Lesson

I had a really nice lesson outside this morning. Two of our babies, Curly and Orvis were turned out in the paddock next to the outdoor ring, and they were so cute, they watched my whole lesson, occasionally seeing in they could bite Werther as I walked by. Werther is totally recovered from his shots now, he was able to come round right away today. Sarah and I talked about show logistics, we decided that I am going to stay at Intro level for one more show. Sarah and my ride times are very close together for this next show, so Sarah will be able to help me some, but I am going to have to be responsible for the bulk of my warm up. I think it will be a good exercise, a little test of my abilities to see if I can find the right balance between too much and not enough. At the Mason City show after Stillwater I am going to do training level 1 and 2 both days.  I won't qualify for regionals, but it is my first year showing Dressage, so I am not really worried about it. Werther was really good at the trot today, Sarah I decided if he is that good at Stillwater I might have to exaggerate my limp so people don't think I'm riding at too low a level!  I got to do a extended trot on Werther today, it was really exciting. He has the best extensions, he doesn't go any faster at all, he just has a lot more air time with his trot step, Sarah says that elasticity is what puts his trot at a 8 or 9. The canter work also had some significant improvement. Sarah had me think about really sitting down on his butt and making him ball up underneath me. We also worked on getting the canter more forward, but without going faster, just having more energy at that same pace if that makes sense. He didn't swap leads at all today, and we only picked up the wrong lead going to right once. The left is still way better than the right but I was really happy with our progress today. Sarah says it is going to be like when I started to work on framing him up at the trot, which used to be such a challenge for me but now I hardly even have to think about it. We finished out the ride with some stretching circles at the trot which are also getting much better, he is getting really toned in his back muscles and really helps his stretch. Sarah also liked what tying the left stirrup did for my position, so we are going to keep doing it for now. 

Hacking

Werther got his shots and worming on Wednesday. I rode him outside on Thursday and he was really good, though understandably a little stiff. He still started out a little stiff today, but was nice a supple by the time I finished my ride. I spent both days working on forward energy, doing stretching circles at the trot and  working free walk, and lastly the canter. I used a leather spur strap to tie my left stirrup to the girth, which is one of my allowed dispensations with my para classification. It helped me a lot, with my leg more stable I felt like I was able to get easier canter transitions, and it allowed me to sit deeper in the saddle. I'm pretty happy with my canter transitions now but now I am having trouble with the actual canter work. I've gotten to the point in my dressage riding where I am finally at the point where I can start to put Werther in a working frame at the canter. I'm having trouble with Werther swapping leads on me, which has not been a problem with him before. I could not really pin point in yesterday riding outside, but today we had high winds and a storm moving in so I rode in the dressage ring set up in the indoor. I found that he was more prone to swap leads on the right lead to the left, on the straight line after corners M and K. Try as I might, I could not get him around the ring to the right without swapping. I think I am getting him over bent to the outside, but I can't figure out how to fix it on my own, so I am going to ask Sarah tomorrow. Sarah said in my lesson on Tuesday that she is going to start working with Werther on his canter transitions, especially that counter canter, so he has to be really clear which lead we are asking for and hold it, instead of taking matters into his own hands. 

Back to work!

Thanks everyone for the well wishes, I had a great time and I am glad I could share it with all of you. On Monday Mom, Maddy and I went on a family trail ride. We just walked in a circuit around our property and Werther tried his darndest to cram as much food as possible in his mouth with a bit in. Werther had good energy on the trail and I did work on asking him to come on the bit, so I could work on harnessing the energy I need for my tests.  I had a lesson today, and we spent most of the time working at energy at the walk and canter. I have not decided if I am going to change my entries to training level for the Stillwater show in two weeks, Sarah and I are going to decide next week. The canter transitions are getting much better, but still not consistently good enough for the show ring yet. We also worked on getting him really connected and bending at the canter which I had some difficulty with. My left side got really tight, and I kept twisting my body. I worked with the grab strap and that helped, but with the longer rein Werther would cut in and switch his bend, so he would do a flying change. I would say about 20% of the time I had a really nice package and my position was OK. I need to bring that number up. 

Horse Show!

The horse show was awesome! I schooled Werther at home on Thursday, and he was really good. We got the show on Friday afternoon. The Brightonwood ladies had a great setup and were really helpful in getting our stalls organized. My Mom brought her coming three year old with to camp out. It was raining out, and I went to get on, Werther turned as I got on, and I had one foot in the stirrup and I didn't have my balance yet, and I fell off the other side. Werther was really tense when I rode him, but he didn't do anything really bad. Sarah got after I got a chance to go into both of the rings I would be showing in. Sarah did a lot of lateral work, bending, and transitions just getting him to focus on her. Saturday, it was pouring rain  with thunder and lightening, so the TD came by, and they decided to delay the show for one hour. As you can see from my pictures, it was still pouring when I went in for my first class. I was really happy to just have survived the whole thing and I was elated to get a score of 63%! Comments for that test : "Well matched pair - overall a pleasant test. Work on energy in the walk." Sarah and I had decided since I rode a conservative, but accurate test earlier for test B we would really work on pushing Werther forward and getting more activity. He got really tired half way though, and I really had to work to keep up the energy, my hunter training came in handy and I was able to downplay my use of the whip. I got a 67% percent with very similar comments from the first test. I was really happy with the further comments section she said: "A very nice horse and you're doing a good job, especially at the trot. Keep working on the walk energy." For Intro Test A on Sunday, it was my one test in ring three with the same judge from yesterday. I had the same plan as yesterday, to just keep pushing the energy. Sarah said if Werther broke into the canter in any of my tests she would throw me a parade. My test was a 7:36 in the morning, so it was still a little chilly, which was much to my advantage. I was really happy with my test, while I didn't break into the canter, I felt I had better  energy and improved on the day before. This is the test I am probably most proud of. I got a 8 for the turn on center line and halt, with the comment "balanced!" and  for the final turn on center line I also got an 8 and the comment "good turn at A and balanced halt". This is something Sarah and I spent a long time working on. Her further remarks "You and your horse present a harmonious picture. It was a nice test with improvement in the walk, good job." Our total score was a 69.5%. My last test, we had the same game plan, worst case, my best score is a 69.5% which I think just about anybody would be  happy with. I really pushed him in the second intro B class, and almost got a canter step in the corner as I turned to go onto the diagonal. I backed off, after that and was a little frazzled because I thought I was going to get a low score for that movement. My other mistake was in preparing for the free walk across the two diagonals, I started to let my reins out in the corner, before I remembered that I could not do that before I turned off the wall. Werther only took a step or two though, and I was able to repackage him, but I was so distracted by my mistake I didn't push him hard enough in the free walk. What I thought was my worst test turned out to be best score wise. I got an 8 on my second diagonal, and only one 6 on this test for the free walk. I got a  8 on Werther's submission, which made me happy because that score is doubled in FEI para tests. The total was a 70.5%! Even though I didn't have anyone in my division, my score was the best of the day! 

Horse Show Photos Part II

Again, blogger cut off some images, click on the picture to see the whole thing.

Horse Show Photos Part I

Blogger cropped some of the photos click on the image to see the full thing.

All In The Family

Just for fun! I put Werther's pedigree though the All Breed Pedigree Query. He has quite a bit more Thoroughbred in him than I expected, and it is neat to look at his Westphalian breeding on his dam line. 

Wendenfalk