Cob Jockey

Thanks for all your love on the WW post! When Google Photos brought up those '5 years ago...' photos, it made me stop in my tracks. That season, 2016, was my first full season of Dressage after I failed Connor out of eventing, the first time I ever chased year-end awards, and we were doing First Level. 

Beginning of 2017

Five years later, we've only advanced one level further in the show ring, but we're miles ahead in terms of our fundamentals, which is no accident. Those of you who've been following this blog for a long time know that the summer of 2017 saw many emotional breakdowns on my part. I would stop at Lowe's on the way home from the barn and cry in the clearance plant section at the back of the garden center, lol.

End of 2017

I knew in 2017 that I wasn't doing this Dressage thing right, but I didn't precisely know what was wrong. After I took a flyer on 2-1 at a schooling show in July of 2017 (omg I thought it was three years I've been doing 2nd, but it's technically four!), I barely showed in 2018 and 2019, and then 2020 happened and made it almost a three year break, which was very intentional, (aside from COVID) - I wanted to fix the holes in our fundamentals before showing again.

 

Somewhere in there (May of 2019) I rode in my first Mary Wanless clinic (and my second), which led to riding with CGP, which led to sending Connor off for full training, and I started Pilates, which has been as influential my riding as any time in the saddle has been.

And thank goodness I found Mary Wanless, lol. Look at that torso.

We aren't ever going to be the pair that rockets through the levels one per season. I'm going to continue to overthink every fiber of my body in the saddle, he's going to continue to be "a complicated ride" as CGP thankfully validated for me. But feeling and seeing progress like that is all I've ever wanted out of my Dressage journey, so I'm okay taking the slow route while people whizz past me on all sides.

 

In addition to trying out all the gear I reviewed this week, I did actually show my horse at the horse show, and it was the absolute best we've ever done 2-1.  And even though the whole point of Dressage is that it'll never be perfect, I am so proud of it.

THIS has changed a lot!

It was the first time we didn't get against each other halfway through the test.  It was the first time we've both stayed relaxed and present.  I actually had the presence of mind to think "Damn, this is the best 2-1 we've ever done" as I finished the first counter canter here:






We may have stayed relaxed, but I also rode hard.  The first thing my trainer said afterward was, "I just watched that entire test with a huge smile on my face.  That was a HUGE improvement!  You rode that with conviction !" And one of her other students said, "You made that look so easy."  That comment meant a lot, because 2-1 did feel easy, for the first time ever.

When I had to basically pick him up and carry him through the counter canter in the tough direction

What was different?  A couple of things.  My trainer warmed us up, which rarely happens, and she did an outstanding job of it.  She has a knack for knowing exactly what the horse needs in the moment, and it was an exceptionally effective warmup.

Relaxed!

I also had CGP's lesson ringing in the back of my mind, and kept my elbows soft and the contact following through most of the test.  I got a little stiff in the canter work, but did a great job with it elsewhere.  I also had a better idea of how to sit in my jump saddle for maximum Dressage position effectiveness.

Perfect?  No.  But believe me when I say this is the best medium walk out of the halt/reinback we've ever gotten.

And, it just felt like progress.  We're better than we were in April.  We've learned things.  And because we're showing, we have this objective measurement in addition to the glowing feeling I came out of the ring with after that test.  68.919%!  A high score by nearly 5%.  It's a fantastic feeling to head into the offseason with.  And it's exactly the reason I show even though I'm not motivated by awards or regionals or anything like that.  Measurable progress!

Check out how straight his tail is after his bodywork - he's carried it to the left the whole time I've known him

Three years ago I left this show feeling dejected, because nothing had changed over the season and I knew I wasn't riding well but I didn't know exactly what was wrong or how to fix it.  Ending on this note this year after all the progress we've made was just so gratifying.  I'm sure some people will look at it as "She's only gone from 1-3 to 2-1 in three years,"and that's totally fair, but there's a whole lot more to the story than that.


Looking forward to really putting in the work over the winter and seeing where we are in the spring!

Hank is a dog that I'd eventually like to come to horse shows with me.  He's smart, listens well, rarely barks or howls unless it's on command or he's hungry, and doesn't have a shred of separation anxiety.  And he LOVES adventures.

#porchin

But good horse show dogs are made, not born, and Hank needs the chance to learn how to be a good one.  Luckily, I got a perfect opportunity to give him an education when, due to a marathon in my city that would clog the roads for the entire day of the show, I had to haul Connor in to the horse park 24 hours before my ride time on Saturday.

Definitely not allowed on my couch

We've had Hank for a year now, and his obedience training is MILES better than it was when we got him.  We've slowly worked up to doing obedience in increasingly more distracting/challenging public places, til we're at the point that he's a Good Boy in most situations.

Like learning that he has to down/stay while in the checkout line at Rural King

Now that he's at that point with obedience, I've started bringing him around the horses, which is VERY EXCITING!  At Rolex, he boinged up and down feet into the air on the end of his leash every time a horse ran by.  Thankfully we were hundreds of feet away so the horses didn't notice, but it was clear that we need to make horses running around boring for this dog.

So since I had nothing to do except unload my trailer and feed my horse on Friday evening, that's exactly what Hank and I did.  We watched horses run around for HOURS.  After he was already worn out physically.  When the riders were just practicing, so if something did go horribly wrong, it wouldn't happen during an actual test.

Tense, active, forced down stay

Eyes on swivels

I had a pocket full of training treats with me, and did a lot of boring obedience with him - sit, down, stay, high five, gimme paw, lay on your side, roll over, crawl.  Just to prove he has to listen to me rather than stay on high alert.  Then we went back to the barn for a brief mental break for him.

Tied to the wall

And finally we went back to watch my trainer teach a lesson in the warmup ring, sitting right up against the rail so the horse cantered right by us, and this is when he FINALLY started to get bored with it.

Relaxed, willing down stay a few hours later

It was nice having him there, people I didn't know came up to introduce themselves and ask about  him.  I joked that he was on "horse show probation", and even though he improved a lot over the course of the afternoon, I didn't bring him back for the actual show the next day.  He's not good enough to where he wouldn't be a distraction for me, and I didn't need that while showing.

Future horse show dog.  Future very weird horse show dog.

Someday though!  He'll get there.

1. Judges can surprise you.

I need to photoshop a circus ball under his three feet on the ground here 😂

I don't think I actually would have scratched, but I thought about it.  And I'm choosing to ignore the fact that the judge may have listened to the complaints registered by other riders to the TD after Saturday's ride, because that's not helping anything if she did listen, and if she didn't, I totally kicked ass.  But it's a good reminder that even a judge you think you know can surprise you when you get the score sheet.


2. Lean into your imposter syndrome


I am riding passably at rated Second.  The me of two years ago is in awe of that.  The me of today still feels no more competent than I did the day I first took a lesson with my trainer.  I have to keep in perspective that this is a sport where we ASK to be criticized, and we're never going to stop getting criticisms, being worried about moving up, all of that.  So I choose to lean into the imposter syndrome and not let it get me down, because every single level is going to feel this way.  Riding Second IS cool, take that, brain.


3. Talk to people at horse shows!


I made a new friend this weekend in the most kindergarten way possible.  I was unloading Connor and she said "Hey, I like your pony" and I said "I like your pony too!" and we ended up talking off and on the rest of the weekend and by text after she left.  We're both adults riding ponies who work in similar industries and she works for one of my customers, so we had a lot to talk about.  We're going to try to show together again in the future despite the fact that she lives four hours away.


4. Two tests in one day is still not possible right now BUT probably would be with some canter conditioning

Literally dying

Once we hit 1-3, our days of doing two tests in a day were done.  So I could probably fix this one.  As it is, we both come out of the ring just exhausted, and that exhausted feeling starts when we hit the canter work in the test.  Winter priority maybe?

5. Showing on consecutive days is worth the price of rated shows.

Not set back against him in my body here, HOORAY GO TEAM

I haven't shown rated in two years, and I didn't realize how much I missed showing on back to back days.  Being able to take the judge's feedback and the visual feedback from the photos and implement it the very next day was so much more helpful than showing once and leaving.  For example, I noticed in the photos (thank you Karen!) from Day 1 that I was set back against him in my position, and I was able to fix that in Day 2 and it made a huge difference.

Our first two rated Second Level shows are in the books!  Don't let the blue ribbons fool you, they're basically participation ribbons because I was the only pro ("pro") showing 2-1 this weekend.

Thank you Karen for all the pictures in this post!

The important thing is that I came away with one Bronze Medal score, and came tantalizingly close to getting two.  And I think even more importantly, I no longer have that "are we or aren't we a Second Level pair" haze hanging over my head. 

Saturday we scored a 59.73%, 0.27% short of a Bronze score.  This was one of those judges that gave straight 6's as a baseline score unless you impressed her for better or for worse.  Besides all the 6's and a couple of 5.5's, we got one 7 for this halt:


and most annoyingly, a FIVE for submission. 

Okay, maybe there was some bit evasion going on

Saturday's test was just average in every way, nothing bad happened but I didn't really have a lot of horse either, and I was okay with the score.  It would have been nice to find another point and get the 60%, but at least we didn't embarrass ourselves.






I went into Sunday knowing I was riding for the other judge, who on Saturday had scored everyone so low across the board, people who weren't there were texting people who were there to ask WTF was going on after seeing the online results.  Mid-50's won classes, accomplished riders had scores in the 40's, and most worrying, some of the judge's comments were downright mean.

I had a split-second thought of scratching - if I'd scored a 59% for the easy judge, what was the hard judge going to do to me?  But I decided if all I got for this entry fee was the chance to ride 2-1 two days in a row and try to put in a better ride, I'd do it, scores be damned.

His favorite part, standing still

.
It wasn't perfect, but it was a lot better.  I was able to focus a lot more on myself and be a more active pilot.  He did break twice in the canter, both times my fault.  I was trying to half halt him and was just too aggressive, but hey, at least I was actually riding!

Progress. Also those braids are 30 hours old in this picture!

Given the bobbles and the tough judge, the idea that that test could be a 60, even though it was better than my previous attempt, didn't cross my mind.  I was just hoping for mid 50's.  So I was genuinely gobsmacked when I saw the results:





62.432!   If they'd combined the divisions, we would have been third out of five.  I took this picture because even after staring at the paper for a few minutes, I still didn't believe it.


So that's the story of how I got my first Second Level Bronze score.  In a jump saddle, because I mean why not?

With my fingers crossed that Connor's scratches will heal quickly, I went ahead and entered the rated show this coming weekend. 

Work your magic, diaper aisle

It'll be our first time showing rated Second, and I entered for 2-1 both days.  Now that we've scored mid-60's at a schooling show, I feel confident throwing the, y'know, $400 toward a rated show.  And I'm tired of being a baby about getting out there and Doing the Thing.  What am I protecting by being a weasel about showing?  It's not like I'm trying to sell him or teach students. 

The absolute best boy

Our 2-1 effort at the schooling show in July was a confidence builder.  I hadn't ridden in a week before then and the photos Connor's breeder took (so thankful for those and so happy she came!) proved my reins were waaaaay too long, so I definitely left points on the table.  Even still, we scored a 64%.

What is actually going on here, I'm not sure

One thing I did for the first time this show (besides wearing a colored shirt for the first time, yay, go me!) is wear a watch.  Specifically a plain old running watch.  It doesn't seem to be against the rules (but someone correct me if it is) and it really helped me manage my time effectively in the warmup.

So, all things considered and with a heaping dose of crossed fingers that the scratches have subsided by then, it feels like it's time to tackle rated.  My plan for the rest of the year is to have a good, easy, confidence-building outing at the rated show, then try to do both 2-1 and...2-2?  2-3?  at the September IDS show.  We haven't done two tests in a show in a very long time, and I at least want to TRY it and see what happens.

I actually took this picture to illustrate the fact that my favorite airline has pulled some oooooooooooooooold planes out of storage due to the 737-MAX grounding.  Airworthy but ugly!

Pets that also miss me

With boots that didn't zip and a Dressage saddle pad because I forgot I don't have a Dressage saddle right now and a too-big shirt and black reins with a brown bridle and and and

I like how the hair I left on his heel bulbs looks like a giant moustache

I waffled on whether to enter for Heartland or not, but in the end I decided to because:

1. It's a schooling show
2. I haven't ridden the 2019 tests yet
3. It's a great knock-off-the-rust-and-oh-yeah-get-your-Coggins-done show

And knock the rust off your braiding skills while you're at it

Gross.  "I can't ride my horse because I'm clamped onto his back like a vise grip" isn't the best way to start your Dressage test, in case you were wondering.

It's a schooling show run by pony club parents, and I'm therefore not upset about it, but whew it threw me for a loop.

Gift horses and all that.

#notalengthening but look at me remembering to half halt at F!

We were fractions of a percentage point out of second place, but I could not have cared less.  Give me the scores!

It's been fun to think ahead to 2019's show season.  I'm planning to mainly stick to schooling shows, with a couple of rated shows thrown in strictly because they're fun.  I may add another rated show in toward the end of the year if I feel like things are really going well, but mainly, my goal for this year is to feel confident at Second - and we don't need to pay the big bucks to do that (thankfully!)

February 9 - Majestic Farms Schooling Show (2-1)
Why: Get out and knock the rust off.  Show in a place Connor has historically been pretty difficult to show in (indoor arena, unfamiliar place).  2-1 is our sweet spot right now with no simple changes, even though I hope to spend the least amount of time doing this test this year.

Got some demons to exorcise from this ring February 2017

April 13 - Heartland Pony Club Schooling Show (2-2)
Why: 20 minutes from my house, cheap, and it'll be a good opportunity to "move up" to the new 2-2 test. 

April 2017

May 11 - IDS Schooling Show (2-2, 2-3?)
Why: 20 minutes from my house, cheap, and maybe I want to play with doing two tests in a day at this one?

May 2017

June 1-2 - Balmoral Rated Show (We'll see how May's show goes before deciding what to enter here)
Why: I've wanted to show at the new Balmoral facility since HITS transformed it from a racetrack to a sporthorse facility a couple years ago.  It's a pretty easy 3 hour drive from home, and I love showing near friends in the Chicago area.

Heartland, 2014

July 13 - Majestic Farms Schooling Show (1-2, 1-3)
Why: IF we do decide to drop back to First Level for NDPC, I will probably use this show as a test run of those tests before NDPC the following weekend.  If we decide we're suddenly championship-caliber at Second, I may not go to this show at all.

IDS July, July 2012 (Awww)

July 18-21 - National Dressage Pony Cup (First Level?)
Why: It was so much fun in 2017, and I've never shown at Lamplight before.  Gotta represent those Dressage ponies!

NDPC 2017

*August 17-18 - Indiana Dressage Festival (2-2, 2-3)
Why: This one is a "maybe", but if I feel like we stand a good chance of getting our Second Level Bronze scores by this point in the season, I'll do it.  Again it's only 20 minutes from my house, which makes logistics easy.

It was pouring rain, hot and humid for this show, blegh.

September 28 - IDS Fall Schooling Show (2-2, 2-3)
Why: I doubt I'll be in the rideoffs this year, but this is still a good end-of-year show.

2018 IDS Fall Show

Anyone else planning on attending any of these?