Pre-Show Jitters

I had a lesson Friday to go over some final points of the tests.  I think it was ok, but the quality of gaits and relaxation weren’t there as much as I wanted.  I think it mainly came from running through parts of the test.  Mort has all of the pieces fairly well, but putting it all together in a set order and timing is tougher.  I definitely tend to ask for transitions when I think they will be good.  I need to ride more precisely and less on feel—if I want to actually show Mort and not just ride around.  I admit both are important to me, but he needs to be able to listen to a half halt even if I asked him to lengthen a few strides ago (or whatever else).  Homework was to do more transitions with less prep time in between. 

So Mort and I worked hard the next ride to accomplish that.  I also really tried to work on making sure he was bending through his ribcage tracking left and not just neck bend.  This meant that my left hand was all over the place because of my inability to use it correctly.  When he was bending the way I wanted or straight in the contact we were OK.  When he didn’t want to bend I’d just pull that good ole left hand and throw him into neck bend.  But because I was trying to NOT do that I’d also not do that sometimes and try to just get it from my leg and seat.  Essentially my poor horse had to put up with me being a hot, inconsistent mess. 

For now, we’re going to go back to happy/easy for the last few days before our show.  It’s just a schooling show so I look forward to hearing what the judge thinks our major issues are versus what I’m insecure about.  I feel like I fall into a trap of having excuses to not show.  Last year I didn’t want to show because his canter wasn’t consistent or strong.  This year I feel like I want to train him to have better self-carriage and suppleness.  Next year I’ll probably not like something as well.  I have had the privilege of riding some nice and upper-level horses thanks to my time at WWU, but I think it gives me some expectation issues.  I know what I want Mort to feel like, but for some reason my OTTB who I’ve only had 1.5 years doesn’t feel like a fourth level dressage horse yet.  And in my head that means he’s not ready (for anything apparently?).  Hopefully he is actually ready for training/first.  I’m sure he’ll let me know on Sunday.  

Pre-Show Assessments

I’ve had a few people ask “how do you think you’ll do?” or “do you feel prepared?” or something along those lines for my show next weekend.  I found myself having a hard time answering those questions so I thought that I would delve further into it on here so I could perhaps figure out how to articulate myself better. 

I do feel prepared in that I don’t think I’m going to over-face Mort physically or mentally.  I feel prepared in that I think I have a good idea where our weak spots are.  Do I think we’ll walk away with a 75%?  Probably not.  Do I think we’ll walk away with a 50%?  Probably not that either.  “Doing well” is apparently hard for me to define.  So I’m going to come up with a few expectations and see how we stack up to those. 

Training Level Test Two

This (theoretically) should be a breeze for Mort.  Physically and mentally this is stuff we do every single ride.  My biggest concern is that it will actually not have enough “stuff” to keep Mort’s mind busy and his balance with me.  I may have to play with mini shoulder-fore or some leg-yields into a corner to keep us occupied.  Or he’ll relish the simple stuff and be happy to play along. 

First Level Test Two

Here I definitely know that our lengthenings won’t be magical.  I simply don’t have a good space to do these in the winter (the indoor is fairly small for a magical lengthening).  I work on adjusting his stride length every ride, just not to the extent that I always want to.  When the weather has been good we’ve gotten some decent examples in the field, but that work hasn’t been consistent enough for me to expect a whole lot this early in the spring.  I’m OK with that; if he just gives me what I’ve gotten at home I’ll be satisfied.

Both Tests

I have a concern with the geometry.  I don’t have a regulation dressage arena to work in regularly.  While this has some benefits (so much more space/time in a larger arena at a show), it definitely has some drawbacks when it comes to accuracy of figures.  I’ve ridden a lot of tests before, but not on Mort.  I will just have to be more aware that I’m not 100% certain how steep to make those leg yields, and keep an eye on my diagonals, etc. 

My second concern revolves around us being consistent.  When we’re really together and everything is working the way it should he’s getting to be pretty good.  But we still definitely have expressive transitions.  We have moments of being upside-down.  Sometimes he’s against my hands and sometimes he still hides from them.  All of these moments are less and less frequent, but they still happen.  There is at least one bad canter transition every ride (usually one of the first ones).  There are definitely times when my communication isn’t clear and he flounders.  Here’s to hoping these moments don’t happen during a test.  It’s all part of horse training and showing.  Moments will continue to happen forever and they’ll evolve over time into different problems. 

Overall I guess my answer is that I think we’ll do alright and that I hope we’ll do well.  I feel fairly prepared—Mort and I both need more work (and always will).  I don’t think he’ll be over-faced at all even if we’re not perfect.  We need practice in show situations and in a show arena.  This is what schooling shows are for, right?  I love the WWU schooling shows because they are so low-stress and the show manager does everything in her power to set up the riders for successful rides (babysitter horses, schooling in the show arena, getting back on if someone comes off, etc.).  Hopefully next week will be a wonderful way to really assess where Mort and I are right now, and that’s about as complicated as I should make it.   

Blog Hop: Showing

How Often and How Many?

Taking a page from $900 Facebook Pony, I’m going to discuss showing frequency.  I have never been a weekend warrior hitting up all of the shows all of the time.  When I was younger I’d try to convince my mother to take me to a lot of local shows, but they were still probably no more than 1-2 times/month.  Now that I’m all grown up (I guess), it gives me some more control of my showing schedule. 

Last year Mort and I went to a grand total of two schooling shows in the spring.  I’m personally not that excited by showing intro level dressage.  All that effort of showing seems like too much for killing it doing walk/trot.  If Mort had proved to be a nervous show horse, I would have hit up a lot more local shows to get him more experience.  He relaxed after about five minutes at our first show so that wasn’t really necessary. 

I think we’ll do more shows this year.  I have two in my sights this spring and a few over the summer and fall that I will probably want to get to as well.  We’re getting to a place in our training where I want to show him off (most days).  I will personally probably not average more than 1/month.  We’ll most likely show two classes each day.  Some shows I’ll show both Saturday and Sunday while others I’ll opt for just one day.  These decisions will depend on my schedule and the location more than anything else.  Most of these shows will be low-key schooling shows with (hopefully) a recognized in the fall. 

A lot of my personal showing decisions come from budget and schedule.  I’m not sure how people who work full-time have the energy to spend every weekend away getting poor sleep.  I also like to camp and do other activities in the summer, so not every weekend can be devoted to only horses (the husband wouldn’t appreciate it either).  I stick with more schooling shows because I’m on a budget--$50 versus $1,000 is a big difference.  Deciding how often to show from a horse welfare perspective gest a little trickier.  I think there are two major factors—level of difficulty and the mentality of the horse. 

Mort and I are currently working on training and first level.  Neither of these levels are very difficult physically.  Mort works harder at home right now than he will at a show.  If I were jumping or doing something related to speed events (whatever is physically difficult), I would probably not show more than once a month.  Obviously age/fitness of horse and how hard you’re pushing has to be taken into account.  As long as you take the horse’s fitness into account and the horse recovers well/quickly showing often is fine—physically. 

Whether you have a seasoned show horse or a 4-year old, every single horse experiences some level of stress at a horse show.  Horses are never going to choose showing over staying at home and eating, but if we make sure that they’re the least stressed as possible that’s a good start.  Some horses will always be more stressed than others and I think that those are the hardest to say how often to show.  More shows could theoretically equal less stress over time.  More shows could also equal more stress more often.  For me this would depend on whether the horse gets better over time or stays the same.  If it’s just a sensitive horse, I’d probably try to limit our showing.  Horses need a break every once in a while from the stress of loading up and showing too often. 

The moral of the story here is to put the horse first.  Showing should be fun for both parties.  These animals are not machines and they are not competitive like we are so it is our job to be as fair to them as possible.  

Stressful or Stale?

Mort and I haven’t been having very exciting rides lately.  While boring isn’t always a bad thing, I think we’re both kinda getting tired of the same routine.  I am not a person who likes to push hard on the training front before a show.  I am a firm believer in that if you have to train hard in the couple weeks before a show you probably signed up for something that you weren’t ready for.  That’s a huge pet peeve of mine but I won’t start on that tirade today. 

So while Mort and I have a million things to work on, I won’t be doing a lot of pushing right now.  But this also means that our rides are somewhat short and not particularly challenging.  I do some warm-up.  I work on straightness and being between the aids.  I work a bit on transitions between and within the gaits.  We do simple lateral work.  The end.  Sometimes I throw in some more difficult lateral work in the walk at the end (the current project is haunches-in), but nothing that may upset or stress him. 

It means I don’t have anything too exciting to write about.  I was so bored that yesterday I even worked on his ear clipping issues.  I’m stuck between not wanting to push too hard and not wanting to get stale.  I think I’ll try to play with some more difficult things tonight and/or tomorrow and then back to simple stuff.  I’d love to get in some outside riding and work on fitness and fun, but the weather is dumb again.  I know that over time I’ll know him better as far as what I can push for and if I can introduce new things before a show or not, but for now I’m aiming on the side of too easy.  We’ll see how it all goes!  

The Pony and The Pup

     Mort and Emma did really well on their trail ride together!  We started in the arena and I just asked Emma to lay down and stay.  She did that for a while but eventually she got bored with that so I asked her to come and she came immediately but didn’t know where to put her butt down.  The answer she came up with was to sit directly underneath Mort (my horse is a wonderful, wonderful boy).  She did this three different times.  I guess it works with Mort, but I think I need to work with Emma on sitting where I point instead of just coming to me to sit.  My bad. 

     We had fun on a windy day on the trails.  Emma bolting around but not getting too far ahead.  Mort watching her in the brush and only giving her the side-eye and not a single spook.  Emma playing in the pond and creek crossing.  Mort still crossing the creek even though it was scarier with all the dirt stirred up in it.  Good pony.  Good pup.  

Weekend Work

     Mort had Thursday off and enjoyed himself thoroughly getting himself nice and muddy in turn-out.  I was personally drained on Friday and my spring allergies were really kicking in (thankfully they generally only last a few days and they’re mostly gone today), so Mort got lunged.  While it was easier for me to do that Mort didn’t get out with just a light work.  I worked him over ground poles and we did a lot of transitions. 

     I will say that it’s satisfying to see how much his movement and way of carrying himself has changed in the last year and a half.  He’s more free in his shoulders.  I get regular moments of his hind-end really thrusting through.  The base of his neck is generally arched high and nice while he rounds out his topline.  All of this happens in his regular bridle and a lunge line.  While I’m not against “gimmicks” like side reins sometimes it’s nice to know that he’s doing all of this on his own through my riding him and getting the appropriate muscles stronger and changing his way of going. 

     Saturday was warm, sunny, and quite breezy.  The farrier was there and Mort was next (they had just started a horse who was getting shoes on all four feet from being barefoot), so I knew that I had a somewhat limited amount of time to ride.  So instead of playing with new or difficult things, we just did our regular happy work and Mort delivered me a regular, happy ride.  I got off with plenty of time to spare. 

     The clinician last week had me shorten my stirrups a hole and I really like it at the canter.  I feel like I can more effectively use my thighs to lift him.  He did really well staying between my aids which I was happy with since that is what we focused on a lot in our clinic.  He gave me some really wonderful and balanced left lead canter and even some counter-bend on a circle.  After we played a little bit with everything I let him do some long and low trot and called it quits. 

     He got vaccinated as well Saturday and had some very slight swelling at the injection site so I gave him Sunday off and just brushed him while he grazed.  Hopefully tonight we’ll be going on a trail ride with my pup, Emma.  I really want to train them both to go on trails together with me.  So far Mort doesn’t mind Emma’s crazy running around the barn area—we’ll see how that translates to the scary trees.

Another Clinic Re-Cap

     BM dropped Mort of at the facility Tuesday around midday.  She left him happy with plenty of hay and water.  I got there mid-afternoon and he seemed fairly settled.  He hadn’t eaten a ton of hay, but he didn’t seem too upset in any way.  I decided to bathe him and then take him on a walk.  He was a bit more active during our bath, but nothing awful.  He kept making little, quiet squeals to express his displeasure.  After that I took him out for a walk, I was going to let him graze but he was entirely too distracted by the goats making noise in the distance.  He was a handful, but he usually is after a bath—they always make him want to run around. 

     I tossed him back in his stall and he started eating hay, so the walk helped relax him enough to eat more vigorously.  I then went to audit some other riders in the clinic.  I got a neat exercise that utilized leg yields on a square with turn on the forehand on the corners.  Definitely something I want to try with Mort to get him more inside leg to outside rein.  There was a break at 5:45, so before that I went back to tack Mort up so that I could get him in the arena and then hop on him in the other arena to stretch his legs.  He has been in both arenas before, especially the dressage arena as we took some lessons there this past summer, but extra exposure never hurts. 

     While we waited for the other arena to be open (after the lesson finished up) Mort got to see his first Saddlebreds.  He thought they were moderately exciting, but the real excitement came from seeing the cart.  He didn’t relax until that crazy thing left.  He was definitely a bit more “up” than usual but after some big, long trot he settled in. 

     This ride was mainly to stretch his legs and loosen up for Wednesday.  I did play a little bit with lengthenings since riding in a big arena makes that easier.  I wanted to experiment with getting them and getting him back to his working gait.  He did fairly well, so I think we’ll most likely try a first level test at a local schooling show toward the end of this month.  Other than that, this ride was simple with some leg yields and shoulder-in at the walk and trot and a few canter transitions each direction.  He was a good boy and nice and forward. 

     After the ride I cooled him out, fed him, put all my tack away (I need a tack trunk so I don’t have to haul all my crap back and forth from the trailer), and left him for the night.  We had some serious storms that night, but when I got there around 6:00 the next morning he seemed like he had a restful night.  We hand walked for ten minutes, I cleaned his stall, fed him, and left for work.  A couple hours later I left work and came back for him.  We walked again and I hauled all my crap back to the barn. 

     Our lesson was good.  The beginning we focused on my seat and really using it to drive him.  I really liked that the clinician’s answer to Mort getting hollow was simply to ignore it and keep my aids on until he figured it out on his own.  We worked on sitting and lengthening his stride, especially coming from his hind end.  By the end of this work he had definitely rotated his pelvis underneath himself and was pushing well.  I was exhausted from all of that ab work, but made it through on my runner’s lung capacity. 

The middle of the lesson was getting Mort in between my lateral aids.  We did bend and counter-bend on a circle switching posting diagonals as we switched bend.  This evolved into canter transitions where a stride after we went back to true bend I’d ask for canter.  This helped him from falling out in the transitions.  We also worked on asking for the transition with ONLY my seat instead of seat and leg since he sometimes kicks out at my leg.  He struggled a couple of times with prompt transitions, but I think it’s something he’ll appreciate once he really gets it.  We’ll do more practice with them where I ask with my seat and if he doesn’t respond back it up with my leg a stride or two later. 

     The last part of the ride we touched on some counter canter with big figure eights.  He wanted to fall some and she had me sit up more and half-halt with the outside rein which helped.  I really like counter canter to get better control of his shoulders. 

     The clinic was overall good.  I usually appreciate another set of eyeballs on me (and the price and location were great).  I didn’t have any huge breakthroughs, but good work.  Essentially just continue doing what I’m doing while asking for more in terms of gaits.  Also, sit the F**k up and use my lower back muscles more.  I also got to take Mort on our first overnight adventure and take note of how he behaved and ate. 

     I’m really proud of how far Mort and I have come.  He is getting more and more consistent and most of the time when I ask him to step-up he happily does so.  A year ago I was happy when he kept his balance and steered well.  Now we’re working on some first and second level items (nowhere near ready to show second, but we’re working on elements).  He’s a good pony and I’m glad we’ve turned this other page in our training.