Schooling Dressage Show at BCHP

I love these two! 

It's show recap time again!

As a follow up to my last post, I'm going to reiterate again how much I'm loving having stepped back from jumping in competition this year and how much fun these low-stress dressage shows have been. Riding one test and hanging out with a great, low-key friend is so much easier on my nerves than a horse trial! 

I decided to stick with 1-1 at this show, since honestly I just haven't had the time to put in to learning and polishing 1-3. We'd only ridden the test in competition twice so far this year, and I feel like it's now firmly in my wheelhouse and something I can think about perfecting instead of just making sure all the basic elements are there. So out for another go at 1-1 we went! 

The biggest challenge we faced during this show was the heat and humidity. When we arrived at the park it didn't feel too terribly hot, but riders kept coming up from the show ring red-faced and sweaty, horses drenched, and everyone complaining of the heat. I figured we'd be fine, but when I got on to start warming up, I realized that the heat was going to be a major factor in how this test played out. It was HOT. Really hot.

I started our warm up by taking Dino on a nice long stroll through the cross country course. I love being able to do that at the horse park - it gets him loose, happy, and thinking forward before we ever step into the warm up ring. Along the way I found myself eyeing up some of the BN jumps and thinking they looked like fun, and wondering if I could get back to the park to go schooling soon. (Who am I???)

Best show buddies!

Once we got in the ring, he was forward and on the bit pretty quickly, so I quit after just a few minutes and went to go stand in the shade before our test, figuring I could rev him up during our lap around the outside.

Dino walked through the gate feeling like he was ready to take on the world - forward and swinging and engaged - so when I asked for a canter down the long side to really get him going before we started our test, I was surprised when I got a pony tantrum! HRH was DONE with this game of working in the heat, but unfortunately he had a test to do. Too bad, Your Highness.

And overall, it was a great test! We scored a solid 7.5 on our first centerline for a positive start, with 6.5's on the 10m half circles, which could have used more bend and energy. Dino does always seem to lose steam on those smaller figures, so that's a good bit of homework for us to work on. We continued the trend with a 6.5 on our stretch circle, which again was lacking a bit of energy but I was SO pleased with how quickly and low he stretched! I've had so much trouble in the past with my own tension preventing a good stretch right from C, and I feel like we really nailed that movement in this test despite the mediocre score.

We got a 6.0 on our first trot lengthening, with the comment "Quick." Honestly, I'll take a lengthening that's a bit rushed on this pony any day over one that's too sluggish! I was also really happy with how this movement felt despite the score. The medium walk was another 6.0 - again with lack of energy really preventing us from scoring higher.

The free walk we nailed for a 7.5! YES. I know there's an 8 free walk in there somewhere.. maybe next time we'll bring it out.

The medium walk - trot - canter series of transitions scored us a deserved 6.5 - I always, always, ALWAYS have trouble with this movement being tense, and the judge definitely saw that too.

6.0 for an okay canter lengthening. It wasn't too great, it wasn't terrible, definitely a 6.0.

But we redeemed ourselves with 7's on the 15m circle and the change of rein!

"Winner winner chicken dinner, bitchez."

It was at that point that Dino was Done with a capital D. His tank was empty. There was nothing left. Pony has overheated and will now shut down, goodbye. The canter work to the right was positively atrocious, the lengthening barely existed and garnered us a very generous 5.5, and we somehow managed to eke out 6's on the rest of it. He never broke gait (thank God!) but Dino was NOT HAPPY and he was behind the leg and hollow throughout all of the right lead canter. Thankfully the last bit of tot work scored us a 6.5 for the transition and lengthening, and we finished with another 7.5 for our 10m half circle and centerline.

With 6's and 6.5's on our collectives, we ended the day with a 64.8% for 2nd place!

I had left the ring SO disappointed in our last bit of canter work, but when I picked up my test my mood changed to TOTALLY THRILLED. This is, again, the BEST score we've ever gotten at First Level, and we were 2nd in a big division of about 9 pairs, second to the only pro riding the level that day. I was, and still am, really pumped! To know that even with big flubs and no brilliant scores we can hold our own at First is just such a good feeling. I left the show feeling happy and motivated to keep working, which is exactly the kind of end I want to each and every show day.

1-3, you're next!

Frame-worthy.