Another beautiful day at the horse show, and another good pony day. Fender found his second wind and was a TERRIFIC boy in his training 3 class, minus the first and last centerlines, where he channeled his inner Salinero and halted in several interesting (and mobile) yoga positions to the tune of a 5 each time. Whoops. Everything else was 7 and 8 for a 69.6 percent and second place, just off the pace.
That test is tricky for him, since he’s not super reliable in my right rein yet—you walk and track left, then pick up trot, then canter in about 20 meters of space on a left turn, and he thinks that doing all that (and then the stretchy trot!) while staying OUT and RIGHT is really rather foolish. But he was a great sport about it and let me drive.
Ella was definitely tired, but I made some improvements over yesterday, including the trot half-pass zigzag and the left canter pirouette. One of the judges also noted how I tend to sit right all the time, which is especially evident in left lateral work, so I focused on that today and made some progress.
I think I opened the door yesterday to smaller, more adjustable passage in the ring, but with her muscle fatigue today that door slipped shut and banged Ella in the head as it closed, leaving us a little high and dry in the last few movements.
All in all, though I think it was a better test. The judge at B agreed, 67.7 percent; the judge at C did not, 63 percent. Boo. So a 65 percent again, which is still quite decent; more 8s on my centerlines (booyah), and consistent 8s across the board through both tests on my collective marks, including several on impulsion, which is a BIG deal for me. Ella’s weakness has always been her body confidence and her elasticity, so to get 8s at Grand Prix on impulsion feels terrific!
Best news of all: It’s five weeks ‘til their next outing. Time to improve Fender’s connection and Ella’s fitness, and to relax and have some leisure time along the way. Yay!
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I had a few hours between my rides today to putter around, so I got to do some spectating. I watched a good chunk of the Young Horse classes and was really impressed by most of the riding. I was certainly impressed by lots of American-bred horses. I also had a wonderful time watching my Parae-questrian friends, including the unbelievable James Dwyer of Ireland who we need to marry to an American so he’ll ride for us. He has a wonderful horse, which certainly makes life easier, but he has the most splendid control both of the collection and the expression, a really excellent balance between whoa and go. Look out, WEG.
I also heard some really good coaching of junior riders, which always makes me happy. Staying positive even when they were clearly intimidated, emphasis on forward riding and good equitation.
And VADA put on a seamless horse show, even helping me out when I was twitching at the end of the day because I had to gun it home to do afternoon barn chores, and I desperately wanted Ella’s score before I left. They run a tight ship, those guys.
No rest for the weary—I’m taking a client to see some sale horses today (yay), then a few days of teaching and normal stuff before our clinic with Conrad Schumacher this weekend (YAY!). And maybe I’ll get some laundry and office work done, too.
Psh. Yeah right.
