Valentines Dressage Schooling Show

We had our first little dressage schooling show of the season at our home barn this weekend, and omg it was so fun!! 

Mikey could snuggle literally anywhere -- but obvi my nice clean + DIY-decorated show pad was the best choice <3

The weather was glorious, plus everyone in the barn decided to really make a day out of the event -- replete with snacks, baked goods, and beverages of all (adult) varieties! Even better -- a couple friends were able to join in the fun and come meet Charlie, shout out Susan and Lynn!!  

cute, right? 

The show started around midday and I was among the first up, meaning we rode during the nicest weather, and got done with the "hard part" early to enjoy the rest of the afternoon haha. 

cute pony too! 

And honestly, it went reasonably well. I probably wasn't serious enough about preparation in the days leading up to the show -- we thought we'd go to a jumper show this weekend too, so I'd spent more time focusing on jumping (like that grids session last week). That plan fell through tho, and I ended up feeling like we squandered a few quarters along the way. 

pictured: me going off course in our free walk

Oh well, Charlie warmed up well enough anyway. He was definitely a bit distracted and on edge about all the buzzing activity at home, and things being a little "different." Luckily there weren't too many people in the outdoor dressage court when we warmed up, tho, and he felt more or less good enough, if a bit stiff and tense. 

pictured: i still kinda suck at cantering this horse

We rode Novice Test A first, and it was ok enough. Charlie felt like he was kinda in the twilight zone, with his familiar arena being... Different. Meanwhile, I was maybe a little passive with obvi too-long reins... 

had a choice between a frame milliseconds before this where my posture looked marginally better, and charlie's marginally worse.... but i chose this one instead, where homeboy looks quite good imo even if i'm all scrunched up. whatevskis, i'd rather see him look max handsome <3

I think I like the test tho. We had some bumpy moments just by nature of it being the first time we put it all together, so theoretically repetition should help. I went off course in the free walk by going F-X-M instead of F-E-M, whoops. Tho... Frankly I like my way better LOL. 

silently beseeching the judge to please not hurt our feelings lol

Charlie also pretty heavily anticipated cantering when we were supposed to do our second 2-loop serpentine. So that whole movement was fussy and against my hand. Again, tho, I think that's just a practice + preparation thing. You can judge for yourself tho!

link to video of Test A -- fully annotated with directives, scores and commentary

Anyway, we had something like 25ish minutes before our next test, so I opted to hop off and give Charlie a grass break while I endeavored to learn Test B. Idk what it is about this test, but I kept getting like half way through reading it before sorta just.... losing the thread lol. 

next up -- Test B, wherein omg we turn *right* at C, crazy

I think it's because it has so many strings of 3-4 letters? Like the B-F-A-K, that's literally just one end of the ring lol, or the K-B-M or H-B-F dog leg turns... Idk, the movements make perfect sense to me, but for some reason my brain couldn't process remembering it all lol. 

Simple solution, tho -- my friend offered to read, to which the judge had no argument. 

i think the heart looks cute <3

Once actually going in the test, it rode better than I expected. Well, I don't mean *I* rode better than expected -- but rather the movements seemed to flow nicely. I also kinda liked the feeling I got from Charlie better in this test too -- like he had taken a deep breath and remembered that he knows what this game is all about. 

charlie's side eye here cracks me up, like he really doesn't understand the point of all this lol

Again, tho, just by nature of being our first time through the pattern, some areas ended up a bit rough. I'd practiced the 4-6 steps of walk dealio in our schooling sessions and again as we waited for the bell... But it was still a bit braced and against the hand. 

our tests weren't particularly consistent or our best, but there were nice enough moments to be found!

I also felt like I kinda let Charlie get away with feeling a little "fragile," rather than pushing him to get more up into the bridle. This is most notable in some of our trotting changes of direction, where we really could have been quite a bit nicer imo. 

good boy, sir! 

Also, lol, in our free walk, Charlie sorta just like.... put his head down to the ground and slowed to a snail's pace, but in that fragile sorta way where he was basically like, "touch me with that spur, lady, I dare you" -- like my options were slugging along the diagonal or shooting off into space. I did sacrifice a little trot step just to get him going more, since ya know, that's why we're here lol... But it was kinda funny. 

link to video of Test B -- fully annotated with directives, scores and commentary

Last thing I didn't quite like about this test was just how much walking there was, and that we walked the center line turn, before trotting and halting. This movement alone makes me question how much the test will actually get used at shows.... We'll see tho! 

click to embiggen; scores + comments are notated in the videos too

Also of note -- my prediction of the new collective marks came true on both these tests, haha. You might remember, I wrote back in November that, "I expect we'll probably score a 6.5 here, more or less always haha ¯\_(ツ)_/¯." And, sure enough lol.... first 6.5s are on the books! 

love this photo of me just cheesin with my perfect horse, thanks for the shot Lynn!! and thanks for your expert grooming touch, Susan, in making sure Charlie looked his best! 

For real, tho, it was honestly just a super fun day. Esp with the warm weather, everybody came early and stayed late, enjoyed the snacks and drinks, and cheered each other on. 

and since i somehow managed to fail at getting ANY pictures of the epic party spread everyone brought, here's a representative shot of Goose impersonating me indulging on the sangria omg 

Obvi any sort of early-season show is gonna be more about shaking off the rust than anything else. But for some competitors, this was their first test on a new horse, or first show ever -- and it was so cool to make such a memorable great day out of it. To me, that's what really matters. 

And now, it's just a couple more weeks til our next go 'round! 

surprise, it's grids again!

I feel like every boarding barn at one point or another fantasizes about having fun low key boarder-centric "grid nights." Where anybody can show up, exercises are inviting and progressive, and everybody can get what they want out of it. 

As an unabashed grid lover myself, this thought has definitely seemed attractive given all the icy weather confining us indoors. 

full exercise required 3 sets of standards and 7 poles (6 if you don't build an oxer). elements spaced 18' apart. mounting block recommended when you don't have ground crew! 

So! A couple of us endeavored to make it happen, yay! Tho naturally, we picked a weeknight where the indoor had been completely cleared of equipment ahead of our at-home dressage show this weekend, whoops. Meaning we had to bring all that equipment back inside to set up, then take it all back out again when we finished. Nbd, tho, was worth it! 

exquisite form when your technique is basically to just canter largely over the jump lol --- this is why we oxer, kids! 

My go-to set up is pretty simple. We started with just 3 ground poles on the rail (since again, remember this indoor is 20x40m, making for pretty tight turns even when you use every inch of space...). Walked trotted and cantered the poles in both directions as we warmed up, then quickly graduated to crossrails. 

so nice we did it twice!! 

First progression was just setting the 3rd element (we were tracking right) to be a cross rail, so horses could trot or canter into the poles and jump out the final element. 

when you forgot your crop in the barn and had to use yer b*slapping hand instead lol... 
also omg loookie who it is!!! it's Punky!! and he did joooompies, yayyy!!!

Then we changed directions, kept that crossrail (which was now the 1st element), then set the middle and last elements into verticals. Middle was pretty small, but last was a little bigger -- the height you see above. 

after everyone took a turn going one way, we'd progress the exercise configuration, and change directions

For Charlie, I didn't feel like he needed a ton of repetitions over each configuration. He's experienced at grids, and let's be real -- we're both very much in "winter" shape right now. I'm not even gonna admit how hard I huffed and puffed lugging around like... jump poles lol. So we did two passes each iteration and called it good. 

last two elements of the final configuration. omg emma pitcher heels down

For the final configuration, we cannibalized the poles and standards from the center element to create a 3-stride vertical to oxer combination, with placing pole in the middle. Ideally we would have kept a jump in the middle, and ideally ideally, we would have done another version with an oxer going off the other lead.... But. Eh. That seemed like a lot of unnecessary work LOL! 

if you want to feel badass about jumping the top of the standards, consider investing in teeny standards <3 

I had also in my head while planning the exercise intended to use the indoor's resident barrels as filler for the oxer.... But again, the arena was cleared in advance of the dressage show. And ain't nobody got time for extra trips lugging around equipment that wasn't mission critical lol....

goodness i love his face <3 we left the in tiny bc really the whole point was to set him up well for a good out over the oxer

Obvi it was fine, tho. The oxer was probably right around N-ish, maybe small N, since I think the standards are 3' tops. It's been so long since I've had to measure anything tho omg, and my eye is so off right now haha! Nothing makes a jump look big quite like short poles on short standards inside a tiny indoor. 

pictured: a good out over the oxer, well done sir! 

Charlie didn't care, tho. Naturally. He was a little dull and under-powered going around, bc ugh homeboy is sick of the indoor.... But he perked up and made good work of his last two trips!! 

video of literally 4 trips thru the grid

So it was a good time had by all, I think. Everyone took turns dismounting to make adjustments, plus obvi all the setting up and tearing down. And all the horses were on their best behaviors! 

We'll see if it becomes a regular thing haha. The forecast looks like it could be getting nicer, which means people might prefer to be outside in the larger arenas, even tho the lights aren't quite bright enough for any real complicated jumping. Maybe not, tho, who knows!

Does anybody else have favorite go-to exercises that can work from ground poles up to full sized jumps for large groups of varying skillsets? #asking4afriend lol....

Mikey's bad day

I cut out of work a little early yesterday after finishing up a mind-numbingly tedious project, figuring it might be nice to blow off some steam at the barn. Sure, I was planning on setting up a grid night a bit later with friends, but eh, who doesn't love just chillin with the horses, right? 

Except -- I got there as one of my barn mates was preparing for a lesson, and she let me know that Michael, our beloved barn snoopervisor kitty, had been stuck in the hay barn rafters for hours (if not longer), and she was anxious to try getting him down after her lesson. 

pictured: our very beautiful hay barn with sawdust bay 

There are old ladders and whatnot, but apparently they weren't tall enough. She thought maybe we could stack some hay bales? 

In any case, I obviously went over to investigate immediately. Sure enough, she'd already attempted placing the (ancient and omg so heavy) ladder on top of the hay bales, which is exactly as sketchy as it sounds. 

pictured: a cat who has made a series of poor choices and now experiences extreme regret omg

But.... Naturally, Mikey had worked his way over to the other side of the barn rafters anyway -- and was on top of the sawdust bay dividing wall. That definitely isn't likely to be where he got up in the first place, bc the walls are smooth there... But, that's where I found him. 

And oh my goodness, guys, he was SO SAD --- it broke my heart to hear him crying like that! 

"plz halp :'( " -- mikey, probably

So I dragged the ladder off the hay bales and over to the sawdust pile. I've honestly never really gotten up on top of a sawdust pile. Or, at least, not since I was like 12 and we used to go hunting for toads in the pile at an old barn where I used to volunteer in exchange for rides... I wasn't totally sure what to expect about whether it would hold my weight or be too unstable. 

It held my weight, tho, and the weight of the ladder once I could drag it up there. And actually, the ladder sunk maybe about a foot into the sawdust, which probably made it safer anyway?? Maybe? Idk. 

guys. i'm not gonna lie. this was the scariest fucking thing i've ever done in my nearly-middle-aged life omg

Really, tho, it was crazy sketchy. I sorta expected Mikey would have jumped down to the ladder himself once it was in place, and maybe he would have if we left him alone. But he didn't, so I figured it was worth a try to get up there myself. Which.... climbing up that ladder definitely counts as one of the *most uncomfortable* things I've done in living memory. 

I reeeeeally hoped Mikey would just climb right onto my shoulders, like he often does in the barn, but he was too scared. Actually, he was too scared to let me pick him up, too. So I had to get all the way up to the top of the ladder to clutch his scruff, while unwrapping his claws from the beams, to bring him down at least on top of the ladder. 

wants to come say thanks, but also... reeeeeally wants to go eat some food omg starving 

From there, I could go down a couple rungs, grab his scruff again, unwrap him again from clinging onto the ladder for dear life, and drop him a reasonable distance into the sawdust pile. Whew! 

"i'd like to talk about that time you *dropped me* tho <3" - mikey, i'm sure

I definitely know some cats that, once they've discovered a new and exciting way to get in trouble, will repeat with increasing frequency. And, it's also probably true that if left long enough, Michael would have found his own way down. 

But, eh, idk. I have such a bleeding heart lol, I hate seeing an animal in distress. And am glad to learn that, actually, a large enough sawdust pile *can* actually support a ladder with reasonable stability. Tho, ugh, 10/10 do not recommend. Unless, of course, you also have to rescue a beloved kitty!! Or, maybe you'd have left him to figure it out on his own? 

lessons gypsy-style

We had our second lesson with our new trainer-on-trial this weekend, and this time there's MEDIA OMG --- bc yay, I was able to convince a barn mate to come along with me!! 

two intrepid TBs awaiting their chariot!

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- Charlie is a much happier horse when he has company on the trailer. He's always a good boy, sure, but the difference in his demeanor is pretty apparent. So.... A big piece of the puzzle in testing out new coaches is that.... the new program has to work for my riding friends too. 

charlie was so happy to have a fren!! obvi me too ;) 

Luckily -- all of my riding buddies have therefore become quite accustomed to the gypsy style of lesson taking haha. All our horses travel well and are aces around the trailer, and have exactly zero problems going from unloading at a new facility, to speed tacking, to starting the lesson in about 15min flat. 

jumpin my big pony over tiny jumps in bad lighting. YUP, it must be winter!! lol

Of course, it helps when the venue du jour is Oldfields School, lol. This indoor might actually be one of my favorites -- mostly bc it's just so wide, wow. Plus so bright and airy, with lovely footing. 

I guess the program directors there must be pretty easy to work with, too, since tons of people rent the indoor out. You might remember I rode here with Sally back in 2019, and then again in pre-covid 2020 at a jumper show when I was working hard on the 3'3 move up.... Gosh what a lifetime ago lol.

sliiiiightly different configuration from the last time we saw this jump.... 

And I'm not gonna lie, looking back at those posts from 2019 and 2020, where we were legit competing at 3'3...., compared to this lesson where we dinked around fences that were mayyybe 2'3.... It would be easy to feel frustrated. 

evidence of details that need fixing: charlie really REALLY believed we'd turn left here, even kept his left lead for it too (almost always lands right). sorry buddy, that was my bad! 

But.... I don't feel frustrated. Honestly. Charlie and I have been doing our homework on the flat and I see big differences in how we go now compared to, say, that jumper round from 2020. 

I also know that we'll jump that height again. Maybe even sooner than I think. But... height just isn't our priority right now. We've been blasting around enjoying ourselves at 2'11 all year, without a whole heckuva lot of accountability about the details. 

he recovered fine for the tight rollback tho, good boy!

It's time to get serious about the details, again, tho. Time to get more consistent about practice. And.... Actually, rather than frustrated, I feel pretty optimistic. Honestly! 

actually, lots and lots of fun turns in this ride! 

This new trainer-on-trial is still very much getting a feel for us. This was legit her second time seeing us go, ya know? Time will tell where things lead, but my impression is that I like her vision for how she wants us to go.

such a good boy even when i get him so close <3

If you're curious about what I mean there, definitely watch the video bc it's pretty easy to hear her instruction as we go around. 

Basically, tho, she's not really asking for anything new or ground breaking -- but maybe she's describing it in a way that works for me. She basically wants us to have a nice shape as we go around -- contact into the bridle, hind legs up underneath the horse. A shorter frame from nose to tail, but with lots of energy. 

well done, buddy, that's the outline we're lookin for! 

And this is a way of going that I think works really well for Charlie. The difficulty is that it's a very very fine line between thinking about riding him "shorter from nose to tail," and letting him slip behind my leg. You can see a couple places in the video too where I let that happen too. 

So that's where we need the more "bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, energy into the bridle" feeling that she she keeps coaching us on. 

video of our last little course here

A couple details really stuck out to me about the ride, too: 

First, I feel like our turns before and after fences are lightyears better than they used to be --- 100% thanks to our work with Molly. Charlie has so much more education in lifting his inside shoulder and flexing now. In fact you can see a couple places where he ended up misdirecting on landing (ie, he was positive we'd turn the opposite way than I intended) bc I'm still a little ham-fisted in flexion and counter-flexion efforts, while Charlie has (as usual) learned the lesson more quickly and completely than I have, and could therefore take a more subtle aid. 

you're a good boy, sir

Second, and possibly most telling -- Charlie did all his auto-changes for me by the end of the ride, off both leads. That isn't exactly super unusual. But... Normally it tends to happen simultaneously with Charlie getting really strong as we roll along, when I start to get more run away with and sloppy in our corners. 

In this ride, Charlie stayed rideable, stayed flexing for me, but because he had all his feet right under him, the changes were still right there. I like it! 

So. It was a good lesson. I'm pretty happy about it. Megan and Royal had fun too, I think. So we'll keep rolling with it, see where this path leads lol. 

wwyd: dressage test edition

Ok. Happy February, folks. It's winter. It's frozen. There isn't a whole heckuva lot going on right now. Perfect time for some idle hypothetical planning for the future, yes? 

Not like, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" type nonsense, tho. Bc who on earth has that kind of energy as we stare into the gaping maw of a 3rd straight pandemic year, wtf.  

we've already had something like 3 meaningful snow events just in january.... sigh, no dice on another mild winter i guess!

No no, let's talk much more imminent future. Like, the next six weeks. Even more specifically: some very low key, casual schooling dressage shows that may or may not get cancelled bc of weather, and that I may or may not enter anyway. Sound good?

And, in the meantime, pics today are 100% unrelated to this topic at hand -- but are just general snapshots of day to day life with Chuck in Winter. 

charlie managed to decapitate one of the snaps on his smartpak sheet ugh

So. Ok, here's the deal. There are three (3) upcoming local dressage opportunities. Two are just standard shows -- as in, you select a test to enter, ride that test, accept your judgment, and move on with life. 

The third (not chronologically) is one of those Fix-a-Test Clinics, wherein you select your test and ride it -- but then spend something like 15-20min with the judge, who coaches you through aspects of the test in order to improve the presentation and score. 

luckily they can just replace that little buckle-on strap, rather than having to get a whole new blanket

In all instances, but particularly the FaT Clinic, we have every reason to expect kind (or at least, reasonable) judges who aren't likely to rip out the hearts of any wayward rider who dares to present an imperfect or -- gasp! -- messy test in arctic February at a local venue. 

bc lord knows charlie already has enough clothing, thanks. this Harrison Howard anti-rub shoulder bib remains an essential item in his wardrobe! 

Some additional detail on venue facilities, as this may play an important role in selecting tests: 

- The two standard schooling shows will likely be held in a 20x40m indoor arena -- the same size as a small dressage court (ie, the size used for all lower level eventing tests and intro/training level dressage tests). 

- It is *possible* that one or both of these shows could move to the outside ring that accommodates a regulation 20x60m court, but it's a big a gamble. 

- The FaT clinic will be in a 20x60m indoor.

- Depending on weather and ground conditions, warm up areas may be very limited for all events.

other new essential kit?? some surpass for charlie's ugly hock!

The order of the potential events is: 1st Show, FaT Clinic, 2nd Show. So. My question, dear readers, is.... Which tests should I ride? In which events? And, why?

The smartest choice would be to go all in on the new 2022 Novice Eventing tests. It's the test we'll see in competition during the upcoming season, and this would give us a good chance to set some baselines -- and get some pointers in the FaT. 

i might be deluding myself, but i think it's helping. still a big weird looking hock tho

Pros: The test is intended to be ridden in a small court, so would be fine to do in the shows. Plus, obvi, the above point about getting a head start on the upcoming season. 

Cons: Eh, this is definitely among the most boring options, imho.

all these ice/snow events mean charlie's herd (typically housed farthest afield down the long hilly driveway) gets put up in paddocks so nobody dies trying to get the wild beasties up and down the icy road

Also.... Let's be real, there's always going to be a bit of a ceiling to Charlie's dressage scores unless I get serious about riding him more round. But.... I legit don't really want to ride him round for the sake of being round, since when I get too preoccupied with headset, I tend to get the horse behind my leg. No thanks haha! 

gives me prime opportunity to observe his social life! he's definitely preferential toward the brown boys (vs the red boys, or gray boy) -- and some of my barn mates are convinced Moose will be the ultimate new BFF. 
(also omg i know his blanket is twisted, i swear he wears it like that on purpose bleh)

Bc.... Charlie is actually capable of some more advanced stuff -- like all of 1st Level, and, honestly, now that I can kinda sorta sit the trot, 2-1 looks pretty comfortably within his wheelhouse. 

And, when my energy and focus is on the details like balance and impulsion and bend necessary to do those more advanced movements (and necessary to actually sit omg), Charlie just sorta goes round all on his own. Which, you may recall, is my whole approach anyway :: Charlie's frame should reflect the correctness in our way of going, not the other way around. Ymmv. 

but then he's also spent a lot of quality time with Bentley lately too.... idk, time will tell. or maybe he'll just have two best friends instead of one? 

So. You see my conundrum. We could have more fun doing more interesting tests, while still pulling mediocre scores -- bc the whole "mediocre score" thing feels inevitable anyway, tbh.

In the schooling shows, I could maybe take a look at the 2022 Training or Prelim tests, since those are designed for small courts but tend to have more 1st level stuff. Remember I used to do that with Izzy back in the day too. Then maybe do 2-1 in the FaT clinic? Or 1-3?? 

anyway. mikey is everybody's best friend <3

Or I could still do the 2022 Novice tests in the schooling shows, since, bleh, again, that's probably the smartest choice --- at least get a taste of what's coming our way this season, ya know? 

But.... thinking back to the 4 years we spent riding the 2018 test, we really never properly aced that two loop serpentine at trot -- and now there are TWO in the new 2022 test. So... maybe the FaT clinic would actually help us scrounge up a couple more points?? 

It's hard to believe, really, given how impressively flat our scores were over that 4 year period haha, so again, not sure it'll really make a difference....

as is sweet shetland stallion TT, looking all sorts of snugly in the snow! 

But. Entries are coming due soon, so I gotta make some decisions. Thus, my questions to you: Which tests would you choose, and for which events? Why?

Would you stick with the safe choice and work on shoring up as many points as possible on ol' faithful? Or would you say to hell with it, let's take that atrocious sitting trot out in public and see what happens? Or maybe there's some sort of middle ground in there? 

I make absolutely zero promises to follow any advice haha (and lord knows these winter shows have a pretty solid history of cancellations anyway). But I'm curious ;)