Starter Horse Trials at the Horse Park of New Jersey
Leo and I just completed the beginner novice division at the Horse Park of New Jersey. It was run by a local pony club and everything was extremely straight forward. The cross country course bordered on easy - many of the fences were shared with the level below. After coming off a really big course at Fair Hill, I was initially disappointed but then realized I could spend the time working on our communication and pace between the jumps. Any additional experience riding a full cross country course is good for us.
Leo was charged up in dressage. The weather is getting cooler now; I'm not sure if that had something to do with it. The Horse Park is also a big competition venue - even when the stakes are small. The speakers are loud; the rings are big and formal; and there are typically plenty of spectators at any given ring. The atmosphere can definitely be exciting for the horses.
After talking with Becca, I decided that I wasn't going to take any walk breaks during dressage warm-up. Leo falls apart after any break, so Becca said "Don't walk." She had to do the same thing with Dollar when she competed him. It took a good 20 minutes of trotting and cantering before Leo was even close to going to work. I had a few moments when I could get him to stretch through his topline (this is all we're really working on at home right now), and the fact that we made any progress at all, given how excited he was, was encouraging.
His test was the same as the last time really - tense, the canter was better bu the trot test was more tense. His score was a 48 - yikes! Higher than I ever gotten before. It's disappointing but that's all he's capable of right now. I know in a year things will be different.
Stadium was easy, but I screwed up anyways! Warm-up was fine; though Leo was strong. The speakers were loud at the ring; there were more people; a lot to look at. Leo couldn't stand still waiting for his turn. There is a long pavilion going down one side of the ring and it never even crossed my mind that Leo would find this unusual. The course went like this: single fence on the diagonal, outside line, inside line, outside line (5 strides to a short 2 stride) to single fence on the short side of the ring, final single fence on the diagonal.
Leo was excited to be jumping; first 3 fences were good; I got a too tight spot to the last fence on the inside line and I think I had it down; he was good through the related distances in the outside line, but he refused the fence on the short side of the ring. I'm not sure what happened. My eyes were down so that's the first problem. He had to jump in going towards the pavilion (something I didn't appreciate until Becca pointed it out after the fact). Becca also said he did a flying change in the turn and more likely than not just wasn't prepared for it. Refusals are always a disappointment!
Cross country was a different story. Leo was brilliant again. Fence 3 was a small log into the woods and there were some driving obstacles in his line of sight. I was impressed with myself because I was ready for him to be a little confused. I rode him confidently and he was fine. Leo is so much fun to ride when he's in a gallop - besides the fact that he has a habit of dragging me around! I practiced bridging my reins (resting my reins in his neck and controlling his speed without constantly pulling on his mouth. I tried to remember I need to alternate my half-halts between both reins. Too often I get into a pulling match on one rein and he just locks his neck.
Fences 5 & 6 were 2 brush fences and Leo breezed over them. After fence 6 there was a roller coaster downhill and uphill bit of terrain and Leo picked up some serious speed. I was whoaing him all the way to fence 7 at the top of the hill (a simple log not big enough to slow him down). We flew over it and the terrain went downhill towards a coop; again I was pulling and whoaing the whole way there. He responded about 2 strides out and I was able to let go of him. He had no issue with the water and galloped around the rest of the course no problem. He was awesome!
I would still like to get to a point where I was fussing with his mouth less, but a lot of that is just learning to ride a forward horse more efficiently and effectively. I have no experience with a forward horse so I'm learning as I go!
I don't have any other competitions scheduled until the end of October, so back to working on dressage!
Leo was charged up in dressage. The weather is getting cooler now; I'm not sure if that had something to do with it. The Horse Park is also a big competition venue - even when the stakes are small. The speakers are loud; the rings are big and formal; and there are typically plenty of spectators at any given ring. The atmosphere can definitely be exciting for the horses.
After talking with Becca, I decided that I wasn't going to take any walk breaks during dressage warm-up. Leo falls apart after any break, so Becca said "Don't walk." She had to do the same thing with Dollar when she competed him. It took a good 20 minutes of trotting and cantering before Leo was even close to going to work. I had a few moments when I could get him to stretch through his topline (this is all we're really working on at home right now), and the fact that we made any progress at all, given how excited he was, was encouraging.
His test was the same as the last time really - tense, the canter was better bu the trot test was more tense. His score was a 48 - yikes! Higher than I ever gotten before. It's disappointing but that's all he's capable of right now. I know in a year things will be different.
Stadium was easy, but I screwed up anyways! Warm-up was fine; though Leo was strong. The speakers were loud at the ring; there were more people; a lot to look at. Leo couldn't stand still waiting for his turn. There is a long pavilion going down one side of the ring and it never even crossed my mind that Leo would find this unusual. The course went like this: single fence on the diagonal, outside line, inside line, outside line (5 strides to a short 2 stride) to single fence on the short side of the ring, final single fence on the diagonal.
Leo was excited to be jumping; first 3 fences were good; I got a too tight spot to the last fence on the inside line and I think I had it down; he was good through the related distances in the outside line, but he refused the fence on the short side of the ring. I'm not sure what happened. My eyes were down so that's the first problem. He had to jump in going towards the pavilion (something I didn't appreciate until Becca pointed it out after the fact). Becca also said he did a flying change in the turn and more likely than not just wasn't prepared for it. Refusals are always a disappointment!
Cross country was a different story. Leo was brilliant again. Fence 3 was a small log into the woods and there were some driving obstacles in his line of sight. I was impressed with myself because I was ready for him to be a little confused. I rode him confidently and he was fine. Leo is so much fun to ride when he's in a gallop - besides the fact that he has a habit of dragging me around! I practiced bridging my reins (resting my reins in his neck and controlling his speed without constantly pulling on his mouth. I tried to remember I need to alternate my half-halts between both reins. Too often I get into a pulling match on one rein and he just locks his neck.
Fences 5 & 6 were 2 brush fences and Leo breezed over them. After fence 6 there was a roller coaster downhill and uphill bit of terrain and Leo picked up some serious speed. I was whoaing him all the way to fence 7 at the top of the hill (a simple log not big enough to slow him down). We flew over it and the terrain went downhill towards a coop; again I was pulling and whoaing the whole way there. He responded about 2 strides out and I was able to let go of him. He had no issue with the water and galloped around the rest of the course no problem. He was awesome!
I would still like to get to a point where I was fussing with his mouth less, but a lot of that is just learning to ride a forward horse more efficiently and effectively. I have no experience with a forward horse so I'm learning as I go!
I don't have any other competitions scheduled until the end of October, so back to working on dressage!
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