Wednesday, September 24, 2014

A Great Last Minute Decision!

So I know in my last post I said I was done showing for the season. It felt weird to be done in August and to not be sending in my entry for the September show. I kept reminding myself how stressed I was about the September show in the past because of how busy work gets, and how my riding time dwindles in the fall. Well, an email from the SMDA president stating that due to low entry numbers, they had extended the closing date for the show was all it took to change my mind.

The morning of the show was a beautiful Fall like morning. I got up and fed Otis and went back out a bit later to braid his mane, it was nice to not be sweating my butt off while braiding!

It had warmed up a little bit by the time we got to the show grounds, but I was actually glad to put my dressage coat on for once!

Otis was kind of a brat at first in the warm up, I think the cool weather had him feeling a bit frisky. We warmed up for a bit longer than usual and he calmed down enough to focus on what we needed to do.

He was good for the first half of our Training 2 test, but towards the second half he decided he didn't have quite so much energy as he thought and he started to get a bit lazy. I wasn't feeling so great when we saluted at the end of our test due to some sloppy transitions, Otis was anticipating everything, I feel like he can read my mind sometimes. I am preparing for the next movement in my mind, but my body must convey that to him because he always seems to know before I really ask. We had to transition from canter down to trot between B and F in training two, well we get to B and I start thinking about a downward transition, and he trots just before B.. gahhh... I guess I need to learn to keep my thoughts in my head, unless he really can read my mind.. ha ha. We ended up winning Training 2 with a score of 67.3%
Training 2

There were only two horses in between my Training 2 ride and my Training 3 ride so I stayed on and watched the first Training 3 rider go, just to make sure I had the test memorized. Otis decided to start acting naughty so I took him back in the warm up ring. He was really bad at first, but started to listen a little better after a few minutes. We entered the ring for Training 3 and I was just hoping he would behave himself. Well our ride was awesome! He was such a good boy, he really paid attention and our transitions felt so much better than in Training 3. I just really tried to focus as much as possible on the test and give Otis the best aids I could, and the entire test felt awesome! At that point I didn't care how we placed, it was a solid test for us and felt like a much better way to end the season than our lest show. We won the class with a score of 72.8%! Our highest score in our dressage career! That score also earned us high point senior of the day!

Here is a video of my Training 3 ride. (I think my husband forgot he was taking a video, because Otis and I leave the frame a couple of times.. LOL)

I am so glad I decided to enter this show. I wasn't feeling so great about our August show, and this show gave us a little confidence boost. I am hoping to squeeze a few lessons in this fall, and we will see what Spring brings. (First Level??)

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

SMDA July and August Dressage Shows

I am going to condense our las two shows into one post because neither was very eventful (good or bad).

Otis was kind of a brat for our July show. He was just very bracey and on the forehand and wasn't really listening very well. He was just sort of "there". He wasn't bring outright bad, he was just kind of doing the minimum, of what I was asking of him. We got a 64% and a second place in Training 2 and a 65% and a fifth place (out of a big class of 7) in Training 3.

He was better behaved for our August show but we actually scored better in our July show. Part of the reason for this is he decided to spook at something just after a canter transition in our Training 2 test, he went back down to a trot, so we had to regroup and pick up the canter again, resulting in only a 4 for that movement, the rest of our test was mostly 7's so if it hadn't been for that stupid spook we would have done much better. We got a 60% and a second place ribbon.

He was more attentive in our Training 3 test but had become very lazy so our tempo was not so good, as I had to keep urging him on to pick up the pace. He has also been very stiff to the left lately, which resulted in some 5.5 on our loops. We did however get an 8 on our free walk, so that was good! We got a 61.8% and a third place ribbon.

I ended the day feeling kind of discouraged, our scores weren't that great and we seem to be regressing this year as compared to last year. I have to remind myself that we are doing more difficult tests this year, and haven't had the funds to take as many lessons this summer. I have a lesson coming up this weekend, so hopefully that will put things back into perspective. This was my last planned dressage show for the year, and I want focus our time and money on taking lessons for the rest of the summer so we can get back to where we need to be so we can hopefully move up to First Level next year. Depending on things go, I'm thinking we will do Training 3 and First 1 next year.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Hot!

It was a very hot day for the second SMDA dressage show of the season. My friend Lydia came along so that was fun, and she was also able to hand me my coat just before I entered the ring so I didn't have to wear it for very long. She was a HUGE help!

Otis wasn't feeling like being a show pony in this hot weather so he was a bit resistant and not as attentive as usual. He seemed to be paying a bit more attention once we started our Training 2 test, but as we rounded the corner at C he spooked at an umbrella (that we had already walked by multiple times). We were able to recover quickly and finished the rest of our test. He was still a bit resistant through the test but we ended up with a first place ribbon and a score of 65.99% much to my surprise! This was a couple points higher than our score in May so I was feeling better about our ride after that.

Otis was much better for Training 3. Both of our halts were pretty crooked, but I know we need to work on those. The rest of the test was pretty good and we ended up with a second place ribbon and a score of 69.8%! I was SO HAPPY with that score, such huge improvement over our 64.4% score from May.

Even though it was a super hot day, we still had fun, and I am just so happy with our progress!

Monday, May 19, 2014

2014 First Show of the Season

We had our first show of the season on May 18th, an SMDA show at the Hollis Equestrian Park. Since we did so well in Intro C and Training 1 last year, it was time to move up to Training 2 and Training 3 this year.

I was very nervous that I was going to forget the new tests even though I spent weeks memorizing them. New tests always make me nervous, so my main goal for the day was to just remember my tests.

I got Otis ready and hopped on to warm up for Training 2. He was pretty good in the warm up and for the test. He has started to do the "head wag" thing again and when I collected the reins to transition from free walk to medium walk he tried to pull the reins out of my hands. These are both things he has been doing at home, and we have been working on them. Besides the resitence to the bit he did pretty well, nice transitions, and best of all, I didn't forget the test! I defintely didn't feel like it was our best ride, but considering I was probably focused more on the test than I was on my aids, I didn't feel too terrible about it. We ended up placing first with a score of 63.8%. Not the best score but not bad considering it was our first time doing that test.

We had a more solid Training 3 test, I felt more conifdent in my memory of this test so I was more helpful to Otis this time. He was still doing the head wag thing but didn't pull on the reins when I collected them to transition from free walk to medium walk. Our canter transitions felt great and he had a nice forward marching free walk. We ended up with a first place ribbon and a score of 64.4%.

It was a great first show with beautiful weather. I plan to work on getting Otis more accepting of the bit and getting my hands steadier so the head wag will stop. Hopefully I can fit in a couple of lessons with Judy before the next show so we can improve our scores.

Showing off his winnings

Waiting our turn for Training 2
 Some beautiful photos of our Training 2 ride by Elena Raymond Phtography




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