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...
Reva and I competed at our third SMDA show this year on August 5. We have been taking weekly lessons this summer, so I knew we would show improvement since our last SMDA show in June. My only goals were to have fun, stay on the horse/stay in the ring (always a goal! LOL!), score at least 65% on each test, and 7s on rider position.
We met all of our goals!! Yay!! :-)
Reva was excellent. I was so proud of her! She has shown so many times now at the Hollis Equestrian Park that she is super comfortable there. It is only a 30 minute drive from the house as well, so it is an easy day. She warmed up PERFECTLY. No fussing, no heaviness in the bridle, no anxiety at all. She was forward, light, rhythmic, and happy!! I loved it! Even if I did not meet my showing goals, I felt like our warm up for Intro A was so lovely that is really didn't matter what happened. Our tests both felt good and to my suprise, Reva scored the best scores of her young dressage career!
Intro A we scored a 70.3% and Intro B was a 70.6%! WOW! (For some reason, we tend to score very similar in the two tests...she is generally pretty consistent!) Intro A was all 6.5s, 7s, 7.5s, and one 8 (on our change of rein!) We scored all 7s on our collectives, with a 6.5 on impulsion and a 7.5 on rider position (YAY) and geometry/accuracy. The judge wrote, "Lovely pair. Be careful of her shortening neck too much." This was a very accurate comment, since (besides preferring drunken centerlines), Reva does have trouble getting too sucked back in the neck. It has improved 10000% since earlier this year, but there were still a moment or two in the test where I felt her try to drop behind the contact and shorten her neck. I was so proud of her! We won our class of five, which was the first time we won a dressage test! We even won a little medal! Good job mare!
Intro B was all 7s and 8s (one on the trot circle left, one on the trot circle right, and the other on RIDER POSITION! YAY!!!!) We had a 6.5 this time in submission (which was a 7 in Intro A) and a 7 on impulsion (which was a 6.5 in Intro A). The other 6.5 was our first centerline; Reva likes to trot in straight lines with her haunches leading right. We are working on that!! After Intro B, I felt we had done another really nice test. (I knew my Intro A score before I rode Intro B). I was so pleased with Reva and the judge must have agreed, as she wrote, "Nice job!!" on the bottom of my test. I was so pleased to have earned an 8 on rider position...there was a time five years ago where I was consistently scoring 6s on rider position and sometimes even a 5! Yikes!! We ended up in second place out of 8 riders (I'm OK with losing to a great big warmblood...LOL!)
Besides the good solid scores and pretty ribbons, I had such a fun show morning with my two friends Katie and Tania. Being with friends and having fun is really what showing is all about for me. They both put in good rides in Intro A/B and Intro B/c respectively. Katie is showing her Standardbred mare for the first time this year and Tania is doing a great job turning her western horse into a dressage pony!
It is funny, because I was SO EXCITED to score so well, but then it dawned on me that this was only Intro A and B. LMAO! Let's be honest, while they are good scores, it is just two simple walk/trot tests. I know, I know, I have trained her myself and all that, but still, this is not exactly hard. I know many people score higher at much harder tests. This was during the Olympics and I was like, whatever, they are all scoring in the 80s at Grand Prix, so why the hell am I so excited. LOL! Anyway, just making sure readers know that I know that while this is good stuff, I'm not out-of-touch enough to realize this is tadpole level. ;-D
Katie's husband Kevin was kind enough to snap a few photos! Thank you Kevin!
Full show results are here.
We met all of our goals!! Yay!! :-)
Reva was excellent. I was so proud of her! She has shown so many times now at the Hollis Equestrian Park that she is super comfortable there. It is only a 30 minute drive from the house as well, so it is an easy day. She warmed up PERFECTLY. No fussing, no heaviness in the bridle, no anxiety at all. She was forward, light, rhythmic, and happy!! I loved it! Even if I did not meet my showing goals, I felt like our warm up for Intro A was so lovely that is really didn't matter what happened. Our tests both felt good and to my suprise, Reva scored the best scores of her young dressage career!
Intro A we scored a 70.3% and Intro B was a 70.6%! WOW! (For some reason, we tend to score very similar in the two tests...she is generally pretty consistent!) Intro A was all 6.5s, 7s, 7.5s, and one 8 (on our change of rein!) We scored all 7s on our collectives, with a 6.5 on impulsion and a 7.5 on rider position (YAY) and geometry/accuracy. The judge wrote, "Lovely pair. Be careful of her shortening neck too much." This was a very accurate comment, since (besides preferring drunken centerlines), Reva does have trouble getting too sucked back in the neck. It has improved 10000% since earlier this year, but there were still a moment or two in the test where I felt her try to drop behind the contact and shorten her neck. I was so proud of her! We won our class of five, which was the first time we won a dressage test! We even won a little medal! Good job mare!
Intro B was all 7s and 8s (one on the trot circle left, one on the trot circle right, and the other on RIDER POSITION! YAY!!!!) We had a 6.5 this time in submission (which was a 7 in Intro A) and a 7 on impulsion (which was a 6.5 in Intro A). The other 6.5 was our first centerline; Reva likes to trot in straight lines with her haunches leading right. We are working on that!! After Intro B, I felt we had done another really nice test. (I knew my Intro A score before I rode Intro B). I was so pleased with Reva and the judge must have agreed, as she wrote, "Nice job!!" on the bottom of my test. I was so pleased to have earned an 8 on rider position...there was a time five years ago where I was consistently scoring 6s on rider position and sometimes even a 5! Yikes!! We ended up in second place out of 8 riders (I'm OK with losing to a great big warmblood...LOL!)
Besides the good solid scores and pretty ribbons, I had such a fun show morning with my two friends Katie and Tania. Being with friends and having fun is really what showing is all about for me. They both put in good rides in Intro A/B and Intro B/c respectively. Katie is showing her Standardbred mare for the first time this year and Tania is doing a great job turning her western horse into a dressage pony!
It is funny, because I was SO EXCITED to score so well, but then it dawned on me that this was only Intro A and B. LMAO! Let's be honest, while they are good scores, it is just two simple walk/trot tests. I know, I know, I have trained her myself and all that, but still, this is not exactly hard. I know many people score higher at much harder tests. This was during the Olympics and I was like, whatever, they are all scoring in the 80s at Grand Prix, so why the hell am I so excited. LOL! Anyway, just making sure readers know that I know that while this is good stuff, I'm not out-of-touch enough to realize this is tadpole level. ;-D
Katie's husband Kevin was kind enough to snap a few photos! Thank you Kevin!
Full show results are here.
Katie and Major (left) hang out with us before our test! Reva looks super impressed. |
A little on her forehand and I am tipped forward, but still cute! :-) |
I suspect we are getting ready to halt at X, but I rather see her a tad above the bit than BTV! |
More posing! Reva still looks impressed....LOL! |
GOOD GIRL!! |
Dressage is #1! LOL! |
Intro A results! Gotta love the Standardbreds! |
More posing with Tania and Otis! |
Sounds like a great day! I like the pics with your friend and the foam finger! lol
ReplyDeleteGood job on the dressage scores - if you are getting those nice solid scores at intro, you'll have no trouble moving up when Reva is ready.
I love the foam finger! Dressage is definitely the best sport of the summer :D
ReplyDelete