Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Bad Blogger


I'm usually much better at sticking to a new project so I'm not really sure how it can be a full month since my last blog. Well, it might have something to do with how BUSY I've been on the farm (mowing and riding), at work (working and many business trips) and eating and sleeping some of the time!

Let's see...I survived the Loch Moy show with a less than stellar score thanks to really messing up the last two movements of the test which were double coeffs. I actually took an error and re-did on the movements, which didn't help my score any, but hopefully will pay off in future shows when Ness blows off an aid because she "is in a test."

I loved the way she warmed up at the show and I had many compliments from my PVDA buddies who hadn't seen me ride in a few years. We nailed all the lateral work and changes and the walk pirouettes weren't as bad as they could be. I was more than a little excited that I would be riding my first test in eons where I was required to enter in collected canter. Fourth Level, here we are!

Down the centerline and we are off! The halt was OK except I felt Ness swing her haunches to the left in the halt. My right leg dominates too much so I need to work on this more. But I scored a 6 and that was fine. The medium trot/collected trot movement couldn't have been better! We got a 7 on that which I thought was a little stingy. The trot half passes felt great but the judge didn't think we had enough bend. I got severely dinged with 5s on both. The extended trot also felt pretty nice, the judge thought a little hurried, and we earned a 6 on that. The shoulder in/rein back/shoulder in sequence earned all 6s. The halt felt square but the RB was not diagonal so we lost some points there.

The damn walk pirouettes were 5s--she stepped back in the one to the right and wide in the one to the left. Some more 6s and 7s on the rest of the walk work and the transition to canter. And then the "fun" began. Ness, being the overachiever that she is, knew the half pass was coming and I had a hard time preventing her haunches from leading. While this is a better problem than I used to have of not being able to move the haunches at all, the net result was a 4. I thought this was harsh but it is what it is. Another 4 for the half pass to the left--now her poll was too low. Got scores of 7s in the counter canter and flying changes in between. The very collected canter on the circle was only a 5 because I lost both the straightness and roundness in the circle. A costly double coeff.

At this point in the test, I could feel Ness was getting more tense and more behind my leg. If only schooling at home, I would've done some 10 meter circles to get her poll up and sitting more on her hind end. But in a test, you have to ride the next movement, and fortunately these were the last two of the test--the flying changes on the two short diagonals. I can chuckle about this now recounting it, but at the time, I wanted to clobber my dear, sweet, domineering mare.

The first change is from right to left and always, always, always, our easier change. I rode towards L with great confidence and slid my right leg back (you know, the one that works!!), half halted on the right rein and ...... NOTHING. Ness completely ignored the aid which I repeated again and again until we almost reached B. Now we are practically at B in the counter canter about to get a ZERO (double coeff) for the movement. Thinking quickly, I circled for the error and attempted the movement again. Again, she blew off the aid, but now I was prepared to back it up with both spur and whip. SQUEAL! BUCK! SQUEAL! We got a rather boisterous change and a 3. I was a bit discombulated, and frankly not feeling very confident, when I asked for the second change, which earned a 4 (x2) and the comment, "not through." A 6 on our final c/l and halt and we are now done with Fourth Level test 1. The collectives were 7 on gaits, 6 on impulsion, 5 on submission (thanks, Ness!) and a 6 on rider. End result was a 55% with a judge known to be less-than-generous. In fact, she did not hand out a score more than 61% in Fourth Level and above all day. The up side of all of this, is we can improve on everything and I was just stoked to be in the arena, looking like I belonged somewhat, and actually *thinking* in the test, rather than deer-in-the-headlights riding through it.

Missy came down for a clinic at my farm September 20 & 21. It was a blast and I was happy to show Missy how Ness works at home, as well as introduce her to many of my friends who rode in the clinic, too. The big insight in the clinic was glueing my inside elbow to my hip in the half pass to really anchor those inside aids for better bend.

Next up: Siobhan rides Ness in the Steffen Peters clinic this weekend. I'm so excited for all 3 of us. Steffen typically rides every horse the first day. I will definitely get pictures and video!!

1 comment:

  1. Shari, you should do some posts about how you achieve such beautiful photographs of your horses and dogs. Also, discuss the equipment you have, and maybe what you still would like. I would love to get into photography. Also, I saw some of your photos somewhere, recently. ;)

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