Training Level Dressage

We officially have shown training level- at least a schooling show level. Just two weeks after our slightly disastrous test then somewhat respectable re-do (and just a day after going horse camping at a cross country schooling facility) we tried our first training level tests together.

I actually had asked my dressage coach to come out to warm us up. I figured with the approaching move, this may be my last show for a while, and wanted to make the most of it. A last minute horse emergency meant that she couldn't make it. While I think she could have gotten us stretching over the topline if she had been there, we did really about as good as we could!

First off, this was my third, and potentially LAST try at these braids. These pics were after the two tests, so I'd like to say the braids looked better at the beginning. But CLEARLY I need to change something. I refuse to pull her luscious pony mane because I see no point. So I need to braid to accommodate this. Maybe a few videos to refresh my technique might help, maybe I need to go Andalusian style and braid the mane long instead of shortened? Maybe I'll just roach the thing and be done with braiding forever? I think this last one might work slightly better for eventing than USDF rated tests that I hope to get to.

 Any way, the tests both went quite well. I had never done Training Test 2 before, so it was nice to get that under my belt.

She was very good in this arena too! It can be quite echoey with the birds up in the rafters. Although I had been there twice with Bear, Lola had never been to this place before.

We got some 7's and 7.5's on our trot work. Our free walk was not as good as it usually is, and lately I've been getting some stretch but no real over track. She'd rather take the chance to look like a deflating balloon strung out and pokey.

As expected, her canter departs and quality received some comments about needing improvement, but I already know that. I just keep plugging away, and little by little the red mare is figuring it out. The left is especially hard as she doesn't bend to the inside so easily that direction.

Her canter to the right actually got a 7 on our second test, and her downward transition to the trot even got a 7.5 Notes were well balanced with good bend (Well, yes, that's the direction that she LIKES to bend!)  I'll take it though! Even if it is a slightly generous schooling show score.

I do have to remind myself that despite the canter work not being what I'd like, it is still so much improved from what she has naturally, and what it was even a few months before.

We ended up with almost a 66% on each test, but definitely landed us in the mid-60's which was my goal for these first tests. We really didn't get much out of our stretchy trot or our free walk, so those are two clear places to improve on before trying training level at a rated show. 

 

Of course the fun of schooling shows is having similar level competitors. So my 65's were good enough to get me two blue ribbons and some horse cookies!

 

Training Level Test 1 Video

Training Level Test 2 Video

Davis Derby Part 2

Jumping

With our disastrous, and then respectable do-over dressage test behind us, it was on to jumping.

This was the first time I had jumped her on grass since she came back from her lease last fall. (Our cross country course at the jumping trainers was not yet open for the season). So I was surprised how much "ambition" to tackle this course! She was on a mission!

Round 1- Elementary height

Fence 1

Fence 2

Fence 3

Fence 4

 Fence 5















Fence 6

 Fence 7 was a cool skinny with a branch as the rail, so I'm sad we didn't get a picture.

Fence 8 


Fence 9 must have been missed too, but i love these canter shots.

 Fence 10

Round 2 BN height

Following the "its just a schooling show" logic, it makes perfect sense that if one course went great, the other would crash and burn!!!

Fence 1 was fine

Fence 2: this where it all went wrong

This spook/freak-out/refusal starting happening WELL before the fence. And then went backwards!

But we got over it second try.

Think this was jump 4, so we must have successfully jumped # 3 in between, but this rolltop was also insanely scary (not really, and certainly nothing she hadn't jumped before) however this lovely shot is our second approach.

Fence 5

Fence 6

Now for 7A&B: A was the ditch seen here.

B was the picket fence that she has clearly launched herself over! This was actually our courtesy fence, because we were officially excused from the class when she launched herself over 7a (ditch) and then panicked and ran out once she saw 7b was right there. Third refusal, thank you, please leave the arena before you run out of luck and fall off! Of course I begged one last try at the jump we just missed. I took it without A, and told her that it was now MY idea that the course was over.

She didn't need to know there was another 3 jumps. And I really was ok leaving it at that. You've got to pick your battles. She is a whole new horse after being gone, and I had accustomed myself to riding Bear (a whole different attitude and jumping approach), AND neither of us were really fit for the task yet. And based on her insane leaps over the jumps in an effort to tell me just how much she resented me making her jump them, I wasn't positive that she wouldn't eventually jump me out of the tack. Oh well. We have work, what's new? If it were easy, we'd be bored, right?

I chose to remember the fun of her going through the elementary course and after every fence she really felt like she was asking, "Ok, what next? That one? Oh, heck ya! I'm gonna jump it!!!" I had such buy-in from her, it was great.

Davis Derby Part 1

The UC Davis Derby (spring and fall) has been one of my favorite outings for my horses. So April rolled around and we all got busy about getting our horses out to a few jumping lessons to prep. I had been far more regular in my dressage lessons, so I had high hopes for that part.

This was our first outing in the new (used KN) dressage saddle, new bridle, and our second attempt at round fluffy rosette braids.

I felt pretty darn good going in! Good warm up, felt prepared, and unexpectedly our test started out with 6.5's, 7's, and I think even one 8.

Who would have thought that this thoroughly prepared and thoughtfully groomed horse/rider combo could do anything but a decent to above average test?

But then in the middle of our free walk we had huge spook sideways moment. I'm thinking at this point I probably made it worse. I usually do in tense situations!

 

We then had a terrible spook spin when we tried to pick up the canter, each time we tried to pick up the canter, and at least one halfhearted buck when I popped her with the whip.

 This was about where the score went 3, 3, 2, elimination. I kept right on riding, and thankfully the judge let me. 

Because despite Lola stopping to do a "half rear at x" where I thought we simply had a "trot M X K" we did manage to finish!

What I really wanted from this show was a reasonable idea how I would do on the BN dressage test, and elimination is not a score! Being a schooling show, I marched us right up to the check in desk and asked how we could make a do-over happen. Obviously that lovely elimination is what counted towards my BN derby score, but I just wanted another shot at the test to be sure she understood what her job was out there.

So we found ourselves out there again, after all the other tests, lovely braids gone, new dressage saddle in trailer, coat gone. We did the test over in our jumping get up (with a quick stripping of boots, vest, brest collar, and martingale).

The pictures aren't nearly as fun, but we got the job done. We left with a score and comments on a full test! Now we have a place to work from.

X halt salute isn't nearly as charming a picture on a wind-blown pony in jumping garb!

Oh well. Another learning experience, right? A few weeks later I had the fun of watching a few FEI horse totally lose their minds in the show arena. It was a moment, and then it was gone, each one continued with the test very well. There will always be a chance that these moments happen in the show ring, it will depend on how I learn to immediately let go of my emotions, and ride each next piece of the test how it needs to be ridden.

New profile name

Now that my Talk Dark And Spotty boy belongs to someone else, I can't really keep the profile name (as much as I loved it). Equivalent for my Lola-girl would be Red, Short, and Sassy or Luscious Long Locks. I may be changing names a bit over the next few months, so sorry for the confusion!

The thing is, the next few months will be a little bit of discovering who I am in the context of a whole new environment. After growing up in northern California, living a year in San Diego, CA, then two final years of college in Fresno, CA (central valley as it gets) I am a California girl through and through. Don't get me wrong, I have lived outside of California, but it wasn't another state, it was another country! So as far as US living goes, California is what I know. The seasons, the proximity, the population, and most importantly the huge horse industry (and horse leisure opportunities) make this an amazing state to live. Therefore our imminent move to Columbus, OH (and how that will affect said horse leisure opportunities) is forefront on my mind!

Mostly this blog is my own journal to document something that I put a whole lot of blood, sweat, and tears into, so I won't care if my name changes periodically to represent my live at the time. I also have seen how amazing connections can be made with like-minded horse owners all across the US. So in an effort to start learning more about the state I will call home for the next 4 years, I decided draw attention my location in the new blog name.

First goals for the new state:

Get there! Looking like a road trip with the horse and dog
Find boarding
Find trainer
Get involved
Find fun events
Find time to keep doing it all!!!!

Decision is made

I sold my "keeper horse" and kept my "sale project".

Now that Bear has gone to live with my really good riding friend (at the best home ever), and after some financial hurdles were cleared, I can finally say that Lola is no longer for sale! Hurray!

I am keeping the blog name, because she is still, and probably will be for another 5 years, my training project. We've come a long way from a fuzzy mare pulled from a herd with nothing by ground training a few years back in her education. We've managed Intro Dressage, she competed a full season of BN with a young junior rider, and we're hoping to make our debut into Training level dressage this spring. I'd like to compete with her through 2nd level dressage, and I am confident she's capable, it might just take awhile for me to get there!

Since its still just going to me learning to ride these new levels on a horse that has never done it, we are quite the training project.

Don Sachey Clinic

We had a great opportunity to take advantage of a Don Sachey clinic!

It was very interesting to hear from a top rider/clinician about some of the trends he sees in eventing today, and the differences in training and riding tendencies between many US trainers and much of Europe. I am processing some of this still, hope to blog on some of what I'm thinking.

Another time...

Until then, I have video! We aren't perfect, but we also had only jumped twice since she had come back. PLUS she had started some random lameness days about this time that turned into an abscess out the left hind heal bulb a month later. Poor dear,  her canter issues through December were pain related.


This is one of the final videos. It was SUPER fun!

2nd Jump Lesson

After the "storm of the century", or so my husband called it based on the weather forecasts, we finally got out to a jump lesson. A few jumps had been rescued from the water logged arena and brought into the indoor arena, so I took off early from work to squeeze in a mid-week lesson.

It felt good to be jumping her again. She also felt much more like I remembered her feeling. In the first jump lesson, she felt like she would slow and almost pause before the jump. It was weird to have to really PUSH her to the jump because she had never been like that. That all disappeared! She was a powerhouse!

She doesn't feel like she's dragging you to a fence, just that she gives the feeling that she's confident and eager to jump it.

Our lesson, like any of my lessons, was about asking her for a better canter every step of the way. I tend to want to turn "hunter rider" and sit perched all pretty on whatever canter she's offering. Ya, that's not going to cut it. So I really sat down and rode the canter all the way to the jump, then sat right back down to balance for the turn (think small indoor).

I felt really good about the lesson. My trainer popped them up a few times, and at the end when I hopped off to inspect I was surprised that they were 2'9"!

Moonlight ride

Only the ears because the flash kept blinding the poor girl! (And without flash she disappeared!)

We had a lovely moonlight ride last week before the crazy storm rolled in. It was so bright out that we lunged in a completely dark arena and could see fine. So she got a day of lunging in vienna reins- good for stretching the back after a packed weekend of lessons.

Afterward I hopped on her bareback and played around in the walk a little bit. I have figured out how many fun things there are to work on at the walk: clean halt-walk-halt transitions, circles, lateral work, etc. Most of these are especially fun to do bareback since you can really feel the body shape, the rythm, and the muscles.

I left the barn just beeming that night! It was such a treat to hop on her bareback. (My gelding is narrow and super boney, so her round muscled back was an absolute couch in comparison!) Plus it was just fun to be out there enjoying a quiet ride. Maybe its the trust building aspect, maybe its feeling the horse's muscles, I don't know, but it was just so much fun to have a bareback-moonlight ride!

Dressage Lesson #3, Jump Lesson #1, Dressage Lesson #4

Friday- Dressage Lesson #3

No pics or videos this time...sort of lame, but sometimes you just want to wear the ugly t-shirt and not have to worry about a camera!

I had a really good lesson, we started to push her a little bit more, more sitting trot, more playing her neck back and forth in the canter, more straight lines in the canter.


Overall it was good!

Saturday- Jump lesson #1

So I take my jumping lessons with an eventing trainer, and since I'd only started with her in the spring (my other eventing trainer moved the prior fall) she had never met Lola! So I was looking forward to getting her opinion of her. I also had a young rider come to try her out the same day.

I started off the lesson, and warmed Lola up over a few fences. It was very strange to jump her again, she really sucked back and sort of "dumped" in front of the first cross rail. I never remember her doing that. She was so forward to the fence before that it was sort of a sit quiet, don't change, don't speed up feeling. A year of jumping can certainly change habits though.

We had a few really nice fences and I had forgotten how much I loved her jump!

Then the girl got on to try her out. It was so great to get to see a teen ride her and learn to figure her out. They really worked well together, and I feel like she was able to take the instruction, and then actually put it to use to make a visable change (more round, more balanced, more forward, not running through half-halts.) She had a great seat, and Lola looked fantastic jumping around with her! I think she felt like it was a lot of work to get Lola going really well- to be discussed in the next section. But good feed back to get.

AND the trainer thought she was brilliant. She said what I've been thinking. If for some reason I can't find a home for her, but I can find one for Bear, it won't be the end of the world. She's a fantastic horse.

Sunday- Dressage lesson #4 (Seriously busy weekend!)

I started the lesson out with some good walk work, and then a moving trot circle pattern (one at A, then straight, one at E,  then straight, one at C, and so on). The goal in our trot work was "minimal effort on my part to maximum effort on her part. I let my horses trick me into begging and pleading for every step. "Ride every step" should mean that I have control over every step, not that they stop trying the moment I stop driving with everything that I've got. So in the trot work I worked on using light leg in rhythm, and if she lost impulsion she got one quick correction with my leg to remind her that's her job. Same thing with the walk-trot transitions, I need her to be asking "When can I trot?" so that the slightest squeeze can ask for the transition.

I felt we made some good head-way, and it gave us a nice quiet warm up. Stacie has been meaning to get on her, but we've had such great lessons lately that we haven't stop my progress to allow time for the trainer to get on. Today seemed a good day. It was great to have her hop on to feel what's going on, and really fun to see Lola go with a rider that has higher standards! She looked great!

Stacie did a ton with her, lateral work, sitting trot, transitions, canter work, beautiful walk work, lots of bend and circles and straight lines. It really was a treat to watch her work.

She's decided that much of the issues that keep us from consistently going on the bit with correct bend stems from Lola carrying her haunches to the outside. That's what looses that canter in the back sometimes, that's what blocks her from lifting her back and really swinging in her gaits. So, new plan will be put into place, and we'll get trucking along shortly!

The fun thing is that Stacie also was raving about what potential she has to move up through the levels. Even if I kept Lola, I would still have a horse to compete with at 1st, 2nd, and (if I can ever get myself there...) 3rd!

Loving my little mare, and grateful for every ride that I get on her.

Doubling as a husband horse!

Since I was off work Wednesday I had it all planned to take my husband and my two horses out on a trail ride. We haven't had two horses for over a year, so it seemed like a good day to take advantage of the fact that I have one for each of us right now!

Except they live in different places...

I moved Bear out to my parent's property for a little post-season pasture vacation, so I needed to pick him up, then get Lola, then do the drop off back to both locations, which basically was going to take the whole day when you added in the actual trail ride. Its not far apart at all! Just that all that running around adds up.

My husband ended up with a lot less time, and I had plenty of other things to do that morning, so we switched plans. I borrowed a friend's horse, and my hubby rode Lola, and we stuck to the trails adjacent to the boarding facility.

 It went so well! Lola was a star! She lead some...

 She followed some...

 They even got a little too far behind and my husband trotted her to catch up! (Secretly I think he had slowed her down on purpose to have an excuse to trot!) They were perfectly relaxed and in balance, so I was pleased. See my husband has only ridden a about 15 times, and he hasn't been on a horse in a year! So I am impressed with both of them.

After my husband posting the trot, the second most impressive thing was Lola keeping her cool even when the horse I was on didn't. He is an OTTB, and while he was very cool and quiet on the trail, it doesn't take much to push is YIKES button. Even though he shot forward from a duck flying out of the reeds, Lola kept her cool and walked on like it was nothing. When he lept over a hole in the ground while right next to her, she gave him a dirty look like, "What are you doing? Was that really necessary? We're walking here!"

Such a good girl.

Lesson #2

We had a phenomenal lesson on Sunday. I am having so much fun with this mare! I'm glad I left off at such a positive place in Bear's journey, or I'd be feeling really guilty for having so much fun cheating on him!

We got some video since I'm trying to get current video to send to potential buyers. Sadly we had the same issues with light, but I'll share anyway! You also get all the fun commentary from my trainer on every weird thing that I'm doing wrong! Yes, its is true, I can't sit square in the middle of the saddle, especially in canter left. I can't keep my sneaky right hand up, pretty much ever. My inside leg is rarely far enough forward, my outside is rarely far enough back, and let's face it, following asking with your inside seat-bone and doing anything else simultaneously is just an absurd expectation!

 Enjoy feeling better about your own riding by comparison! ;p

Trot work with canter, then working on getting that stretchy trot again. She's not a easy to get stretched going to the right but still had some success. Then work trot-walk transitions.


Canter departs until I finally get them right.


Canter work to the left, including finally nailing the idea of "collect, collect, collect THEN trot" downward transition. (Had judges comment on needing that on Bear too.)

We also threw in leg yields at sitting trot. I think I laughed when she told me! Lola is actually great at lateral movement, she naturally is better than Bear. BUT we hadn't done them at the trot before, and I hadn't SAT the trot on her before! So this was our first go at both!

After the video I stopped and we chatted about it since I really didn't feel like I was tapping into what Lola could actually do. She re-phrased it a bit. Instead of thinking push her over with my leg, it was use the sitting trot to push her over with my seat. Basically use the minimal so that if I needed to correct her haunches not stepping enough I could use my leg to escalate the directions. It worked so much better!

She also had me keep sitting the trot all the way around the short side and only posting when I pushed her back into a bigger trot across the diagonal. This got us a bit more pizazz  trot steps. I still felt terribly floppy sitting the trot, so what does that call for? MORE sitting trot! We worked on transitions within the trot: collecting to something more "sit-able" then pushing it out, then collecting back, etc.

It got better, and Stacie even snapped a cell phone photo of it before we finished the lesson with one last attempt at stretchy trot. We finally nailed that! I was so pleased. She really loves free walk, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that stretchy trot is growing on her so quick!

Man do I appreciate my horse for letting me make mistakes and learn from them.