So Sophie and I just made our Novice debut yesterday at the Penmerryl Horse Trials. Lets look at the time leading up to that though. Ive been wanting to post for awhile but havent had time so we will go over all the changes that have come about here lately. Lets start with dear Leo.
Leo is in training with Josie Howard, who recently started a training business out of one of our neighbor farms. I decided to take some time off of riding to move into the new house and get everything settled and then enjoy the holidays. I didnt want Leo sitting all that time though since I didnt put in as much saddle time with him this year like I had planned. So Leo got a trainer. Of course he punctures his leg and needs stitches shortly before training started so it got pushed back. But now he is in training for a month, at our farm, and has had one week done. He is lazy but smart and is trying to figure out this whole bending thing. Im hoping to get a video of him this week and then one at the end too. So thats the scoop on Leo man.
Sophie. My love. We have been training hard and I was really taking this move up to Novice very serious. Sophie has been doing so well with her jumping. I even decided I would do the bareback high jump competition and practiced 3'3 in the field and some xc jumps bareback! I didnt end up doing the competition though because it was 6 hours after I finished my HT and I didnt feel like waiting around. So Sophie and I have been really practicing whenever I had time, even doing some rides at 9pm! (Thank goodness for ring lights huh!!). I have had a tough time here lately juggling riding, work, and getting the new house ready so I didnt get in as many conditioning rides as I wanted before the show so Sophie got a little tired towards the end of xc. For the show...
Penmerryl Equestrian Center was hosting the show. The course was fabulously placed with enough questions to challenge you but yet everything was extremely inviting. Great first Novice round! I love showing there and will definitely be back!!!
Sophie and I had about a 15 minute warm up before dressage. She warmed up nicely, thank goodness since that was all the time I had, and she gave me one of her best tests ever! She was so soft, fluid, rounding, and had smooth transitions. She started to get behind the vertical a bit for the second half and her right lead was labored (something shes been doing here lately) but still a beautiful test. It wasnt our highest score, 31.7, and oddly enough my highest score ever came from this farm in the Summer. It mustve been a different judge. I REALLY liked this judge though, she was very critical in a proper way and knew the difference between a horse that was carrying itself properly from one that was being held or forced into a frame. I really enjoyed that and had such helpful remarks from her. Our Dressage was good enough to put us in 1st going into the other two phases. I was so ecstatic to see that!!!
Show jumping went well. It was a tougher course with a skinny, a super skinny (seriously only 3' wide!!), a triple bar, a fan, and several gates. The fences seemed like they looked a hole higher than Novice but Sophie was jumping the moon yesterday! She flew over everything even though I didnt give the best rides. It felt like a super awkward course but didnt look too bad. The footing is so deep there compared to what Sophie is used to and I think it really throws us both off. She was getting longer spots than what weve been practicing but she didnt get flat out like in the past and had a clear round.
Xc was the best round weve ever had. She got strong at times but came back pretty well. I didnt get most of the tighter spots I wanted but I realized afterwards that she was doing good xc pace and good spots and I need to adjust more from sj and xc on my expectations. Towards the end of xc I was having to push her a bit and she was getting flat to some jumps but still flying over with ease! I was afraid I was going to be too fast and trotted a good length of track before the ditch (I planned on trotting it since Sophie sometimes stops but I wouldnt have trotted as long) and ended up getting 20 time penalty points. We ended up dropping to 3rd because of that but still it was an extremely successful day. I wanted fluid and confidence building rounds and I got them! Sophie was a blast xc and we were actually challenged in some ways with course lay out and it really made me have to ride more and Sophie sit back and listen. I loved it. Now I know that I need to buy a watch though. Christmas is coming! Online on mycoursewalk it said I shouldve been at 2:21 over fence 11, my mom said I was at 2:15 when I passed in front of her a few strides before fence 11 so I was pretty close. I had been taking the long way to fences so her pace was a little quick but it gave me a good idea of what a Novice pace would be. And then not trot so much hahaha. Overall I'm so proud of both of us and the rides we put in. Sophie is on a very deserving vacation until about February when Ill start getting her ready for shows again. Until then itll just be fun little hacks whenever I have some free time. Shes such a good girl!
A few photos from the show. My mom took videos, which I will upload when my computer is working. Brant Gamma did photography but they havent posted yet (And Im not being very patient checking their site every 30 minutes!). Im hoping to buy a few!!! I sat on my duck jump for a photo, I did it coming out of the water and training and prelim did it going in. I love there mini "rolex" ducks. And then my mom was a gem and walked Sophie out after xc. I jammed my thumb on her neck saturday and turned around and did it again sunday over fence 10 so my hand was KILLING me. (Still is, I dont know why I keep typing because its just throbbing away over here!) Oh, and two of my bareback practice shots hehe.
Leo is in training with Josie Howard, who recently started a training business out of one of our neighbor farms. I decided to take some time off of riding to move into the new house and get everything settled and then enjoy the holidays. I didnt want Leo sitting all that time though since I didnt put in as much saddle time with him this year like I had planned. So Leo got a trainer. Of course he punctures his leg and needs stitches shortly before training started so it got pushed back. But now he is in training for a month, at our farm, and has had one week done. He is lazy but smart and is trying to figure out this whole bending thing. Im hoping to get a video of him this week and then one at the end too. So thats the scoop on Leo man.
Sophie. My love. We have been training hard and I was really taking this move up to Novice very serious. Sophie has been doing so well with her jumping. I even decided I would do the bareback high jump competition and practiced 3'3 in the field and some xc jumps bareback! I didnt end up doing the competition though because it was 6 hours after I finished my HT and I didnt feel like waiting around. So Sophie and I have been really practicing whenever I had time, even doing some rides at 9pm! (Thank goodness for ring lights huh!!). I have had a tough time here lately juggling riding, work, and getting the new house ready so I didnt get in as many conditioning rides as I wanted before the show so Sophie got a little tired towards the end of xc. For the show...
Penmerryl Equestrian Center was hosting the show. The course was fabulously placed with enough questions to challenge you but yet everything was extremely inviting. Great first Novice round! I love showing there and will definitely be back!!!
Sophie and I had about a 15 minute warm up before dressage. She warmed up nicely, thank goodness since that was all the time I had, and she gave me one of her best tests ever! She was so soft, fluid, rounding, and had smooth transitions. She started to get behind the vertical a bit for the second half and her right lead was labored (something shes been doing here lately) but still a beautiful test. It wasnt our highest score, 31.7, and oddly enough my highest score ever came from this farm in the Summer. It mustve been a different judge. I REALLY liked this judge though, she was very critical in a proper way and knew the difference between a horse that was carrying itself properly from one that was being held or forced into a frame. I really enjoyed that and had such helpful remarks from her. Our Dressage was good enough to put us in 1st going into the other two phases. I was so ecstatic to see that!!!
Show jumping went well. It was a tougher course with a skinny, a super skinny (seriously only 3' wide!!), a triple bar, a fan, and several gates. The fences seemed like they looked a hole higher than Novice but Sophie was jumping the moon yesterday! She flew over everything even though I didnt give the best rides. It felt like a super awkward course but didnt look too bad. The footing is so deep there compared to what Sophie is used to and I think it really throws us both off. She was getting longer spots than what weve been practicing but she didnt get flat out like in the past and had a clear round.
Xc was the best round weve ever had. She got strong at times but came back pretty well. I didnt get most of the tighter spots I wanted but I realized afterwards that she was doing good xc pace and good spots and I need to adjust more from sj and xc on my expectations. Towards the end of xc I was having to push her a bit and she was getting flat to some jumps but still flying over with ease! I was afraid I was going to be too fast and trotted a good length of track before the ditch (I planned on trotting it since Sophie sometimes stops but I wouldnt have trotted as long) and ended up getting 20 time penalty points. We ended up dropping to 3rd because of that but still it was an extremely successful day. I wanted fluid and confidence building rounds and I got them! Sophie was a blast xc and we were actually challenged in some ways with course lay out and it really made me have to ride more and Sophie sit back and listen. I loved it. Now I know that I need to buy a watch though. Christmas is coming! Online on mycoursewalk it said I shouldve been at 2:21 over fence 11, my mom said I was at 2:15 when I passed in front of her a few strides before fence 11 so I was pretty close. I had been taking the long way to fences so her pace was a little quick but it gave me a good idea of what a Novice pace would be. And then not trot so much hahaha. Overall I'm so proud of both of us and the rides we put in. Sophie is on a very deserving vacation until about February when Ill start getting her ready for shows again. Until then itll just be fun little hacks whenever I have some free time. Shes such a good girl!
A few photos from the show. My mom took videos, which I will upload when my computer is working. Brant Gamma did photography but they havent posted yet (And Im not being very patient checking their site every 30 minutes!). Im hoping to buy a few!!! I sat on my duck jump for a photo, I did it coming out of the water and training and prelim did it going in. I love there mini "rolex" ducks. And then my mom was a gem and walked Sophie out after xc. I jammed my thumb on her neck saturday and turned around and did it again sunday over fence 10 so my hand was KILLING me. (Still is, I dont know why I keep typing because its just throbbing away over here!) Oh, and two of my bareback practice shots hehe.