Lana and I left Bishop this morning about 9am, and we pulled into OUAH at about 9pm. So a solid 11 hour trip (plus adding one hour for the time change). It was long and fairly boring (the good kind of long trip), but we did have some pretty significant wind in Northern Nevada, Southeastern Oregon, and Idaho. Otherwise the horses rode well and were happy to be back home in their stalls.
Tomorrow I will unpack and get my life re-organized again!! Have to get ready for the next show at Idaho Center in a couple of weeks. :)
Monday, April 29, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
CDI I-1 and Homeward bound!!
Saturday I rode the boys in the CDI Intermediare I. Victor had a very nice test with solid trot work and better uphill balance and jump in the canter. The pirouettes worked pretty well, they have definitely improved in ridability with the help from Christine. I finished with 65.789 and 7th place, although I was really thrilled to score 67.500 from "O" judge Stephen Clarke, who had me right up amongst the top finishers in the scores. I still need more hind leg in the trot, as is always the case with Victor, and better connection through the back. But I was very happy with the test and how it rode.
Majek started out a little more tense in the warm-up and a little defensive on the double. So the connection didn't feel as ridable and he kept wanting to tighten and try to drop the contact. The test felt a little tentative, mostly because I couldn't really ride him the way I want to. That said, it was actually pretty well balanced and mistake-free (with one exception, wrong lead on the canter depart) when I watched it on the video. I was in some ways surprised to score the same as yesterday, and he actually looked much more solid in the contact and the test was much cleaner than in the PSG. He scored 64.474 from the judges and ended up in 9th place.
I was very happy with both Majek and Victor at this show. The cream of the crop in terms of FEI short tour horses was here in Del Mar, and some very good riders. To finish with solid scores and solid rides on two horses I've trained from youngsters was a really great feeling.
That evening we watched the CDI GP freestyles. Jan Ebeling had a fantastic ride on a much-improved Rafalca, who has really matured and grown into herself since Gladstone and London. He won the class with dynamic music and much activity and expression, I think his score was around 76%. Guenter rode his new mount Wylea, who is a super amazing and electric mare. I think once the two of them get in sync they will be a huge asset to the American team. The piaffe/passage tour shows all sorts of talent! An unfortunate expensive mistake in the left pirouette dropped them to 2nd with 73%.
The evening was capped off with Ravel's retirement ceremony. Steffen rode his freestyle one last time, and Ravel looked solid as a rock. He makes the test and difficult movements look so fluid and easy. It is sad to see him retired, but Steffen has a very worthy successor in Legolas.
Today we made the drive from Del Mar to Bishop, CA. The horses are all settled in their stalls at the Tri County Fairgrounds, and we are resting at the hotel. It was a long day, although only a 6-7 hour drive, it was hot through the desert. Temperatures were pretty consistently above 90. Not that I'm complaining! Tomorrow we'll finish the drive to Boise. This trip has been very interesting and fruitful, and I'm amazed at how quickly it has gone by!
Majek started out a little more tense in the warm-up and a little defensive on the double. So the connection didn't feel as ridable and he kept wanting to tighten and try to drop the contact. The test felt a little tentative, mostly because I couldn't really ride him the way I want to. That said, it was actually pretty well balanced and mistake-free (with one exception, wrong lead on the canter depart) when I watched it on the video. I was in some ways surprised to score the same as yesterday, and he actually looked much more solid in the contact and the test was much cleaner than in the PSG. He scored 64.474 from the judges and ended up in 9th place.
I was very happy with both Majek and Victor at this show. The cream of the crop in terms of FEI short tour horses was here in Del Mar, and some very good riders. To finish with solid scores and solid rides on two horses I've trained from youngsters was a really great feeling.
That evening we watched the CDI GP freestyles. Jan Ebeling had a fantastic ride on a much-improved Rafalca, who has really matured and grown into herself since Gladstone and London. He won the class with dynamic music and much activity and expression, I think his score was around 76%. Guenter rode his new mount Wylea, who is a super amazing and electric mare. I think once the two of them get in sync they will be a huge asset to the American team. The piaffe/passage tour shows all sorts of talent! An unfortunate expensive mistake in the left pirouette dropped them to 2nd with 73%.
The evening was capped off with Ravel's retirement ceremony. Steffen rode his freestyle one last time, and Ravel looked solid as a rock. He makes the test and difficult movements look so fluid and easy. It is sad to see him retired, but Steffen has a very worthy successor in Legolas.
Today we made the drive from Del Mar to Bishop, CA. The horses are all settled in their stalls at the Tri County Fairgrounds, and we are resting at the hotel. It was a long day, although only a 6-7 hour drive, it was hot through the desert. Temperatures were pretty consistently above 90. Not that I'm complaining! Tomorrow we'll finish the drive to Boise. This trip has been very interesting and fruitful, and I'm amazed at how quickly it has gone by!
Friday, April 26, 2013
CDI PSG in Del Mar
Really good day today in Del Mar. Both Majek and Victor did the CDI PSG. Majek kicked off the fun as second to go in the (very large) PSG class. He warmed up very well, and has been getting better and better in the connection which has helped him tolerate the double bridle. I got him very up and active by the end of the warm-up, although I (expectedly) lost some of that in the test. I also had a couple small mistakes in an otherwise very nice test (trotted into first halt, small rhythm bobble in first extension, tension before canter depart, pirouettes a bit large, mistake in the 3s). I was happy with the pirouettes, which were definitely more elastic and ridable, and the 4s were fantastic--big, forward, uphill, and dead straight. In general he tolerates contact on the double much better now, so I can ride with much more confidence than before. I remember last year in San Juan Capistrano I rode the tests without touching the reins, because he was sooo defensive! So he is much improved. I plan to do the same warm-up for tomorrow, and see if I can push the engagement a little bit more. I expected to get an ok score, probably 62 or so, with all the mistakes, but was pleasantly surprised to finish with a 64.8 and 9th place overall.
Victor warmed up very, very well, lots more forward and pizazz than he had the schooling day. I really tried to go for it in the test, and I was very happy with how well he went and how well he responded. The trot work was very nice, very expressive, active, and ground covering. I tried to watch his hind legs (which he likes to drag behind him), and keep him quick behind. I did have some issues with the canter, as I didn't really get it uphill and jumping enough so the canter and therefore the changes were a little flat. I did ride the pirouettes much better on Victor than on Majek (much smaller and therefore much more risky). Christine watched it and told Lana that I rode the test very well but that the canter needed to be more uphill and out of the shoulder. I was disappointed with his score of 65.2, I was really hoping to end up with a 67 or so, but it was not to be. We finished 7th overall.
The winner scored 68%, and there were a couple 67s and a 66. Then several 65s. So both my horses were right in there, and I'm super pleased with that.
Bolero warmed up much, much better for his test today than yesterday. He was much more relaxed and ridable, and not trying to leap in the air whenever a horse trotted by him LOL. I was really pleased with how he felt, and happy that I felt like I could ride him instead of being worried about being launched. However, he was scared to death of the show arena and spent my entire test spooking, spinning, and whirling around and every little everything LOL. Someone needs to spend the entire summer going from arena to arena learning to deal with changes in the environment. He scored 62 in second level 2.
I scratched Bolero's test 8am test tomorrow, and willl school him later in the morning. The FEI horses go at almost 2 and 4pm in the Intermediare I. Looking forward to putting in some good rides in the CDI again tomorrow!!
Victor warmed up very, very well, lots more forward and pizazz than he had the schooling day. I really tried to go for it in the test, and I was very happy with how well he went and how well he responded. The trot work was very nice, very expressive, active, and ground covering. I tried to watch his hind legs (which he likes to drag behind him), and keep him quick behind. I did have some issues with the canter, as I didn't really get it uphill and jumping enough so the canter and therefore the changes were a little flat. I did ride the pirouettes much better on Victor than on Majek (much smaller and therefore much more risky). Christine watched it and told Lana that I rode the test very well but that the canter needed to be more uphill and out of the shoulder. I was disappointed with his score of 65.2, I was really hoping to end up with a 67 or so, but it was not to be. We finished 7th overall.
The winner scored 68%, and there were a couple 67s and a 66. Then several 65s. So both my horses were right in there, and I'm super pleased with that.
Bolero warmed up much, much better for his test today than yesterday. He was much more relaxed and ridable, and not trying to leap in the air whenever a horse trotted by him LOL. I was really pleased with how he felt, and happy that I felt like I could ride him instead of being worried about being launched. However, he was scared to death of the show arena and spent my entire test spooking, spinning, and whirling around and every little everything LOL. Someone needs to spend the entire summer going from arena to arena learning to deal with changes in the environment. He scored 62 in second level 2.
I scratched Bolero's test 8am test tomorrow, and willl school him later in the morning. The FEI horses go at almost 2 and 4pm in the Intermediare I. Looking forward to putting in some good rides in the CDI again tomorrow!!
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Exciting day for the boys at Del Mar
Today was the first day of the Del Mar show, although the CDI doesn't start until tomorrow the National show started today. Mom made it down here last night, after she got lost looking for the hotel. LOL
This morning I rode Victor and Majek, so they would get out before the jog in the afternoon. Unfortunately my saddle has been having issues...somehow the head plate cracked (in the pommel under the tree), so I had to get a loaner saddle from Custom Saddlery to ride in today. The Custom Saddlery rep had only seen two other instances of this kind of failure on one of their saddles. That saddle gets a ton of use (I ride probably 5 horses a day in it), so maybe that played a role. The loaner saddle is brand new, but actually very, very nice to ride in! Thank God, since I have to show two horses in it this weekend!
Bolero's first test today was 2nd level test 1. His test was at 2:36pm, then the jog was right afterwards at 3pm (with Majek and Victor 4th and 5th to go in the order). I lunged him briefly first; he was actually pretty settled on the lunge line. The warm-up arena, however, was a different story. The warm-up arena is a fairly large space on the racetrack, but it serves as a warm-up for three separate National show arenas. So it was super busy! Bolero handled it ok, but got more and more tense as he went and then started leaping through the air when another horse got too close to him. He carried that tension through his test and spent much of the canter work leaping, thinking about bucking, doing unscheduled flying changes, etc. In between his tension and antics the test was very nice, and even the judge commented afterwards that when he was good he was *really* good. I was surprised to score 68.8% on the test. Hopefully he will be more settled tomorrow. But that's why he's here...to get more show experience!
Majek and Victor were both pretty wild for the jog. The jog is generally pretty exciting anyway, for some reason the horses all want to jump around. Normally riders dress up for the jog, but since I had just gotten off Bolero, I had to be content to jog in my show clothes. Majek spent most of his time leaping around, so I actually had to re-jog him to show that he can trot. Victor had the opposite problem, he trotted like a million bucks, but tried to jump on top of me when he went by a bunch of flowers. What a couple of goofballs!
Tomorrow starts with the CDI Prix St. Georges, with Majek going at 10:09 and Victor at 11:45. Bolero does another Second level test later in the day at around 5:20. Looking forward to getting going tomorrow!!
This morning I rode Victor and Majek, so they would get out before the jog in the afternoon. Unfortunately my saddle has been having issues...somehow the head plate cracked (in the pommel under the tree), so I had to get a loaner saddle from Custom Saddlery to ride in today. The Custom Saddlery rep had only seen two other instances of this kind of failure on one of their saddles. That saddle gets a ton of use (I ride probably 5 horses a day in it), so maybe that played a role. The loaner saddle is brand new, but actually very, very nice to ride in! Thank God, since I have to show two horses in it this weekend!
Bolero's first test today was 2nd level test 1. His test was at 2:36pm, then the jog was right afterwards at 3pm (with Majek and Victor 4th and 5th to go in the order). I lunged him briefly first; he was actually pretty settled on the lunge line. The warm-up arena, however, was a different story. The warm-up arena is a fairly large space on the racetrack, but it serves as a warm-up for three separate National show arenas. So it was super busy! Bolero handled it ok, but got more and more tense as he went and then started leaping through the air when another horse got too close to him. He carried that tension through his test and spent much of the canter work leaping, thinking about bucking, doing unscheduled flying changes, etc. In between his tension and antics the test was very nice, and even the judge commented afterwards that when he was good he was *really* good. I was surprised to score 68.8% on the test. Hopefully he will be more settled tomorrow. But that's why he's here...to get more show experience!
Majek and Victor were both pretty wild for the jog. The jog is generally pretty exciting anyway, for some reason the horses all want to jump around. Normally riders dress up for the jog, but since I had just gotten off Bolero, I had to be content to jog in my show clothes. Majek spent most of his time leaping around, so I actually had to re-jog him to show that he can trot. Victor had the opposite problem, he trotted like a million bucks, but tried to jump on top of me when he went by a bunch of flowers. What a couple of goofballs!
Tomorrow starts with the CDI Prix St. Georges, with Majek going at 10:09 and Victor at 11:45. Bolero does another Second level test later in the day at around 5:20. Looking forward to getting going tomorrow!!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Move in day at Del Mar National!
Today we took the boys over to the Del Mar Fairgrounds/Racetrack to settle in before the show starts. The weather has cooled off a bit, it was overcast all day and in the low 60s. The nice thing about the weather here is that it never really gets too cold or too hot! The marine influence from the ocean (you can see the ocean from the Fairgrounds) keeps it very temperate. It did feel a little cool, but I'm not complaining as I know Boise is much, much cooler right now (at least at night).
There are tons and tons of stalls here. It is truly amazing to drive down the aisle through the barns towards the horse trailer storage area, literally you go from barn A to barn U in alphabetical order. There are barns on both sides of the aisle. I remember reading that during the fires in San Diego some years ago, they had filled every stall with evacuated horses, which was probably a few thousand. Luckily for us, being located in the CDI barn, we are right next to the CDI warm-up arena and the show arenas. Others have a longer walk.
For some reason, Majek's left hind leg was swollen when we arrived. I hadn't noticed it when I loaded him in the trailer, but he felt fine to ride and the swelling went down after I rode him. He was very settled in the arenas and surprisingly focused and relaxed. They were even putting big black tarps around the judges' stands while I was riding, and he hardly even noticed. Victor was a little more wound up, but that is actually good for him anyways as he can be a little lazy in general. I lunged Bolero for a while, he was pretty wild on the lunge line which was to be expected. He was pretty good to ride, and actually less spooky than he was at Seabreeze Farm.
Unfortunately I found out Monkey has an abscess so he won't be competing this weekend. Bummer!! I was looking forward to seeing him at the show (although not looking forward to having him in my classes LOL).
Tomorrow is the FEI jog for Majek and Victor, and Bolero is supposed to show at 2:36pm. I still don't know when the jog is, but it is normally in the mid to late afternoon. Hopefully it will be after Bolero's ride, which will make my life much easier. We have some prep work in the morning, between riding the boys and then getting them all prettied-up for the jog. Looking forward to tomorrow!!
There are tons and tons of stalls here. It is truly amazing to drive down the aisle through the barns towards the horse trailer storage area, literally you go from barn A to barn U in alphabetical order. There are barns on both sides of the aisle. I remember reading that during the fires in San Diego some years ago, they had filled every stall with evacuated horses, which was probably a few thousand. Luckily for us, being located in the CDI barn, we are right next to the CDI warm-up arena and the show arenas. Others have a longer walk.
For some reason, Majek's left hind leg was swollen when we arrived. I hadn't noticed it when I loaded him in the trailer, but he felt fine to ride and the swelling went down after I rode him. He was very settled in the arenas and surprisingly focused and relaxed. They were even putting big black tarps around the judges' stands while I was riding, and he hardly even noticed. Victor was a little more wound up, but that is actually good for him anyways as he can be a little lazy in general. I lunged Bolero for a while, he was pretty wild on the lunge line which was to be expected. He was pretty good to ride, and actually less spooky than he was at Seabreeze Farm.
Unfortunately I found out Monkey has an abscess so he won't be competing this weekend. Bummer!! I was looking forward to seeing him at the show (although not looking forward to having him in my classes LOL).
Tomorrow is the FEI jog for Majek and Victor, and Bolero is supposed to show at 2:36pm. I still don't know when the jog is, but it is normally in the mid to late afternoon. Hopefully it will be after Bolero's ride, which will make my life much easier. We have some prep work in the morning, between riding the boys and then getting them all prettied-up for the jog. Looking forward to tomorrow!!
Monday, April 22, 2013
Back to work in San Diego
I suppose I can't have too many nice rest days down here in the sun, so today we were back to work! I made a few final arrangements for this weekend (ordering shavings, securing my overnight accomodations for my return trip, etc) and rode the boys. Bolero is getting better, his spookiness is diminishing each day and his overall balance is improving as well.
Christine came out to Seabreeze Farm today to give lessons to both myself and Shaun McLaughlin (a Washington-based trainer who also made the trip down here for the Del Mar National). Majek and Victor were both very good, we worked on a few finishing touches for this coming weekend. I ran through the PSG on both horses, and got some good tips on riding the pirouettes better and presenting the horses better (specifically on the short sides of the arena, where the judges evaluate the horse's overall frame and quality of gait). Sometimes I will have rhythm bobbles in the extended trot with Majek, and she told me to make sure I kept a good soft contact with both my legs to the horse's hindlegs and keep my seat and hands supporting. That helped me maintain a steadier rhythm in the trot extensions. For Victor I need to activate his hind legs a little more after the trot extensions so he doesn't look so strung out on the short side of the arena.
We happened by a bookstore this morning and I picked up a book my Malcolm Gladwell. I have read Outliers and Blink, and now am reading through a collection of his essays. I highly recommend Outliers. It is an engaging and well-written book about successful and high-achieving people and what makes them successful.
Christine came out to Seabreeze Farm today to give lessons to both myself and Shaun McLaughlin (a Washington-based trainer who also made the trip down here for the Del Mar National). Majek and Victor were both very good, we worked on a few finishing touches for this coming weekend. I ran through the PSG on both horses, and got some good tips on riding the pirouettes better and presenting the horses better (specifically on the short sides of the arena, where the judges evaluate the horse's overall frame and quality of gait). Sometimes I will have rhythm bobbles in the extended trot with Majek, and she told me to make sure I kept a good soft contact with both my legs to the horse's hindlegs and keep my seat and hands supporting. That helped me maintain a steadier rhythm in the trot extensions. For Victor I need to activate his hind legs a little more after the trot extensions so he doesn't look so strung out on the short side of the arena.
We happened by a bookstore this morning and I picked up a book my Malcolm Gladwell. I have read Outliers and Blink, and now am reading through a collection of his essays. I highly recommend Outliers. It is an engaging and well-written book about successful and high-achieving people and what makes them successful.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Visit to Balboa Park
Today was another rest day for everyone, the boys all got handwalked and another day to relax and get geared up for the coming week. They are definitely more rested than they were yesterday; I think the two days off have been very good for them. I'm sure they'll be very happy to get back to work tomorrow!
Lana and I spent the afternoon in San Diego at Balboa Park, a huge (1,500 acre) park that includes the San Diego Zoo and multiple museums and other attractions. There was some sort of Earth Day celebration going on today, so there were just a ton of vendors and people in the park. The sheer numbers of people were a little overwhelming. We visited the San Diego Museum of Art, which had a few nice pieces, and the Natural History museum. I had hoped to see some dinosaur fossils, but had to be content with a sabre tooth tiger fossil from the La Brea tar pits, which was a neat alternative. Afterwards we wandered through the Rose Garden and also saw a ton of cacti and succulents in the nearby gardens. I've always wanted to try growing succulents, but I worry that I will kill them!
Ride times are finally up for the show on Foxvillage.com. The CDI short tour (PSG/I-1) is relatively large, with probably 15 horses entered. I won't know the CDI times until the draw (which typically happens the night before the class). However I will be competing against my old friend Monkey (aka Escorial), whom David has entered in the CDI short tour. It will be good to see Monk again, although I'm not too enthusiastic to have to compete against him!!
Tomorrow the boys will go back to work again, and I have another couple of lessons with Christine in the afternoon. Then Tuesday will likely be a day of schooling at home (unless I try to squeeze in another couple of lessons from Christine, depending on her schedule). Wednesday morning we will trailer the boys over to the Fairgrounds, and the show starts on Thursday for Bolero and Friday for Majek and Victor.
Lana and I spent the afternoon in San Diego at Balboa Park, a huge (1,500 acre) park that includes the San Diego Zoo and multiple museums and other attractions. There was some sort of Earth Day celebration going on today, so there were just a ton of vendors and people in the park. The sheer numbers of people were a little overwhelming. We visited the San Diego Museum of Art, which had a few nice pieces, and the Natural History museum. I had hoped to see some dinosaur fossils, but had to be content with a sabre tooth tiger fossil from the La Brea tar pits, which was a neat alternative. Afterwards we wandered through the Rose Garden and also saw a ton of cacti and succulents in the nearby gardens. I've always wanted to try growing succulents, but I worry that I will kill them!
Ride times are finally up for the show on Foxvillage.com. The CDI short tour (PSG/I-1) is relatively large, with probably 15 horses entered. I won't know the CDI times until the draw (which typically happens the night before the class). However I will be competing against my old friend Monkey (aka Escorial), whom David has entered in the CDI short tour. It will be good to see Monk again, although I'm not too enthusiastic to have to compete against him!!
Tomorrow the boys will go back to work again, and I have another couple of lessons with Christine in the afternoon. Then Tuesday will likely be a day of schooling at home (unless I try to squeeze in another couple of lessons from Christine, depending on her schedule). Wednesday morning we will trailer the boys over to the Fairgrounds, and the show starts on Thursday for Bolero and Friday for Majek and Victor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
