Last SMDA of the season

Sunday, September 19th was the last SMDA show of the season. I was feeling very aprehensive about this show, and almost didn't go. Work has gotten really busy, so I haven't had as much time to ride, and when I do it's dark by the time I get done. I only had a chance to ride Otis three times on the week leading up to the show, and he was really bad all three days. I think a combination of the cooler weather, and I'm sure he could sense my stress level, even though I tried not show it. Not wanting to feel like I was quiting, I got home at 8:00 Saturday, gave Otis a quick bath, and double checked that I had everything packed for the show the next morning.

I got to the show and got Otis groomed, and decided to lunge him, just to see how he was gonig to be. Well, he was awesome, nice calm walk, trot, canter in both directions. I got him tacked up, got myslef dressed, and headed to the warm up ring. He was really good in there as well. The show was running a head of schedule, so I rode my Intro B test early, I figured since he was being good I would just go. He was a bit strong, and was doing this weird head thing that he has started doing. He moves his head from side to side, I think it's because he thinks I want him to do something, when really, I just want him to keep contact with my hands. It's just him trying to figure out this dressage thing, so I don't really fault him for it. We are working on it at home, and at our lessons. The judge really didn't like it though, and we got one of our worst scores ever. Her comments stated that is head "wag" is incorrect, and that I was trying to supple him too much. 

I took the comments into consideration for Intro C, and figured she would rather see his head up a little too far, than to see me trying to fix it all the time. Our Intro C test was AWESOME. Otis was so good. He was really calm, and was really paying attention to me. We had really good canter transitions, which I have been working on a lot at home and in our lessons. We got 7's and 8's on our canter and transitions! That made me pretty happy. We ended up with a score of 71% and a second place ribbon. 

I had to apologize to Otis for doubting him before this show. I thought it was going to be a complete disaster, and that he was just going to act terrible! Well he definitely proved me wrong! He was awesome for the entire show! He was a bit strong in Intro B, but he didn't do ANY of his normal naughty stuff (spooking or letting other horses wind him up). I was very proud of him, and I am confident that wtih a lot of work and continued lessons we can move up to training level next year.

Green Acres

August 18th was our second two phase in a row, this time at Green Acres in Madbury, NH. I got a good parking spot right near the dressage warm up arena and went to check in. I also wanted to check out the stadium course before I unloaded Otis, because it was in a field instead of an area, and I wanted to get a look at it. It was a nice course, and the jumps were spread out pretty well, so I felt better about it after seeing it.

After getting Otis unloaded and settled in wtih some hay and water, I started getting us ready for dressage. Otis was really good in the warm up arena, even with quite a few horses in there. He was very calm, soft, and responsive. He only had one little mishap when one of the horses on the cross country course ran through the water, he decided that was scary, and bolted forward and sideways breifly. I was able to get him calmed down and paying attention quite quickly, which made me happy. When it was our turn for dressage we made our way over to the arena to wait for the judges bell. Just as we were entering, another horse went through the water, which is right next to the dressage arena, so that got Otis kind of wound up, but we still got a nice center line and a good halt. He was really good for most of our test. He spooked once as we were ending our last trot circle, but that was pretty much it.

After a long break, I got Otis tacked up and ready to warm up for stadium. I could tell as soon as I got on him that he was not going to be as well behaved for this phase as he was for the dressage phase earlier. I trotted him around the warm up, which was FULL of kids riding and a couple of their instructors. Otis was very high strung, and was not being very good at all. Almost everytime a horse would go out on the cross country course he would jump sidways away from them, almost unseating me everytime, at one point he jump/buck/reared so bad that his head hit mine!! He was acting terrible. I just kept trotting him around and switching directions, trying to get him to relax and pay attention. When I finally decided to take him over one of the jumps, he jumped it so big that my helmet fell down over my eyes! The next few jumps were better, but he was still acting crazy. Of course it was our turn before I was ready, but I figured at that point he wasn't really going to get much better, and I was right. He was high strung through the whole course. I tried talking to him and petting him between jumps, but that didn't even help. He leaped over every jump much bigger than was necessary, but we made a clear round with no refusals and no knock-downs.

We eneded up with thrid place out of seven people, so that made me pretty happy. I was pretty bummed out with our stadium performance after Otis was so good the weekend before at Hilltop. I was also hoping that where the stadium was in a grass field it would be a sort of practice for cross country, I REALLY want to do cross country again. The way he acted did not boost my confidence in that at all :( This was going to be our last event for the year, but now I think I am going to try and fit another one in so we can hopefully get a good stadium round in again.

Hilltop Equestrian Center Two-Phase

On August 12 Otis and I went to Hilltop Equestrian Center for our third two phase of the season. We had our first experience with eventing here last June, so I was excited to come back.

It was pouring rain all the way to the show, so I was really hoping the rain would stop by the time I got there. Luckily, it slowed to a sprinkle just as we arrived, and pretty much held of entirely for the rest of the day.

After watching Liz and Dreamy complete lovely Cross Country and Stadium rounds I got changed and tacked Otis up for dressage. He was feeling a bit fresh at first, and was using all of the higher level horses that were competing in stadium as an excuse to get all wound up. I took him in to the warm up arena and did a lot of trot work and figure eights and a couple of canter circles. That seemed to help bring his attention to me, instead of him looking for excuses to act like a jerk. We were next for dressage so I walked him over to the dressage arena to wait our turn.

He was actually pretty good for our test, with a really nice, consistent trot, and our circles were even okay. He still likes to slow way down when we transition to the walk, but we are working on it at home, so hopefully that will improve soon. We ended up with a score that I was VERY happy with (don't have the sheet in front of me, so I will have to update that later), and tied for second place :)

Next was stadium, after a change of clothes for me, and a change of tack for Otis, we headed out to the warm up area. It was VERY full when I got there, kids cantering in every direction and jumping here and there, so I decided to just walk and trot the outside perimeter until it cleared out a bit. I was very happy with the way Otis handled all the chaos. It is mostly organized chaos, but he doesn't know that ;) Once the area cleared out a bit I decided to take him over a small cross rail, he had been jumping better at home, but still pops over them really hard when we jump away from home, but I was ready. Sure enough he jumped the small cross rail like it was the big oxer two jumps over! I grabbed his mane and kept my position the best I could so I wouldn't accidentally grab his mouth (which makes him jump even worse). The next time around was better, and he just kept getting better and better each time, so I was happy. 

Finally it was our turn to jump the stadium course, I always get really excited to jump a course, because I only have room for two jumps at home, so eight is super fun!! I went into the ring with a smile on my face, and a voice in my head reminding me to look up. We went over the first four jumps really well. The fifth jump had fake flowers under it, which Otis didn't like in June at Green Acres, so I was ready for him to try and refuse it. He hesitated a bit, almost stopped, then went over it. We went over the next three fences without issue. 

I was SO happy with his performance! It was our best stadium round yet, no crazy leaping, I didn't look down at every fence, it felt really good, and to top it all off we took home a second place ribbon (the girl I was tied with had a refusal in stadium).

                            

SMDA August Dressage Show

Sunday, August 5th was the fourth dressage show that Otis and I have attended this season at the Hollis Equestrian Center in Hollis, ME. My ride times were a little later than usual, so it was nice to not have to get up super early (I am NOT a morning person). I got there just in time to see my friend's Liz and Katie put in two very nice rides in Inro A, and they ended up winning First and Second place!

I got Otis and myself ready to warm up for Intro B. Otis was acting bratty, so I spent extra time walking him around the grounds before I took him into the warm up arena. I did a few trot circles and went back out to walk around to see if he would calm down at all. I didn't want to take up space in the warm up if we were just going to walk around.

When it was our turn for Intro B I went in and walked and trotted around, waiting for the judge's bell. Otis was feeling a bit fresh, but not too bad. Our test wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. He had a nice trot, but our circles were not that great. Otis was really tense, and not really paying attention, so our circles were more like squares :-/ He was pretty tense and resistent through the whole test, so I didn't have high hopes for scoring well. We ended up with a score of 63.4% and sixth place, which was better than I thought, and we got a ribbon ;-)

He wasn't much better in Intro C tense and distracted. His trot was still nice, but the canter transitions weren't so great. He even bucked a little on our second one. We got a score of 61.8% and a fourth place ribbon.

So Otis was not on his best behavior for this show, but he was still leaps and bounds ahead of where he was last year, or even at the beginning of this year, and I just need to keep reminding myself of that.



We still had fun, and we are always improving, and that's all that matters.

Dressage is #1!  (and Otis loves Reva)

Intro C - Nice trot :)

Not a bad Halt in Intro C

Photo credits go to Kate Flaherty Photography

An Eventful Dressage Show

I originally didn't have any shows scheduled for July, so I decided at the last minute to enter the dressage show put on by the Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization of Maine. This show was also affiliated with the Southern Maine Dressage Association. It was going to be a really hot day, so I was glad my ride times for both tests were early, and I would be done by 9:30am. 

Once I got Otis tacked up and myself dressed, I walked him around the grounds and to the warm up ring, it was empty so I figured I would take advantage. Once we got in there, Otis started acting like a brat, and then I heard my name announced as next! The show was running quite a bit ahead of schedule because of a few scratches. Instead of waiting until my actual ride time, I decided to just go ahead in, and do my Intro B test. That turned out to be a really good decision because Otis was AWESOME! No bratty attitude, no naughty behavior, he just went to work, and we did our test! I was so proud of him, and felt so good about our ride!

Usually I would have let Otis have a break before our next test, but they were running so ahead of schedule that I just stayed on, I needed to finish warming up and get ready for Intro C. Well.. while we were trotting around the warm up, Otis decided he had been far to good in our Intro B test. He spooked big time (at nothing of course) and I fell off!! I couldn't believe it, I was sitting in the dirt watching him buck and run away!! Luckily there were some really nice people standing near the entry of the warm up, and they caught him before he escaped. They were even nice enough to dust me off and help be back on. It was so nice of them to help me out. I was not impressed at Otis' behavior, so back to work we went. I took him over the trailer to grab a drink, and let him get a drink as well, and back to the warm up we went. I got some nice trot and canter circles out of him, and decided to call it good and walk him around the grounds until it was time for Into C. 

Otis was just as good, if not better in Intro C! His trot felt really good, much more extended and forward than it usually is, and his trot to canter transitions were much improved from last month in both directions. His walk is still way too slow, but that is something that I am working hard on at home. I exited the ring and went back to the trailer feeling really good about both of our tests. 

After getting Otis untacked and hosed off, and myself in some more comfortable clothes, it was time to wait for the results. I ended up with a  score of 62.5% and a fifth place ribbon in Intro B, and a score of 58.5% and a third place ribbon in Intro C. I was very disappointed in our scores to say the least. I felt so good about both of our rides, and was kind of deflated when I saw the score sheets. I just reminded myself to be proud of my horse, and to know that even if the scores weren't as good as last month, the rides felt better. Each judge has different opinions, and they aren't always going to match mine. 

I am just so happy that Otis has improved so much these last two shows (even if I did end up on my butt in the warm up arena). It reminds me that my hard work is finally paying off!

SMDA June Dressage Show

June 10th was the second show for the Southern Maine Dressage Association, and I entered Otis and I in the Intro B and Intro C tests again. I woke up that morning with a sore throat, and was not impressed that it seemed I had acquired my husband's cold on the morning of a horse show :( Despite the looming sickness, I loaded Otis into the trailer, and off we went.

Once I tacked Otis up and walked him around the show grounds for a bit, I decided to try the warm up arena, since there were only a few horses in there. Otis was being a bit naughty, but I was actually able to work him out of it, which was awesome! Usually once he decides to be naughty, he commits! I was very happy to be able to get some nice warm up work out of him before our first test. Wanting to end that on a good note, I left the warm up, and just walked around the outside of the show arena until it was our turn.

When we were next up for Intro B, we entered the ring and walked and trotted around the outside of the dressage arena, waiting for the judge to ring the bell. This is usually when Otis starts to get wound up, because we are suddenly all by ourselves, but this time he stayed relatively quiet :) We entered the ring at A, once the judge rang her bell, and Otis was AWESOME for the whole test!! He was calm, and willing and was just such good boy, I was so happy that he finally realized that this whole showing thing isn't really something to get so worked up about, it was like something clicked and he was just awesome! I couldn't have been happier with that test!

We had a little while before our Intro C test, so I brought Otis back to the trailer so we could both get a drink.

While we were in the ring waiting for the judge to ring the bell for our Intro C test, they announced the placings for Intro B, and we had gotten FIRST PLACE with a score of 67.2%!! I was so excited!

Here we are with our Blue Ribbon :)

As we were entering the ring to start our test for Intro C, a bicycle went by, and Otis thought it was going to eat him, and he had a mini melt down. Much to my surprise, I was able to calm him down, and get him back to normal before we entered at A and started being judged. Otis was very good for Intro C as well, we had a few little baubles in our canter transitions, which is something I have been working on at home anyways. There was even somebody just outside the arena, flapping a huge piece of plastic, trying to get their horse's ears up so they could take a picture (totally rude!) and Otis could have cared less! I was so proud of him, he usually would have used that as an excuse to act up. We ended up with a second place ribbon with a score of 65.8% for Intro C!


Otis and I had such a good day at the SMDA June show. He was such a good boy, and made SO much progress over the last show, not only in our scores, but in his attitude as well.

Green Acres Two-Phase

Otis and I went to Green Acres Stables in Madbury, NH on Saturday May 26th. I was excited to try another event, and I didn't have to leave until 9:00 am! I got there in plenty of time to find Liz, and luckily I was even able to park next to her (she had been there for quite a while before I got there).

I got Otis ready for dressage a couple of hours before our test, since we had never been to Green Acres before, I wanted plenty of time to ride him, just in case he decided to be naughty. I also wanted to ride over so I could watch part of Liz's cross country. Otis seemed pretty level headed for the amount of commotion that was going on at the show grounds. All phases of the event were in full swing by the time we got there, and there were horses and people every where. I walked him around the grounds a bit, and then decided to try the warm up arena, since there weren't many horses in there. He was doing pretty well, but there was another horse in there that would spook and bolt every time the horses on the cross country course would gallop towards the arena, and Otis decided to mirror it's reaction every time it did it. I decided to leave the warm up and rode him in the pasture area by the trailer for a few minutes. Once things calmed down in the warm up arena, I brought him back in, and I was very impressed with his behavior! I was able to get a really good warm up ride on him, so I brought him back to the trailer to chill out until it was closer to our ride time.

Otis was still being pretty good when I got back on him for our dressage test. I brought him into the dressage arena to wait for the judge to ring her bell. This was a bit different, usually we walk around the outside of the arena, but there wasn't room around the outside of this one, so we went in, and when the judge rang her bell, we went out, and then back in to start the test. I don't know whether it was the horses banging around in the trailer next to the area, or the fact that he didn't think we needed to back in the ring, but Otis completely changed his attitude when we went to start the test. When we halted at X, he start to do a little half rear! I did my best to calm him down, and the rest of our test went pretty well!

After cooling off for a bit (it was really hot out), I got changed and tacked Otis up for Stadium. I took him into the practice ring for a few minutes, then headed over to the jumping warm up. Otis was doing his normal leap over the fences, which was really frustrating, because we have been practicing a lot at home, and he hasn't been doing it there. Luckily, Liz was done for the day so she was there to talk me through it, and remind me to look up, not down at the fences. I finally got a good relaxed jump out of him, and my position was good, so I headed over to wait for my turn. We had to wait a lot longer than I thought because they let the younger kids walk the course before it was time to jump.

Finally it was our turn, we entered the ring, and did a warm up circle at the trot, Otis felt pretty good, and I was doing my best to stay relaxed, and think positive thoughts. He hesitated at the first jump, but went over it at this jarring leap. Fence number two was a bit better, but he was still doing his weird hoppy thing. Fence number three was the worst, it was a VERY small cross rail, and Otis came to a complete stop, it was so small, so I just kicked him forward, well he launched him self over the fence, causing me to lose my stirrup when we landed. I managed to get it back before fence four, which was pretty close. Things got progressively better after that, he started to relax a bit and jump more like he should. We still have a LONG WAY to go, but it was better then our stadium at UNH because I was more conscious of looking up.

Here is a video that Liz took of our stadium round, not pretty, but it's actually progress ;)

We ended up placing out of 8 riders, so I was pretty happy with that. Again, my biggest goal this year is to make progress with Otis at horse shows. I think we made really good progress in the warm up ring a this show. I was able to take him into the warm up ring, and actually do a good warm up with him, with out him giving me his bratty little attitude he has. Even though I had hoped for a better, more relaxed stadium round, we still made progress there as well.

First Dressage Show of the Year

Otis and I went to the Hollis Equestrian Park on Sunday May 6th for the first Southern Maine Dressage Association show of the season. This year I signed up as a member, not only to support the club, but to try and earn some points as well.

Otis was pretty chill when we got there, which was good. I pulled him off the trailer and immediately started getting him ready, I wanted plenty of time for warm up just in case his chill mood decided to wear off. Otis kept pretty much the same attitude after I got on him. I walked him around the show grounds for a while, and then decided to take him into the warm up arena, there weren't that many horses in there, and I wanted to see how he would act. He was really good! We walked and trotted for a while, and I decided to end it on a good note, and just walk him around outside of the arena until it was time for our first test.

Our first test was Intro B, which we have done four times now, so I wasn't too nervous, especially since Otis was being so good. As we entered the ring to wait for the judge's bell, he started acting up. I think it was a combination of my nerves, and a trailer that had just pulled in with three big horses stomping around inside. He was pretty tense through out the whole test. When we halted at X for the beginning of the test, he took a step sideways, and he cantered a few times, which is not good, there is no cantering in Intro B! So we ended up with third place out of three, and a score of 56.9% So we definitely have a lot of room to improve our score on that test this summer!


Our next test was Intro C, which I have never done before, and involves a partial canter circle in each direction. I was a bit nervous for this one, because it has a lot more movements to remember and I didn't want to forget my test! I had studying it quite a bit in the weeks leading up to the show, and Liz tested me on it just before my ride time, so I was ready. Otis was a bit tense for this test as well, he did a weird rear/hop/jump thing just before we entered at A, so that was a great start :-/ As the test progressed, he relaxed a little more. In the first few strides of our fist canter circle, he did what felt like a buck, but in the judges comments, it said he swapped his lead behind. After he got that out of his system our test went much better. I left the ring feeling really good about our ride, especially considering we have never done that test before. We ended up placing fourth out of six with a score of 62.3%

Enter at A...with attitude!

Overall I felt really good about this show, even though we didn't get that great of scores, Otis made process with his naughty horse show attitude. He stayed calm most of the day, and we were even able to got into the warm up arena successfully!

Looking a bit Better in this photo :)

UNH Two Phase

This past Sunday, the 15th, Otis and I traveled to The University of New Hampshire with Liz and Dreamy for a two phase put on by the students of the UNH equine program. This was our first show for 2012, and it was a bit earlier in the season than I was planning on, but when Liz mentioned that she was going, I figured why not?! I had planned on doing a few two phases this summer anways, so why not start the season with one?

After wathcing Liz and Dreamy do their dressage test, I started getting Otis and myself ready for our dressage test. The dressage arenas are down the road from where the trailer was parked, and Otis seemed to think I was taking him to the land of horsey torture! He kept whinnying for Dreamy, or any horse that would listen, and the farther down the road we got, the louder and longer his calls became. This wasn't looking good. Once we reached the dressage area, I decided to just let Oits stand around a bit to see if he would calm down. This didn't seem like it was going to happen, so I brought him across the street into a dirt parking lot, where we were farther away from all the horses and commotion. He seemed to calm down a little bit, but not much... After a few minutes I took him into the warm up arena.. big mistake... He wouldn't even walk.. he was just a big ball of nervous energy, and would only jog/prance. I decided to take him out of the warm up arena, and just let him stand around until it was time for our test. When it was our turn, I walked him over to the arena and walked him around the outside while I waited for the judge's bell. He was still being naughty, and not paying attention, so I was just hoping we could make it through our test without him bucking or exploding! The judge range his bell and down the center line we went. When I asked for the halt at X, Otis decided that he would start backing up! NOT GOOD! He was very tense through the whole test, and only relaxed a bit during the free walk. I wasn't very impressed with our ride, but had to keep telling myself that it is only April, and it was our first show of the season.

We had a little bit of time before stadium, so I had some lunch and watched Liz and Dreamy do a clean round in stadium and win their division! By then the dressage scores for my division were posted, and much to my surprise, we were in second place!

I got Otis tacked up for stadium and walked him down to the arena. He was much calmer, so I decided to skip taking him into the indoor to warm him up, I figured I would risk getting him all round up again, and the our jumps were very small cross rails, so it wasn't like I was going to risk him getting injured by not warmning him up. When it was our turn, we went into the arena, and did a small trot circle before we started the course. He was a bit excited, but not nearly as bad as the dressage. When we approached our fist jump, he started to refuse, but then jumped it, quite a bit bigger than he needed to. Our statium round wasn't pretty, due to the fact that I have a terrible habit of looking down at the jump, which throws both Otis and I off balance. Despite my bad habbits, (that I am working on) we made a clean round, and kept our second place standing!!

I was so excited that we placed, because the last two events I did, we got eliminated, so my main goal for the day was to just not get eliminiated, and we did it!!My long term goals for this summer are to get Otis so that he can deal with the warm up arena. I want to be able to get on him and warm him up at a show, instead of just standing around to keep him calm. Overall I had a really good time at the UNH two phase, and I can't wait to do more this summer!!

Otis and I with our ribbon