As promised, I ordered some prints from our recent competition outing — Loch Moy’s final recognized horse trial of the year. From which, as you may remember, I opted to call it a day after a less-than-stellar dressage test paired with increasingly poor ground conditions in the chilly rain.
a picture of a picture of us trotting in the rain <3
Everything might have been fine if we’d decided to continue. It’s not like the bad dressage is unusual for us LOL, not like we haven’t carried on from last place in basically every other show. But eh, with the recent whoopsie it felt a little unnecessary to push in decidedly not ideal circumstances. So, we didn’t.
bolting in the rain too!! lolz…..
The pictures aren’t half bad (for us) tho! Like Doozy is obvi running away with me in the canter pic haha… And trust me, she was indeed. But as far as our standard fare presentation goes… I’m not sad to have the photos!
oh doozy dear, you are indeed the fastest at dressage tests!
I still had a good long talk about it with trainer C at our most recent dressage lesson, tho. Bc our scoring really is consistently just so bad. Like, “outside the normal distribution” bad. Consistently, with every judge. And it’s not just like we get the low end of any given judge’s marks. No no no, we are generally well into the “You probably shouldn’t be here” marks.
in case you wanted a graphical + annotated representation of what it means to be “objectively bad,” here we are well outside the ‘standard deviations’ of our last show’s dressage score distribution
Case in point is the handy little histogram I made of all 18 horses in our class at the show. It’s all to scale, one percentage point per tick across the horizontal axis. With 17 horses all clustered around the average score, and then a loonnnnnnnng tail of nothingness until us.
she’s 100% objectively cute tho <3 <3 <3
I maintain that I honestly do not care about winning. In fact, I don’t necessarily even care about specifically losing. I care more about how it feels while we’re doing it. Like, Charlie would still strut like a champion after putting in a severely mediocre test. Bc as far as he was concerned, he Did. The. Thing. and was a Good. Boy.
Doozy, on the other hand, sometimes almost feels like she thinks she might actually die.
i only went out to blanket her, but she wasn’t having it, didn’t think i should be able to leave without her <3
Well ok. That’s a little dramatic. But she definitely feels like she thinks Something Bad might happen at any time.
Which, I should note, this is the point at which most people love to tell me that I just need to “keep getting out there” and “give it time” and “keep exposing her.” Which is a strange thing for me to hear bc 1) what exactly do the people saying this to me think I’m doing??? and 2) we’re legit ‘getting out there’ far more frequently and with more regularity than most people I know, and definitely more than the people who like to give me this advice. So ya know, spare me LOL.
happy out hacking!
But eh. Y’all know how it is. Folks love to offer solutions to everybody else’s problems. And it’s pretty clear that Doozy and I have a Big Dressage Problem. Doozy’s tension is obviously still there in the other phases, but the feeling is completely different. Still at times chaotic, but a whole lot less “IMPENDING DOOM.” The dressage, tho. Oof. You’d think I was asking her to do a 20m circle right around the precipice of an actual literal black hole.
reasons to be grateful: two horses who spent a fair bit of time this year laid up on stall rest, reunited back out on the hills!
Sometimes I have to actually stop myself and appreciate how far she’s come in so much of our day to day life together — how she is in the barn, out on trails, going to lessons and clinics, all the various things we regularly do. Doozy is truly a lovely horse to be around, to spend time with, and to ride in all the various activities I love to do. In company, alone, whatever.
sweet silly mare
So yea, it bugs me that this one specific activity — riding the dressage test at a show — is so specifically unpleasant and un-fun. Especially when you consider how much we enjoy our dressage lessons lol… Make it make sense!
might not be everybody’s favorite view point lol but we have fun :)
Trainer C was feeling equally boggled by the whole thing. She only sees us in lessons so from her perspective, Doozy has long since moved on from her earliest chaotic tendencies. And it’s obvi hard to explain just how much the horse changes, turns completely inside out, when we actually enter for our test.
All the same, tho, she was adamant that we keep trying to experiment a bit. Keep trying different approaches, and, yes, still keep giving the horse time and exposure. Bc the horse truly can make a lovely test when she’s feeling secure and game. Plus obvi we still wanna do cross country! And the path to the start box goes through the dressage court.
It is somehow turning into the most glorious fall already. We’ve still had some warm days — but that cool crisp kinda warm that makes you want to bring layers just in case.
everybody is snuggly and sweet when it gets cold out!
It’s also been properly chilly on a couple days, and naturally a little rainy at times too. So all the nice cozy categories of weather. Only real bummer is the increasingly early sunset, I guess!
even doozy! in her new rain sheet!
Doozy, for her part, has been great. We had some really nice schooling rides in the last couple weeks, including a good dressage lesson, good schools at home, and that properly pleasant jump school I wrote about — plus one more after that wherein we basically just repeated exactly the same set of exercises with exactly the same properly pleasant results. Who doesn’t love that?
the sheet came in handy, bc it’s been rainy! (also, yes, that is a whole ass flake of hay just sittin loose on the trailer floor LOL)
It was a good feeling too, bc we actually already had an entry in for Loch Moy’s final recognized HT of the year. Tho… Truth be told, legit one of my first thoughts after falling off at the starter trial was to check to see if it was too late to withdraw. Alas, it was.
It was a good aspirational bold plan when I sent all those entries in all at once — instead of my usual conservative / pessimistic approach of waiting to enter each thing until after the last thing, just in case.
“you can’t be serious” — doozy, so sweet she melts down in the rain
But, eh, that’s how it goes, right? I decided I’d still go to the recognized show since it was paid for and all, and we’d give it a good shot. Mostly I was curious to see if we could replicate some of those really good moments from the starter trial — esp in the dressage warm up.
proof we sorta kinda tried to do a thing! got some pro pics too bc #whynot, but you’ll have to wait for them to come in the mail
Idk, tho. The vibe was kinda off the whole day — and not just bc of the persistently damp chilly rain. We parked way down in timbuktu bc the place was a ZOO for area champs. They rearranged a lot of stuff from how they’d done it last year, including adding a second show jump competition ring and moving sj warm up to a whole new location (conveniently right above where we parked so we got to walk through all that** on our way to dressage).
(**All that being inclusive of the frequent victory gallops as each champs division concluded)
“i’ll take my snacks to go, pls!” — doozy, ready to be done
That’s all a long way to say: No, our dressage was not representative of any good work or improvements or whatever. It was, as they say, quite bad. Siiiiiigh.
I’d originally determined to stick around at least for show jumping, bad vibes be damned, but… eh. XC seemed out of the question with increasingly slippy torn up tracks (something like 40 BN horses had already jumped our track over the course of the weekend) and especially the warm up zone, and I don’t think I’d have forgiven myself if we had a repeat (or worse) of our last outing.
anyway. cats!! cats in paper bags!!! <3 <3
Ultimately tho, I opted to just pack up after dressage. Some other time it’ll feel appropriate and necessary to push through the cold wet chaos to go jump our jumps. It just didn’t have to be this particular day LOL.
speaking of creature comforts… my farrier started bringing his puppy on the road omg
And obvi Doozy certainly didn’t mind!! She doesn’t know she didn’t jump lol. Honestly, aside from being absolutely unable to cope the second she enters at A…. honestly aside from all that, she’s been an extremely happy camper lately!
doozy was obsessed, to say the least!
Nice rides, relaxed, pleasant and happy in the barn. Low key creepy in love with my farrier’s puppy. Ya know. Normal happy horse stuff!
ooooh and more horse shows — this time on the administrative side of things: drafting maps!
So we’ll see what the season brings. Perhaps going back to the drawing board entirely re: test riding + ring craft. Or perhaps shifting focus to other activities that don’t involve dressage courts at all. Or ya know. Maybe just continuing to work as we have been, trusting that the progress is happening even if it’s hard to tell? Idk! We’ll see!
making plans for all these pretties!!!!
In the meantime, tho, we’re kicking back into high gear with all things Shawan Downs, as the local riding club’s fall starter event is rapidly approaching!
get on the bus, lil’ table!!
There’s something so satisfying about being a part of that process, watching all the plans and pieces come together as the event takes shape.
so exciting to see things start taking shape! and look at those hints of crimson in the foliage!!!!
Fingers crossed the weather cooperates too bc while I’m undecided about entering the show, I’m very hopeful to at least make it to the xc schooling days. A girl can dream, right?
doozy, don’t you wanna go play too???
Right. It’s a tricky time of year to get too attached to any one specific plan or activity, with the weather being what it is. But honestly after having been on the sidelines for so much of the summer, it’s nice to even just have the choice!
perhaps haha. i think perhaps she does!
If the weather *DOES* play nice, we might have a few other upcoming activities planned too that require zero dressage (or even flatwork). More galloping hill and dale, less messy stressy contact on 20m circles. Doesn’t sound half bad, right?
Cross your fingers the weather agrees LOL. And in the meantime, hope y’all have a nice weekend too!
It’s honestly a little hard for me to know how best to spend the last few days leading up to a horse show. Over the years, I’ve taken just about every possible approach — from trying to school each phase in the last few days, to prioritizing jumping, galloping, dressage, hacking, or even taking a couple days off.
this silly mare and her floppy ploppy muzzle
There are pros and cons to everything, ya know? And sometimes I’m weighing my options based on what I think *I* need, vs what I think might most benefit the horse.
it was so dusty just a week ago!! it’s been raining ever since tho
Real talk, tho. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not really entirely clear whether it makes much of a difference haha. At least, not for me and Mondeuse, and not from a “results” perspective.
From a “feelings” perspective, tho? Actually I’m coming to believe that at least the day before, and realistically probably even the last 2-3 days before a show, should be fairly intentional and disciplined flat schools. Maybe a couple jumps too on one of the days if needed, but mostly focusing on the flat work.
Doozy has this interesting sort of quality about her that, whatever she was yesterday, she’s a little bit more that way today.
So if yesterday she had off or just hacked, today she might be… more inclined toward expressing a preference for liberty and freedom. But by tomorrow she might be coming around to the idea of civility, and the day after that she could be a perfect prim little princess.
we did a LOT of walking tho, much of it actually nicely on the aids
This seems to be true too regarding how relaxed she can be in the acceptance of the aids. It always seems to be a calibration game with her — support with leg, but omg not too much! Or, conversely, she may need very exaggerated bending and suppling aids on a Day 1 ride, compared to something a little more subtle by Day 3.
just trying to normalize relaxed balance
She also seems to benefit from practicing and recognizing patterns — whether that be with verbal cues or how we arrange various exercises etc. Doozy is a very anticipatory type horse — she always wants to know what’s coming. So it’s not like we drill the work or whatever, but I definitely aim to give her a nice predictable schooling experience day after day to ideally help her sorta relax and breathe into it.
and more walkies
Again, this obviously hasn’t necessarily proven to be a winning formula or major difference maker or whatever in the show ring. At least, not yet. Our experience in the warm up ring at Loch Moy, however, gives me confidence that we’re sorta kinda getting there. Maybe. Lol.
and halties too bc mare Could.Not with the flies and required personalized swatting
Regardless, the last three days leading up to Loch Moy were all dedicated flat schools. And I did my best to set myself up for success by recording the first of those three with the Pivo. With the idea being that:
1) Having the pivo rolling would keep me accountable for sticking to the plan; and
2) Reviewing the footage afterward would still leave me with a couple practice days to work on any key adjustments — like remembering to shorten my reins, or prepare the mare more proactively for balance in changes of direction
we’re both learning to hold our balance a little more upright
Basically treating it like a bit of a coaching session while still ensuring there was time to work on any findings etc. That note on balance in particular being one of the biggest topics for us lately.
plenty of decent moments despite the tension!
It was our last lesson with Matt that kinda helped me connect the dots that some of Doozy’s tension, anticipation and rushing are directly related to how balanced she feels — or doesn’t feel, as the case may be.
Doozy is naturally a very balanced horse, that’s a big part of what I like most in her natural way of going. But it’s like once she kinda gets into that rushing frantic rigid place, everything snowballs.
would love to be able to do more of this in the actual show ring!
There’s actually a really nice example in the video from this ride where I try to trot a little serpentine change of direction from tracking left to tracking right, passing in front of the camera to turn toward the gate. And Doozy just like completely loses her balance, bend, suppleness, rhythm, all in a flash. She goes from feeling supple and on the aids and in a nice tempo to hollow, rigid and counter bent and rushing almost instantaneously.
the overall picture at canter is still middling at best but the balance is coming along!
Obvi that’s not exactly uncommon, right? Like there’s a reason you don’t see very sophisticated changes of bend in the earliest dressage levels and tests — horses have to gain the strength and learn to hold that balance. But it’s becoming more clear to me that it’s the feeling of imbalance itself that’s part of what gets Doozy a little frazzled and upset and hard to put back together again.
might not look like much but this is light years better than just two months ago
So that’s something I’m trying to keep in mind, keep working on — and stay proactive about.
In our last dressage lesson with Trainer C (I didn’t take the pivo so there’s no media so probably no dedicated post, sorry!) we kinda integrated this idea by doing more serpentines — but throwing in circles within the serpentine as needed to reestablish balance if we lost it. And also tinkering around with feelings of shoulder fore down the long side.
lots of cookies for the good girl
I’m also working on doing more canter. Just in general to help channel Doozy’s energy and not lose sight of the commitment to “forward” that has been so important for us these last few weeks.
And it seems like it’s working! Suddenly it’s like, even if Doozy feels like she’s rushing and flat and hard to sit on, I can throw in a fairly dramatic half halt to really kinda sit her down a bit — but then she stays there and holds it. Almost like this feeling of, “Ah, yes, actually this IS better!”
smooshy biscuit <3 <3
The next thing I want to work on is spending more time in an actual 20x40m space — but like an actual court, not against a fence or wall, as with our smaller indoor ring. Probably I’ll measure out a couple corners or something with poles + cones in our outdoor ring. Mayyyyyybe in one of the grass paddocks if I’m feeling really ambitious LOL.
Bc this topic of balance has me wondering if part of Doozy’s difficulty in the show ring itself comes from trying to hold herself together without the crutch of a proper wall or fence, when she’s already inclined to be rushy and over pace. It probably wouldn’t be a silver bullet — if such things even exist with horses haha — but seems worth a shot, right?
We’ll see. In the meantime we’ll just keep chippin away with the regular practice haha.
Happy Friday, folks! Things are quieting down a little bit around here after what felt like a sudden onslaught of activities all at once haha. Funny how the calendar works sometimes…
first trot of the lesson!
I actually wasn’t even originally planning on going to the Thornridge show, and certainly didn’t initially think jumping a round would be in the cards… But other plans moved around, and then Doozy was immediately such a princess about jumping again that, ya know, why not, let’s do it!
little ms sensible <3
But we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming now, which, in this case, means another dressage lesson with trainer C! Natch, accompanied by my new favorite toy, the pivo!
Which I set up in the corner this time since it occasionally lost us in the corners when it was set at C in our last lesson. Unfortunately I chose the corner by the in-gate, so we missed a chunk of work at the end when the next horse joined the ring. Nbd but next time I’ll try the opposite corner.
warming up with leg yields!
Anyway, obvi I love using these lessons to prepare for events and all that, but it’s also equally nice to show up and be able to tell trainer C to “have your way with us!”
change directions, rinse, repeat!
Which, in this case, meant trainer C wanted us to play around with first level stuff, eventually putting together the pieces of 1-2. Exciting!!
In her view, when Doozy is relaxed and engaged in the work, she basically already has all the requirements for the level, and is maybe similar to how Isabel was in that the harder and more demanding the tests get, the more interested Doozy becomes.
learning to find power in balance
Tho, realistically, that’s also probably a function of that Brett Parbery quote I shared last week, about how “exercises are for people, aids are for horses.” Meaning, perhaps, that as the tests get more demanding **for me,** then subsequently **I** do a better job of being clear crisp and correct in my aids to Doozy, who then naturally goes better and better.
started playing with lengthening the trot, v exciting for dooz!
Obvi it’s useful to understand the mechanics of why a good ride is good lol, bc understanding that makes it reproducible, right? But… more fundamentally, it’s also just plain fun to have good rides where everything feels connected and flowing.
leg yielding from center line
And Doozy seems like a total junkie for that feeling too — she loves being a good girl, loves getting the answers right. And it seems like the more good rides we stack on top of each other, the happier and more relaxed and more confident she gets in the work.
lots of canter this lesson!
So anyway the whole video is included below with all the main exercises we did and obvi all trainer C’s coaching through each movement. Probably mostly just interesting to me, but there’s some generally universal stuff in there for anybody looking for nuggets of wisdom.
my 15m canter circle geometry was shockingly pitiful lol
We warmed up right away with leg yields from the quarter line, and trainer C wanted me to be clear and consistent from the word ‘go’ about correct inside bend. Which, at times for Doozy, can almost look a little like shoulder fore, with her nose a bit to the inside of her chest center.
princess was so good i kept being wayyy too early for our canter-trot transitions over X
Lots of alternating between circles and leg yields, always looking to solidify and confirm the correct bend through the movements (ie, using the pattern to get Emma to deliver more consistent aids to the horse). And, this was **finally** the day when trainer C had us start pushing the trot out more on our diagonal changes of direction!!
we repeated both directions of the canter work but alas, pivo got distracted when a handsome gray pony joined the ring
We hadn’t really gone there yet with Doozy bc it’s been such a journey to get her to balance and contain herself in a working trot, vs sorta unspooling out the front end… But something tells me Doozy’s gonna eventually love her lengthening and extensions LOL.
actual visual representation of pivo being truly torn
Anyway, the canter pattern in the 1-2 test was pretty good for us too. It’s a fair amount of canter, with long sides and 15m circles, and cantering across the diagonal to trot at X, then immediately pick the canter back up again in the next corner on the new lead.
in the end, tho, it stuck with us <3
All of that wanted me to be a LOT more clear and prepared in my seat and aids. The 15m circles, for example, went best when I really concentrated on pushing into my seat bones, while also feeling both legs long, pushing the balls of my feet in each stirrup.
The canter transitions… Honestly that was maybe the most interesting feeling. For so long, Doozy’s aid to canter was almost the *absence* of an aid. Like, you just stopped holding her and off she went! Now that she’s actually like, steady and on the aids and relaxing in the work, I actually have to be a little more proactive in preparing her for the transition.
basically the full lesson, trimmed of walk (and pivo) breaks
We never quite nailed the feeling in this lesson, my up transitions were always late and a bit shuffle-y. But now that I understand the pattern better, I think it’ll be a good one for us to practice to help me refine my own positioning. So long as I keep riding forward into it, tho, Doozy seems happy to go — compared to that little phase we went thru last year when I got too backwards and she was kicking out into her transitions.
sweet doozy, best of biscuits
So yea, a good lesson for a lot of reasons. Super gratifying and honestly legitimately exciting to have trainer C tell us she thought we should be doing more first level stuff too.
I’d like to find more opportunities to get out to just do dressage tests at shows, mostly bc the repetition seems to helpful for Doozy, and not having impending jumping phases helps me focus and be more intentional… But we’ll see what the calendar holds.
Fall is my favorite season for riding and activities, and I’m so relieved and grateful to have Doozy coming back into action for it!
