Sport Horse Extravaganza - 2015 Day 2 - Saturday

Today was Dressage followed by general Sport Horse.  The line up looked like this:
Training Level Test 1
Training Level Test 3
Sport Horse In-Hand
Sport Horse Under Saddle

I headed over to warm up, and the Fancy Pony was feeling ok.  I was as ready as I could be, so when the steward said so, I headed into the ring.
This was the first show where I actually had a reader, and it was actually pretty nice!

Down centerline we went, and we tracked left at C...
Trot circle on the long side felt stable...
Canter circle at A was feeling pretty relaxed...
And the judge blew the whistle.

Oh, dear.  How could we possibly have gone off course already??
She said I should have tracked right.  I pondered this for a second.  My reader read track left...  So I asked the judge, "Training Level Test 1, right?"
No, she had T-2.
But, we rode T-2 yesterday...

Turns out I was the first in my division to go, and they had the wrong test for ALL of us!!

I walked out of the ring to continue warming up until we were ready again...
My reader had her own class to prepare for, so a saint in the warm-up arena agreed to read for me!
Our ride was... average.  Ultimately, we scored a 60.2% and didn't place.

My friend Heather went into her own test on her sometimes-hot-gelding, and as she headed down centerline, a truck arrived *RIGHT NEXT TO THE RING* to remove a dumpster.  The truck beeped and groaned and whined the entire time she was riding her test!
I would consider keeping the horse in the ring under such circumstances a win!!

Is that a winning smile, or what?

Despite Heather's frustration with her ride, they scored really well!  I was so proud of the way she rode through what she saw as a disastrous test!

Later, we went into Training Test 3.  Apparently, the universe had not reached it's quota of entropy.
As soon as I entered the ring, sirens came rushing down the street behind me.  I listened closely to my reader (who was calling at the top of her lungs with great projection, and I could barely catch her voice between emergency vehicles).  At one point, I drew a blank, but there was her voice to save me!
Our free walk was not up to it's usual brilliance, but can you blame the Fancy Pony when there are emergency vehicles flying by all around us??
As soon as I exited after my final salute, the sirens and emergency vehicles ceased.  Thank you universe.
We walked out of there with a 63.6%!!  Our first Nationally qualifying score!

"So much to like!"

Back at the barn, I curried and brushed and hosed and scrubbed.  I made the Fancy Pony shiny.  Well, as shiny as a roan gets, anyway...  She was cool, calm, and together when we entered the ring for Sport Horse In-Hand.  She stood perfectly still.  She walked right with me on the small triangle.  She trotted like she was glued to my shoulder!  She lengthened on the back side of the triangle with me.  She turned at all the corners with me!  She walked again when I walked!
Alas, the judge was not particularly fond of her head.  She said is was "plain".  **shrug**
We'll try again at another show.

Sport Horse Under Saddle was our last class, and the session started around 7.  Everyone was tired.  We played musical horses in the warm-up arena.  Eventually, we settled to warming up proper for the class.
We had a decent go.  We got all of our leads.  Our transitions were timely, but Pony was tossing her head for the walk to canter transition.  We didn't place.  But the experience was still successful, and I learned a little bit more.
Bedtime was a blessing.
Tomorrow, we would be riding in our first Regional Championship classes!!

Sport Horse Extravaganza - 2015 Day 1 - Friday

The weekend was pretty darn successful for Whisper and I!

We hit up St Louis again for another Arabian Sport Horse Show.
Friday was Day one, and we were looking at:
 - Arabian Working Hunter 14.2 and Under (2'3" - 2'6") Course A and B
 - Arabian Hunter Hack ATR
 - Arabian Green Working Hunter (2'6" - 2'9") Course A
 - Training Level Test 2 Dressage

I put on my game face...

Because the hunter ring was running at the same time as the dressage rings, I was pretty paranoid about missing a class.
I had focused on landing on the lead I intended in my last lesson as preparation for this weekend's hunter courses.

Remember, we have only shown Hunter once before...  At the schooling show in December...

This show was run very considerately!  In order to accomodate all the horses cross-entered in Dressage and Hunter, they opened all the class cards for whatever height was set.  For example, we ran our course for our Green Working Hunter class, then I went to ride my dressage test.  After my dressage test, I came back with my stripped horse for the jog for the Green Working Hunter class.

I can't remeber all of the details of my rounds for this jam-packed weekend, but we took 2nd and 1st respectively for Course A and Course B in the Working Hunter 14.2 and Under, which qualified us for the Regional Championships!

Hunter Hack proved to be a bit fussy. The Princess was stiff and I struggled to keep her stretched into the bridle.  She tossed her head in the air for both canter transitions.  We came out with 4th place.  I think she gets bored with the rail portion of our classes...

Green working Hunter felt fantastic!  We only rode Course A for the experience, but she jumped confidently over fences set 2'6"-2'9".  She landed her leads!

We took 6th place in out Training Level Test 2 with a score of 60.1%
That's passing, right?
We were in the middle of the pack.  I felt good about that.

Back in for our jog, and we took 1st place in the Green Working Hunter Course A!!!
I was ready to ride in 3 Regional Championship Classes on Sunday!!

Saturday, we would be switching gears for dressage and Sport Horse classes...

Jump Lesson!

It's been a while since I've had to opportunity to get together with Coach *and* the Fancy Pony.
I was stoked for my lesson!

I knew what I wanted to work on.  So, when Coach asked me, I didn't have to think about it!

I wanted to land on a particular lead ON PURPOSE.

So, Coach set up the most adorable mini hunter course, and we started with the basics.
"Count the last 3 strides to the fence out load.  See the distance."

Oh, yeah.  I knew about that!  I'm going to get good at this!!

Once, I mis-counted really bad.  I mean, I was saying "one" as she taking off over the fence...  Oops!
At least I wasn't jumping ahead of her, right?

It turned out that as I was counting and riding all the way to the fence, we pretty much landed on the lead I wanted as if by magic!
Coach and I talked about what I was already doing with my body to help the outcome and what I could do if I find myself in a situation where she needs a little extra help...  Along with typical mistakes I should try to avoid!

One of the things I really like about Coach is how she starts out with something like:
"This course is set at 2'3", except for that fence, which I set at 2'6"."
Then, as you're working, or taking a walk break, you don't even notice that she is raising the jumps.
And while you talk about wanting to do the entire course at 2'6" because your Fancy Pony isn't even thinking about it, she puts several of them up to 2'9" just because.

That Fancy Pony just ate up those 2'9" jumps like they were anything else.
I just wanted to explode with glee when Coach told me that the Fancy Pony looked 100 times more confident over fences and how wonderful her condition looked!

Bonus for the ride...
As the fences got bigger, Whisper's jump got bigger.  We got a touch more hang time.  And I would sometimes fall on her neck a little.  I'm sure part of that is me trying to give my hands enough to give her plenty of room to use her head.  I'm sure the rest of it is my continually developing core and not riding still enough.

So, Coach said, "Try to sit up more as you land to keep from falling on her neck!"
In my mind, I didn't think about the plumb line pulling out of the top of my head, or even straightening my back...
I imagined that I lifted my inside arm straight up as my own body crossed over the rail.
Apparently that visual puts exactly the right amount of "uprightness" into my landing, because it felt incredible and balanced!

I'm looking forward to this weekend's Sport Horse show!!

Condition

Not much exciting going on since the show.  Just conditioning for the next show!

The pasture is situated on a gentle slope, and it is finally dry (enough) that it's not a mud pit out there!
So, we have started conditioning sets in the pasture.
Trot laps.
Walk laps.
Trot laps.
Canter laps.
Trot laps...

You get the idea.
The slope makes us both use out tiny stabilization muscles that we don't get to test in the arena.
The traffic on the road keeps things interesting.
The other horses in the pasture keep things entertaining!

To keep our laps from getting too boring, we are now incorporating leg yields and shoulder-in into the work, as well.

The best view is between my horse's ears...

Man, do these rides feel great!!

Arabian Hunter Hack ATR

I was going to enter the open, too, but I had no idea what the judge would think of us.  I didn't want to wear out my pony. And this class looks to be pretty darn competitive by the time we get to the National level...

I should have entered the open for a practice shot at the jumps!

In the warm up, we had a gate to jump.  I'm learning quickly that Fancy Pony doesn't trust gates right off the bat...
We trotted it, and she went very deep as I held her together in her wiggly approach...  I don't know if she was just checking to make sure I was there to support her 360 degrees, or what.

When I ride, it's as if I set up a box around my pony, and I direct her by changing the shape and position of the box.  If she wants to drift right, I put the right wall of my box against her.  If I want her to collect, I shorten the box front to back.  Well, it felt like she wiggled just enough to ensure the box was in place all the way around.

After the first jump, she was solid and consistent.  I wanted to pop over the jump just once to the left before entering the ring, but it was not in the stars.  Another rider was commited, and it was time to enter the ring!

We headed in for out flat work, and Fancy Pony was more consistent than she had been in this ring, but we had a couple bobbles in our connection.

Canter felt great, and hand-gallop felt even better!  She saw the jumps and she was ready!
While our hand-gallop covered more ground than the horse in front of us, we couldn't pass because they moved in front of us to cut the corner.  No problem.  We just hand-galloped deep into the corner to maintain our own space.  OMG, this horse!  Can you ask your horse to hand-gallop deep into a corner?  What won't this mare do for me??

Walk and reverse.
More trot, and again, we had connection bobbles.  I asked her to really trot on and into my hands, but she remained a tad bit fussy.
Canter - YES!
Again, she started looking for the jumps!
Hand-Gallop!  If I didn't keep my inside leg on, she would try to aim for one of those jumps!  Silly pony!

Back to the canter, then trot and line up.  Well, our flat work wasn't as consistent as I would have liked, but I know it will get there as the season progresses and our conditioning improves.

Our Hack course was 2 jumps set on a half-circle.  I was up first.  I decided to start with a spiral-out circle rather than just head to the first fence.  I trotted 1/3 of the circle, picked up my left lead canter, and headed into the first jump.
I felt like we were tiny bit deep, but she jumped right out of her stride.  I was happy with that.
I set us on a perfect, large half-circle to the next fence.  Again, a nice quiet jump right out of her stride, but she landed on the right lead.  She came quietly down to the trot, lined up, and halted square.

you might have to look closely...

We came into the center for the placings, and I thought we were going to get feedback from the judge, but I guess they were just eager to get us moving on along.

We won!  We took first place!!

Fancy Pony - rocking out all weekend!

I couldn't resist taking a victory lap!  We even took the jump again just for the heck of it!!
That Fancy Pony knew she had done well, and she was feeling good about it, too!
Folks, we are now qualified for Nationals in Hunter Hack ATR, as well!
Can I express my excitement and glee??  Words are not enough!  Sometimes, I'm just screaming inside because I am just that ecstatic!!

typical truck dash after a show, right?  ;)

Sport Horse Under Saddle ATR -and- 14.2 and Under

These classes happened almost back to back.
It had already been a really long day.
The Fancy Pony was tired.
I was tired.
It was already after 9:00 pm...

Finally they called us in for Sport Horse Under Saddle ATR!
We charged into the ring with our fanciest trot!
We all (all 12 of us) finally got into the ring and we trotted round and round and round and tried not to run into each other.

That Fancy Pony seemed to notice the dressage ring boundaries and got SUPER consistent in the bridle, seeking my contact and following my lead!  How long were we going to trot??
Ah, now we can canter!  Take our time...  Set up the bend with my inside leg and make sure she feels soft all the way through...  Pick her up with my inside leg, and what a soft, quiet transition!!
Now, the challenge of the day...  Don't break at the canter...
BUT!
I was not thinking "don't break".  Instead, I was thinking, "Just like this!  Keep this going!"
I put more energy into the canter at every corner.  It felt so wonderful, I was grinning from ear to ear!
After a few laps, I felt Whisper waning.  She was really getting tired already.  I lifted my pelvis and tried to support her with my core.  Non-interference was my goal.  She continued to play along.  How are we still cantering?

HAND-GALLOP!
I insisted on our best cross-country canter.  Whisper obliged, but she kept asking me, "Where are the jumps?"
Sorry no jumps.
A horse explodes next to us!!
She maintains as if nothing happened.
Another horse explodes right in front of us!
We leave that one behind us as she pushed up into my hands, lifting her back to dance with me...
Yet another horse is acting up, and we don't have a hole to go though!
Outside leg to push the shoulders over, and we leg-yield to the inside of the dressage boundaries, where I decide we're going to park it for the rest of the class.
We're still hand-galloping??  What has it been - half an hour???

Now, I'm no longer smiling.  I have my gane face on.  I'm power-breathing in order to keep my core engaged and help this Fancy Pony show off everything she's got!

Finally, we walk and reverse.  Then, we're trotting again!  For D.A.Y.S.......
More canter.  I've caught my breath, but now I have to breathe my legs with every stride just to help Whisper maintain.
Hand-gallop one last time, and I push that mare for everything she's got!  THIS is the class I came here for!
I get up into half-seat and continue to breathe my legs.  Anything to help her out.  Talk about a marathon class!!!
Back to the canter!
I sit, but I don't ask for the distinct transition.  I bring her back slowly to avoid any break in gait.
Another lap or 2 and they finally have us trot into the line up.  We were both ready...

1st Place...
2nd Place...
3rd Place...
All I need is to be in the ribbons, and I'll have my qualifications for this class.  I'll be thrilled with 6th place.

4th Place is number 416 - RSA Talk ofthe Street...
OMG!  Did they really just call my number?

I didn't hear anything else!  I walked over to get my ribbon in a daze.
I exit the ring and Heather is at the out gate to meet me and she screams!!  "You did it!!"

I suddenly found myself fanning my face with my white ribbon.  I was going to cry.
I just walked out of the class with the points I wanted.
I JUST QUALIFIED FOR ARABIAN SPORT HORSE NATIONALS!!!!!

Heather brought me back to reality quickly.
"Get off your horse! She needs to rest!"
Oh, yes.
Yes, she does.
Because we still have one more class!

And I walked the steaming beast around while we both caught our breath for round 2...

Allow me to break up this talk sandwich...

Thank goodness the Sport Horse Under Saddle 14.2 and Under class was not nearly the marathon of our previous class!!
It was the same game by another name with just a few less players.
Whisper was *just* as consistent in this class and gave me the loveliest transitions we had all day!  I was as proud as could be as we lined up and waited for the placings.

This time, when they announced 2nd place, I was looking around to see who that was (I really like to get a mental image of the first 2 placing horses) before I realized they had called our number again!
I think I was ready to faint.  I walked out of there, hopped of my pony, and immediately loosened everything I could lay hands on.
What a showing!
The rest of the weekend was just for fun and games at this point!

THIS HORSE ROCKS!!

Day 1 satin - couldn't be happier!

Hunter Pleasure - Main Ring Adventures

Arabian shows now seem to be 'divided' into 2 camps:
Main Ring (western, hunter, english, park, costume, halter, etc)
Sport Horse (sport horse in hand/under saddle, working hunter, jumper, dressage, etc)

Since the Fancy Pont and I have been training in the world of Sport, we had mainly focused on preparing for the sport horse classes.  However, THIS show offered BOTH classes!

So, we ventured into the main ring hunter pleasre classes and rode like an open hunter horse:
Hunter Pleasure ATR
Hunter Pleasure AATR

I'm lumping both classes rogether because both rides went about the same, and we were competing against mostly the same horses.

Fancy Pony was feeling stiff to the left.  She was having a difficult time maintaining her left lead canter, and she was struggling to carry herself.
These were our first 2 classes of the show on Friday...

You're not *really* going to make me get up, are you?

We made a reasonable presentation at the trot, but our canter was nothing special and was somewhat inconsistent.  Then, they asked for the hand-gallop....
Oh, hand-gallop, how fun you are!  And how satisfying when the transition is distinct!

My strategy for the hand-gallop was to find my cross-country attack mode, and Whisper was game to play along!

The first direction, they called the walk from the hand gallop, but I took my time to downward transition through the canter and a few steps of trot.
Reverse.
Trot.
Canter.
Hand-gallop.
Back to the canter.  Oh, yeah?
Heck, yeah!  Pony came back to the canter and rebalanced herself quite amiably.

Back to the trot, and line up!
We walked out of there with a 4th place in both classes!
That means we have enough point now to go to Regional Championships in Hunter Pleasure ATR!
What a GREAT feeling!!