Dressage Show: April 21st, 2012

After being yelled at multiple times for not doing it sooner, I'm finally blogging about the dressage show! It was a beautiful day - sunny and warm, although it was a bit too hot in the direct sun. I basically wore the same outfit that I did last year: my tan riding pants, white shirt, and jean blazer. My family and I got to the barn a half an hour before my scheduled time like I was supposed to, but when we got there we learned that the whole show was about an hour behind.  It was kind of a pain, but it was actually kind of nice to just watch everyone else ride first. I also learned that I wouldn't even be riding Cartwheel for the equitation, which was nice, although I wish I had known that beforehand.

When it was almost time for my first test, I started to get super nervous. I got on Kilo and he seemed pretty fidgety. I'd also seen him in the ring before though on other riders and he looked very slow and tired, so I knew I'd have to work to get him to pick up the pace a little bit. When it was finally my turn (I was the fifth to go), the bell rang and I did my test. Right from the start my center lines weren't straight, which I knew and tried to fix later. I was mostly worried about getting him to move forward, which he actually didn't seem to have much of a problem with. I was happy with the roundness of my circles and Kilo's overall pace, so that was good. I did have some problems with the transitions though. I almost didn't make my mark for a trot to walk transition, and I went into a trot too early for another. Overall though, I was happy with my performance. After you finish your test pattern you walk up to the judges stand on your way out so they can give you some comments. The judge told me that I had a nice consistent pace throughout the test which was good, but that after my free walk I had not tightened my reins enough so they were too loose the rest of the time. I took note of that because obviously it would be helpful to remember for my next test. After that I walked out of the ring and another rider started her test.  Once all the other riders went, it was time for the next class.

This time I was seventh in line to go, so I had to wait a while in the ring. I just sat on Kilo and let him drink water while I talked to my family. Then, finally, it was my turn again. This time I walked up on the outside of the ring so I would be closer to the entrance when I started, and Kilo would not stay still. Luckily, the bell rang pretty fast and I started my next test. Again, my center line was crooked. For some reason Kilo kept wiggling off to the side. Other than that and the fact that I cut some corners a little, I thought this test had gone a little better than the last one. Which actually makes sense, because now I was a little more used to Kilo and could control him better. My final trot down center line was really straight, and when I walked up to the judge again she complimented me on it which was nice. Again, she said that my overall pace was consistent but that my reins needed to be shorter even though they were better than in the previous test. Obviously I know how important that is now!

I exited the ring again and waited for  the other riders to do their tests. Then it was time for the equitation class. They split up our division into two groups, so that each group had about five riders in it. Basically, the judge would tell a guy standing next to her what she wanted us all to do, and he would call it out. It was really difficult to be in the ring with four other people. Even in my lessons it's hard. I kept getting really close to the back of someone's horse so I would turn around to avoid that and end up right behind another person's horse. I definitely didn't take as much care to those turns as I should have. Anyway, some of the commands were simple things like "walk" and "posting trot" and "change direction", but then the judge through in "two point", which was a little harder, but then she threw out "sitting trot" which completely caught me off guard. I've never even practiced that in a lesson before. Basically I sat down and tried my best not to bounce up and down too hard. And let me tell you, it takes a lot of thigh muscles to stay in a relatively stable position in a sitting trot. I was very happy when that was over, needless to say.

After a couple more commands we were told to line up, and then it was the next group's turn to go. Someone else was riding Kilo so I just stood off to the side while the went. When they were done, those of us who hadn't just ridden were told to go line up with the others, even if we didn't have a horse, so I walked to the center and awkwardly stood between two horses. Then it was time for ribbons to be given out. I tied with another girl for fourth place in the first class, which I was okay with, although I'm not going to say I wasn't a little disappointed. For the second class, I got a second place which I was very happy with. Then for the equitation I got another fourth place, which I wasn't too surprised about. At least I got a variety of colors to go with my blue ribbons at home. :) Overall, even though I didn't place as high as I would have liked, I was really happy with my performance on Kilo. Considering the fact that I hadn't ridden him in a while and how little practice time I got, I think we did pretty well. :)

Overall it was a good day, and I'm thankful to all my family members that came out to support me. I hope they enjoyed coming and I'm definitely hoping to participate again next year, hopefully with a little more practice beforehand.

Lesson 5/1/12

Just so you all know, I do still plan on making a blog post about the dressage show, so don't worry! (I got two fourth places and a second place by the way). :)

So last night I rode a new horse named Cece. She's a bay quarter horse, and she was way bigger than I'm used to after riding Cartwheel. She was really nice to groom and tack up - she barely even moved and was really quiet the whole time. Recently I've been having my lessons with three other girls: Tevonna (not sure how you spell that), Kara, and Karly. Usually the barn owner's daughter also comes up and rides but isn't part of the actual lesson.

Up in the ring, Cece was again quiet and well behaved. The only time I had any problems was when the car came up and ran across the ring. That was actually fine for Cece, and she didn't freak out, but then the next time we turned a corner and she saw the cat, she spooked and jumped sideways. My foot fell out of the stirrup, but I was okay. It's so weird when horses spook. It's like one minute we're one place and the next we've somehow moved 5 feet to the side. Anyway, after that, Cece was pretty wary of the cat, but otherwise she was fine. It was so strange because the barn owner said she's never spooked at anything before.

Once everyone was on their horse, we all stopped in the center so the barn owner could show us different types of crops (someone had asked). After that we walked around for a little bit before heading over to the big ring. There were five sets of poles set up, so we practiced walking over those. To make sure our feet were in the right place under us, the barn owner had us stand up for a couple of seconds as we were going over a set of poles. This helps when jumping so you know where to have your feet to be balanced correctly.

Next we went over the poles at a trot. The barn owner warned me beforehand that Cece was very athletic, meaning she takes very large strides. And as soon as she started to trot, I could see that was true. Her first couple of strides completely threw me off. I felt like I was being flung out of the saddle with each step! After I slowed Cece down a little and got a hold of myself, I tried to get used to her trot. I still felt like I was being flung upwards, but I found that if I really used my thigh muscles to keep my legs in place, it was way easier to post. I just had to get used to her big strides. After a little while we were all told to trot over the poles. Once again, I really had to keep my legs in place to stay balanced, but other than that it really wasn't difficult. Then we had to do the same thing we did at the walk: stand up in the saddle when going over the poles. I feel like I've talked about switching diagonals, but just to refresh your memories you basically just have to sit or rise an extra beat when posting. That's pretty much what you had to do when standing going over the poles - you just have to stay balanced long enough to stay risen out of the saddle for about three beats. It takes some practice, but if you have your feet in the correct position it's pretty simple.

Next we got to canter. I'm not really sure why we didn't get to jump, but it might have been because Cece doesn't really know how to. The barn owner said I might be able to use her to jump a little, it would just have to be a learning process for both me and Cece. Anyway, we got in the catch-up line that we normally do, and when it was my turn the barn owner told me to ask for the canter from a walk. I did, and Cece actually went to a trot first, but then she cantered. My reins ended up being way to loose but once I tightened them I had a really good stretch of canter that I was very happy with. After my turn was over, the barn owner said that was the best she's seen anyone canter her, which made me really happy. Also, I told her what I was noticed when I was cantering. I'm used to a canter that is relatively smooth and ongoing, but Cece's canter almost seemed to have a pause at certain points. The barn owner said this was called a suspension, which is when all four of the horse's feet are off the ground at one time. She also said it was actually good for a horse to do, although I forget why.

On my next try going the other direction, the canter didn't go as well, but that was mostly because Cece wasn't as good cantering in that direction. After a couple of tries I did get her to pick up the correct lead, but almost at once my right foot slipped through the stirrup so my toe was down the whole time. I was really distracted by that so my reins became loose and I had to stop pretty soon. Despite that though, I was really happy with her canter and my lesson tonight. I hope I get to ride Cece again next week, because I think with more practice I would really enjoy riding her.