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The past week has been a very trying one with Hannah... it started last Saturday on her British Dressage debut!
We got to Myerscough and she had travelled very well. So I tacked up, jumped on and warmed her up for N38 in the outdoor. The warm up arena was really quite busy and there were some ponies running up and down in the field next to the area which seemed to wind her up and made it difficult to get her soft through her topline. By the end, she was working quite well but we had to walk past the horse walker to get to the arena where the test was being held and she had a complete freak out and would not go past it. When we finally did her in the arena she was inattentive, jumpy and only achieved 57.9% which I was disappointed with.
I then warmed her up for the Elementary and she warmed up beautifully. However, as we trotted up the centre line and halted, she slipped her tongue over the bit and did the whole test in this manner. Hence she came out with 50%.
All week she has been fighting me constantly, putting her tongue over the bit, running off etc etc. I tried quite a few combinations and on Wednesday I tried the Myler comfort snaffle with a drop. Hannah has a very fleshy mouth, and the drop squashed it all in and rubbed her mouth quite badly. So she had Thursday off work, and on Friday evening I rode her in just the Sprenger (put up one hole) and the cavesson which seemed to work!
This morning it was quite snowy and icy, but the competition at Adlington in Cheshire was still on so an unplaited (and unbrushed) Hannah and I set off, albeit a little apprehensive! But the weather improved nearer to the venue, although was still icy, so I am glad we made the effort. The venue is lovely and chilled, it has a nice atmosphere and does fantastic sausage sandwiches too!!!
Due to the weather making our journey that little bit longer, by the time I was on Han we only had 15 minutes to warm up for N25. Immediately she had her ‘work head’ on and was very settled in her mouth. The test felt lovely, but her medium work still needs work and this was reflected in the marks. She came out with 66% which I was very pleased with and we then had a two hour wait for the next class.
The second test was N28 which is a new test and one I have not ridden through yet. I got on Hannah over 30 minutes before my time, and overcooked her a little. This resulted in her feeling a bit tired and flat in the test, which was again reflected in our mark of 61.67%. However, she travelled superbly, worked really well and we now have lots to work on!
We got to Myerscough and she had travelled very well. So I tacked up, jumped on and warmed her up for N38 in the outdoor. The warm up arena was really quite busy and there were some ponies running up and down in the field next to the area which seemed to wind her up and made it difficult to get her soft through her topline. By the end, she was working quite well but we had to walk past the horse walker to get to the arena where the test was being held and she had a complete freak out and would not go past it. When we finally did her in the arena she was inattentive, jumpy and only achieved 57.9% which I was disappointed with.
I then warmed her up for the Elementary and she warmed up beautifully. However, as we trotted up the centre line and halted, she slipped her tongue over the bit and did the whole test in this manner. Hence she came out with 50%.
All week she has been fighting me constantly, putting her tongue over the bit, running off etc etc. I tried quite a few combinations and on Wednesday I tried the Myler comfort snaffle with a drop. Hannah has a very fleshy mouth, and the drop squashed it all in and rubbed her mouth quite badly. So she had Thursday off work, and on Friday evening I rode her in just the Sprenger (put up one hole) and the cavesson which seemed to work!
This morning it was quite snowy and icy, but the competition at Adlington in Cheshire was still on so an unplaited (and unbrushed) Hannah and I set off, albeit a little apprehensive! But the weather improved nearer to the venue, although was still icy, so I am glad we made the effort. The venue is lovely and chilled, it has a nice atmosphere and does fantastic sausage sandwiches too!!!
Due to the weather making our journey that little bit longer, by the time I was on Han we only had 15 minutes to warm up for N25. Immediately she had her ‘work head’ on and was very settled in her mouth. The test felt lovely, but her medium work still needs work and this was reflected in the marks. She came out with 66% which I was very pleased with and we then had a two hour wait for the next class.
The second test was N28 which is a new test and one I have not ridden through yet. I got on Hannah over 30 minutes before my time, and overcooked her a little. This resulted in her feeling a bit tired and flat in the test, which was again reflected in our mark of 61.67%. However, she travelled superbly, worked really well and we now have lots to work on!
