Middleburg Horse Trials
I'm not sure anymore if Leo and I are moving forwards or backwards or if we're at a complete stand still. I was joking before Middleburg that my expectation was merely to not be eliminated, but in realty nothing less than a clear cross country is ever really acceptable. I know dressage and stadium are a great challenge for me, but Leo is a cross country horse. I always feel like I can depend on that, but alas, now it seems like that is never even a sure thing.
Summary
Middleburg is a really nice event and is a great spectator venue. The cross country course is on a large steeplechase course which can be viewed from atop a hill. It's a lovely galloping course with big fences. Stadium is on grass and uses a lot of terrain. It reminded me of Pleasant Hollow's stadium course.
Leo stopped going into the water again and it was an easy water - the easiest he's had to face since starting his training level career. It was a simple log, landing on dry ground, into the water. That's it. It was a dirty stop and inexcusable - Leo went to take off and put his legs back down. I am so disappointed in him because it was an in-your-face disobedience.
Dressage
Leo was a different horse in dressage warm-up: Relaxed. I don't know why. I wish that was the horse I could have in the ring. The dressage warm up was in a field behind some trees, hidden from the main action. Then you had to walk through the woods to the dressage rings and cross country course on the other side. As soon as we made this walk, Leo turned into a nutcase. Jigging, prancing, spinning. The norm. He came back pretty well for the test again but kept dropping behind the vertical and frantically gnawing at the bit. We scored a 43-something. Scores ranging from 4s to 7s. Judge said he's a "really nice horse" and underlined really. I love it when they throw me a bone despite a poor test. Oh the compassion.
Stadium
I'm riding Leo in another new bit - corkscrew snaffle. This is bit number, I dunno, maybe #8?? He's more forward in this bit, jumps better. I don't have as much control as the elevator, but Leo prefers this.
We had 3 of the first 4 fences down and then I got my act together. Leo was spooky and backed off going into the ring and jumped the first 2 fences poorly. I over-reacted to fence 3 which involved a downhill approach, and we ran past our distance. Jen said Leo's stride was huge coming down to the fence. From fence 3 it was 6 bending, forward strides to a one-stride in-and-out. Leo hesitated into the combination so I tapped him on the shoulder. This distracted him and he had the fence down. Note to self, don't do that in the future. I got my shit together after that. We handled the next in-and-out and related line well and I managed to get a hold of the canter and handle the single fences and terrain better. 12 faults total, but it progressed to a good round half way through.
Cross Country
The cross country course was very galloping. Most of the fences were quite large and substantial which was super nice because you didn't have to take back coming to them. There were 3 bank complexes. The first was a hanging log down a steep hill, back up a steep hill to an up-bank, 3 strides to a log. The second was a down bank 3-strides to a skinny - this was pretty generous because there wasn't much of a bend. The third - at the "Quarry" - was a table, 4-strides to a big down bank. Jen kept talking about how big the bank was (this coming from someone who's competed through intermediate!). I just put it from my mind. All the banks rode really well. Leo was fantastic everywhere - jumping out of stride.
We didn't have great jumps over the 2 fences before the water. Two fences out, Leo ran past his distance (he was heading towards the warm-up) and had a really awkward jump. Then he had to turn away from warm-up and jump a small oxer shared with novice (hate it when they do this because the fence is always too small to back them off). Another awkward jump. Then we had to turn away from warm-up and jump into the water off a short turn.
He should have done it - the question was almost a direct mirror of how our water jump at home is configured right now (and which we schooled just two weeks ago). I rode him forward just like Sally said and he still stopped. He does this at home schooling sometimes when he just decides he doesn't want to jump something he jumps all the time. Sally said it's never about the fence, it's always about the fight. So maybe he was pissed about the 2 previous jumps. Who knows what goes through the mind of a horse that leads to their decisions.
Remember the 3-Hit Rule
Turns out I hit him more than 3 times with my crop after he stopped - which the TD spoke to me about afterwards, but he jumped it the second time. The TD said it clearly wasn't abuse but that I have to adhere to the 3-hit rule in the future so that I don't get carded. Mike finds that rule totally hypocritical since you can use your stick any number of times throughout the course - as both encourage and punishment, you just can't hit more than 3x in a row. He said if that's considered abuse then what is horse racing where the horse is hit the entire way down the home stretch. It's a good question but different organizations have different rules. Just gotta know the rules.
So that is that.
Jen also had an unfortunate stop on Sammy at a galloping fence coming around a turn. She was winning our division too, leading a pack of 25 horse and riders. I think my final place was 21. It was a bummer of a day with perfect fall weather.
Are we moving forwards, going backwards or standing still?
I honestly don't know. I can only train Leo to do what I know and he's the first horse I have ever ridden or trained to Training level, so between the two of us, it's often the blind leading the blind. I wish I had weekly access to Sally, but I don't. I wish I had my own truck and trailer, but I don't. Sally is coming to the farm tomorrow so I'll have to discuss next steps with her. I hate that the season is drawing to a close and we're not having great runs. I know it's part of learning but that doesn't make it less frustrating. I wish I had the personality where I could just shake this stuff off and not care so much but I am who I am.
I was talking with another trainer at the show that works with Sally, Patty Fenwick. The Fenwicks are a big steeplechase family in the Baltimore area and she has a lot experience retraining thoroughbreds. She told me, unlike warmbloods, thoroughbreds need to know they can run away with you. There is something in their psyche that needs this to bring out their best, so biting is really important and over-biting can turn into a big problem. She said she prefers using a rubber pelham when snaffles cease to work because then she can use 2 reins - mainly, just the softer bit. When she needs to remind the horse that she is still there, then she can engage the curb. I hate the idea of learning to ride with 2 reins. I suck enough with just one set, but I'll have all winter to practice if I decide to make the switch...
I can't find a ride to Maryland Horse Trials so the only other competition I can do this fall is Waredaca. Waredaca is always challenging and I will hate to end the season on a bad note so I am going to put everything I have into making that last run count. I had 3 goals for this year: get my dressage score consistently in the 30s (fail); compete in a P/T HT or Prelim combined test (fail); get more experience at Training (pass). Sigh.
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| Middleburg Horse Trials |
Summary
Middleburg is a really nice event and is a great spectator venue. The cross country course is on a large steeplechase course which can be viewed from atop a hill. It's a lovely galloping course with big fences. Stadium is on grass and uses a lot of terrain. It reminded me of Pleasant Hollow's stadium course.
Leo stopped going into the water again and it was an easy water - the easiest he's had to face since starting his training level career. It was a simple log, landing on dry ground, into the water. That's it. It was a dirty stop and inexcusable - Leo went to take off and put his legs back down. I am so disappointed in him because it was an in-your-face disobedience.
Dressage
Leo was a different horse in dressage warm-up: Relaxed. I don't know why. I wish that was the horse I could have in the ring. The dressage warm up was in a field behind some trees, hidden from the main action. Then you had to walk through the woods to the dressage rings and cross country course on the other side. As soon as we made this walk, Leo turned into a nutcase. Jigging, prancing, spinning. The norm. He came back pretty well for the test again but kept dropping behind the vertical and frantically gnawing at the bit. We scored a 43-something. Scores ranging from 4s to 7s. Judge said he's a "really nice horse" and underlined really. I love it when they throw me a bone despite a poor test. Oh the compassion.
Stadium
I'm riding Leo in another new bit - corkscrew snaffle. This is bit number, I dunno, maybe #8?? He's more forward in this bit, jumps better. I don't have as much control as the elevator, but Leo prefers this.
We had 3 of the first 4 fences down and then I got my act together. Leo was spooky and backed off going into the ring and jumped the first 2 fences poorly. I over-reacted to fence 3 which involved a downhill approach, and we ran past our distance. Jen said Leo's stride was huge coming down to the fence. From fence 3 it was 6 bending, forward strides to a one-stride in-and-out. Leo hesitated into the combination so I tapped him on the shoulder. This distracted him and he had the fence down. Note to self, don't do that in the future. I got my shit together after that. We handled the next in-and-out and related line well and I managed to get a hold of the canter and handle the single fences and terrain better. 12 faults total, but it progressed to a good round half way through.
Cross Country
The cross country course was very galloping. Most of the fences were quite large and substantial which was super nice because you didn't have to take back coming to them. There were 3 bank complexes. The first was a hanging log down a steep hill, back up a steep hill to an up-bank, 3 strides to a log. The second was a down bank 3-strides to a skinny - this was pretty generous because there wasn't much of a bend. The third - at the "Quarry" - was a table, 4-strides to a big down bank. Jen kept talking about how big the bank was (this coming from someone who's competed through intermediate!). I just put it from my mind. All the banks rode really well. Leo was fantastic everywhere - jumping out of stride.
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| One of the many large galloping fences |
We didn't have great jumps over the 2 fences before the water. Two fences out, Leo ran past his distance (he was heading towards the warm-up) and had a really awkward jump. Then he had to turn away from warm-up and jump a small oxer shared with novice (hate it when they do this because the fence is always too small to back them off). Another awkward jump. Then we had to turn away from warm-up and jump into the water off a short turn.
He should have done it - the question was almost a direct mirror of how our water jump at home is configured right now (and which we schooled just two weeks ago). I rode him forward just like Sally said and he still stopped. He does this at home schooling sometimes when he just decides he doesn't want to jump something he jumps all the time. Sally said it's never about the fence, it's always about the fight. So maybe he was pissed about the 2 previous jumps. Who knows what goes through the mind of a horse that leads to their decisions.
Remember the 3-Hit Rule
Turns out I hit him more than 3 times with my crop after he stopped - which the TD spoke to me about afterwards, but he jumped it the second time. The TD said it clearly wasn't abuse but that I have to adhere to the 3-hit rule in the future so that I don't get carded. Mike finds that rule totally hypocritical since you can use your stick any number of times throughout the course - as both encourage and punishment, you just can't hit more than 3x in a row. He said if that's considered abuse then what is horse racing where the horse is hit the entire way down the home stretch. It's a good question but different organizations have different rules. Just gotta know the rules.
So that is that.
Jen also had an unfortunate stop on Sammy at a galloping fence coming around a turn. She was winning our division too, leading a pack of 25 horse and riders. I think my final place was 21. It was a bummer of a day with perfect fall weather.
Are we moving forwards, going backwards or standing still?
I honestly don't know. I can only train Leo to do what I know and he's the first horse I have ever ridden or trained to Training level, so between the two of us, it's often the blind leading the blind. I wish I had weekly access to Sally, but I don't. I wish I had my own truck and trailer, but I don't. Sally is coming to the farm tomorrow so I'll have to discuss next steps with her. I hate that the season is drawing to a close and we're not having great runs. I know it's part of learning but that doesn't make it less frustrating. I wish I had the personality where I could just shake this stuff off and not care so much but I am who I am.
I was talking with another trainer at the show that works with Sally, Patty Fenwick. The Fenwicks are a big steeplechase family in the Baltimore area and she has a lot experience retraining thoroughbreds. She told me, unlike warmbloods, thoroughbreds need to know they can run away with you. There is something in their psyche that needs this to bring out their best, so biting is really important and over-biting can turn into a big problem. She said she prefers using a rubber pelham when snaffles cease to work because then she can use 2 reins - mainly, just the softer bit. When she needs to remind the horse that she is still there, then she can engage the curb. I hate the idea of learning to ride with 2 reins. I suck enough with just one set, but I'll have all winter to practice if I decide to make the switch...
I can't find a ride to Maryland Horse Trials so the only other competition I can do this fall is Waredaca. Waredaca is always challenging and I will hate to end the season on a bad note so I am going to put everything I have into making that last run count. I had 3 goals for this year: get my dressage score consistently in the 30s (fail); compete in a P/T HT or Prelim combined test (fail); get more experience at Training (pass). Sigh.
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| Rough round to start... |
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| Got better as we went. |
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| A happy Leo moment - he loves to gallop on! |
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| Over the trakehner |
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