Positioning

So Saturday I took a lesson with Kelly. She worked with me on my position. All the huntery stuff crept back in.

It was a great lesson. It really reminded me of what I needed to work on and how hard it is to get rid of the hunter stuff ingrained in my head. I think also when I get stressed out at shows my muscles just cramp up and give me more issues.



It was overall a great lesson. Position is key! :D If I lean she leans. I just need to improve my heels. :) Use to not be an issue so much.

Williamsburg SVDA Part II

So my times were late during the day. So my friend and I woke up early to feed and clean our stall out. We groomed and pampered the pony.

I get a little nervous on the day of the show. So my friend was trying to keep me from going spastic. A lot of nerve wracking minutes between waking up and getting ready.

My friend Martha Mitchell brought her mare, Waps Serenade and Katie Bott showed her. They had a good ride in Training Level 4. She's such a nice mare.

So after watching them ride I still had an hour and half to wait around. Finally we got the pony ready to warm up.

She was a fire breathing dragon. She really wanted to go out and attack. So we worked in the quiet grass arena. And finally she started to settle and get back into work.

My hunter position really reared its ugly head. I had been doing so well. But I think btw stress, my lower back hurting, and craziness I went into hunter mode.

First test was a little blah. We scored 57.857% in Training Level Test 2. She wasn't really listening to me and she was really hollow backed. She also really wanted to go into the canter.
Submission is her big points. The opinionated Appy does not see a point in submission. So we got to work on that.

Training Level Test 1, was better. We scored 60.87% and tied for second. She did better in this class. For whatever reason she didn't want to listen to me from trot-walk and she ran through my aids. I was like what the? Silly horse. Whatever let's keep it going.

Really enjoyed the venue and the show. It was a good intro show.
Williamsburg Pictures and Video

SVDA Dressage Show Part 1

So the plan was to leave the barn at 10am, pick up my friend and be on our way to Williamsburg and arrive around 12.

Well so much for plans.

After trailer issues (fixed by dad), forgotten saddle pad, and ton of traffic, we didn't make it to the showgrounds until 4:30pm.
I had plan like we were going to a normal showgrounds. So I packed bedding, buckets, etc.
Well the place they have is a farm. They had huge stalls with automatic waterers, bedding, and feed buckets already in the stall. She's never had an automatic waterer, so she didn't really pay any attention to it, so I had to bust out my water buckets. Which I didn't mind anyways, the waterer was rusty. Who's bright idea to use steel for a water bucket wasn't thinking about the rust factor.

After walking her around and letting her stretch her legs. After making sure she was fed and happy, We needed to go feed ourselves.

We checked in and decided to go to Olive Garden. I didn't really realize but it was like a nice little walk away. I got a glass of wine and chicken parm. I figure I never can finish all of my dinner so I had lunch for tomorrow. After eating I went back to the barn to ride.

The two days off made her turn into marezilla. She really was saying I don't like you and I don't like your opinions on me rounding and I don't want to listen!

-great-

So we pretty much worked until it was way too dark.

I have to say Hampton Inn & Suites has this dream bed experience and they're right. The beds were fabulous. Best night of sleep I had all week. I think my bed is a touch too soft.

It'll all be fun tomorrow.

Anxiety

I haven't been to an overnight show in a while. It's amazing at how much planning is envolved in horse showing. I have forgotten. My main issue is that I have like 3 areas where I keep my stuff and I haven't been gotten my system down straight yet. I really want this thing:

Burlington Tack Trunk
http://www.smartpakequine.com/ProductClass.aspx?productclassid=5564&cm_vc=Search
The english version is like $600 western $700. Since my trailer doesn't have a tack trunk, this may be a good option. But then if may be easier to get a regular tack trunk, so I can load it in my truck bed. Regular tack trunk is long as oppose to long and tall.

There's always something I can't find when I show. Right now it's my stock tie. I have no idea where it ran off too.

I need to clean my tack, boots, prep the trailer, and organize a bit. Part of tomorrow's paycheck will be going to Dover. :)

Last night's ride was wonderful. I have 2 lesson students to teach tonight which for her is just a very light hack. She just jogs as slow as she can and a lot of walking. Friday she'll have a day off and then Saturday we'll work and Sunday game time!

Willy and Moose help navigate the truck.

So Saturday it was time for a lesson. We headed down to Patrick's place. Traffic on Saturdays is awful, but we troop onwards. We get there with 30 minutes to spare and I get her tack and ready to go.

She looks like she's pretty much dead. I think usually around 2pm, she's taking a nap so she's a wee bit tired.

We rode in the indoor since she was a bit spooky last time we'll deal with it again. Of course this time, didn't look at anything. Patrick asks me what I'm going to show in next weekend and I tell him. He asked me if there is anything I really want to work out. I told him one of the judges told me she needs more elasticity.

So we start.

But I stop him, because he's explaining something I really had no clue about. So we stopped and he explain to me what elasticity meant. His wife was riding so I got to see an example of a horse that was elastic.

It seemed pretty easy to understand, but to get her to do it. Not so much. We started working on trying to get her softer and rounder on the bit. Of course being a mare it's a long discussion.


Patrick really made me understand that sometimes you need to ride the individual. What works for one horse may not work for another. We also had to make her feel uncomfortable in the bit, and when she gave to the bit and became rounder, she would be more comfortable. All it was was about bit positioning.

She fights and fights and fights, but when she get round, she wants to go slow. So it's just a slow process of when teaching her it's okay to move out when she gets round.

Patience. *x*

She's a good girl. One thing I can totally notice improving is her canter. I think her canter is her highlight and it's easier for her. So now she really wants to break into the canter when things get tough.

In today's ride, she didn't want to halt. So we'll have to work on that.

And yes I happen to be riding on the wrong diagonal in both pics. Slaps myself. I usually don't have that issue, but I think I was trying to work so hard at what Patrick was saying I totally forgot my diagonals. :P No excuse, but eh.

Meet Willy

She's not to sure of this strange pink thing.

So like my previous post stated I went to a nerdfest over the weekend.
I saw this blue squid thing and I wanted it. When I got back to the stand it was gone. His pink brother was there. But I pondered. After sharking for another day I bought him. He was at the booth Panduhmonium. I'm not sure if that's the artist who actually made him. Sometimes artists split tables and I didn't spot him on the website.

Meet Willy.


Why did I name a pink squid looking thing Willy. Well he seem male despite his pink trappings and it rhymed with Lilly.

Yes I know us horse people tend to be mentally insane. All those falls have probably rattled key parts in the brain, but whatever.

Willy will be our traveling companion as long as Lilly doesn't mistake him for a treat. She already has tried to eat him. He'll come with us to the first big show in Williamsburg.

A Break From Reality

If you're one of my friends in real life you know horses are my passion. If I'm not at a horse show I'm riding. If I'm not riding, I'm probably either sleeping or at work.

But once and awhile it's good to take a break. My good friends go to an convention called Otakon. Otakon is technically an anime convention, but it also highlights Japanese culture, fashion, other types of Asian cinema and music. They take over the inner harbor of Baltimore, Maryland for 3 days of nerdiness.


From left to right: Matt, Shawn, Sam, and a fellow cosplayer.

I am a nerd. I'll admit it. I'm not an anime nerd tho. My preference is Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, kaiju/sentai types of film. The last being films like Godzilla and Ultraman. I'm a huge Ultraman/Godzilla nerd.

The act of dressing up is called cosplaying. I have dressed up in years past, but this year with me gathering up new dressage stuff and loosing weight I didn't. We plan on attending Dragon*Con next year so I'll be planning a few costumes then.

But I'm just going to share a few favorite pics of the weekend.