10/25/09 Show's On! Pt 3

Training Test 1
There was a bit of an intermission break in between Equitation and my test rides. Not a big deal. Ransom and I rode through a much more chaotic warm-up ring, with about four or five other riders. Not such a problem. At least two of the riders refused to make eye contact, and one almost ran into us. Look where you're going! This goes to show, even in dressage, the warm-up ring is more dangerous than the show arena. Stupid stupid stupid!!!

We were last of three riders for the test, and I entered the show pen. I'm going to briefly describe each piece of the test, my thoughts while I was riding it, the score and judge's notes. I hope you can follow along.

1. Enter working trot, halt at X, salute, proceed working trot
Okay, Ransom. Here goes nothing. Wiggle opposite the shoulders into a walk, step, step, halt, salute. Cool. Glad that's over. It wasn't too bad, but ain't pretty perfect either.
8 = square halt

2. Track left, circle 20m
Hey! Where are you going! Get that noodled head down! And cut out those little ittie bittie trot strides. You were pretty in the warmup! Where'd you go?!
6 = above bit in corner. stretch into bridle more

3. Working canter left lead between K & A
Look into my corner, look ahead into the next, lean back, squeeze. He's not cantering, he tossed his head UP, into a stupid ugly horrendous trot, try again. Lean back, squeeze, with punch! There! Crap! Wrong lead, Yeah I see it. Crap!
4 = hollow in trans. wrong lead

4. B Circle Left 20m
Yeah, no kidding! Lead's wrong, yeah, this circle feels like crap. I know I can't get a change, I don't know how to ask for it, and I have no clue what would happen if I asked for trot and the correct lead again. Let's just ride this circle and get it over with. yuck!!
4 = wrong lead not correct

5. Between centerline and B working trot
Okay, heavy sigh, back to trot. Good. At least he got that right. Concentrate on the posting diaganol. peek.. okay, got that right.
7 = giving nicely through top line

(In between here, I asked for a nice long good energetic trot, and he broke to a canter. I quickly pulled him back down to a trot, but already knew she saw it.)

6. C medium walk
Whoops. Is it at "C" we walk? Or between "C" and the corner? Crap, I cant' remember, and I can't hear Jen calling it.. Let's ease into it. This test is already crappy, what else could go wrong.
5 = broke to canter before "C", transition late & hollow

7. Long free walk down the diagonal
Okay, spread hands out, wiggle wiggle wiggle. Hey, not so bad. It isn't phenominal, but it's a chance to regroup. Take a deep breath, wiggle wiggle, he's stretching down some, but not as good as he could. Breathe.. it's a chance mid way to start over.
6 = some stretching

8. "A" working trot
Wiggle, half-halt, squeeze. Good! He got a decent transition. A good start to the second half of the test. Maybe we can recover this disaster yet.
7 = beautifully

9. Circle Right 20m
Look, think, add leg. He's riding really irregular. I wonder what happened from the warmup pen to here. What got in his head? Something hurting? Am I nervous? No, no tummy jitters. Glance over at R in the corner, well, maybe he'll get a few shots I can learn from. Geez this test is horrid, and I don't know why!
6 = loss of rhythm

10. Working canter right lead in the corner
Look into the corner, wiggle, wiggle, lean back, squeeze, and REFUSE to allow that stupid ugly transition like earlier again. There. Got it, and the lead is right, glance down, make sure, yeah, it's right.

6 = counter flexed, falling in

11. "B" circle right 20m

Look up, wiggle whole arms, see the whole circle. Okay, not so bad. Better than the other one, for sure. Lean back! Relax your rear end, you're bouncing. Look for the transition.
8 = balanced through + conn

12. Between centerline and "B" working trot
See the spot, settle in the saddle, squeeze knees, heavy sigh, Okay. whew. Got it, and he wasn't super ugly. Head came up a little, but I didn't have to tug his nose off.
7 = no comments

13. Down "A" centerline, halt, salute.
Oh good grief! This nightmare is almost over. Just get him stopped, salute, and get the heck out of here. Go take a deep breath, walk around, and ask Jen, "What the hell just happened?!"
6 = halt not immobile.

Rider comments
Gaits = 5 "looks a little ouchy in trot
(Yeah, no kidding. Short strided, and his head was completely somewhere else)
Impulsion = 6 no comments
Submission = 6 no comments
Rider = 7 no comments

I couldn't tell you what exactly happened. I felt completely disoriented, and Ransom either felt it, or caused it. This test was a complete disaster in my mind. It was the easier of the two, and I seriously wanted to dismount and go home. But, we were immediately next for Test 2, and I didn't want to scratch. I didn't get scared, I just got mad, and no sense going home mad. Ransom had to work more after that bad performance, and if I didn't ride the test, I wanted to find an open arena to school the hair off of him. No reason to waste the calories and entry fees, so I took a deep deep breath, and told him, "Listen dude. That sucked, but you're not getting off so easy. Let's go back in there and try again, shall we? Please ride a little better this time."

Final Score - 141, 61.304% Third place of three. Yeah, no kidding, it was that terrible.

10/25/09 Show's On! Pt 2

On the rail, at a walk. Cool, no problem. Ransom got a little rein-wiggle to let him know we were being watched. I glanced at the judge to make sure she knew I knew I was ready. I looked across the arena, other competitor was on the other long side from me. Great! Far enough off I didn't need to worry about a collision. I saw the other trainer, standing about at B, and she asked me, "Are you going to ride in the Championships?" I shrugged my shoulders with an "I don't know", but I was being polite. I had no intentions on scoring high enough today, so I didn't join the club this year.

Judges Notes at Walk: Elbows out, sitting to rt of ctr of horse. heels in front of seat bones

"Trot your horses. Posting trot."
I wiggled the reins again, and squeezed just a little. Ransom's trot transition was beautiful. Not head-popping, and he stayed on the bit. Sweet! I stayed on the rail as much as I could, trying to keep him straight and moving forward.
"Change direction at the trot."
Sweet, I can do that too! I was heading for a corner on the short side, so an extended trot down the diagonal only seemed logical. I glanced up at the judge, looked at the marker for "H", and headed for it. Just then, the other rider in the arena turned almost straight facing me. Shoot! There went that plan, darn it! I grinned, eyes only looked towards the judge, who was also smiling as we both realized my plan wasn't going to work. I headed in the other direction somewhere around "X".

Judge Notes at Trot: Back hollow. rider leaning fwd, toes sideways

The judge then asked us to canter individually. Oh Thank goodness! I won't have to risk a collision with that other goofy mare. Whew! I was asked to go to the center, and she cantered one way. I watched intently. Whoops. She picked up a trot first, and then asked for canter. (nice, I can do the same thing) Got her lead wrong, and got it changed to the correct lead-left, somewhere around "A". Judge asked her to go to the center, and I'd take my turn.

I picked up trot-right, got him in a steady collected trot, got just the judge's side of "X", and asked for canter. Lean back, wiggle-wiggle, squeeze, got it! Got our lead, got a pretty transition, and he cantered off slow & smooth. Cantered a circle plus some long side, when the judge asked, "Okay, now let's see your canter in the other direction next."
Really? Okay, cool. Get this all over with. Nice!
Turned him the other way at a walk, picked up collected trot, and again, in her clear view so she could really make her comments, I asked for canter-left. Lean back, wiggle, squeeze. A bit less pretty, he stuck his nose up a little, but it was still a steady transition. Canter-left was a bit bigger in stride & power than the right, but it was easy enough to ride. I knew I was leaning forward a little, and trying very hard not to drive with my hips, just ride it.

Judge's Notes at Canter: Back hollow, leaning fwd, toes out sideways.

The other rider rode canter-right. Whoops. Wrong lead initially with a flying change in there somewhere. I grinned inside. I don't take joy in other's mistakes, but I sure felt good about how we rode. Ransom and I did GREAT!

Total score - 63% for me, 60% for her. First place! My first ride, at the canter, on my new horse, we scored ourselves a Blue Ribbon! YAY!

10/25/09 Show's On! Pt 1

You guys knew I wouldn't let it ALL out at once, right? Part one certainly means there's more, huh? *giggle* I'll let a little out today, and then go shove myself in the corner face-first...

We got up early, got ready, and headed straight to the barn. Ransom had eaten some of the hay, and some of the grain, but not all. He was standing in the stall, pouting, covered in shavings on one side. Well, at least he laid down & rested, the snotty old fart.

With him settled out of his clothes and a little more hay, we hosed down all of the poultice off his legs so he could dry before the show started. R and I ran for coffee and breakfast, as there is no human possible way I could maintain my cheerful demeanor without coffee. Who am I kidding? I don't drink just coffee anymore.. Out on the road, it's Starbucks Vanilla Latte, and back at home, it's a regular latte, courtesy of my machine in the kitchen. So anyways, I got my morning punch, and we were back to the barn.

Jen met us there, her coffee in-hand. We marvelled at some other riders who seemed to be arguing with their equine partners. Whatta sight.... grouchy rich people.. Anyways... *laugh*

Ransom was standing in the stall, still pouting. I went to change into my show-whites, while Jen did some light grooming & walking in-hand. While we sent R off for more supplies out of my truck, I slowly started to groom, brush, clean, and tack up. I slid my slippery nylon blue pants over my white breeches, and took Ransom all tacked to the outdoor smaller arena for lunging warmup. As I arrived there, I looked down, knowing something felt wrong. Well, yeah, genius! I was still in sneakers! Jen offered to continue his lunge while I finished getting ready. So I scrambled back to the stall, got my helmet, gloves, boots, and collar.

I returned to the arena as Jen finished up. We walked Ransom over to the warm-up covered arena, and I got on (again, missing my big steps). There were a few other horses in the arena, two of which were clearly upper level horse/rider pairs. I marvelled at their connection with their equines. They were dancing - it was hard for a bit to focus on what needed done for my warmup. It wasn't intimidating. That's something I love about dressage - I don't have to be expected to compete against upper level experience, because they're riding Second and First Level tests... I'm just in Training Level , so no need to be jealous or intimidated, but just enjoyed watching the rides.

About that time, a younger girl on what looked like an Arab cross of sorts entered the arena. I heard the trainer saying things to her like, "Just push her forward, and relax. You need to stay calm for her to be calm." Oh my goodness... I realized I had to get my warmup canter in, and quick, in case that little mare was ready to blow....

I made a good plan for my canter departure, checked one last second for the other riders' locations. Leaned back, squeeze, and immediately tried to relax my legs and my back. Ransom moved up into a canter much like Saturday's, and we completed a few circles before settling into an easy trot transition. I switched directions, sighted my path forward, and asked again, this time on a long side. Whoops! Wrong lead. Tugged a bit into the trot, got back into my circles, sighted a path, and asked again. Got it! Note to self - he was easy for transitions, up and down, but ask for canter in a circle or on a corner. Don't be a hot-shot & ask on the straights yet, I'm not ready.

As we were cantering, I tried my best to stay relaxed, and focus on where we were heading, while watching what the other riders were doing. I don't know if they were watching out for me, or the general path of life kept them out of the way, but it felt like we were the only ones there for my canter warmups. We had space, a comfortable bubble around us, and I didn't feel pushed or squeezed by anybody else.

Class was called. First up? Walk, trot, canter equitation. Riders? Myself on Ransom, and the younger girl on the Arab cross. As I watched her warm up at the trot, her horse was very forward, but barely on the bit. At the canter, they fought with each other for the correct leads. All I had to do in the class, was stay out of her way.

I entered the arena, took one HUGE long deep breath, and felt Ransom sigh underneath of me, almost under his breath. He knew full well what was up - this was our moment. All I had to do was ride clean, and we'd pin first. If I counted on the other rider missing her leads, and assumed my blue ribbon dreams were going to come true, this was our solid chance.

Could I hold it together? My other intentional canter shows of the past were train wrecks. It was all I could do in the past to stay on the horse, not to mention doing it relaxed. I didn't want to fall, and Ransom had been absolutely solid for two and a half days.

Time to put it on... The judge, and the trainer in the ring, and the announcer, one after the other called, "Walk your horses . Collected walk."

Show's On! More tomorrow!! I'm going to try to get Equitation and Training 1 in the morning... Training 2, well, maybe tomorrow, maybe not. =)

10/24/09 Travel & Schooling

Ransom and I were ready to go about 1:15pm. But we weren't taking the trip alone, no sirreee. I was bringin' me some reinforcements. Road company, and an extra set of eyes for the ride. R graciously accepted my invitation, and by 1:30, we were on our way.

Traffic was minimal until the last State Highway. Now, understanding I grew up in a moderate size town, then lived in big-city SC for a few years, living in the little town I'm in now, well, is unpopulated heaven. It's a small town, with little to no traffic on the roads, and I like it that way. In Big City Houston, however, it's a bunch of little cars, big trucks, and the occasional trailer hauling cowboy. When we reached that last highway, I worried it'd be like every other trip with the trailer on that road -folks determined they could get farther by swinging around me, cutting me off in front, and slamming on the brakes for the redlights. This trip, however, that didn't happen. We arrived at the show barn in about 2.25 hours time, just what I expected. We were just a tad early, arriving at the facility about 3:40pm.

The barn owner helped us load our things, and unload in my tack stall. Ransom settled into his new jail-cell 12x12 stall, and just as soon as I had his sheet and boots off, took himself a good roll. So much for the bath he had before we loaded, huh? The stalls were dry and clean, but he showed very little interest in his automatic waterer. Darned thing.

With the trailer disconnected & all my things organized, I grabbed my saddle, and my pony, and got to gettin'. I had it all planned out in some anal retentive "pretend I'm big & rich like they are" fashion. Turquoise polo wraps, a turquoise saddle pad, tan breeches, and a turquoise t-shirt. Yup, we were stylin' as I finished getting him tacked and walked towards the arena.

I headed straight to the show arena - large covered. No reason to go anywhere else, this is where the action would be. I got Ransom out on the lunge line on his halter, and let him look anywhere he wanted, as long as he stayed on the circle, and quiet. The barn team was running tractors and arena-grooming equipment in other arenas, trucks and trailers unloading horses just on the other side, and a few horses were even turned out to goof in the small covered arena. Complete mayhem, but Ransom wasn't bothered. I stuck him in his bridle & side reins, and pushed him back out on the lunge, and settled him into another set of warmup moving. Again, he was allowed to look-see, as long as he didn't flip out and kept his feet moving.

After about twenty minutes, I realized I wouldn't be able to procrastinate much longer. I didn't come all this way to just lunge - it was time to ride. I walked back over to R, thanked him once again for being there, clamped my helmet tightly to my head, and hopped on. Their little ittie bitty mounting block made me long for my large steps, but it served its purpose when I got settled into the saddle.

Ransom and I walked on a loose rein, then on light contact, then working walk. I mixed in free walk and working walk, and finally admitted it would be time to trot. We trotted circles, serpentines, diagonals, anything I could do to relax my nerves. He was leaning hard on my right rein, almost bent to the right. It didn't seem to improve for at least the first fifteen minutes.

Then, a train arrived. I remembered Jen telling me, "Just act like it's not a big deal, and he won't either." We headed down the long side, facing the train. Ransom's head lifted, I took a heavy deep breath, and pushed him forward, wiggling my reins. He sighed, and settled right back into work, as if it wasn't even there. One goal accomplished - ride through the train.

But this isn't enough. With more truck/trailer/unloading horses, the tractor going in the large open arena beside us, I realized there was no more time to procrastinate. There were enough things going on, and if I didn't just suck it up and try to canter, the entire trip would be a waste in my mind. I didn't feel like scratching, or rearranging my classes.

I leaned back. And squeezed. I felt my body lean forward, my knees grab, and I was bracing for the worst. Too many other rides away from home, my canter-ask led to my rear end connecting with the arena ground. I was scared, flat plain & simple.

Ransom lifted his front end only enough to push up into the canter, and got in the gait. I cantered with all my muscles tight for one far side circle, realizing he was moving out slowly, relaxed, and collected. After that one circle, I thoughtfully relaxed my back, and my legs, and finally my arms. We cantered another circle or three in the center, transitioning to trot down the long side, my larger transition fear in the tests for Sunday.

With one direction of canter accomplished, I let him walk a piece, changed direction, and asked for more trot. When I asked for canter this time, I wasn't quite as nervous, but still a bit. Ransom again met me halfway, with not the picture perfect transition, but slow, collected, and easy. I relaxed a bit faster this time, worked a few canter circles, transitioned to trot down the long side, and eased him into a walk.

We rode just a bit more trot to keep things moving, and I let him stretch his neck long & long in these cool down trots. After about 45 minutes, R reminded me, "I needed to leave some gas in the tank for Sunday." So we relaxed, walked out, and unsaddled at the stall.

Ransom was more interested in the auto-waterer this time, and eagerly drank as fast as it would fill after his workout. I offered him supper and hay, though he showed minimal interest in the grain. Here we go again, with a fussy horse that doesn't want to eat. As he was munching hay, I put poultice and leg wraps on his legs, gave him cookies & praise, and called it a night. After we humans had our supper, we went back to the barn to put his sheet back on, give him another cookie, and check his supper progress. Ransom had eaten about half of his grain, and was standing facing away from the stall gate, appeared to be pouting. Poor guy doesn't like being locked up, and I understood.

The nerves of schooling were accomplished. We were ready for bed, and I was ready to dream of blue ribbons. I'd accomplished a huge goal today, riding in a lot of noise, vehicles moving about, and plenty of eyes watching. Ransom met me with a near perfect schooling session, and by the end of the ride, most of that tension in the right rein had eased. He was relaxed, had all his muscles stretched.

All that was left, was to show the show barn, all the spectators, and the judge, that we had good reason to be here at this level. We'd earned our place in the class. But would Ransom cooperate? Would he agreeably finish all his dinner and be ready for breakfast, or would he be on a hunger-strike upset about the jail cell? Could I keep my nerves at bay long enough to compete? Or would the warm-up ring be just enough to push me over the edge (and off my horse)?

10/23/09 The Last Lesson

I have discovered lately that my favorite blogs are the ones that end in mild suspense. What will happen next? How will the show go? How does the horse place? Is she going to get better quickly? So, in that frame of mind, I'm going to be a turkey, and spread out the show schooling & classes over the next few days. We both did well, and Ransom and I have discussed the issue - we both need a few days off. He'll get grooming, cookies, and some stretches, but nothing serious for at least the next few days. Please enjoy my long drawn-out re-telling of the events.

I saddled up for a last-review lesson before the show weekend. As Jen arrived, we were nearly done with our lunging side rein warm-up. Ransom had settled in, loose side reins, moving along at an ambling trot & canter. His "whoa" on the line was decent, though nothing to praise him for.

I expected the same very anxious pushy canter we'd been riding all week. I thoroughly anticipated it, and even had told Jen, "I know it's last minute, but I hope he does it again so I can get some tips to share."

As I asked for the canter, imagine my surprise, when he was awesome! Little booger! Heading left, Ransom was steady and collected, only popping his head up briefly for the transitions. His trot was a little slow and short, but I got the job done.

The only piece Jen saw, was my driving hips. As it turns out, I was pushing his canter heading right, probably without realizing it. When I asked for it again later, I concentrated very hard to simply ride the stride, and not push or drive. Just let my hips move with him, rather than force it. Much better! Exactly what he needs - ask, and leave 'im alone. This is a repeating pattern with Ransom - nagging & pestering get me nowhere, pushing makes it worse. The best way to ride him, is to ask, and get outta the way.

We chose to keep the lesson ride short, since the next two days would bring many challenges. Would the drive up there be peaceful, or would I have to slam on the brakes and the horn on the state highway leading to the neighborhood the barn is in? Would Ransom remember what life was like locked in a jail cell we call stalls? And what was he going to do with all those horses around? Was he going to spook into never-never-land at the first sight of the train beside the barn? More importantly, how was I going to handle it? Romeo's last trip up there wasn't exactly worth remembering.

I got all my chores done Friday, leaving only a few last-minute tasks for Saturday. All things packed, washed, ironed, cleaned, and organized, we were ready around 1:30pm to pull out of the driveway.

Let the adventure begin!

Friday Fill Ins

1. The crickets sing, Good luck at the show!

2. I hope you're watching this weekend, wherever you are.

3. I want to get far away from the week I've had, and not repeat it anytime soon.

4. A satisfying entire week at work without incident; this was a dream.

5. But as for me I'm going to just do my best.

6. It's "Good Morning, how yins doing", where I come from.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to the final lesson before the show, tomorrow my plans include final stages of show prep and the drive and Sunday, I want to introduce my new horse to the show stable, and give it our absolute best!

10/22/09 No Goofing Around

Thanks, Lord, for the rainfall that hit my arena. It was enough to water the grass, and to dampen the dust down, but not too much to make mud. Thank You!

I grabbed Ransom in all his finest dressage garb, side reins included, and headed for the arena. It only took a few minutes of him free lunging and watching my body language before he realized A) we weren't goofing off, and B) the arena footing was perfect for work.

Side rein lunge line for a while, as I watched him stretch down & out while leaving slack in the side reins. As he settled into nice transitions trot/canter/trot, trot/walk/trot, I knew we were ready for serious.

I settled into the saddle. The winds died down, much to our misfortune, as the sun was still beating on the arena. In his new clipped coat, Ransom doesn't mind the heat much, and transitions are much easier.

We worked some collected walk, to free walk, and back. A few trot sets, with many direction changes, added in some trot/walk/halt and back up as he loosened his back up.

As I asked for the canter, I allowed our intial transitions in both directions to be ugly. As long as he didn't sprint forward, his head was allowed to raise up. I headed down long side, canter-right, towards my center 20m circle, and Ransom's, um, "forward impulsion" was great! A bit too great. He wasn't uncontrollable, but when I imagined what it looked like from the ground, and compared it to what I know I've seen on dressage test tv shows, it was a bit too much.

So we repeated in and out of canter on the circles and in the corners, heading down long side, and mixed it up, breaking to trot after the circle on the long side, and on the last 3/4 of the circle. Never once ran a whole test, but only the pieces, trying to incorporate all of the harder spots for us.

In between the canters, I fit in some trot to halt at X. After his first canter-out, the trot to halt is SO much better. It's got to be some muscles that loosen up, because if I try trot to halt early in the ride, they're horrendous. If I wait it out, and ride trot to halt late in the rides, he's much better.

Between his lunging, and my riding, we put in about 50 minutes. Only one few minute spurt was relaxed loose on the buckle walk. The rest, was work! Whether free walk still on contact, or collected canter trying to adjust his stride, Ransom was very tuned-in to my body language of "Listen dude, I'm not here to goof off, I'm not here to be relaxed. We're working, so get in line!" *laugh*

For his cool-down, I tried again to get "stretchy down trot" circles. To the right, these are just down-right beautiful. I was working him to a collected trot, then slowly stretching my hands apart, decreasing the wiggle-wiggle in my arms, and anytime he'd stretch down, I'd release the reins briefly. He's got this idea down-pat heading right, left it's sporadic. Some release-downs are gorgeous, while other times he simply levels out his head & withers, and sticks his nose out, hollowing his back. Ah.. but this is a TL test 3 movement, something not to be worried about perfecting anytime soon.

The most fun parts of our ride right now? Transitions from rising trot to sitting trot! Holy trot! That's a First Level rider movement! Freaking apples sitting trot. When I feel all of my lower body relax, waist-down, it's a phenominal feeling. These moments don't last long yet, though. We have plenty more to learn.

Countdown to Sienna, 3 days. Lesson tonight.. focusing on the tests, and any last-minute fixing miracles we can accomplish.