A confusing day of dressage

[pboy]

I'm so pleased with my boy today, despite managing to cake himself in poo overnight ? We did two Novice tests for the first time, which was a lot for my little brain to handle let alone Indio's!

He went a bit Kevin-ish in N24 and we managed to canter when we should have trotted, and trotted when we should have cantered. In general he dropped behind my leg for much of the test and wasn't really with me at all, it felt pretty awful. However the judge must have loved us as I though we'd get low-60s and she gave us 68.86%!

Then N39 - the toughest of the Novice tests and our first long arena. I borrowed Ali's spurs (as well as her stock...and stock pin...as mine had fallen out of my bag in the car so didn't make it onto the lorry!) and Indio was far more with me, he felt awesome. I made a few rider errors (complete miscommunication on the left canter circle!), we lost rhythm a couple of times (serpentine and after left canter) and I was too tentative with our first canter transition but Indio felt completely with me and connected. This time the judging went the other way and we got 62.5%, which I was massively disappointed with. The judge wrote 'tension' or 'tight in the back' on many of the movements and also said that tension had spoilt the test in her general comments. I'm really puzzled as he didn't feel tense, he doesn't look tense in the videos and he did lovely stretching work in walk and trot, which would be impossible with tension. Unfortunately I didn't manage to talk to the judge afterwards so I couldn't ask her about it.

Still, we're now two-thirds of the way to being qualified for the Area Festivals! We just need one more score over 62% to qualify.

I'd be interested in thoughts on the videos, particular N39 as I want to get to the bottom of the 'tension' comments!

N24:
N39:

[pboy]

[brigadier]

oooh just seen this and on my way out- will come back to it later but remember- its still flipping subjective- by the way it was the same judge?

[pboy]

No, different judge. I'd be grateful if you could take a look Brig as you tend to have great constructive feedback!

[pboy]

I've just watched the video again and compared it with the judge's comments. I think that whenever there was a loss of rhythm or balance, she's blamed it on 'tension' and given us a 6 for it. So she thinks the root cause is tension, whereas I know it's an issue with balance (e.g. pushing for a bigger medium trot, he lost a tiny bit of balance towards the end) or with suppleness (e.g. tilting his head a little on the right 10m circle, coming above the bit in a couple of transitions). Also some of the movements are combined in the marks, e.g. one mark for the canter to trot transition and the stretching trot circle - we got 6.5 for this, but I'm sure if the mark had only been for the stretching trot circle it would have been higher, but Indio came above the bit in the transition so the average mark for the movement was reduced.

I'm glad for the video! I still think we were harshly marked in places for a Novice but it's a baseline to work from. Interestingly YO was at a judge's training with Judy Harvey on Wednesday and they were watching N39, so she got a very good feel for what is 'good' in that test. I'll ask her to watch the video again (she was the one behind the camera ) and see what she thinks.

[brigadier]

Visually the first test was more pleasing. He did have his Kevin moments but these were sporadic and overall he seemed more relaxed and swinging through his stride. I thought immediately how far he has come on since I last watched one of his sessions, he is really developing his swagger!
In the second test it all seems a little hurried although the stretching work was good and his return to working was very nice indeed. I notice you had quite a hold through the right rein, Ive not noticed you do this before and it is something I would pick up on. Some parts are very good and some (Im sorry to agree with the Judge) do seem a little tense. Perhaps the spurs made him a little sharper as it rather seems he is doing a white rabbit and keeps looking at his pocket watch.
Im going to watch it again tomorrow to see if I think the same again as like you say its good they are on video and you can ask your trainer for a view also.
Its funny but sometimes you think you've ridden a blinder and no one else sees it. But I do think he is looking great and the improvement is marked, so going in the right direction.

[pboy]

Thanks Brig - it's good to get fresh eyes on it. I really felt I was carrying him around the first test and constantly pushing and pulling, whereas the second felt more of a partnership albeit more difficult due to the more complex moves and my own tension! They are only out third and fourth attempts at Novice so we have plenty to build on anyway.

[brigadier]

Overall I think they are good tests. Ive watched both again and focused solely on his tail. As you know its the best indicator of tension through the body. Have a watch yourself and look at nothing else, compare how in the first you are clearly achieving a repeating S through the tail movement which indicates suppleness, relaxation etc. In the second it is less evident- his tail is a tad to the right and more swishy (outside:flies?) indicating tension somewhere, if only because of flies! Generally though first impressions are often correct and although you may have felt you were carrying him in the first test- he was obviously a bit more happy about it. Revisit the spurs, you may only need dummies.

[pboy]

I'm sure he was happier in the first test - going along at his own pace with his metaphorical fingers in his ears I need to be more disciplined with him to make sure he's responsive, as the movements come up so much quicker in the higher tests and we can't afford a satellite delay between me asking and him responding. It's not so much about spurs as it is about getting him on my aids without tensing up - obviously some positive tension is needed and I suspect we'll have a bit of trial and error over the coming months.

I was chatting with YO about taking him along for a lesson with her trainer at some point (Adam Kemp), it would be good to have a lesson with someone who doesn't know Indio's history as I definitely tend to baby him a bit but he's ready to step up and carry himself a bit more now!

[brigadier]

time for his big boy pants!

[racaille]

Not qualified to comment on the quality of his tests but just a thought: do you have to wear white gloves in the UK? Here we can wear dark ones and most people do as white gloves tend to show up any hand jiggling - not suggesting you have, just a general comment!

[pboy]

White gloves were mandatory until recently - you can now wear dark colours but most people have stuck with the tradition of white gloves, there's a perception that if you wear dark gloves it's to hide your bad hands though I think that is steadily dying away... I was happier with my hands in the N39 test, they looked a bit more stable there