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I got to the show about half an hour later than I wanted to, which I figured wasn't a big deal because Beefheart really only needs about a twenty minute warm up. More than anything, he needs a few minutes to settle down from being hauled since it always seems to get him amped up. I threw Beefs in his stall with a flake of hay to eat for a couple of minutes while I unloaded my things from the trailer. MB was a life saver and parked the pick up and trailer for me and then came back to help me finish tacking up (she's the best).
I climbed on Beefs and go "Ooohhhh, you have a hump in your back!" as we started to walk off to the arena. At this point I was questioning my 'we only need a twenty minute warm up' theory. When we got to the warm up arena he was a little tense, unfocused, and looking at everything. He relaxed fairly quick, but had a ton of energy. What I liked was that the energy translated into his movement and not into bad behavior. JL came to warm us up and it went fairly well. It's always nice to have your trainer there trying to keep you from riding like a dumb ass!
Our first test was training level test 3 and it started out fairly smooth. Then I asked for the right lead canter and Beefs picked up the left. I asked again. Left lead. I asked again. Left lead. We got it on the fourth try. What the hell?!!! I may be far from a Grand Prix rider, but I've also ridden my entire life. I don't miss leads. Like ever. Especially not at shows. Especially not on a horse that isn't super green. It wasn't Beefs fault, it was mine. I totally threw him off balance. I asked in all the wrong ways. The rest of the test went fairly well, other than Beefheart letting out one of his girly whinnies every thirty seconds, but I was pretty much screwed after that.
Missing the lead messed up my score on two movements and hurt some of our collective marks. We ended up getting a 62.3 and third place out of five. The winner scored a 65 something, so at least we didn't just flat out get our asses handed to us. I was still pretty pissed at myself though.
Our first level test 1 was a little better. Beefheart only whinnied a couple of times and the test went pretty smooth with the exception that he picked up the right lead when I asked for the left. At least we got it on the second try this time. His trot lengthenings were far from spectacular, but that's normal. His canter lengthenings seemed pretty good, so I guess at least he can do some form of a lengthening decently. There was a lot wrong, but there were also a lot of good parts.
We ended up with a 62.something and won the class out of two people. This judge was pretty tough and highest score at first was a 64 (I think we had the second highest score out of all of the first level classes). I'm not going to complain. I don't mind a tough judge as long as they are consistently tough and this one was. MB picked my test up for me since the show office was taking forever to get the scores out. I'm looking forward to reading the comments. Maybe.
Like JL told me; if you're above a 60%, it wasn't bad. I think he's right.
The good part about this show is that I learned that even if Beefheart is fresh and energetic, he can still function. In fact, he moves and performs better in a lot of ways. He's not going to kill me. I was very proud of him.
They say the good dressage horses are a little hot. I agree. The dull horses just don't have the expression that the hot horses do. Beefs isn't a naturally big moving horse. We need all of the help that we can get in that department.
The fact that I missed some leads frazzled me a bit. I'm hoping that it was just from my balance being off due to the ear infection. Or that I was just having an EXTREMELY off day. We'll see. We have another schooling show next weekend and then a recognized show the weekend after that. Basically, I have just under two weeks to get myself together.
Sounds like it was a good learning experience, when is the next show? The second picture down is beautiful, your position looks absolutely lovely (it does in all of them but that one really shows it off).
ReplyDeleteI also have an ear infection and it has made me an angry curmudgeon.
Katerose is right, your position is gorgeous. Such a beautiful rider!!
ReplyDeleteIts all good practice!
ReplyDeleteYou guys look pretty freaking fabulous in photos, and I'm really impressed with how well you're able to look back and see what good things came out of your show. Sometimes it can feel like you showed for almost no reason, but you've really pinpointed some great learning points!
ReplyDeleteAll in all I'd say you did pretty well. Hope your ear infection clears up.
ReplyDeleteI agree, that second photo had me stopped in my tracks for a second or two!!
ReplyDeleteEvery moment is a training moment. You guys look really great in the photos though! Awesome job in the end. At least you know what you can work on and what to look out for next time. It's good to be able to pick out what went wrong and admit when it's your vs. the horse. Some people just can't see it sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel better soon. Always good to come away from such experiences with things to improve upon & learn from...otherwise why bother eh? ;-)
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work!!
sorry the show didn't go exactly how you hoped, but it still sounds like a great experience! i'd always prefer to walk away with a clear idea of what to work on (lead changes) rather than scratching my head thinking: huh i really don't know how to fix this. Anyways, you guys look great!
ReplyDeleteWe are our worst critics! Sounds to me like you two did really well, minus one issue. And that's what horses is all about-things to learn on! :) Hope you feel better soon!
ReplyDeleteThose are still really good scores despite an off day! Also glad your little painting arrived safely :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on a successful outing. You two look great, especially picture #2 :D
ReplyDeleteI'm betting the ear infection hurt your equilibrium.
It sounds like you are proud of how it went and you should be. For an off day it could have been so much worse and it wasn't. Hope the ear feels better soon.
ReplyDeleteI like tough judges too, when they are fair about it. It makes us all do better and work harder for it. You have to earn your points, they weren't just given away like candy. If they are too easy it just doesn't seem like it means as much or that they were generous handing out the "gold star & a pat on the head" for showing up.
I bet it was the ear infection. Don't stress about it too much. The advice I've heard is that if you had you changes before then leave them alone because the more you mess with them the more likely you are to mess them up. I have no idea if that's true, but thought I'd share for what it's worth. :D I hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to cross train Quest in dressage during the winter months- it'll be a dream come true if we could look half as good as you and Beefs. Feel better soon!
ReplyDelete