January 29, 2016

1-1 Thoughts

We worked on pieces of my tests last night in my lesson, and then ran through 1-1 once at the end last night, dodging a couple of jumps as we went.  #eventingbarn

The moral of the story is:

1. We're not going to embarrass ourselves.
2. We're going to get a lot of "more" marks: more stretch, more lengthening, and that's okay at this show.  That's why we're here, to get an idea of what needs work before we show rated.
3. No question, we're showing the right level.

World's most awkward cookie mugging photo

I actually really like the "ice cream cones" (half 10m circles w/change of direction back to the rail at B and E respectively) that occur at the very beginning of 1-1.  Nothing like a 10m circle requiring a lot of bend to get me properly preparing Connor, and Connor listening to me.  In fact, my trainer couldn't contain the surprised sound in her voice when we totally nailed them the first time we did them last night.
Ice cream cone #1.  Rinse repeat on the other side.

Our biggest challenges in 1-1 are going to be the stretchy circle right after the ice cream cones at the very beginning of the test, and bringing him back down to a working canter after the canter lengthenings without breaking.  Pony has an 'up' gear, but the 'down' gear needs work.  Fortunately, we are provided with a 15m circle immediately after the lengthening in both directions to use to help shorten the stride, thanks USDF!  It specifically says "develop working canter in first half of circle".  That's a gift.

Lengthening...


...followed by a delightful brake assist.

But other than that and my mild nervousness about showing in the big ring after only ever schooling in the small ring (SO MANY LETTERS), I'm totally content with the test and our ride.

First is a bit of a reach in the sense that we won't completely kill it like we generally always do in the USEA BN-B test, but that's a good thing.  It's going to force me to be more accurate, prepare earlier, and just generally make my rides GOOD instead of passable.

16 comments:

  1. Love it! You guys will be awesome and learn lots

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  2. "Delightful brake assist" BWAHAHAHAHA! Yes, yes it is. :D

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  3. You will love the big ring! So much space!

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  4. Can't wait to hear how it goes! I was watching videos of it this morning and it looks like a nice test.

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  5. Good luck! You're going to do great!

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  6. ha i love the brake assist too ;) it's such a fun test tho - i hope you guys absolutely kill it!

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  7. I think you'll find transitioning to the big ring way easier than you think. So much room for transitions!

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  8. I never thought of them as ice cream cones. When I read this, I had to see the picture. Then I knew, we call them tear drops. I love those. Have fun!

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  9. I always loved that ice cream cone shape. So useful for basically everything. Have a good ride!

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  10. Good luck chica!! You two will do great :)

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  11. Good luck! You two will rock it :)

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  12. Very exciting! Good luck! You guys are gonna do awesome :)

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  13. Maybe I missed this but what app do you use for your tests? Love these screencaps!

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    1. Hey! No, you didn't miss it, I forgot to say. I use the USEF Equitests 5 app. I think it's $10, but well worth it, I could not memorize tests without those diagrams.

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