First Horse Trial with Leo
Saturday Leo and I competed at the Fair Hill Starter Horse Trials in the beginner novice horse division. It was better than anything I could have ever hoped for.
We had a great cross country school at Laurel Hill the previous weekend. We ran into a problem at the bank - Leo didn't want to drop off it. I think he still remembered the awkwardness of Round the Bend. We eventually got it, and when we came back to the bank complex again at the end of the school, he didn't have a problem. We also ran into a problem with the ditch again. He jumped the small, shallow one first with no problem. However, when we moved along to the bigger one we had 3 refusals (eek - elimination!). We ended up having to approach the ditch from the opposite direction to get him to jump it. That was a little concerning, but Becca was happy that the typical training conventions to fix the problem seem to work with him.
On Tuesday, Leo's jumping was phenomenal. We were totally in sync and I really felt like I riding him extremely well. Everything felt very fluid and the distances to the fences worked out so easily. We cantered into a 3-stride line and that really highlights Leo's enormous stride. He sees the second fence and just eats up the striding. Adjust-ability at the canter is definitely not there yet.
The temperature dropped and it got breezy and Leo was impossible on the flat for the next 2 days. He was spooking at everything in and out of the ring. He couldn't concentrate at all and they were frustrating rides. Friday before the competition I put him on the long lines and finally got him to stretch at the trot and just relax. This made me feel a little better for the next day.
I didn't know what to expect for dressage. His previous dressage scores were in the high 40s and 50s. I wasn't sure how he would be in the dressage ring or how spooky he would be, so my number one goal was just staying in the ring. Secondly, I just wanted to maintain a forward flow through the test regardless of where his head was and how resistant the transitions would likely be (they leave a lot to be desired). Leo warmed up awesome in the first 10 minutes, the he slowly deteriorated. Over the course of the warm-up he got more nervous and impatient. In the future, I might have to try a less-is-more approach to warm-up.
The test itself went far better than I was expecting. Yes, the transition were awful, but there were some nice moments in each movement. He was always unsteady in the bridle after every transition and with every change of direction, but he would settle into each move eventually. The last 3 movements - canter to trot, 10 meter turn on the center line and halt, he received 7s on. He definitely improved towards the end of the test. The judge wrote on the test that he needed a suppler back and steadier contact. We scored a 41 - I was extremely pleased with that.
Cross country was BIG. It was only beginner novice, but it was far different than beginner novice years ago on Milo. Fences 1-4 seemed to be maximum height and all on a downhill grade. Fence 5 was a ditch, 3 strides to fence 6 a log pile. Fence 7 was a maximum height table 2-strides away from fence 8 - the water. This was a very challenging question which mirrored the novice course. There was a bank towards the end of the course, but it had a log fence option (we ended up taking the option).
Stadium was a nice straight foward course. We got over to stadium with about 10 minutes to warm-up. This wasn't a bad thing, because the waiting around just makes me nervous. There is a long walk to warm-up at Fair Hill, so we canter couple times around the warm-up, took a couple jumps and then trotted into the ring for our round. Leo was great! I couldn't get him straight and in front of my leg to one of the fences and we had a rail down but overall he jumped really well. Becca said I need to ride him more forward though. I try to control the speed too much, when I should use his desire to go forward to my benefit. When I hold too much, he ends up charging the fence.
I was worried about fences 5 through 8 on the cross country course. Becca said I couldn't beebop around over the first 4 fences. I needed to be sure I used those fences to set Leo up for the questions at fence 5 and 7. I had to set him up and make sure he was listening to my leg so that he was in the right frame of mind for the more challenging questions. Then at those fences, I couldn't leave him hanging. I had to ride the same way - telling him what to do the whole time.
It worked! We galloped over the first 4 fences and I made sure to get my leg on him and ride forward to the fence. We cantered down the hill towards the ditch and I gave him a little tap on the shoulder with my crop to let him know to pay attention. I made sure I was sitting in the middle of the saddle, shoulders centered, core strong and he was super bold at the ditch. So bold that he tried to do the 3 strides in 2 and we had a bad jump out. He found his feet, I found the saddle and we went onto the water.
The jump into the water was a non issue and Leo didn't skip a beat landing and cantering into the water itself. The rest of the course was easy - there was no stopping Leo at the fences. The most challenging part was trying to control him speed and keep his off his forehand. He flew over the last fence like a steeplechase horse - I was so impressed with his round. When we crossed the fence I was nearly ready to cry. I am so thankful to have a horse like him - I've been dreading eventing and now I can love it again.
I am so happy and grateful for what I have right now.
We had a great cross country school at Laurel Hill the previous weekend. We ran into a problem at the bank - Leo didn't want to drop off it. I think he still remembered the awkwardness of Round the Bend. We eventually got it, and when we came back to the bank complex again at the end of the school, he didn't have a problem. We also ran into a problem with the ditch again. He jumped the small, shallow one first with no problem. However, when we moved along to the bigger one we had 3 refusals (eek - elimination!). We ended up having to approach the ditch from the opposite direction to get him to jump it. That was a little concerning, but Becca was happy that the typical training conventions to fix the problem seem to work with him.
On Tuesday, Leo's jumping was phenomenal. We were totally in sync and I really felt like I riding him extremely well. Everything felt very fluid and the distances to the fences worked out so easily. We cantered into a 3-stride line and that really highlights Leo's enormous stride. He sees the second fence and just eats up the striding. Adjust-ability at the canter is definitely not there yet.
The temperature dropped and it got breezy and Leo was impossible on the flat for the next 2 days. He was spooking at everything in and out of the ring. He couldn't concentrate at all and they were frustrating rides. Friday before the competition I put him on the long lines and finally got him to stretch at the trot and just relax. This made me feel a little better for the next day.
I didn't know what to expect for dressage. His previous dressage scores were in the high 40s and 50s. I wasn't sure how he would be in the dressage ring or how spooky he would be, so my number one goal was just staying in the ring. Secondly, I just wanted to maintain a forward flow through the test regardless of where his head was and how resistant the transitions would likely be (they leave a lot to be desired). Leo warmed up awesome in the first 10 minutes, the he slowly deteriorated. Over the course of the warm-up he got more nervous and impatient. In the future, I might have to try a less-is-more approach to warm-up.
The test itself went far better than I was expecting. Yes, the transition were awful, but there were some nice moments in each movement. He was always unsteady in the bridle after every transition and with every change of direction, but he would settle into each move eventually. The last 3 movements - canter to trot, 10 meter turn on the center line and halt, he received 7s on. He definitely improved towards the end of the test. The judge wrote on the test that he needed a suppler back and steadier contact. We scored a 41 - I was extremely pleased with that.
Cross country was BIG. It was only beginner novice, but it was far different than beginner novice years ago on Milo. Fences 1-4 seemed to be maximum height and all on a downhill grade. Fence 5 was a ditch, 3 strides to fence 6 a log pile. Fence 7 was a maximum height table 2-strides away from fence 8 - the water. This was a very challenging question which mirrored the novice course. There was a bank towards the end of the course, but it had a log fence option (we ended up taking the option).
Stadium was a nice straight foward course. We got over to stadium with about 10 minutes to warm-up. This wasn't a bad thing, because the waiting around just makes me nervous. There is a long walk to warm-up at Fair Hill, so we canter couple times around the warm-up, took a couple jumps and then trotted into the ring for our round. Leo was great! I couldn't get him straight and in front of my leg to one of the fences and we had a rail down but overall he jumped really well. Becca said I need to ride him more forward though. I try to control the speed too much, when I should use his desire to go forward to my benefit. When I hold too much, he ends up charging the fence.
I was worried about fences 5 through 8 on the cross country course. Becca said I couldn't beebop around over the first 4 fences. I needed to be sure I used those fences to set Leo up for the questions at fence 5 and 7. I had to set him up and make sure he was listening to my leg so that he was in the right frame of mind for the more challenging questions. Then at those fences, I couldn't leave him hanging. I had to ride the same way - telling him what to do the whole time.
It worked! We galloped over the first 4 fences and I made sure to get my leg on him and ride forward to the fence. We cantered down the hill towards the ditch and I gave him a little tap on the shoulder with my crop to let him know to pay attention. I made sure I was sitting in the middle of the saddle, shoulders centered, core strong and he was super bold at the ditch. So bold that he tried to do the 3 strides in 2 and we had a bad jump out. He found his feet, I found the saddle and we went onto the water.
The jump into the water was a non issue and Leo didn't skip a beat landing and cantering into the water itself. The rest of the course was easy - there was no stopping Leo at the fences. The most challenging part was trying to control him speed and keep his off his forehand. He flew over the last fence like a steeplechase horse - I was so impressed with his round. When we crossed the fence I was nearly ready to cry. I am so thankful to have a horse like him - I've been dreading eventing and now I can love it again.
I am so happy and grateful for what I have right now.
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