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.
At the last minute I decided to go ahead and enter a starter trial at Olde Hope on Friday night. The thought was, even if we didnt jump around we would go for the dressage experience and use the entire show mostly as a schooling event.
My goals for the event were simple:
Dressage: try to recreate more of the magic we can get at home or in C lessons.
Jumping: More forward stadium and XC rounds
The beast all cleaned up for me by my wonderful hubby
My husband never gets to see my ride, so it was a nice treat and the perfect event for him to come watch since everything ran back to back (dressage first, stadium was 15 min after, immediately followed by xc).
Oddly enough, on the drive home, I realized I didnt have ANY nerves what so ever and was able to actually school her in warm up when she wasnt listening...sure it led to some interesting protesting, but it got me some nicer moments I needed in the ring.
Maybe I should dressage in my jump tack more?!
I did however realized I am much less patient at shows which leads to a tenser Tillie...she gets upset and takes any correction personally so this is something I need to be mindful of show days and try to not think of everything needing to be soooo perfect.
Either way, it wasnt the most perfect dressage test, but as a rider it felt like one of the better ones. I felt like we were more on the same page, there wasnt as much tension through her entire body or bracing happening.
a nicer softer moment
We came out scoring a 28.9 and it was a test of mostly 7's with some 6.5's. The judges comments were tactfully ridden, nice expression just a bit tense - lol I guess those can go for both horse and rider!
Here is the entire test on video:
We headed right over for stadium which was a pretty twisty course which I LOVED since it keeps Tillie thinking. With the goal to ride more forward, I new this would be a good course to do that with...it also helped most of the turns were right handed since thats her easier lead to get.
It was beautiful and Tillie responded well to any adjustments...minus the last fence which i totally biffed, but Tillie was a super star!
Then we moved on to XC...which I felt was pretty soft. There were maybe 3 jumps on the entire course that were novice height, but I wasnt too bothered by it considering my goal of actually trying to go more forward. It was nice too since when I came earlier in the season and walked the novice with Brita, I remember being a bit squeamish about a few of the same jumps, but this time was confident about every single one.
I also made a point to think about riding certain jumps differently and more smart...not just get on, go and hope for the best like I have done on some not so few occasions. Tillie ate it up and kept a cool head the entire time...I really couldnt have felt more proud or confident.
She flew over the largest jump like it was no big deal and sauntered on home like it was no big deal. We ended up in first by quite a few points and one of the only clear/clean rounds of the night!
Like my new C4 Belt?!
Tillie took the entire event in stride, no silliness just cool, calm collected. I was planning on doing a light trail ride with her the next day, saturday, but upon showing up at the farm the morning feeder asked me stop in the barn - which is never a good sign.
Apparently, the pony Tillie has lived with all winter decided she didnt want to wait for breakfast and literally beat Tillie to a pulp...scalped the top of her tail bone, huge scrape/kick marks down her right flank and some pretty fun scrapes and cuts littered all over her hind legs.
sad beat up tillie
Whats crazy is this pony is barefoot...my mare has shoes all around and the pony came out of it completely unscathed, not a single scratch on her. REALLY Tillie!?
Even after 2g of bute, Tillie was unsound left hind in the walk so a call to the vet happened. He was more concerned with her right hind based on the location of her cut thinking possible splint bone injury.
see the silver spray right at her splint
cut above the hock really swollen and reason for LH lameness\
Luckily by the time he arrived her lameness was slightly better and he quickly ruled out the splint and inspecting the LH said her unsoundness was due to her ballooning up at the cut which wanted badly to turn into cellulitis. So he said keep her out and moving, maybe bring her in to rest a few hours but slather her in antibiotic cream and keep her on the doxy (which she was just about to finish today for lymes) for another week.
I knew this meant possibly not going to the derby we had planned this weekend which is our test for a move up to training, but I relented that we have had an awesome year so far and if that was the case I wouldnt be terribly disappointed.
getting cold hosed
Much to my delight Sunday morning, all her swelling was gone and she was sound sound sound!!! so I decided to take her on a light hack around the farm and on the trails which she was a super star for.
back to work!
So looks like we are still in good shape for the weekend...and now officially looking into insurance for her so I can stress a little less.
Sorry for the delay in posting everyone, its been hectic and I need to start being better about scheduling my own days off.
Anyway, our first recognized event is done! and we survived! It was HOT and humid...I couldnt have been more thankful I made the switch to my FITS show coat and Smart pak cool show shirt. Both made it bearable for our dressage.
Sneak peak at dressage
I chose to braid her the night before since I havent done it before and a good friend, who has done it TONS, offered to come help me. Thank goodness for her!! I couldnt help but feel like a proud parent prepping to send their kid off to their first day of school. I full expected my to even tear up once she was all done being braided up.
Tillie oddly LOVED being braided
Except...when I stepped back and looked her over it just looked wrong. Maybe I am just not used to seeing her braided or maybe her ears just are that big....but it just looked weird.
all braided up
I also chose to keep her in overnight because a new horse was being introduced into her field that same night and my gut told me to play it safe and keep her in...close to a $300 entry was on the line and I did not want to risk her coming in with anything wrong. It made me a bit worried about how she would be the next day, but I figured it was our best option considering the only open paddock available for turn out left she previously (and other horses like her) have tried to get out of or hate it in there.
all tucked in....looking like batman
Shockingly the day of, I was pretty calm. If anything, all this showing lately has helped my own nerves (excluding dressage apparently) but the build up hasnt been nearly as anxiety ridden as it has been before.
We tacked up for dressage and I tried to let go of some of my more recent frustrations with our flat work and remind myself this was not the time or place...that I needed to trust the training and keep it simple.
Trying to dressage....not stressage
Warming up she felt ok...pretty relaxed, but just like recent flat rides just not totally consistent and confirmed in my contact. But hey, we had relaxation more so over some other events. In hindsight I should have studded her with it being on grass and the ground was soooo hard so I noticed a few horses slipping a little. Tillie when she slips realllly gets herself in a tizzy so I tried to keep warm up conservative.
Cantering has gotten better!!
FINALLY when we trotted around the dressage ring I had the same horse that I had in warm up. Sure I knew our dressage lately hasnt been on point, but I at least had the same horse when in past events as soon as we change location its tension central.
Once we entered the ring things were feeling ok, but the longer we went the harder I had to work to keep her focus on me. She neighed once (so weird she hasnt done that except at home) and was just generally pissy about working. There is something about this particular venue (Ill elaborate more on this later) that makes Tillie just really unsettled in general. I can remember the last time I have had sass or leaping into a canter depart, but that we did:
"off aids"
We kept a lid on it and she started to settle in after left lead canter and event started giving me a better trot. I chose to ride conservatively on her trot knowing we wouldnt score well on it, but my goal was to keep her tempo slower in comparison to our last test...now its just to find the happy medium.
Here is the full video:
After walking XC I checked in on our score and we scored a 32.4, which I was a bit unenthusiastic about, but it put us in 4th after dressage which shocked the heck out of me! I am really competitive with myself and would have liked lower, but hey its progress and we will figure it out. At least we are consistent right?!
we can hang with the best of em!
When it came time for stadium, I took a breath and was hoping it wouldnt be a repeat of last year's stadium where she was a freight train and warm up was a shit show.
Again, something about this venue, especially the stadium area, Tillie bugs out. As soon as we started making our way up the hill to the warm up area, Tillie starts jigging and her head is so high, ears pricked so hard forward all I could do was just sigh....talk to her, leg on and decided to let her trot up the hill to see if it would help get wiggles out.
Not exactly...she felt like she had ants in her pants so referring back to a recent Dom lesson I decided to go ahead and start cantering around working on forward canter and half halt to slow again. She really wasnt thrilled about it, but she was doing it. I was also a bit on the struggle bus with how hot it was and think I also was feeling not 100% in my head and wanted too slow...so I know I was riding her backwards.
The more she jumped the better it got. I threw in a few halts after jump warm up fences to make sure she was paying attention, but trying to stand around to wait for turn wasnt happening. Tillie was flicking her head, offering to back up or move around...this was not the same horse I had a loch moy who was falling asleep one leg cocked.
She at least got her shit together though!
She kept wanting to get too low and lean on me as well I presume from the heat...she was protesting it was hard, but the mare was jumping out of her skin. I literally grabbed mane a few times because she was jumping me out of the tack. When it came time to enter the ring she had a mini melt down like the last two times we competed here (There is seriously a gremlin or something in this ring)....but we got in and I chose to pick a nice steady rhythm.
Not the prettiest round, but I got her listening to ME and the longer we went the better it got. Jump one she just was off in la la land looking at the horses out in XC, so the turn to jump two and three were a bit like hey girl...we are jumping, pay attention please!!!!
Then to jump four she didnt want to do the simple, I should have tried to ask for a change and pushed her forward, but again she was coming towards warm up and locked on the horses there so I worked with what I had. After this line though she clicked in gear and things started cooking...
We walked about being over time so accrued some time penalties which I honestly totally forgot and didnt realize we got timed...#whoops and fail on my part. Im honestly not sure I would have done much differently though since I chose to make her wait and listen. New goal: refine the details here in stadium, clean it up and get a more forward listening stride.
Next was cross country:
Walking XC, it was definitely significantly "harder" than our last few starter events at novice. Quite a few of the jumps were large - not that I was complaining! I knew we would be fine. Even the down hill jump into the woods which was my nemesis last year I walk over and said, eyes on the horizon and we will be fine.
We had a few good questions: a steep uphill incline to a jump, a jump a stride or two before water, a jump one stride after water, a jump down hill kind of like a bank into woods, a chevron in the woods, a bench two stride to a down hill bank/ditch, an up bank, a bending line 6 stride combo and finally a sunken road.
Sooo proud!
I chose to start out of the box slow with the first portion of the course being down hill. Jump one was a breeze, jump two was a maxed out novice table that Tillie rubbed slightly not fully aware of the height and solid fences now. But she woke up for that and jumped three to the steep uphill #4 beautifully and forward. The water series she did so well and confidentially!! We actually cantered into water!! (we havent at an event before....) and she did the jump out wonderfully, galloped to jump 8 and then we really galloped.
The kind of galloping that the wind was so loud and whistling I couldnt even hear myself think but boy was it fun. I probably (ok I know) I pulled her up too soon for jump #9 but it was another maxed out novice table which was leading to the jumping down hill into the woods so I knew I needed to get a nice distance to it which we did...and I had to holler at some people walking the course who had no idea I was coming lol but luckily Tillie didnt care and we breeze through the woods, over the chevron and out to the open field again.
Steeplechase jump we sorta biffed:
We had a roll top then a short canter to the bench to bank/ditch which Tillie did sooooo well with. I was thrilled. I let her open up a bit again into gallop to the up bank and brought her back for the series of jumps after which was the bending line...then we had more galloping which I let her gallop and let the terrain change of the sunken road back her off. Then we were three jumps to home...we got a bit buried to the steeple chase brush but she recovered nicely and ultimately we went clean!
Lots of pats after that last jump
With our jump time penalties we landed in 7th...not too shabby for our first event! I am so incredibly competitive with myself so I was a bit disappointed in a number of things from the day, but all in all I need to make sure I stay proud and grateful for my pony who is trying her heart out.
Lastly, I am forever grateful for all the help from my grooms, to supportive friends...etc. Teamwork makes the dream work! (Ok I borrowed that from Dom!)
Not sure why all of a sudden my nerves and anxiety is kicking in for this weekend's event at Loch Moy. The more I think about it, the more I think its more or less excitement than fear.
Don't get me wrong, every time I compete, there is a healthy dose of fear...its not about messing up in the sense we knock a rail or have a run out XC, but more or less the safety aspect because lets face it, my mare hasnt always been the safest thing to ride.
Who me?!
I feel pretty confident about the work we have done and our preparation...She is going more uphill, we havent had a ton of sass, dolphining or bucking or taking off issues but all the same this event means a lot.
While we went out and rocked our first Novice and I do honestly feel pretty darn good going into this one this weekend...this event is like the one that will determine if Novice really feels good. It will be the event that will hopefully tell us if we are solid here or if we have holes we need to fill in.
Lets feel this good about jumping this weekend ok Tills?!
Either way, thats part of horses right? I am realllllyyy trying hard to go in confident, but also with the ability to adapt with what Tillie throws my way IF there are some holes that pop up. I am happy to be able to say Tillie feels the best shes ever felt so I at least have that in the back of my mind assuaging some of my doubt about either of our abilities.
Like being able to jump this kind of stuff without hesitating
I just need to focus on what we know, what we have been working on and have faith in the training.
I am hopeful that our XC schooling today at Windurra (Yes at Boyd Martin's place!) with Dom Schramm (Ok that sentence with all the name dropping is a bit overboard-groupie) will just solidify how good things are feeling.
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:
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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.
