Finishing up at Plantation Field Starter Horse Trial
On November 3, Leo and I ran the training division at Plantation Fields. Plantation is always somewhat intimidating because of the terrain and it's got some big fences with ditches. I was super happy to discover to the infamous weldon's wall was not on this particular training course!
The height of the training stadium and xc courses was much softer than Maryland. At Maryland, the stadium course was maximum size, complete with a liverpool, swedish oxer, skinny, 2 combinations and a triple bar. Plantation was closer to novice height but had a triple combination. The xc course incorporated more terrain than any other training course we've run so far. There were a number of skinny faced fences and several fences with a drop or downhill landing. There was a half coffin, a bank to table turning combination, the sunken road and a table jump directly into the water. The questions themselves were challenging for me, so I was happy the height of the course wasn't maxed out!
I explained that stadium has always been my nemesis because everything happens so fast; my brain turns to mush. In response she said that's why it was important that when I jump, I put a lot of fences together back-to-back so I learn to think faster in the moment and get comfortable with the crap that happens between the fences. For example, she said when I jump the triple combination by itself, I nail it. But when it comes up in between other jumping questions, I get flustered because I am dealing with the balance and rhythm changes caused by earlier fences in the course - which make the combinations more difficult. Something to keep in mind when I am training.
Back to the competition...Leo had a quick warm-up and then it was our turn in the ring. We then proceeded to throw down the BEST STADIUM ROUND OF OUR LIVES!!! We were in sync, the rhythm was perfect, the distances worked out everywhere and the we hit the perfect distance to the triple and jumped through it like a simple gymnastic. I was so pleased!!
The first 3 fences were on the side of the hill so Leo was galloping across the grade. I underestimate how much this would encourage him to bulge his right shoulder up the hill. He was pretty squirrelly at the first 3 fences just because I had a hard time keeping our line. We had a messy jump over fence 4 and almost missed our turn to fence 5 (damn those left turns!). Fence 6 was an angled fence followed by another left turn (almost ran past this one too!). But by this time in the course, Leo and I had found a groove and we're more in sync with each other. He galloped around the rest of the course without issue. The coffin was a substantial ditch, 2 strides to a skinny table. We lost our line here and Leo was bulging right but I closed my right rein, open left and he correct himself! Love those moments!
We finished our day on our dressage score of 35.9. What a great way to end the year! I feel great about Leo and I, we feel like solid training partners now and how exciting is that - to finally be a training level event rider after all these years - hah!
The height of the training stadium and xc courses was much softer than Maryland. At Maryland, the stadium course was maximum size, complete with a liverpool, swedish oxer, skinny, 2 combinations and a triple bar. Plantation was closer to novice height but had a triple combination. The xc course incorporated more terrain than any other training course we've run so far. There were a number of skinny faced fences and several fences with a drop or downhill landing. There was a half coffin, a bank to table turning combination, the sunken road and a table jump directly into the water. The questions themselves were challenging for me, so I was happy the height of the course wasn't maxed out!
Dressage
Leo, Courtney and I have been practicing hard core on dressage the past 2 weeks. We've changed the way I ride Leo: less rein contact and more leg. I pretty much set one hand on each side of his withers and let Leo find his own balance and contact. It involves a lot of going around the ring with Leo's head in the area to start. It's been a struggle for me, but Leo has responded really well to the new approach. I thought our dressage test was shit to be honest. Leo was spooking down one side of the ring which was by a wall of bushes and felt really inattentive. Afterwards the judge said I was too handsy (guilty as charged - when Leo puts his head up in the test the first thing I do is go to my hand instead of my leg) and that Leo was still really green at this level. I was shock to find out that we scored a 35.9!!! The best dressage score we've ever had together!Stadium
Friday before the competition, I had a jump lesson with Sally. I had not jumped since Maryland HT which I knew was wrong, but we got on with it. Leo was charging and refusing fences to start (not a good feeling) but Sally was unconcerned. She said it's natural for horses to get silly when they have so much time off between jump schools. Leo settled in and we had many very nice fences. As usual, Sally had us practice lots of course work, hard turns, angled fences and combinations. As she always says, she wants her students to get to a competition and think the course is easy compared to what they are practicing at home.I explained that stadium has always been my nemesis because everything happens so fast; my brain turns to mush. In response she said that's why it was important that when I jump, I put a lot of fences together back-to-back so I learn to think faster in the moment and get comfortable with the crap that happens between the fences. For example, she said when I jump the triple combination by itself, I nail it. But when it comes up in between other jumping questions, I get flustered because I am dealing with the balance and rhythm changes caused by earlier fences in the course - which make the combinations more difficult. Something to keep in mind when I am training.
Back to the competition...Leo had a quick warm-up and then it was our turn in the ring. We then proceeded to throw down the BEST STADIUM ROUND OF OUR LIVES!!! We were in sync, the rhythm was perfect, the distances worked out everywhere and the we hit the perfect distance to the triple and jumped through it like a simple gymnastic. I was so pleased!!
Cross Country
Moving on to xc, Courtney had me jump the warm-up fence at an angle both to the left and right. Then we waited for our turn.The first 3 fences were on the side of the hill so Leo was galloping across the grade. I underestimate how much this would encourage him to bulge his right shoulder up the hill. He was pretty squirrelly at the first 3 fences just because I had a hard time keeping our line. We had a messy jump over fence 4 and almost missed our turn to fence 5 (damn those left turns!). Fence 6 was an angled fence followed by another left turn (almost ran past this one too!). But by this time in the course, Leo and I had found a groove and we're more in sync with each other. He galloped around the rest of the course without issue. The coffin was a substantial ditch, 2 strides to a skinny table. We lost our line here and Leo was bulging right but I closed my right rein, open left and he correct himself! Love those moments!
We finished our day on our dressage score of 35.9. What a great way to end the year! I feel great about Leo and I, we feel like solid training partners now and how exciting is that - to finally be a training level event rider after all these years - hah!
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