Post by pboy on Jun 15, 2015 11:42:45 GMT
...and could have been a lot better!
I took Indio to his first competition yesterday (and my first comp in almost 18 months!), we entered the Prelim 12 and Prelim 18 dressage tests. It was only a 15 minute drive away at a nice little venue that does low-key, friendly events so an ideal starting point!
Indio loaded and travelled well. He was quite snorty on arrival but quickly buried his nose in the grass! He warmed up better than I expected (on grass - first time I've schooled him on grass but I usually do a few bits and pieces while hacking) - I did the same things we've been working on at home with lots of 'working' pace then very slow and back up to working in walk, trot and canter. He was more onward-bound and stronger than at home but he wasn't at all bothered about the other horses and seemed to relax into the work.
Before I went in for my test a lady ahead of me warned me that the breeze blocks at the 'A' end were spooky. Indio wasn't bothered about them at all so I headed down the centre line...Indio then spotted the terrifying JUDGE'S CAR. "WTF is a car doing in the arena" he asked, then started to go sideways. We crabbed down to A and did an impressive sideways corner. We managed the first diagonal (away from the car) and circle (at A) ok, then as we headed back to the judge something moved in the hedge near F so now there were two spooky things! Both canter transitions were near C so we did both of those sideways. Oh and silly rider was so relieved to have managed canter that she did her circle in the wrong place!!
Our score was a shameful 59.4% (would have been 60 without my error of course) and the judges comment was "Cheeky monster!" I think we came last ;-)
We had an hour to relax then I got on and really worked on keeping him focused on me. He was again very heavy in the hand and didn't want to properly engage as he was a bit tense. However we had a far less spooky test, albeit a very 'safe' one where I kept him very steady, focused on balance and keeping his attention on me. Our mark was 61.something% and apparently we were just 0.5% off a rosette so much better! The judge said 'pleasing moments' and commented that he needs to be more engaged, supple and working over his back more. All valid comments and things we are working on at home, along with the spookiness (he was spooking at jump wings on Saturday when we'd done our test run-through - he's feeling very well and very cheeky at the moment!).
So lots and lots to work on still but I'm taking away the positives:
- He travelled well and loaded well both ways
- Overall he was calm and very easy to handle at the event
- Not at all bothered about other horses around
- Warmed up on grass with no problems
- Got the correct canter lead both times in both tests (and of course the sideways crabbing added to the difficulty level
) - we've been having some issues at home with this recently!
- The area outside the arena had nasty sharp stones and he walked across it with no problems
There was a photographer so I'll share the link when the photos are up...I think there'll be some interesting ones in there!!
I took Indio to his first competition yesterday (and my first comp in almost 18 months!), we entered the Prelim 12 and Prelim 18 dressage tests. It was only a 15 minute drive away at a nice little venue that does low-key, friendly events so an ideal starting point!
Indio loaded and travelled well. He was quite snorty on arrival but quickly buried his nose in the grass! He warmed up better than I expected (on grass - first time I've schooled him on grass but I usually do a few bits and pieces while hacking) - I did the same things we've been working on at home with lots of 'working' pace then very slow and back up to working in walk, trot and canter. He was more onward-bound and stronger than at home but he wasn't at all bothered about the other horses and seemed to relax into the work.
Before I went in for my test a lady ahead of me warned me that the breeze blocks at the 'A' end were spooky. Indio wasn't bothered about them at all so I headed down the centre line...Indio then spotted the terrifying JUDGE'S CAR. "WTF is a car doing in the arena" he asked, then started to go sideways. We crabbed down to A and did an impressive sideways corner. We managed the first diagonal (away from the car) and circle (at A) ok, then as we headed back to the judge something moved in the hedge near F so now there were two spooky things! Both canter transitions were near C so we did both of those sideways. Oh and silly rider was so relieved to have managed canter that she did her circle in the wrong place!!
Our score was a shameful 59.4% (would have been 60 without my error of course) and the judges comment was "Cheeky monster!" I think we came last ;-)
We had an hour to relax then I got on and really worked on keeping him focused on me. He was again very heavy in the hand and didn't want to properly engage as he was a bit tense. However we had a far less spooky test, albeit a very 'safe' one where I kept him very steady, focused on balance and keeping his attention on me. Our mark was 61.something% and apparently we were just 0.5% off a rosette so much better! The judge said 'pleasing moments' and commented that he needs to be more engaged, supple and working over his back more. All valid comments and things we are working on at home, along with the spookiness (he was spooking at jump wings on Saturday when we'd done our test run-through - he's feeling very well and very cheeky at the moment!).
So lots and lots to work on still but I'm taking away the positives:
- He travelled well and loaded well both ways
- Overall he was calm and very easy to handle at the event
- Not at all bothered about other horses around
- Warmed up on grass with no problems
- Got the correct canter lead both times in both tests (and of course the sideways crabbing added to the difficulty level
) - we've been having some issues at home with this recently!- The area outside the arena had nasty sharp stones and he walked across it with no problems
There was a photographer so I'll share the link when the photos are up...I think there'll be some interesting ones in there!!
for so much hard work we thank ye!!
) in July so he can have a few weeks off to let it all sink in 
