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
Coming off last weekend's strong showing at Scarlet Day Farm, Snappy and I headed to another SMDA show at the Hollis Equestrian Park. We did the May and June shows there, so I knew she would be comfortable at the venue. Snappy was great yet again, earning two more blues for her growing collection.
Intro A - 1st place out of 4 with a 67.813%
Intro B - 1st place out of 5 with a 68.438%
The tests were obedient and accurate. I really want to clean things up enough to move up to Intro C and Training 1 next year, but time will tell. It is tough to have a time frame in the back of your head because horses progress at their own pace. And I am certainly no professional trainer, so it takes me double the time to teach my horses anything LOL!
I am still extremely pleased with this mare, but I will honestly say that I just wanted to break 70% again and would have been happy to come in dead last at this show in order to do so LOL! It's not about the ribbons, it's about the scores! I know, I know, still really strong scores. But now we have completed four SMDA shows, which is the minimum to qualify for year end awards. I plan to skip the September and October shows and just do a few 2-phases and maybe a full event before we quit for the winter. (And the September SMDA show is the same day my husband pulls his cattle at Farmington Fair, so I opted to get my scores early enough so he could attend that pull.) Man, I wanted to have a 70% average in both tests! We are sooooo close! Our Intro A average is 69.92% and Intro B is 69.84%. Such first world problems hahahaha!!
But enough foolish complaining!!! We had an AWESOME first year of showing dressage. If you had told me a year ago we would have this much success, I would not have believed you. Heck, just five months ago I was unsure this horse would be able to do a respectable dressage test, never mind earn great scores and ribbons! I seem to have a knack for taking unridden Standardbred mares and getting them started at low levels. :-)
Intro A - 1st place out of 4 with a 67.813%
Intro B - 1st place out of 5 with a 68.438%
I am still extremely pleased with this mare, but I will honestly say that I just wanted to break 70% again and would have been happy to come in dead last at this show in order to do so LOL! It's not about the ribbons, it's about the scores! I know, I know, still really strong scores. But now we have completed four SMDA shows, which is the minimum to qualify for year end awards. I plan to skip the September and October shows and just do a few 2-phases and maybe a full event before we quit for the winter. (And the September SMDA show is the same day my husband pulls his cattle at Farmington Fair, so I opted to get my scores early enough so he could attend that pull.) Man, I wanted to have a 70% average in both tests! We are sooooo close! Our Intro A average is 69.92% and Intro B is 69.84%. Such first world problems hahahaha!!
Dressage Show
|
Intro A
|
Intro B
| |
SMDA May 22
|
1st place out of 3
71.563%
|
2nd place out of 6
69.063% |
High Point Senior Rider
|
SMDA June 12
|
1st place out of 6
72.813%
|
2nd place out of 9
70.938%
|
High Point Standardbred
|
SMDA August 14
|
1st place out of 4
67.50%
|
1st place out of 5
70.94%
|
Reserve High Point Rider
|
SMDA August 21
|
1st place out of 4
67.813%
|
1st place out of 5
68.438%
| |
Overall average
|
69.92%
|
69.84%
|
But enough foolish complaining!!! We had an AWESOME first year of showing dressage. If you had told me a year ago we would have this much success, I would not have believed you. Heck, just five months ago I was unsure this horse would be able to do a respectable dressage test, never mind earn great scores and ribbons! I seem to have a knack for taking unridden Standardbred mares and getting them started at low levels. :-)
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