St. Augustine Schooling HT -- Recap

Full disclosure: I probably had lofty goals for how things would go (ie, don't fall off, don't get eliminated and have a great time). We accomplished two of the three goals, but what I realized after the show was that we did as well as we could have given where we are with our training. That said, I am always impressed with my fellow blog friends (ahem, Sarah Rune) that are willing to share the good, bad and the ugly with their young horses, after all... we have to start somewhere, right?

All bathed and ready to make his debut

St. Augustine Pony Club is a lovely facility. Everything is set up in a way to be very horse friendly, especially for young horses and/or green riders. It was clear that this was the first event for most people in our area (not surprising after our down right horrible winter) because when we arrived, every single horse was screaming it's head off. Tension was pretty high in the air, but we arrived with lots of time to let our horses settle. We were also really fortunate to have ride times that were far enough apart so that Emily could help me warm up for each division without worrying about her own times.



Dressage: USDF Intro Level Test A

A copy of our test.

Disclaimer: We do not have a ring (yet) and Riley has never been in a dressage arena (something I sort of neglected to think about when I began my test). We got to ride around the arena once before the judge blew the whistle and Riley was spooking at the letters and chains (all I could do is laugh). While our geometry leaves a lot to be desired (ahem, our first circle), I was really happy with the accuracy of our transitions, his cadence and that he stayed in the ring:)

Down centerline at the end of our test

Um, what the hell kind of a 20 meter circle is this Niamh?

Final halt and salute

If you want to watch our very boring test, it's here (I couldn't figure out how to embed it for some reason) -- ps. we were 4th after dressage, lest you think the judge was being too generous:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DbtovH1DpI&feature=youtube_gdata_player&app=desktop

I should mention, he warmed up pretty well. He definitely knew where the trailers were, screamed a lot for his girlfriend and bulged into my outside leg at least half the time. But, he stayed with me even when I was alone and was moving nicely. My trainer came over to help get us settled before the test and we did some sharp transitions to get him focused on me. He was tense (and so was I based on the lack of bend in my elbows) but forward. My big takeaway from test is that I need to shorten up my reins 3 inches before I go in the ring. He wants to hold the contact at this point and I should encourage that instead of letting him bobble around with semi-unsteady contact. It's hard to tell from the video, but he did not want to go anywhere near the chains or letters (I can't wait for our ring to be finished!)

He had plenty of time between dressage and stadium to go back to the trailers and relax since doing walk-trot tests are exhausting.

Snoozeville, pop:2

Stadium was very small, and again he walked away from the trailers, down a long road by himself to warm up. We warmed up mostly alone, and I realized there were only 2 horses before me and decided I should jump something:) He was jumping awesome! Emily came to give us a few pointers and we were ready to go! There were 8 jumps total, one slightly related distance and once bending line. As soon as we got into the ring they blew the whistle and Riley started balking and whinnying for anyone that would listen. I booted him forward and on we went. The first jump took you away from warmup, but was heading toward the trailers (every horse peeked at this fence (in every division), I think it was the standards... we made a turn away from the trailers and up to #2 where Riley snaked his head, refused to jump did a spin/jump maneuver that caught me off guard. He has never refused a jump (ever) and I think Emily was surprised I didn't come off. But he could literally step over all of these jumps, and he was going to do it. I refocused him and hopped over without issue. There were a few other jumps I was concerned about, specifically going for #5 to #6 (riding all the way toward the entrance and then turning away from warm up to hop over some straw bales on a bending line to #7. Everything else rode really well and he even cantered the line between #3 and #4. I was proud for sticking with him and not getting too frazzled by that one moment.

Snaking his head to try to snatch the reins away

Uncharacteristic and very naughty refusal

Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=j9GaGxA2r44&app=desktop

The pictures don't really show how sneaky this was.

I didn't bother jumping anything before started xc, because he jumped about 5-6 jumps in warm up and 8 in the ring. There was a small hold on course and Em walked me over the the start box (which he refused to go in) while we waited.

I was surprised that there were 14 jumps on course, but it looked like a blast, including an up bank!

If you look at the diagram above, stadium/xc warm up was just to the left of the start box, then the stadium arena, and the trailers are all the way to the left of that. What's nice about the course is that the last 5-6 jumps are heading home, but we didn't get that far sadly. We were counted down and he left the start box well, jumped the first jump) a small log pile awesome) and cantered away from it. I really thought we had it together, but then we had to ride away from all the stuff and into the woods over a black ramp. He pulled his snake/spin/refusal shit again, and this time I walloped him behind my leg. I re-approached and he did it again, third approach even more explosive refusal. So we retired. I think his baby brain was on sensory overload and he we found a giant hole in his training (ahem, herd bound, naughty behavior). He really likes jumping, so I know that's not the problem, he was just flat out being a butthead. I probably should have asked the starter that if I got eliminated (technically) could I at least school the next few fences, but I guess I thought we'd at least be able to get past the first half of the course. Since it was a schooling show, I'm sure they wouldn't have a problem with it, but I was feeling a little defeated. Emily came over and took us back to the stadium warm up area and we schooled him over jumps for awhile (the last thing he needs is to think he can just refuse a jump and then work-time is over). I cantered him around for awhile and he was bulging all over the place, but I booted him forward an finally got him moving properly again.

All in all, it was a really good day. I put on my big girl pants and rode him through some tough moments. I think my riding is coming along, but boy do green horses show off all your flaws! Emily and I came up with a game plan going forward. To be fair, he's only schooled proper jumps twice and xc schooled once. We think it might be good for her to take him to his next schooling show to get him around everything to build his confidence and in the meantime, we're going to try to get out jumping and xc schooling as much as we can.

He was in desperate need of a Come To Jesus kind of moment about being nappy though, so we decided to take him on a hack yesterday with another one of our friends from the barn who is particularly good at dealing with naughty creatures. The three horses were are really high due to a cow across the street that sounded like she was giving birth. When we got to the first fence out on the hack, she had me hop off and she got on. Immediately, she demanded that he move off her leg and and started pulling all sorts of naughty behavior. Snaking his head, hopping around, spinning and jumping. At once point he pulled the same maneuver he did with me in show jumping and she wasn't expecting it and he smacked her in the face. She finally made him get over the jump and then sent him off into the wide open to get moving forward. What a crazy battle it was! Every time she booted him with her leg he ran into it instead of away or forward, the same with the crop. Finally after lots of Grrrrrrr moments and a good ass-kicking he started going forward. She sent him out into a gallop and brought him back to a halt a couple of times. In the end she was cantering him around in serpentines doing flying changes!!!!! After about 10 minutes or so she came back over and said she thought she might have a concussion and was seeing double. Oh shit. My dumb horse gave her whiplash! We were just around the corner from the barn so she held onto Emily's leg on foot and I walked Riley and her horse back to the barn. *Riley was lathered, btw, bad boy. She's had a lot of head injuries over the years (she galloped at the track and evented at a high level forever), so she's very cautious when she's feeling slightly concussive. Everything check out okay at the hospital and she told me that underneath all that stubbornness that I had a really fancy horse. Ha!

So there you have it, the good the bad, the very bad and the ugly.

ps. Super awesome bionic glove giveaway over at A Gift Horse!!!!!!!!