Wednesday, December 21, 2011

HDS Shooling Show Championships - 12-18 Open Intro B My Thoughts

LAZY
That's the best I can describe how I felt in the test. Harley did NOT want to be forward, he was daydreaming off the bit, and would wiggle his nose to avoid the contact. R told me later he pooped in the second circle. Oh Me Oh My. I'm glad he at least stayed in his trot while pooping, but goodness.

I considered using tiny spurs in the Championship class, or at least in warmup. I tried to consider what I'd done differently in the morning warmup. We'd done many transitions, lots of loose rein walk breaks to rest, and then I realized what the gap was.

Canter
Every other ride, after the longe, I usually canter early in the ride, to "wake things up", and get his mind on the ride. That morning, I didn't canter. There were too many other riders around in too small of arenas, and since I nearly got crashed into at a walk by a galloping advanced horse, I wasn't confident Harley and I could manage canter in the chaos.

I committed that we'd FIND a place to canter before the Championship class. I'd get the spurs out, but not put them on, just keep them close enough for use if I needed. We were *going* to canter in our second warmup, and that just might be enough.

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