gap and the inside hand should be open and away...so more inside leg to push her away. But do not lose the outside elbow (I tend to straighten it out too much). 

Leg yielding 

Moving on from that we went into riding down the quarter line and leg yielding, but this time rather then using the entire length of the long side of the arena, C wanted us doing them pretty quickly without leading with the shoulder and focusing on a straightness. Tracking left she nailed every one, tracking right we had a few at first where she really didnt want her booty to stay in line, but a tad more inside leg and outside rein fixed it pretty easily. 

Tillie eating ALL the hay

Tear drop exercise
Then C had us ride tear drop formations (trot and at E make a 10M circle and trot a straight diagonal line between H and F and ask to change the bend). Once I got the hang of the actual figure Tillie rode through this exercise REALLY nicely. C remarked she was impressed!

We took a bit of a walk break and chatted about the upcoming dressage show and discussed strategies...when I started to pick Tillie back up again I reminded myself shorter reins and really felt I found that sweet spot (you know when your seat feels solid, your rein length feels right and the stars align?). Tillie on the other hand didnt appreciate the shorter reins and despite another lovely trot transition and half circle started "whip nae nae-ing" with her head when I applied inside leg (tracking left).

She did it a few times when trying to re-establish bend and I wasnt letting the reins out...C recommended I verbally reprimand her for this....that a physical squeeze or crop for her would be too much but I need to at least tell her NO.

I will admit, I felt like the contact in my reins was heavier then I like (I tend to waiver it seems or say this after not riding for a period of time). I never dislike when this happens...just seem to notice it and feel like its not "soft" enough contact which is false. She is soft...just not behind the contact like she used to be more often a few months ago. I think I just need to re-calibrate my feel...

UMMM...wheres my food?

So we treadmilled a bit at the trot again to let her get those out and C said ok, canter NOW! OK it wasnt quite that abrupt, lol, but it felt sort of sudden...as I wasnt really expecting to move into canter so quickly in the lesson. We sometimes only get to it briefly!

Test riding - being smart about placement of transitions

C did set me up for it talking about the strategy of riding in the test and prep for the transition depending on the horse I had that day. If Tillie was more up to ask earlier to use the corner or turn to back her off, if she was going well ask a bit more in the middle of the corner to present the long side of the ring to promote her opening her stride. 

Canter

So we started on left lead and it took a few steps at first, but she did a nice little jump into it I sort of didnt expect. She felt a bit unbalance on it again so I do a poor job being soft in my arms when this happens...but C talked me through it, we achieved inside bend and she felt a bit smoother once that was better. Her downward transition was a bit strung out and as we changed directions on the short diagonal Tillie was a bit fired up and ready to jumping into right lead canter which I promptly did a strong half halt which C agreed with. It sort of took away the rhythm but it was needed...and we regained a nice balanced trot tracking right within a half circle. 

I so good!

We went right into right lead canter once we passed C and it took a half the circle to get the inside bend, but once we did C even said it was a nice canter. She urged me to step more into my right leg so I dont fall to the outside (which would push tillie in and not be able to bend in). Her downward transition to trot this direction was really lovely. 

Center line - test riding

After this, C had us run through a few center line practices again really concentrating on no drifting...especially when you continue the trot on and turn at C. She said most horse and riders will drift before reaching C and to wait as long as possible to make the turn - for example if youre turning left, you start drifting right when over prepping for the turn. 

C said Tillies weight and muscling is looking good! 

Riding Novice A

Once we got the strategy for the center lines down we moved on to riding through a test. I chose to run through Novice A with C since that's the most difficult test I signed up to do for the dressage show. I am debating now on changing that after this ride and talking with Emma...but we will see how the next week goes if I change. I am currently signed up for BN A and B and Novice A. 

C called out the test as I was riding it and for the most part it rode pretty well. USEF tests tend to be harder for us since there is so much ability to build up in the trot and canter...USDF tests are nice since there is a lot more changing directions, circling, transitions etc to distract Tillie.

Her transitions out of canter to trot were a bit rocky...but C said if I plan them accurately the judge shouldnt be able to see it too much. Her right lead canter transition I planned perfectly and C said we would work on the left lead too next time, but both leads she stepped right into without needing a few steps, I just need to time the transition better and stop anticipating the build up so much.

Nicely trimmed tail :)

Her free walk we talked about her wanting to dive when she stretches...like throw her head down and pull the reins from me rudely. She has a habit of doing this when doing anything stretchy or even when letting her walk on a loose rein. C suggested I dont ever let her go around on a completely contact free rein until she breaks this habit and earns the privilege back. When she goes to root give her a boot or slap with my leg. No pulling of the reins, just a bump using leg. 

Aside from those C was really complimentary and said we definitely earned the award for most improved. :) Its really nice to hear!!! 

I seee you barn cat

Loch Moy - Dressage

With the day being so packed with awesomeness, I will be breaking down the three phases of Loch Moy in different posts...I hope the anticipation isn't too much to handle!

The morning of the show was an early one since fellow trailer mate, Brita, had a dressage time before 8am. Luckily for me, I was so beat after CHA and lessons and keeping myself busy, I came home and crashed early so waking up at 4 wasn't so bad. More importantly I didn't have any time to get in my head and get nervous.

Brita put in nice test with her boy and we quickly ran off to get a cart for Emma to walk our XC course. Fellow blogger, Austen, also joined us! She was such an amazing help and event lent me her belt (opps!) for the day.

Thanks Austen for this picture! 

Well right after our course walk, we rushed back and I got myself ready. I thought I had given myself enough time, but I didnt plan on Tillie coming off the trailer a nervous ball of tension. They were running ahead of schedule and I should have declined and opted to do a few minutes longer...so I only got about 20 minutes.

Luckily, Tillie JUST started to settle and while she didnt feel that great, it was good enough. Re-watching the video the first few times, I focused on Tillie and agreed it looked better then it felt. BUT when I watched it and focused on me, I was appalled at how noisy of a rider I appeared to be. **Sigh** I guess the quiet ride all around will come with time.

I am grateful I had such a strong support system which included a bonus of Emma yelling profanities at me to get me to look up not down at my horses neck....I never want to show again without them!

Anywhere here is the video:

So yea....that happened. In the moment, it happened so fast I was shocked. But I went back in and asked to finish. We did, and silly mare tried to pull the same trick again. Not really sure what gremlin was lurking on the inside of the right entrance, but Tillie thought there was one for sure.

The moment I knew I botched royally

It ended up taking a lot of the pressure off and you could even see her relax that much more since I did. I was severely disappointed and it was my first Elimination in dressage ever - but I guess there is a first time for everything right? I was even more disappointed that, despite the judge allowing me to finish, didnt score the remainder of my test...with it being a starter trial, we all assumed they would to at least give my something to go off of.

If only we had a test to score the lovely parts! 

I was really ready to cry. I felt tears stinging and kept trying to tell myself it happens, but it still just sucks. At least this event still allowed me to jump (which I was really not feeling up to at first and felt maybe this test was a bad omen). But Emma convinced me to and insisted I would regret it if I didnt.

Oh haaaaaay fancy pants.

So lesson learned: I need to prep for a longer warm up and I need to not forget to steer. 

Countdown to Loch Moy starter Trial - Dressage Preparation

I have so much to post about right now, but Ill do my best to spread it out so I do not overload you all at once.

After concluding a grueling week of CHA certification (I am proud that I received the highest level of certification for english and jumping instruction!) I decided I needed a dressage lesson to get back to business.

Tillie seemed a bit more stiff then usual. This is relatively speaking, I just had to work a lot harder then I was used to. It could very well have been the fact that I was exhausted after logging in close to 40 hours of saddle time the week of. (The good news is riding all the different horses in more basic lessons, I got to focus on my collapsing problems, equitation and lower leg.)

This lesson I felt like we had NO left bend at all. She was willing to do whatever I asked, but just seemed a little bit more effort on my part to manipulate.

I do have a short clip a friend captured...but it is not the greatest quality:

I didnt feel particularly great about it, but after seeing the clip have decided maybe I need to calibrate what feels right and wrong. I struggle with that anyway right now...but be more able to let go "what it usually feels like" because if I always try to recreate that, we wont improve.

Screenshot from our trot circle after the canter.

Her trot after the canter got much more elastic...so lesson learned, warm up faster in the canter!

Keep calm and ride straight

It is no secret that I have my fair share of straightness problems...especially with my alignment issues that drive me insane! I have seen a chiropractor and started yoga - both of which have helped - but my delicate flower of a mare really calls me out on it when I have an off day.

I had a dressage lesson with C last night and could feel as soon as I sat in my saddle the right side was tighter. I attempted to stretch it out in the warm up but I decided not to get too hung up on it and just ride what I had.

A few stills from last nights lesson...amazing the transformation since July!

I am so incredibly proud of Tillie and how much shes grown up this time starting back up after an injury. This is the first time I feel like my horse may be not so green anymore and is beginning to understand her job.

This lesson we had some shoulder alignment issues...pushing them all over the place except square. In all honesty, it was me not owning the outside rein enough. This is a new issue tracking left since she usually falls in. Is it odd to be excited over having a new issue to fix?

Ok maybe not excited, but to me it means shes trying to figure out what I am asking for a trying different answers. Eventually we may end up in the middle where we belong.

Warm up trot:

I was also really excited that we spent maybe 5 minutes at the walk (yay for progress) and much more time at the trot. I was also quite surprised at how quickly she put herself together without bobbing above or below the contact...

Here is an old video from July for reference:

C commented how much more balanced she is since this video and more uphill...she no longer is rooting or pulling on my nearly as much and much softer through her entire body. We still have a lot of work to do, but its nice to finally see progress and not feel so stuck.

More stills:

On the other hand. I have no idea what in the hell is wrong with my left leg lately swinging back and my heel...Ill have to make a point to work on that the next few rides.

Then onto the canter - which now C has me sitting again!

Working on my hitting letters better and keeping Tillie focused through a diagonal/straight line. I really do suck at figures and my circles it turns out.

Trying to fix the shoulder issues:

Warm up right lead canter working on softer hands so she can better carry me...not me carry her.

Finally we did a dry run of the BN test B:

Not the greatest test...many things being my error. I need to do better with my circle sizes, riding my corners and hitting letters. Basically all the basics lol. Considering Ive only ridden 6 tests in my life I can acknowledge riding tests arent my strong suit...planning ahead and being deliberate is tough after riding "training" rides and the horse I have.

C recommended not overriding this test as she fears Tillie would learn it. She said that if I can ride her the way I have been, we would easily score low 30's / high 20's...YAY!!

I have a D lesson tonight...lets hope it goes just as well!