"When the going gets tough...the tough get going."


"Be at your best when the best is needed."

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Beaventing @ Journey's End

Another positive outing for Beaventing in 2011. Seth and I took Cody and Legacy to Journey's End for FCDA's combined test today. The day started a bit rough for Cody and Seth...Cody's bond to Legacy hasn't been broken at all by the introduction of Hobbs :). With 45 mph wind gusts and Legacy and the show, Cody was a bit tense in warmup and for his test to say the least. I didn't get to see it, but Seth's comments seemed fair. Cody was winnying for Legacy through his test and Seth said he couldn't stop him when he was cantering. So unfortunately they didn't show their best stuff. Seth handled it really well and although he was disappointed with dressage, he didn't let it carry over. He had a beautiful stadium round, again I didn't get to see it :(. But Cody was really forward and was jumping really well. Hopefully we can try a Novice CT this summer to continue moving forward. Plus if Legacy isn't there, his dressage has improved so much he'll be fine. He just needs to learn how to get connection!!

Legacy was wound up as well to start the day. When I went to get on I said to my mom, "it's like boarding a rocket." I just thought he was ready to explode. We were doing lengthened trot in the warmup for about 15 minutes as well. It was reminiscent of Millbrook when I couldn't settle him. So I thought the dressage was going to not be good at all...but my lengthenings would be good! Well he settled in really nicely and we ended up with a 30.9 in dressage, which I thought was generous. He was a bit tense and not as keen to my aids as I would've liked. I definitely didn't ride as accurately as I normally do either and some of my transitions were early/late. But, nonetheless, he did settle and we had a solid showing. I knew his lengthenings were there today and I pushed too hard and got him off balance at the end. I need to learn to settle in and ride the stride instead of pushing for more...it just feels so awesome I never want to stop asking him to lengthen. Then to the jumping. Well when I was warming up, some dressage queen was freaking out b/c her horse couldn't handle someone jumping. So I said, leave and give me 5 minutes. Legacy was definitely ready to jump...he just felt like a fire-breathing dragon going into the fences. He really, really wanted to go....a wonderful feeling after last year. The jump round went really smooth. There was absolutely no feeling of hesitation and I really felt like he had a good time. He felt like he had his old jump back too. He was really trying and wasn't doing the minimum amount like he was last year. He was really jumping round, and although he was really heavy in my hands, he came back and settled into a collected canter when I asked. The jumps felt too easy. It was a very positive outing for us. Now I need to XC school and see what I have there. He's been raring to go...yesterday I just galloped back and forth across the property, so he's ready for a schooling. I really hope I can get him going at Training again and have Seth take him to some small stuff this year. I think it will be a lot of fun and it's a nice mix for him. I think he'll be much happier with a less aggressive schedule and I just need to pay attention to his mood and what he's telling me he wants to do. Based on today...he wants to do this!!

So, all in all it was a good day for Beaventing. It was nice to be at a local show and both be able to ride, but Cody's insecurity will make it difficult...oh well. Hopefully I can fight the windburn and go out and give Hobbs a flatworkout tonight to prep for Fairhill next weekend!

Go Beaventing...

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Off to a Great Start



Well Hobbs and I have started the 2011 show season with a bang. I took him to the MD HT Combined Test 2 weekends ago and he was fantastic. He stayed cool as a cucumber the entire day and really showed well. Our dressage test was calm and accurate and we got a 34.1. I didn't jazz him up at all and just focused on being relaxed. Because of that, we didn't score very well on impulsion scores and the lengthened trot was average at best, but I was extremely happy. We need to continue focusing on relaxation so he comes through over his back and keep swinging through his gaits. He's been so much better at home, so I know it's bound to come through at shows eventually and this test was a significant improvement to last year. The main comments from the judge were to have him push more with his hind end and get more engagement...I totally agree and by mid-season I hope to be able to show off his full gaits without worrying about him having a panic attack :). In show jumping, we were warming up all by ourselves and he was great. We did maybe 3 jumps and were ready to go. The course had two decent combinations in it and it rode great. I didn't have enough pace into the first 2 jumps, which was a bending line, and ended up with really tight spots, but then I added some leg and the rest of the course was beautiful. I've finally learned how to go with his HUGE jump (see pic)!! I just need to keep working on the pace and learning how to go with him with my arms to let him build the energy...it all goes back to trusting him.



I had a lesson with Danny as well, and the focus was me learning how to give with my arms and the finesse I need with this horse. I have to learn how subtle I can be to get a response from him since he's so sensitive. We did a lot of work with my knuckles staying in his mane all the way through the jump. I need to stop bringing them back to me to balance...a lovely habit I got from freight train Legacy. I have to train my body's response to give my hands and let him come up to my body as he's jumping instead of throwing my upper body at him during takeoff and then using his mouth to balance in the air. I also need to focus on weight in my heels so I stay in balance with him. One of the other tricks that we discussed was having a decent gallop around the show jump course prior to the first jump and then half halting on the way to get the balance...if you open them up to start it kind of gets them in gear for the course, so we were playing with the feel of that as well.


Last weekend we were off to Morven for the real season opener. As soon as we started tacking him up I knew I had a different horse than the CT and I was a bit nervous we were going to have a rough day. We pulled the indoor for our dressage test, which I think ended up being a blessing because he couldn't see much of anything to get him excited. While walking up to the indoor I felt like I was sitting on a rocket...he was ready to explode. I thought there was no way I was going to settle him enough to get a good test. The warmup was tiny and crowded, he settled in surprisingly well. He definitely wasn't as relaxed as he had been at home or even the past weekend, but we put together an average test for a 37.7 and tied for 8th. Part of the errors were me just not being accurate with my movements, which is really a pet peeve of mine. I was also riding without spurs due to the fear of him freaking out and then me spurring him. I think I would've been fine with spurs and then our transitions may have been more crisp. All in all, I was really happy with the test mainly because we had some really nice moments and it was a big feat to have him settle down and ride a calm test. So the weather wasn't great...just as I was to get ready to show jump, it started to hail!! Luckily it passed through quickly and I squeezed in my jumping with no weather. He was definitely anxious during show jump warmup, but no rodeo movements :). Again, we had a nice round...he was jumping a bit squirrly, but I stayed with him and we went clean. It was a nice open, galloping course, which let me practice adjusting his stride. The jumps seemed way too small for him, but I think he pretends they are bigger. We then headed down to cross country. Well, little did I know that there was a delay in XC and not stadium due to the weather. So we get down there and there is 10 horses in front of me. I could tell right away, Hobbs did not want to wait. He started his squirmy, hopping, rearing, twisting dance again. This time I just put him to a task like I had discussed with Danny. We would just go on a 10 meter circle until he settled. I also didn't try and get him to go a direction he didn't want to go. I just compromised with him and asked him to go the other direction. He just gets really anxious and loves his job and wants to get going. We almost didn't make it in the start box, because we were moonwalking away from it...haha. I think Seth needs to be in warmup with me just in case I need him to lead me over if Hobbs has a hissy fit. Once we got on course it was awesome...he took off sailing over the first 2 jumps and I just let him gallop on. I never got my watch set, so I had no clue what kind of time we were at (we came in 30 sec under optimum time). The course was great...again lot's of open galloping room...it was a bit muddy, but he's great with his feet so we had no issues with slipping. I was happy with how rideable he was even with him raring to go. We went through the quarry in a mini-coffin like combo without the ditch and he came back to me after a big gallop really well. I felt better about the fly fences, but still need to get my eye going for prelim speeds. I had a terrible ride into the water....I asked for a long spot and he put an extra 1/2 stride in, so we slithered over the tiny log and were fine. His stamina was great and I was glad since I haven't done any real conditioning on him. I think he'll be easier to get in shape than Legacy...he does condition himself in the pasture when he's feeling good!! We ended the day on our dressage score of 37.7 and moved up to 3rd place! I was just really happy that we got through the day and I feel more comfortable with his antics during warmup. I think I have a plan for dealing with him when he gets excited and I hope we can continue to learn each other and it will get better and better. I hate to be positive, being the eternal pessimist I am, but I'm really excited to see where it goes with Hobbs. He's really a lot of fun to ride and he really seems to enjoy his job. I think we compliment each other and have different strengths...I support him in dressage and he supports me in jumping. I hope we can continue growing together and moving forward!!