Monty felt pretty flat as soon as we entered the warmup which didn't really bode well. Had to do a lot of sharpening up and didn't really feel like he was taking me forwards which isn't a great feeling when you're about to do the hardest test of your life! Made sure to do lots of sideways and lots of transitions and a bit of medium trot.
First test was M61 - bit of a spook at the boards down near the judge but a nice canter around the arena and then back to trot and down the centre line - super square halt and a good move off for a 7.5. I could feel the tension in his trot though and it was making it flipping difficult to sit to. Was definitely bouncing more than usual and struggling to keep my weight down in my stirrups as he was needing more leg than usual. Still we managed 7's for both shoulder-ins and 7.5 for the two half 10m circles. Medium/extended trots didn't really happen and 6's were generous. Half passes were surprisingly good though and earned 7 for left and 7.5 for right!! Sara Jane has been telling me they are good but have to confess I thought she might just be being nice! Watching the video though he is really crossing over nicely.
Had a bit of a blip in the walk work because the arena next door rang their bell and in the wind I thought it was my bell and I'd gone wrong so I trotted down to the judge and she rang her bell and we had a bit of a discussion mid test about bells! I did manage to convince her of my confusion though and that I knew where I was going and she didn't give me an error of course so that was nice. She didn't seem very impressed with us at this point so I did lose a bit of focus and felt like giving up! I didn't really ask for much in the extended walk so got a 6 but 7 for collected walk, 7 for the walk to canter and also the 10m circle. Only a 5 for his HP which needed more suppleness to bend and also then he was on 3 tracks on the centre line. 7 for his medium canter across the diagonal though and no wanting to change so that was good. 6.5 for his trot to canter right and right canter 10m circle then after starting a nice canter HP right he just suddenly broke to trot and then had a complete hissy fit about going back into canter. It's not unknown for him to have hissy fits but normally in the snaffle he just throws his head up and then settles again. In the double when he chucks his head the curb catches him in the mouth so he had a full on tantrum in the middle of the test which got us a 3 - our first 3 lol! Managed to get him going again and got 6.5 for extended canter across the diagonal and 6.5 for final halt.
7, 6, 6, 7 for collectives. Judge was Joy West who said "Super horse with much to offer. Just needs to create more activity behind at times" We were in the training section so score didn't count but we actually beat the 3 in the Restricted section and finished on 65%. Over the moon with that for a first test. We actually beat the horse who won the Medium Restricted Area Festivals at Wellington this year! Video doesn't look as bad as it felt although is clear I am not sitting as soft as I can and he is tending to drop his poll so need to do more work in the double with him to get him used to it and get him up in front of me. He is easier to flex and keep round in it but no good if he is dropping down on my hands.
Getting ready:
Nice square halt to start with:
Some trot:
Some half pass:
medium canter:
video:
M61
Half hour break then back on for a short warm up - just did a bit of travers, rein back, walk piris, counter canter and simple changes as these are the extras in M75. At this stage hadn't seen sheet for M61 and had felt it hadn't gone great so wasn't sure if had bitten off more than I could chew with M75 being the Championship test but thought might as well give it go! Tried to have him more up and in front of me in the warmup and keep that for the test.
warmup video:
warmup
Got a nice canter round the outside of the arena bar a bit more spooking at the advertising boards by the judges box. All ready to go down the centre line when he has a freak out at something just before A at which point I was committed to entering and entered amidst tempi changes and bunny hopping before screeching to a sideways halt somewhere to the left of X. When I asked him to move he went backwards for 6 strides before finally deciding to go forwards. Again, this would have been a reaction to him getting caught in the mouth with the curb when he chucked his head up to spook. Not a lot I can do about that. When his head comes up it totally changes the position of the bits and it's so sudden I can't loosen the rein immediately. I'm sure he will learn it's not a sensible thing to do! Anyway judge clearly wasn't paying much attention to the circus act or was feeling in a forgiving mood as we got a 5 and the comment "cautious in before X and quarters L in halt, stepped back" - ha ha!
Putting that behind us the rest of the test went really well! He got 6's for his SI and travers as I didn't have quite as much bend as in the first test, we were probably both a bit tired at this point. HP got 7 for right and 6.5 for left though so that is really encouraging. I feel his lateral work has real potential to score good marks. 6.5 for both 10m circles as he was dropping his poll again. 6's for the mediums as he hurried. 6.5 for rein back - nice square halt and obedient but dropped his poll. 7 for extended walk. 6.5 and 5 for walk piris - she said he stuck in the 2nd one although video shows him continuing to step so not sure what she was looking at! Nicely into canter and medium canter although only got 6.5 and 6 for this as she wanted more ground cover in the medium. 6.5 for his HP left, 6 for CC as wanted more uphill then a 7 for his simple change which he did really nicely. Just really have to watch the quarters don't swing. 5.5 for canter HP right as quarters were trailing a bit, doesn't look too bad on video though - definite potential. Lost a bit of balance in the CC this way as was definitely anticipating a change but still managed an ok simple change for a 6. 6.5 for a nice extended canter into counter canter, 6 for extended trot as hurried but he did show some difference. 5.5 for final halt as he took the tiniest step back. 6, 6.5, 6.5, 6 for collectives. Judge was Sue Russell and she said "Obedient horse, some nice transitions but needs to develop a little more lateral suppleness and bend for higher marks" Finished on 62.16% and ended up 6th out of 7 in the Restricted but it was quite close and he's definitely got potential to gain quite a few more marks in that test with a bit more polish. Really pleased with him coping with the wind without too many hysterics and achieving our ambition of points at Medium level, not just one but 5 of them (ok, theoretical points as we were in Training sections but that doesn't make a difference to the marks) Loads for us to work on but definitely no reason not to keep taking him out at Medium level and improving! Definite aim for Advanced Medium next year. Trainer thinks we can do it so we shall go for it!
Nice trot photo:
Video:
M75
M75
No comments:
Post a Comment