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
Ellie and I had a super fun show at our lesson barn on August 18. This is one of my favorite shows, as we are put on teams and there is an awards ceremony at the end. Any time we can do a fun awards ceremony with neck ribbons and white polo wraps, I am in!
And even better? I was on a team with two of my favorite people and their Morgans! WHOO! "Team 4 Kennebecs" consisted of Ellie (with me), Jester (with Margaret), and Echo and Rugby (with Kathleen), who are all related Kennebec Morgans!
I chose to ride Training 2 and Training 3. This was our first time riding Training 3 in a show other than the dressage rally at the end of June. But because this was a show at our lesson barn, both Ellie and I were quite relaxed. I mean really, a show at HBF is like having a lesson in clean, fancy show clothes.
Both tests went quite well, though I will say that our first test was a bit more "rushed". Ellie was great in the warm-up with all her fraaaaands and when we entered the ring for T2, she became a little bit of a freight train. I don't remember what a half halt is!!!!!! she was very clearly telling me haha.
Despite her lacking desire to take input from me, especially during the canter, we scored a lovely 65.3448% from a judge who doesn't give away scores. Nailed all our leads and had decent geometry, so I was actually really happy with the test despite her bullish opinions. We ended up in second place for this test.
We had a short break before Training 3, and I was pretty excited to ride this test. It felt like the pieces were starting to fall together with Ellie so that T3 was well within our wheelhouse.
I spent a little time in the warm-up before T3 remember to use my SEAT and CORE to slow her down in the canter. Ellie was willing to listen and we had a few solid canter transitions before we went in for our test. Thankfully, Ellie was decidedly more gracious in this test, allowing me to influence her like a real dressage rider haha. Our trot serpentines were pretty darn good, which I was excited about, and we got all our leads correctly!
I nearly cried when I saw our score of 67.069%! YAY!!! It wasn't a perfect test, but it was definitely the best test we had done together to date. We ended up placing fourth in this test, which didn't even matter to me as much as the decent test score! And to score well at the highest test of the level, I felt really good about how far we had come since the spring. I don't have the tests in front of me to be super specific about comments, but I am so behind in updating, I just wanted to get this post published.
Our team did quite well overall, and we ended up placing second out of seven total teams! Yay! We won big neck ribbons and got to have a victory canter around the ring together. A friend from HBF offered to braid Ellie's mane for me, which looked really pretty! I don't know that I will ever be able to recreate the button braids on her long mane as well as she did, but I think I need to learn. My attempts look really BAD.
And even better? I was on a team with two of my favorite people and their Morgans! WHOO! "Team 4 Kennebecs" consisted of Ellie (with me), Jester (with Margaret), and Echo and Rugby (with Kathleen), who are all related Kennebec Morgans!
Ellie with her "uncle" Jester haha |
me no do half halt!! |
this is Ellie at times |
We had a short break before Training 3, and I was pretty excited to ride this test. It felt like the pieces were starting to fall together with Ellie so that T3 was well within our wheelhouse.
I spent a little time in the warm-up before T3 remember to use my SEAT and CORE to slow her down in the canter. Ellie was willing to listen and we had a few solid canter transitions before we went in for our test. Thankfully, Ellie was decidedly more gracious in this test, allowing me to influence her like a real dressage rider haha. Our trot serpentines were pretty darn good, which I was excited about, and we got all our leads correctly!
there was much more listening in this test haha |
I nearly cried when I saw our score of 67.069%! YAY!!! It wasn't a perfect test, but it was definitely the best test we had done together to date. We ended up placing fourth in this test, which didn't even matter to me as much as the decent test score! And to score well at the highest test of the level, I felt really good about how far we had come since the spring. I don't have the tests in front of me to be super specific about comments, but I am so behind in updating, I just wanted to get this post published.
pretty braids |
posing with Uncle Jester |
seriously, they are all so stinking cute and can you totally tell they are all related hahaha |
Overall, a super fun show with a great group of friends and horses! It doesn't get much better than that! And it was all the day before my 40th birthday, so it was a perfect early birthday gift! ;-)
This is so great! So fun! Dressage is always better with friends :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely always better with friends (or in Ellie's case, her relatives haha!)
DeleteThat sounds so fun! Congrats on the great score for training 3 and an overall successful day!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was a fun day for sure!
DeleteEllie looks so grown up and mature. She is a gorgeous mare. Congrats on a fun outing and a great team finish.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Doesn't she look so filled out and buff? She's looking rather fuzzy and scraggly right now haha, but she definitely looked great this summer!
DeleteHappy belated birthday!! And welcome to the 40s. ;-) Glad that you had a good show and got some super nice satin!! Looove the neck ribbons!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I think 40 is my favorite age so far! Neck ribbons are so much fun!
DeleteGorgeous ribbons and great scores!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI think that is SO COOL that you were able to team up with 3 other horses from Ellie's line. They're all gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThey really are nice looking Morgans! It was so fun to do a family team!
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