I had a plan for Ella. Very little warm-up, just walk-trot-canter and a little piaffe-passage. She felt terrific, and we walked over to Ring 1 for my test.
SUPRISE! I’m not riding in Ring 1. I’m riding in Ring 2, the indoor arena, in which Ella has never set foot. So now the test is really on: Can Ella not only stay with me through two consecutive competition days, and after only a little warm-up, but can she do it in a scary, strange arena?
Why yes, yes she can, to the tune of 71.8 percent. Woohoo!
She was a superstar. No drama in the arena, no fuss, but also no quitting and no mistakes. She had particularly nice pirouettes and super changes (got a 9 on the ones!), and while she faded by the end and needed a little help from my whip in the last passage, she never backed off the throttle and never said no.
I don’t think an international panel would have given it a 71 percent, but I’ll take it anyway! And what was really important was the experience—I’ve got a plan to manage her while she’s developing in her fitness. Yes!
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Fender, too, had a terrific day. I had a big ah-ha—while I work Fender on lots of tighter figures and cleverer geometry at home, I’ve only ridden him in a 20×60 ring once; my indoor is enormous. I think he may have gotten claustrophobic in the smaller space. In yesterday’s Materiale class (a group under-saddle class, judged with a score each for walk, trot, canter and overall impression), he felt much freer and more swingy… all in a big ring. And the judge loved it—8 walk and impression, 8.5 trot and canter for an 8.3 overall—my first ever score over 80 percent! It’s not the same as an 80 percent in a regular test, but I’ll take it, too!
Midge was himself—another test in the indoor, which he doesn’t like. He was not nearly as strong and bullish as his first day, but he also made more mistakes (a temporary flying change obsession) to finish second with a 67 percent. Still, he had a few highlights, and it’s all a good experience for him to have to wear the big horse pants AND finish a test when he’s frightened. And by placing second he won a whopping $100, as it was a Stakes class. (Ella won her Stakes class, too—$150. Big spender.)
And student Mel had one more great ride on her very tired horsey to complete a terrific weekend of all scores above 60 percent. Yay Mel!
So now it’s back home for a quiet two weeks before the next outing, Morven Park, April 10-11. Midge and Fender will train per usual; I want to keep Ella on my plan of conditioning work over training. She’s proven that she knows the stuff, so now I try to make it easier for her.
