The Short of It

Sorry for the gap in posting. Life seems to be on light speed. And I’m barely keeping up with it.

Union Ridge
She was an absolute fabtastic super mare! She was calm, cool, and level headed. She listened to Budi was jumping awesome. Budi jumped an added fence and got eliminated in our first class. But the rest was fine. We ended up getting Champion in Low Jumpers or Schooling I can’t remember. So good girl.

Upperville Fiasco
So we were feeling quiet good after Union Ridge. So Upperville was next up. She was a freaking mess. She refused jumps and Budi fell off on the first day. Next day same thing, except Budi stayed on. When she did jump she jumped beautifully, but she never did complete a full course.
Budi and I started talking about things. Budi felt that she was scared. Her problem is that she lacks confidence and she’s much too careful about jumping. So when she gets scared she just flat out refuses. So we scratched out of Wed classes.
I think we got a little too excited and may have pushed her prematurely. Fences may have only been 3’3”, but when you add all the other elements the fences do look a lot bigger than they are. So we reevaluated our plans for HITS.
We talked about things and decided to do HITS, but Levels 0 and 1, which are 2’7 and 2’11. We think the smaller fences may be a little more inviting and friendlier for her. Get her confidence up. We don’t want to ruin her.

QRC Schooling Shows
So last little show update. My student who’s a cute teenager rode Lilly in her first dressage show. Lilly was a packer. She got in the show arena and basically had the look on her face, “Kid just steer and I’ll do the rest.” And so she did. It was a Fix-A-Test type clinic so Kaelin rode twice. The rider has a lot of potential and she has her issue when she gets nervous that her heels creep up and her hands do the same. So judge gave her a mini lesson and worked with her. Her next test she could have gotten a higher score if instructor had read her test correctly. My Ipod died and so I was doing Intro A from memory and well I missed a part. But regardless she still scored in the 60s% and did very well.
The judge fussed at me for not riding and so she convinced me to ride. She was one of the judges that convinced me to get into dressage in the first place. So I hoped on and barely remembered Training Level Test 3. Did it correctly, but of course it wasn’t the best showing. What the judge did help me with is show me how to properly do the stretchy circle at the trot. How she explained it I got it. So it was a good experience.

This Friday we’re doing HITS. Saturday my student will be showing her again. This week is going to be a busy one. Then next Fri and Saturday we’re back in Culpeper for HITS. Busy and fun times.