It was one windy gusty day. Lots of gusty wind. Jen and I arrived with Harley in good time, after a late start. Harley has recently decided he doesn't like to load on the trailer. A problem for which I have no good assignable cause, but I'm working to fix it.
He warmed up great on the line, with one hissy fit (metal stall door clanging open and closed). As he moved into the wind, I could see him flinch and flip his ears. He was almost cringing into the breeze, which was cute and funny.
I'll post the tests and score remarks soon, but here's the skinny...
Intro C 62.5% 1st place, AA High Point, and HDS Intro Medal
Training 1 58.54% 2nd place
Harley not only fought the wind, but three high-energy stallions that also trailered to the showgrounds. They were a little, uh, stallion-ie. Noisy and high HIGH energy. Did I mention high energy? :)
A well done day. He was more relaxed than he has been, and wasn't fighting the bit contact near like the last show. I was happy that I've learned the secret to a good test ride - walking the warm up. I got nearly dizzy walking him around in circles. It was nice. I barely cantered his warm up, and didn't trot an awful lot, either. I actually didn't test his canter until right before the test, in the show arena. thank you, stallions Instead, it was lots of walking and bending and bending and walking and bending and walking and walking and.. you get the idea.
After we were all done riding, Jen and I stuck around long enough to watch a few Prix Caprilli 1 test rides. NOW they make much more sense, and will be on my agenda for things to try later.
The scores yesterday qualify us for Championships in Intro, but not yet in training. So close! 0.5% more and we would've been in. darn it! One more good solid AHHf chance to qualify yet in early December. Much to work on until then - you'll see why in the scores and my remarks to go with them.
2 comments:
Cool! Sounds like a fun day :) Looking forward to reading more.
No idea if this is Harley's trailer issue or not, but when - after years of being an easy loader, and shortly after we bought our present trailer - Sunny started balking at getting in, I had T drive while I rode in back and I was stunned by how loud it was.
We have a combo/stock trailer with a front living quarters. I ended up padding the tack area (which shares a wall with the trailer proper) with rugs behind the bridles, and also used rolled up electrical tape to stop the plastic inserts in the back stock portion from rattling so badly. It helped, although it's still not as quiet as a fully enclosed trailer. But Sunny's balking problem disappeared and hasn't resurfaced - knock on wood!
The trailer hasn't changed, nor have the contents changed.
I think H is being a teenager, opinionated, and trying/seeing what he can get away with.
If Jen or I make being outside the trailer hard, and being in the trailer quiet and easy, he's good.
I spent a half hour loading him before the show. Jen spent fifteen minutes after the show.
It took ten to reload him after I got home. I spent almost fifteen more minutes loading and unloading until it seemed we had a system/agreement in place.
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