In the second test it was threatening to start raining and he was tired and had switched off mentally. He napped going into the arena and never really settled well, but he did mostly listen to me, which I was pleased about. The score was 60% without my error of course (oops!) but the comment, from a different judge, was "Such a lovely horse but rather tight in the frame and tense, so difficult for you to maintain fluency and forwardness. When more relaxed and submissive he will be so lovely."
It seems to be agreed by everyone that he's a really good horse, so now we need to really get going on his 2012 season and see if we can get on top of the nerves that are holding him back from showing what he can really do. He didn't progress this winter as I thought he might. He is taking a long, long, time to mature physically, so I am happy for him to still be at Prelim at the moment.
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ps I've just viewed the video and I have no idea how I stayed on in the first test, he threw a string of bucks and then did a pirouette rear. I'm impressed with myself :-) These are in order, but by no means the whole thing, which started two bucks earlier. How on earth did I not hit the floor!!??!!
Those scores are nothing to be disappointed about. Fabulous, actually, when you consider the weather and Ace's lack of experience.
ReplyDeleteGetting out and about is exactly what he needs. I suspect he is going to be a star once he settles into the idea. It's going to be hard picking and choosing between him and Jazz when the show bug bites you. Don't know if the schedule would allow you to show both on the same day--gets a bit tricky without lots of help.
Exactly what SH and I were discussing on the way home Jean. We decided that we want to go once a week, on Wednesdays, and that we wouldn't want to take both horses every week, so we will do turn and turn about like we did last year. It makes a nice relaxed day that way and we can enjoy sitting in the cafe while we wait for the score to go up.
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Holy S******!!! Those rears are really scary....really. That's exactly how my good friend almost got killed. No graphic description here, but I would really worry about that. Your seat is amazing, to have stayed on, but I hope he doesn't try that kind of stuff very often.
ReplyDeleteMy friend's horse turned out to be a rig--she had a hormone test done on him. (It was after that and a re-gelding that she had the accident as his hormones still hadn't settled.) Ever think of testing Ace? It could be another explanation for his erratic behavior. Just a thought. Don't know how expensive it would be to test him, but it might be worth a shot.
Just saying because that stuff is DANGEROUS and he looks exactly like my friend's horse did when he reared. (Finally went over backwards with her...)
Please be careful!!
Thankyou for your concern Jean. Certainly in that test it is justified. I would not keep him if that was normal beahviour. He's never done it before. Normally I would slip off a rear that high, but you can see that he got me out of balance with the bucks and I had my left foot jammed so hard on the stirrup that I wouldn't have been able to get it free and I would have fallen sideways nastily. So I took the only other option I had, to pull him round to get him back underneath me. Thankfully that worked.
DeleteHe isn't a rig, I'm sure, I've known one. He is just a dreadful introvert who bottled up his tension about being out for the first time in six months, got a transition wrong and exploded because he just couldn't hold his emotions in check any more.
We need to get out again as soon as we can, but the forecast for Wednesday is currently for rain all day, and that wouldn't be a good idea, given his weather phobia!
Please don't worry about me - it was a one-off
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Cripes - naughty boy. I think he does need to go out and about a lot more, not just to dressage competiitons. Have you taken him out in company for a fun ride type thing or to Riding Club clinics, etc.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't really matter what it is, just to get miles on the clock. Do you know if he has ever been to a show? I like the advice given about breaking a horse to drive - before its first show take it out for a LONG drive so it is tired the next day!
I suppose the trouble is with a really nice well bred (i.e. valuable) horse we would tend to mollycoddle them, yet with the mongrel from down the road it would get bundled into the trailer and out and about at every opportunity.
He's never been anywhere except with me Judith, so only the one season of dressage last summer/autumn. I think I will have to keep his hand in next winter, because he was very unsettled still today and I'm sure that it is because he was upset at being taken away from the others on Saturday. It'll be a nuisance with hunting, but I don't want this again next year.
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In those last two photos I am amazed that he did not go over! Thank goodness you did not fall off! I suppose hunting really improves your ability to stay on but still this is pretty extreme. If he is that worried about being away maybe you could load him and take him to a horse restaurant (i.e. a very green field) for lunch, then load him back up and take him home. He will learn that going places has its rewards.
ReplyDeleteHe'd be fine if I didn't do the dressage test ML :-)
DeleteNext time out will be better.
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