show prep + riding a different horse

B and I headed off to FV again earlier this week to get in our last solid school before this weekend. We'll have a lesson on Saturday, per usual, and then Sunday is show time!

We reviewed the dressage test in the car ride over and talked a bit about how we could practice the individual pieces. Unfortunately, the jumps at FV are currently configured so that there isn't really space for a true 20m circle -- shocking given how big the arena is! But we made do. 

an accurate representation of each horse's personality

I mostly worked on steadiness - esp through transitions - and trying to get some actual right bend without instigating a hissy fit that disrupts our rhythm. It was more or less successful. And if our tests on Sunday go anything like today's ride, it will be a true and accurate demonstration of our current level of training - which is the whole point, right?

love her dramatic windswept mane lol

We will have about 30 minutes with the judge - time to do the test once, then spend 20ish minutes talking about it, with the judge likely schooling us on different elements or movements, and then another run through of the test. And I'm pretty sure both tests are fully scored and placed, which is kind of cool. But it really is a glorified lesson.

three stride line - love the brick walls!

B is riding BN-A too (despite Wick's incredibly elusive left lead) with the hope that the judge will be able to help them out with it. In the meantime, I hopped on Wick to see if I'd have any luck or ideas (spoiler alert - I didn't haha). 

Ooooh boy it's been 5 months since I've ridden anything other than Isabel... and that may or may not have been obvious lol. Wick is green green green and kind of dead to the leg, plus he leans super heavily on the right rein. So uh, I got quite the work out just trying to walk and trot him around, while B giddily zipped around on Isabel. 

purple panel that was very impressive last time, but boooooring this time

Then we switched back to hop over a couple things. This was the second time we came to FV and found everything set up BIG. Everything used to usually be set around 12"-2' (with maybe a couple 2'3" options), but that has not been the case lately. There was an X tho, and we adjusted the brick line, but otherwise left things the same.

according to my *very* rough measurements, this gate is 3'

(meaning i noted where it hit my hip, then measured to that point later haha)

And Isabel was fine. She was actually kinda hauling me to the fences - leaving the ground pretty awkwardly once when we trotted the white X below haha. Like, c'mon mare - just chill out and wait until you're actually *at* the fence! She jumped the brick line well a couple times, as well as the single purple and blue below, and the earlier purple panel that we jumped last week. 

jumped these 3 individually (purple, X, white gate) but didn't put the bending line together... maybe next time haha

So I got brave and tried the big red gate bending to a smaller white gate (3rd element in bending line above). Isabel jumped the red gate ok but then swapped just her front lead on the turn to the white gate and stopped when we didn't hit a very nice distance. Nbd, circled to represent and the mare stopped again! 

She got in trouble that time and we jumped it twice without issue (with me counting strides out loud to force myself to breathe and help establish a better rhythm)... Silly girl. Part of me wishes I hadn't pushed it when she was going well... but simultaneously, we're gonna have to do more than 5-6 jumps at a show, so... it's maybe better to face these issues in schooling?  

Not really sure where these stops are coming from - but it seems like there's been a stop in almost every jump school recently. Maybe it's just a natural part of trying to jump bigger things? Like maybe it's harder for Isabel to scramble over a bigger fence when I screw up? Idk... 

I'm not super worried about it, but I also don't want to see a trend develop! Have you had to deal with something like this?