After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time! most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the
Isaac Royal Farm in Dover-Foxcroft, ME puts on two USDF rated dressage shows each summer. We did the first one....read about it here. The second one was the same weekend as the Maine Event (which I obviously wanted to do because MHA put the STB division in....plus DUH! I could qualify for a year end award! LOL) But because IR is a two day show, I was able to do the Maine Event on Saturday and then the IR show on Sunday.
Well, my mare was tired. So tired. I mean, yes we only did one in-hand class and three riding classes at the Maine Event the day before. But still, we left the house at 7:15 AM and arrived home at 5PM. Our classes were spaced waaaay out, so it was a long hot day.
And while the Maine Event was only 30 minutes from the house, the IR show was 3 hours and 10 minutes away! Big difference! So I was up at 4AM on Sunday, loaded her at 5:30 AM, and we arrived at a little before 9AM. Our ride times were 10:29 for Training 2 and 11:15 for Training 4.
Dreamy warmed up so well. She was tired, so I limited our warm up to about 25 minutes. We did a fairly decent job in Training 2, to earn a 60.357%. She had a hard time maintaining her right lead canter, which is normal, but it was worse because she was tired. Plus, the footing was a little sloppy from overnight rain. For whatever reason, Dreamy is very sensitive to poor footing, or actually to footing that is not perfect.
We got 5s this time on our canters, which was a gift. LOL! But only 6s on our canter transitions. We had very nice centerlines and halts, earning us 7s and 8s. The judge, Sandi Chohany, wrote "Horse has a lovely trot. Canter should come with time and miles." I thought that was such a nice comment! :) And very accurate!
I was the only person in Training 2, so of course we won! LOL!
Training 4 went well too, but I knew not to expect a 60%. She was just too darn tired. I should have known better than to try and show two days in a row at two different shows. Probably won't do it again. :) We ended up with a 55.6%, which is not bad, but not where I want to be. Mostly 6s, a few 7s, and 5s again on the canters. She did NOT want to canter to the right at all, and actually broke half way through the circle to the trot. Poor mare. I totally threw her away (BAD BAD BAD ME!) in an effort to keep her cantering.. And I know the pony kicks were so lovely......UGGG! Ah well. Sandi wrote on this test: "Try holding reins taughter (**should be "taut" but hey, I'm the English teacher, not her!) in right canter to help her balance in an uphill way to slow her running canter." Yup. I know that and am working hard to maintain the contact. Just ask my instructor! ;-) At least it has improved, but we have a ways to go.
We ended up sixth out of six riders. LOL! It was more about getting out there and doing it. I had hoped for the 60%, but it is OK that it did not happen. It just simply was NOT a 60+ test. And I knew that beforehand.
The very cool part was that my dear friend Nonni was able to come watch! She brought along her barn owner Kathy. It was so fantastic to have friends there to support me! And I loved having my own cheering section! It means a lot to me that they drove over to watch. :) :) :)
AND.......we earned our final score for a Maine Dressage Society bronze medal! YAY!!!!!! I am proud to have earned my GMO bronze on Dreamy! So that was very exciting to me.
Photos later....I am tired! :)
Well, my mare was tired. So tired. I mean, yes we only did one in-hand class and three riding classes at the Maine Event the day before. But still, we left the house at 7:15 AM and arrived home at 5PM. Our classes were spaced waaaay out, so it was a long hot day.
And while the Maine Event was only 30 minutes from the house, the IR show was 3 hours and 10 minutes away! Big difference! So I was up at 4AM on Sunday, loaded her at 5:30 AM, and we arrived at a little before 9AM. Our ride times were 10:29 for Training 2 and 11:15 for Training 4.
Dreamy warmed up so well. She was tired, so I limited our warm up to about 25 minutes. We did a fairly decent job in Training 2, to earn a 60.357%. She had a hard time maintaining her right lead canter, which is normal, but it was worse because she was tired. Plus, the footing was a little sloppy from overnight rain. For whatever reason, Dreamy is very sensitive to poor footing, or actually to footing that is not perfect.
We got 5s this time on our canters, which was a gift. LOL! But only 6s on our canter transitions. We had very nice centerlines and halts, earning us 7s and 8s. The judge, Sandi Chohany, wrote "Horse has a lovely trot. Canter should come with time and miles." I thought that was such a nice comment! :) And very accurate!
I was the only person in Training 2, so of course we won! LOL!
Training 4 went well too, but I knew not to expect a 60%. She was just too darn tired. I should have known better than to try and show two days in a row at two different shows. Probably won't do it again. :) We ended up with a 55.6%, which is not bad, but not where I want to be. Mostly 6s, a few 7s, and 5s again on the canters. She did NOT want to canter to the right at all, and actually broke half way through the circle to the trot. Poor mare. I totally threw her away (BAD BAD BAD ME!) in an effort to keep her cantering.. And I know the pony kicks were so lovely......UGGG! Ah well. Sandi wrote on this test: "Try holding reins taughter (**should be "taut" but hey, I'm the English teacher, not her!) in right canter to help her balance in an uphill way to slow her running canter." Yup. I know that and am working hard to maintain the contact. Just ask my instructor! ;-) At least it has improved, but we have a ways to go.
We ended up sixth out of six riders. LOL! It was more about getting out there and doing it. I had hoped for the 60%, but it is OK that it did not happen. It just simply was NOT a 60+ test. And I knew that beforehand.
The very cool part was that my dear friend Nonni was able to come watch! She brought along her barn owner Kathy. It was so fantastic to have friends there to support me! And I loved having my own cheering section! It means a lot to me that they drove over to watch. :) :) :)
AND.......we earned our final score for a Maine Dressage Society bronze medal! YAY!!!!!! I am proud to have earned my GMO bronze on Dreamy! So that was very exciting to me.
Photos later....I am tired! :)
I always thought that it would be difficult to make an endurance horse/rider team tired, because we are fit for 25-50 or more miles in a day. However, a couple of dressage tests, done correctly, can do it.
ReplyDeleteI think that it speaks well of you--and Dreamy--that you did as well as you did in two consecutive shows.
Congratulations!
Congratulations on the bronze!
ReplyDeleteThanks guys! We had fun and that is what matters! :)
ReplyDeleteI try to really keep up with fitness and our trot and canter sets, but man, showing takes a lot out of the rider and horse! :D
CONGRATS ON THE MEDAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so green with envy right now, but I will try not to let my jealousy impede how excited I am for you. You and Dreamy are amazing for doing 2 shows in 2 days. I am thinking about doing it in September, but I don't know if I am up for it.
ReplyDeleteDouble day shows like that take a lot out of a horse! Great job on your bronze medal!!
ReplyDeleteOMG YOUR FAMOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been cutting you some slack about the lack of updates figuring that that things are busy with school starting, 3 horses, a hubby and a son, but when I finally got around to reading my favorite part of USDF connections (the tail end) from last month and saw your picture I have to lecture you. YOU CANNOT NOT POST THAT YOU GOT INTO A NATIONAL MAGAZINE! This is a big deal. And a great article! Congrats and now I can say that I know not 1, but 2 people in the August 2009 USDF Connections. I feel so special!
ReplyDeleteHi. I don't mean to be a super stalker, but I got some nice shots of you and your horse at the show yesterday. I work over at the Retirement Foundation. Erin pointed out that I could find you online.
ReplyDeletehttp://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr323/dom_n/Show/blogIMG_4643.jpg
Your horse is stunning.