Comment

Comment by vickie lawson on December 26, 2010 at 10:50pm

what's up with some members of barnmice and their preoccupation with there being no good dressage riders about anymore?  and the top horses being trained incorrectly?? i find many views in the barnmice sites to  be people linking natural horsemanship type ideas into all forms of riding. is this a north american trend now? or have i misunderstood some discussions? ( not talking about this site in particular, but some of them do comment here also)

Comment by vickie lawson on December 21, 2010 at 9:27pm

and of course, i had texted my husband and told him not to drive over in the rain and video us. i actually said to him, 'we won't be good, in this rain'! so i can't even review our ride...... ahhh , next time hopefully!

Comment by vickie lawson on December 21, 2010 at 9:24pm

thanks for those thoughts e allan. i am getting better at not riding for the show. i used to get so nervous..... but i noticed for this last class- in the torrential rain, that i focused on us, and getting delph in my hand and forward as we went around the arena. so its getting easier. i used to think everyone was watching and critising, but now i can ride at a show and just concentrate on us. i know few people are watching- and last sunday, in the rain- no one was watching me!, and those that do, just watch the test , knowing, as i do, how hard it is to pull it all off beautifully in those few minutes, after hours of practice! what a blast eh!!

Comment by Jan Jollymour on December 21, 2010 at 7:22pm

Congratulations, Vickie!  What a wonderful result for you and your mare! 

Comment by vickie lawson on December 21, 2010 at 2:23pm

oh ya--- the good part--- our mark was enough for 1st and we won a trophy!

Comment by vickie lawson on December 21, 2010 at 2:20pm

thanks for your comments jan. here in nz, most people develop their own horses with the help of an experienced instructor. so i have been taking my young girl to lessons regularly and we are working under supervision.

we went to the show. it was a horrible horrible day-torrential rain- and it's outside! we had a level 2 (novice) test in the morning, and we got 61.8% which was better than the weekend before at a big tornament.

then poor delph waited in the rain till noon to get ready for the fei test. most people didn't come because of the weather.

we had 2 judges, one of nz's most experienced judges, whom we know, and she's a hard marker....

 

the transition didn't go as smoothly as i'd like, but i tried to keep the test flowing- my instructors advice.

all in all we got 63.5%, which i am quite happy with. especially under the terrible weather conditions.

my little mare does not have big flashy movement, but as she is compact, she is nicely supple and so very obedient. she really focuses on the test in the arena and listens and tries her best- so that's where we pick up our marks. she doesn't have a med trot yet, but over this past year, she is getting stronger and improving.  i don't push her too much, just looking for improvement in her drive from behind every week.

now we'll chill a bit, and do some forest riding.

 

thanks for your advice and the weblinks!!

Comment by Jan Jollymour on December 21, 2010 at 9:48am

Hi, Vickie:

 

Here are some links to Scott Hassler's comments about the Young Horse classes:

 

http://www.hasslerdressage.com/archives/dressage-today/dt-01-09.html

 

http://www.hasslerdressage.com/archives/dressage-today/dt-01-08.html

 

http://www.equestrianmag.com/news/scott-hassler-kwpn-na-meeting-2-0...

 

I hope they help!

Comment by Jan Jollymour on December 21, 2010 at 9:40am

Hi, Vickie:

 

There's something more pro-active that you can do to assist with these transitions.  The big thing to remember is that simple changes required collection, which can be hard to produce in young horses, especially without damaging them.

 

In this instance, remember that shoulder-fore is your friend.  Ride it throughout the canter work (in other words, you don't canter at all without it), to keep your youngster straight, balanced, and with some collection, and especially ride it through the transition to walk, balance your horse with shoulder-in the other direction in the walk, and then ask for the next canter transition.  All of that will take a little doing on our part, to accomplish it smoothly and quietly. 

 

Quite frankly, I don't know many 5 year olds who should be trying to do this test, and most of those who are competent within the work are ridden by professionals.  Remember that the FEI tests are set up for very talented young horses, not for all horses.  I don't know into what category your youngster fits, but I can say that most should not be pushed to do these tests, and particularly not with their owners in the tack.  As a coach and trainer I've seen quite a number of lovely and promising youngsters ruined by riders trying too hard to push them to get through the test requirements.  If you can locate them through Dressage Today, read Scott Hassler's articles on preparation for and competition in the FEI Young Horse tests.

 

If you feel secure in taking your youngster to this level, then by all means use the shoulder-fore to help you through the transitions.  Good luck!  Let us know how it goes....we'll be rooting for you!

Comment by vickie lawson on December 17, 2010 at 1:25am

for the 5 yr old fei test you have a counter canter-walk-canter trans. what's the best way to approach this? im thinking light hands, and use back, seat and core. that way she won't throw her head from too strong hands, and will be forward. its' a hard move i think for a 5 yr old. it would be hard enough canter-walk-canter, but then the balance is harder to maintain with a counter canter.....

Comment by vickie lawson on December 14, 2010 at 1:26pm

thanks for your comments! i will keep them in mind. i have had my husband video us at the previous 2 shows, but he couldnt get away for this 3 day show. i have another show this sunday, and we are going to try the fei 5 yr old test, and one of the tests from last weekend. i did hear (via judges) of some odd judging higher up. and my last judge did come to me and say not to dispair over my marks as she just didn't think the horse was in the contact, but that she felt the training was correct and we are going in the right direction.

 

it gets discouraging when one trains and trains and focuses on a show only to get lower marks......

 

but thanks, we'll try and move past it for now.

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