Changes

I've been thinking about the direction I want to go with my riding for a while now.  And I've made the decision to make the switch to dressage.  Now don't get me wrong I love to jump.  And I don't plan on giving up jumping entirely.  But I do think it's the right choice for me competitively.  I fine when I'm at home, I can jump anything Bonnie tells me to, might not look pretty the first time, but I can do it.  But at shows, my nerves just get the better of me.  I'm finally able to admit that doing this competitively is just not really doing me or the horses any good.  So I'm sticking to the sandbox.

Really it just makes sense for me to take advantage of the horse I have to ride now.  Yes Bugs is a great jumper.  But he is a phenomenal dressage horse.  So why not try for my bronze medal with him? 

No, not this kind of bronze medal

Through USDF you can earn your bronze, silver and gold medals with qualifying scores at certain levels.  For the bronze medal you have to get two qualifying scores (60% or higher) at first, second and third level.  The scores have to be earned at two different shows and under two different judges.

First level is really not out of reach for me.  Let's look at the tests and what each one introduces

First level test 1

• 10m half circle at trot-got it, school them often
• 15m circle at canter-got it, again, we school that often
• lengthening of stride in trot and canter-Bugsy's got this down pat, in fact he often does them without being asked.  might need to work on the brakes at the end of the lengthening though

First level test 2

• leg yield-we rock the leg yield

First level test 3

• 10m circle at trot-done
• change of lead through trot-done
• counter canter-done

A little work on lengthening and other than that there's nothing in first level that I don't feel comfortable with.  And I've got all winter to work on it.  So right now the plan is to ride first level at my first show in March.  And since it's a two day show and I can ride three tests each day, why not try second level as well.  Challenge myself over the winter.  And challenge it will be.  Well challenge for me, not for Bugsy though.

Second level test 1

• collected trot
• collected canter
• 10m circle at canter
• medium gaits
• shoulder in
• simple change of lead
• rein back

Second level test 2

• travers
• turn on the haunches

Second level test 3

• renvers

Well, I can do a decent turn on the haunches, and a good rein back.  I can sometimes get a decent shoulder in.  OK looks like I've got some work this winter.

So in typical Bonnie fashion we got right to work this weekend.  Bugsy has been getting turned out at night with Kaye and even though he had been in Friday night I took a calculated risk and got on without lunging him first.  And he didn't try to dump me, alright this is starting out promising.   Let him warm up long and low, really stretching that neck out.  By the way, so glad the stretchy circle in first level still has a coefficient of 2, Bugs kicks ass on the stretchy circle.  then we started to collect and work on some 10m circles, changing directions every so often and really working on keeping his head and not losing the bend on the transition.  Then she had me try a collected trot.  I've never done a collected trot on any horse.  We didn't quite have it exactly, certainly not show ring ready.  But for my first time it wasn't a half bad attempt.  I could feel him start to bring his hindquarters up underneath himself to get the collection.  So that was pretty cool.  Then Bonnie took pity on my poor out of breath self and allowed me a brief walk break before we started on the canter work.  And this is where she really challenged me.  The 10m trot circle exercise?  Yeah we were to do that.  At the canter.  It was hard, I will admit that, only having like two strides to come down to the trot and then pick up the other canter lead before changing directions.  But after a few times I started to get it.  Again it wasn't perfect, but it was a start.  I'd like to think that Bugsy was enjoying himself as much as I was learning new things.  

All in all I'm really excited to show dressage this year.  I mean who wouldn't be excited to show of this fancy thing?

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The Countdown Is On!

One week from today and I will be getting ready to leave for Rolex in the evening! Woohoo! I am so excited for this year. For the first time we will be going down for all four days of competition. No more missing the best dressage rides because we didn't make it down for Thursday. Plus they are also running the Kentucky Cup Test Events. So Thursday night we have tickets to see the Dressage Freestyle test and Friday and Saturday evenings are some Show Jumping test events. So excited to get the opportunity to see riders from these other disciplines. And of course all the fantastic event riders that will be there as well.

In other news, I finally got my new boots. I'm actually pretty pissed that I had to buy new boots. I have really nice Ariats that I have worn maybe 5 times. But I tried to put them on and I was able to get the one on but it was so tight across my calf that it was painful. Couldn't even manage to get the other one on all the way. I have always worn a regular calf boot, but not anymore. So Friday after work I headed out to Luster's and tried on every boot they had. I liked the idea of getting something with a zipper, easier to get on and off, and probably won't be as noticeable if it gets a little tight. I ended up buying a relatively inexpensive pair of Devon-Aire boots: the Hampton Not too bad for the price. I wanted to get them now so I'd have some time to break them in and ride in them for a few weeks before South Farm.

Saturday morning I rode in my new boots for the first time. I had a short jumping lesson with Kaye before the kids rode. Overall it was pretty good, we started over the liverpool (which now has a big blue barrel in the sled) jumped that a few times and then added the swedish oxer. Then finally we ended with a little mini course. Blue barrel with the bending line to the swedish oxer, big left turn to the tarp and then the diagonal line to finish over the blue barrel. Overall we had a good jump school, but my first fence is still crap. I hate it, no matter what I do we always have a crappy first fence. We almost always chip in and take an extra short stride, and I'm usually all over the place. Then once I have that crappy fence I can usually settle in and actually ride the rest of our fences. I just want to be able to do it right from the first one.

Then later in the day after the kids all rode, I tacked up my little dirtball for a ride. Started out pretty well. He was tense when I first got on but we worked through that and he relaxed at the walk. And then started with some nice trot work. I didn't put the draw reins on, just rode in his running martingale. He was actually, going with his head down and mostly on the vertical. Then I asked for the canter and everything went to hell. He would not pick up the canter for me. Then he just turned into an all around jerk. Fussy with his head, not listening to my outside leg at all, dropping his inside shoulder, and just being a jerk. I've been asking Bonnie for months to get on him and school him a bit. However as of yet, she hasn't done so.

After I finished at the barn for the day I had to head home to help Mom empty, clean and refill the spa. We also got the brilliant idea to try and pull down the dead tree in the backyard. Yeah didn't end up working so well. Needed Todd's help to pull it down. And then to finish off the night I met Bonnie and Lee and introduced them to the goodness that is Wooley Bully's. It was a little bit weird being there on a Saturday night. Different crowd, different bartenders and no Victor. But the pizza was still good so I can't complain.

Sunday morning I was at the barn early. Got the ponies all fed and then Bonnie and I headed out to the field to try and decipher the deed to the 5 acres she's selling. We got the property marked as best we could determine. And then took Chloe for a nice little run around the farm. I remember not all that long ago when she hated the quad, now she loves to go for a run with us. Back to the barn to clean a few stalls and then when Tricia showed up to ride I tacked Miss up with her. Apparently though it was not my day to jump Miss. Had a couple of stop (completely my fault) and that's when we decided to call it a day. She's just getting better and I don't want to risk injuring her again because of something I'm doing. I did get some pretty decent flatwork from her though, so the lesson wasn't a total loss. After that we pretty much just finished up with the ponies and headed home.

So one more weekend at home and then we'll be heading down to Kentucky. And then the weekend after that will be the South Farm CT. Show season is gearing up and I can't wait!

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