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??)

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.

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!

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

An end to an amazing show season

Sunday September 15th was the last SMDA dressage show of the season as well as Otis and I's last show of the season. I was hoping to do the Pipestave event in October, but work just gets too busy this time of year, and I don't get to ride enough.

Otis had been having some left lead canter issues the last couple of times I had ridden him so I was thinking our last show of the season might be a bust. He just didn't want to canter in that direction at all, and when he finally would it was horrible. I even squeezed in a lesson the day before the show and he wasn't any better. He is usally a perfect angel at our lessons, so I started to worry that there might be something physical causing him to not want to pick up the canter. I figured I had already paid my money, so there was no point in scratchinig, I would go to the show and see how it went. We had done SO WELL all Summer, it would be okay if we had a bad show.

Otis was on his best behavior at the show, and was a really good boy in the warm up. He picked up the canter much better than the last few times I rode him, so I figured we might actaully do okay in our tests. He was great for Intro C, not the greatest canter transitions we have done, but not horrible either. We ended up winning Intro C!

He was just as good in Training 1 with the same okay canter transitions. There were quite a few people in Training 1 so after I got Otis untacked and everything packed away, I went to the ring to watch some tests. I saw a girl put in a flawless (to my eyes) Training 1 test on a beautiful buckskin horse and I knew she would win it. I was right, she placed first, and I placed third. I'm not sure who placed second, I didn't see her go so she must have gone while I was warming up, or while I was untacking.

Overall I we did MUCH better than I thought we were going to. We actually finished the year the same way we started, with a first and a third. I am hoping the canter issues were just Otis' typical fall naughtiness and that he doesn't have a physicall problem. I haven't had much time to ride him lately but when I do he seems fine and he has no problems running and bucking in his pasture. I want to start taking lessons ASAP next Spring so if the problem resurfaces we can get it taken care of right away.

Otis and I are really having fun learning about dressage and competing. I am very happy with what we accomplished this Summer!

Yee Haw!

After competing in five two phases since we started eventing in 2011, I finally felt ready to try another three phase horse trial. Our first horse trial in 2011 didn't go so well. Otis and I both got VERY nervous in the cross country phase and ended up getting eliminated due to too many refusals. Competing in the two phases and practicing at home, our confidence level has really gotten better.

The horse trial was August 18th at Hilltop Equestrian Center. This is the same place we did our first horse trial, and have competed in a two phase there as well. It is a really nice venue, and I always enjoy showing here.

I arrived at the show a couple of hours before my dressage time becasue I wanted to be able to walk the cross country course before they started the cross country rounds for the day. There were 14 jumps on the course, 7 of them were in the field, 5 of them were in the woods, and the last two were out in another field. There were a couple that looked a little scary. Fence 5 we had to come at from up a hill, so it looked bigger than it was, and fence 11 looked much higher than the 18" max of the pre-elemenary division, but I told myself we woud be fine. When I jumped the course though, I was surprised to see that they had taken the top log out of the fence and it was MUCH smaller than when I walked the course. I recorded the course on my new CourseWalk app so it can be seen here. The course itself was easy to remember, but it was nice to be able to look at pictures of the jumps in the order that I would be jumping them. I think this app would be even handier for the higher levels with more complicated courses.

Otis was very good for the dressage warm up and our test, so I was feeling pretty good about the day. Once we were done with dressage I changed my clothes and changed Otis' tack so we could get warmed up for cross country. While I was getting changed they announced that the dressage scores for my division were being posted, I resisted the urge to go look at them so that I could get ready in plenty of time for cross country and not have to hurry.

Otis was really good in the warm up for cross country. No crazy deer hoping over the jumps! He did look down at the practice log when we jumped it the first time, but went over it fine after that. I felt really confident and ready to go when it was our turn. We were counted down and off we went! Otis was a little nervous/excited as we headed down into the field, but he jumped fences one through four no problem. He tried to refuse fence five, which is the one I thought looked a bit scary, so I guess he agreed. It was a small enough fence, so I just kicked him over it. This worked him up a bit so he jumped fence six a bit bigger than he needed to. By the time we reached fence seven, he was okay and jumping great again. He got a bit worked up as we heaeded into the woods for the rest of the course, but we just cantered along like we would on the trails at home. He got a bit squrimy as we approached the fences in the woods, but I kept him between my legs and he sailed over them no problem! We finished the rest of the course no problem and we galloped through the finish cones up the hill to head back to the trailer. It was SO MUCH FUN!! I had goose bumps when we finished! I was so proud that we not only finished the course clean, but we did it well, and improved SO MUCH from the first time we tried cross country.

We had a couple of hours before our stadium phase, so I untacked Otis, hosed him down and let him have some hay and water. I walked up to look at the dressage scores and we were in the lead!

It was finally time to tack up for stadium and Otis was still feeling nice and relaxed when I got on. I jumped him over a few of the warm up jumps and he was still being awesome. I decided to give him a break and just walk around the grounds while I waited for it to be time to jump the course. Stadium was running a bit behind so we had to wait a lot longer than I had planned. When it got closer to our turn I jumped Otis over the warm up fences a few more times just to wake him up. He jumped the course great. We were both feeling sleepy from standing around in the sun so we could have done better, but we went clean with no refuslas and no knock downs. This meant that we kept our first place stanidng and got to take home a blue ribbon!

My main goal for the day was to be successful in cross country with no major mishaps. Not only did we accomplish that goal, but we went clean in both cross country and stadium, and received an excellent dressage score. Otis and I were both pooped by the time it was time to go home, but what a fun day! If I thought I was hooked on eventing before, I deinitely am now!

A sleepy Otis proudly displaying his ribbon!

Southern Maine Dressage Association August Show

What a beautiful day for a show! Sunday August 4th was the third Southern Maine Dressage Association show that Otis and I have attended this season. It was an absolutely gorgeous Summer day with sunshine and very little humidity.

After I had gotten Otis and I ready, I got on and started to walk around the grounds before we went into the warm up arena. Not a few steps past the trailer, and we run into our awesome instructor Judy! I was excited to see her since a flat tire ruined my plans to take a lesson with her the Friday before the show. She had trailered a horse in for somebody, and was going to be there long enough to see my Intro C test. I had a fleeting moment of feeling the extra pressure to do well for Judy, but that quickly went away. I thought it would be great to see all of our hard work put to use, and also give us some things to work on when we finally can make it back to her farm for a lesson.

Otis was great for Intro C. Our trot to walk transition wasn't the greatest partly because I didn't properly prepare him, and the other part is Otis is lazy and can't wait to walk, so he is very abrupt in is transitions. He has also started doing his "nose wag" thing again, which Judy said we could work on in our lessons. Overall he was very good, with great canter transions, and a very willing attitutde. We ended up placing first with a score of 68.75%!

We had almost two hours in between Intro C and Training 1 so I tied Otis back to the trailer and loosend his girth so he could have some hay and water.

I was hoping Otis would still be nice and calm after his long break, and when I got on him to warm up for Training 1, I was happy to find that he was. He was just as good for Training 1 as he was for Intro C. He got a bit strong in one of our transitions from canter down to trot, but his trot to walk transition was much better this time. We were the last to go in the Training 1 division before lunch break, so we didn't have to wait long to find out that we had won with a score of 67.71%.

We ended up improving on our scores in both tests as compared to the June show, and that is always my main goal, to improve my scores. Otis and I are really getting into a partnership at shows and it feels really good to have all of our hard work, sweat, and tears pay off! We only have two more shows in our calendar for this year, a horse trial in a couple of weeks, and the last SMDA of the season on September 15th. I am kind of sad about that... I may have to find more ;-)

Pipestave Horse Trials

Otis and I competed in our first event of the season on July 7th at the Pipestave Hill Horse Trials in West Newbury, MA. We entered the "Grasshopper" two phase division since we have not yet had a chance to school cross country. I really want to do some schooling before we enter another three phase.

We trailered in with my friend Liz who was in the beginner novice division so we got to the show grouds a while before our 11:00 dressage time. It was going to be a super hot day so we parked the horses in a shady spot near some trees and I set Otis up with his hay net and some water.

Otis had never been to this venue before, so I walked him around the grounds a bit and then walked him over to one of the dressage rings to watch Liz and Dreamy perform a lovely test.

Once it was time for us to get ready for dressage I peeled on my breeches, tacked Otis up, and gulped some gatorade. Otis was a bit tense and disctracted in the warm up, but otherwise very well behaved. I walked him over to the dressage ring to wait our turn, and got to see Liz and Dreamy jump their final jump in their cross country round. Otis was very good for our dressage test. He was still a bit disctracted looking at all of the sites and sounds, so it wasn't one of our best tests, but he was very good. We ended up in first place at the end of the dressage round!

We had three hours in between our dressage and the scheduled time for stadium but I noticed they were running about a half hour ahead of schedule so I tacked Otis up early so if we got the chance to jump early we could head home earlier than planned.

He did a pretty huge bunny hop over our first practice fence, but was really good for the rest. It was so hot out, so I didn't want to over do it in the warm up. I told the ring steward we were ready to go, and waited our turn. Otis was awesome for the staduium course. He bunny hopped the first jump, but did the rest of them really well. He was getting a bit crooked in between the fences, but I was able to straighten him out in time to make it over the fences. I think he was just getting really excited everytime he landed that he wasn't really paying attention to where we were going next! I exited the ring with a big smile on my face! What a fun round!

With our clean stadium round we were able to stay in first place and take home a blue ribbon! Despite the heat we had such a fun day, and I am defintely ready to do some more eventing this summer! There is a cross country and stadium schooling day coming up in a couple of weeks at this same venue, so I am hoping to attend that, and hopefully enter a three phase in August!

Otis showing off his ribbon!

Boot Troubles

I am going to venture out of my normal horse show blog posting to share some tips I have found out when you have boot troubles.

The Wednesday before my last horse show the zipper broke on my tall boots. The shoe repair place takes a week to replace a zipper, so I was kind of in a panic! I posted to my Facebook to see if any of my friends had any suggestions for a temporary fix. One of them suggested electrical tape, and even though I was afraid the stickiness might be hard to get off of my boot, it was the best thing I could think of... UNTIL... I thought of black vet wrap!

I bought some black vet wrap at tractor supply and used it to secure by boot around my leg. The only draw back was it was pretty sticky and stuck to my saddle a little to good. It made it hard to properly cue Otis as to what I was asking, so we had a few baubbles at our show. I did find that rubbing a bit of show sheen on the vet wrap help that issue a little bit.

Now that my boots have been dropped off to be repaired, I needed something to ride in while they are gone. The only other boot I have are my western boots. These are pretty much every day shoes for me, but they don't work very well with an english saddle because they are not tall enough, the saddle flap gets stuck in the boot. Enter the least expensive half chaps I could find. They fit over my western boots, and voila.. I have "english" riding boots again! My english spurs even fit on my western boots!

So hopefully this post may be of help to someone that finds themselves in the panic that I found myself in just days before a horse show with broken boots, because there was no way I was going to scratch and lose my entry fee over that! I was prepared to try and do my dressage test with western boots on if I had to..Ha ha!!

Movin' On Up!

Sunday, June 9th was the second show of the season for SMDA at the Hollis Equestrian Park. I entered Otis and I in Into C and Training 1.

Otis was a VERY good boy all day long. He didn't have any naughty moments at all. We went into the warm up ring three or four times through out the day and he never had an issue. I think he is finally starting to realize that it is just easier if he is good ;-)

Otis was awesome in Intro C. He was really paying attention to me and wasn't nearly as tense as he usually is. We had a couple of mistakes that were completely avoidable, but they were 100% my fault. A couple of days beofre the show, the zipper on one of my boots broke, so I used black vet wrap to hold it together. The vet wrap stuck to my saddle so well that I had to keep moving my foot too much to get it unstuck, and Otis mistook this for a cue to do something. When we were going across the diagnal he thought I asked him to canter, so we got a 4 on that movement for having a few canter strides. He also started trotting too soon when we went from walk to trot towards the end of the test. Even with these mistakes we still received a score of 67.5% and a first place ribbon.

Training 1 was next, I was excited and a little bit nervous to finally try Training Level. Otis was again awesome for this test. He took the wrong canter lead in our first canter circle but I corrected him immeidately, so we only got a 4.5 for a score on our first canter. I got a little too worked up I think about making sure I didn't forget my test that I was hurried when asking Otis to do the different movements. Had I calmed down and taken my time we would have done much better. I can't fault Otis for trying to figure out what the heck I wanted, he was just trying to listen and be good. I was a little mad at myself when I left the ring after Training 1, Otis was SO GOOD, and I let him down by getting too nervous and not fully preparing him for what was coming up next, but it was still a good ride and I felt pretty good about our first time doing the test.

When they announced the scores I realized that maybe I had been too hard on myself, we placed first out of five riders with a score of 65.83%. I was so EXCITED! To place first in both tests, one of which we had never done before felt SO GOOD. I think I am going to stick with Intro C and Training 1 for the rest of the season, that way we can really work on each movement, and get really good at each teast and then next year we can do Training 1 and 2, or maybe even 2 and 3 depending on how the rest of the year goes.

Otis and I with our ribbons

Starting the Season off Right!

Sunday May 5th was the first show of the season for Otis and I. We went to the Hollis Equestrian Park for the Southern Maine Dressage Association's first show of 2013.

My goal had originally been to do Training 1 and 2 at this show, but Otis and I had kind of a rocky start to the spring, so I entered Intro B and C instead. The fact that Spring seemed to take FOREVER to arrive gave us a late start getting ready for shows, so I opted to do testes that I am familiar with for our first show.

When I got on Otis to warm up for Intro B he seemed pretty calm for our first show of the year. Last year at our first show, I couldn't even warm him up at all is was so wound up, so I was very happy with this improvemnt. I walked him around the grounds for a bit so he could see the sights, and then headed for the warm up arena. On our way to the warm up a small child ran up behind Otis, which scared him a bit. That combined with some people playing lacrosse down in the cross country course kind of unsettled him a bit. I took him out behind my trailer and rode him around there for a bit and he calmed right down. I am very happy that he is starting to realized that it's okay to be scared, but that it's also possible to recover from being scared and get to work.

I was feeling pretty good when it was our turn for Intro B. The judge rang the bell just after I passed A, so I turned Otis around to head into the arena. Just as we were rounding the corner for A, he spooked at "something" and I thought I might fall off for a split second. Thankfully we were able to pull it together before we passed A and started being judged. Otis was REALLY good for the entire test. He was a little bit tense, and the judge told me I needed to make my circles rounder and less egg shaped, but other wise I was VERY happy with our test. We ended up with 3rd place out of 6 people and a score of 69.38%.

I got some really good canter transitions in the warm up ring before Intro C, so I was feeling pretty good as I entered thing ring. Otis was even better for Intro C. I actually got so excited thinking about how good he was being that I almost forgot my test! I was just trotting along grinning like an idiot, when all of a sudden, I realized... DUH your doing a fricken dressage test..20 meter circle at B!! Luckily I snapped into it just in time, and didn't go off course! As we were heading down the center line to finish our test, Otis tripped just as we were halting and he pulled the reins out of my hands... so not such a great end to a wonderful test, but he tripped, can't fault him for that.  We ended up with 1st place out of 3 people with a 71.5% for that test!! Even with a 5 on our final halt, we got a 71.5!

Needless to say, I decided it was time to try Training level in June. I signed up for Intro C and Training 1 for the June show. I figure Intro C will be a good warm up/relaxer for us before we try Training 1 for the first time.

Wating our turn. He's so cute with his braids.

Our third place ribbon from Intro B

With both of our ribbons

Otis with his fro after I took his braids out! Love it!

I'm Back..

So I had moved my blog over to WordPress becasue they have an iPad app and Blogger did not. Well Blogger has an iPad app now, so I'm back to Blogger :-)

Recap of 2012 and Goals for 2013

I would have to say that 2012 was a great year for Otis and I. We tried a lot of new things, we had a lot of ups and downs, but overall we had a lot of fun! I always say what's the point if your not having fun?!

Otis made a lot of progress during the 2012 show season, he went from acting like a complete crazy horse at the UNH two phase in April, to a perfect gentleman at the September SMDA dressage show (our last show for 2012). Not to say that there weren't some bumps on the way (can't forget him dumping me off in the practice arena at the July SMDA/SPHO dressage show...) but I am really happy with how we have both progressed. I think it is safe to say that we even improved a bit in the stadium phase of eventing. Otis isn't launching himself over the jumps as much, and I think I have improved a tiny bit on my looking down problem.

We even won some year end awards to remember this year by! We received Reserve Champion in Intro Dressage from the Maine Horse Association, Seventh Place in Intro B and Fourth Place in Intro C from the Southern Maine Dressage Association, Third Place in Intro Dressage and an American Paint breed award from the Maine Dressage Society. It was really fun to go to all of the awards banquets and get big pretty ribbons for all of our hard work. ;)

I have a few goals for the 2013 show season. I want to start taking lessons as soon as possible, as I would really like to move up to training level at the SMDA shows this year. I would also like to take some jumping lessons, and do some cross country schooling. I really enjoyed doing the two phases last year, but I am dying to do cross country again. I do however, know that Otis and I both need to gain some confidence before we try another competition.

Our 2012 ribbons displayed on the mantel. To me these ribbons signify that we placed in every class we entered, and did not get eliminated once!  ;-)

These are our 2012 year end awards

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.