It's not worth showing you the videos today, though we've had a good learning experience. We turned up to find that a set of show jumps had been left within inches of the side of the dressage arena. Jazz would have packed his bags and left! Then it started to rain quite heavily and I wasn't prepared to get soaked just to warm up to do a prelim test in a spooky ring. So with barely ten minutes of warm-up I took him up to show him the jumps while the person before me was in the ring. He was fine about them, but desperately spooky about the arena letters, especially one with a pool of water in the top with rain falling in it. I let him see it, and he went to put his nose to it and I thought he was going to drink soem water. Then disaster! He pulled it back into himself, turned and bolted. I pulled him up, but he was of course terrified of the letter that had just attacked him. I didn't have time to get him right about it before my test was due, and he did the whole P7 spooking at all the letters in spite of the fact that they were nowhere near the one he pulled over. He still got 62% but he came last of 4.
The rain had stopped for our novice test, but I realised from watching the one before me that I had learnt N24 2004 and it should have been N24 2010, a totally different test. I went to speak to the judge and asked if she would allow me to do the test we had learnt, HC, and she just tell me at the end what she thought. Thankfully she agreed with that. All his trot work felt pretty good, and she said he did get the second lengthened strides. But the canter was a spooky mess in both directions. The first canter transition, at X, he did a very, very naughty and VERY sharp spook away from one of the letters, turning 180 degrees on the spot.
So, not our best day, but he is definitely getting better at the trots up the centre line to start and finish. He halted square in front without shifting his bottom to the right, which is new. He didn't buck at the canter transitions and he did lengthen. His give and retake in canter was a 7, the judge said. And he warmed up well and competed one test in the rain, also a first. Next time I plan to learn the right test, and since he found novice pretty easy we will be doing 2 novices instead of prelims.
When I got home I was still buzzy, so I rode Radar. Actually first of all I cut up a white shower curtain and made some letter markers with black tape, and stapled them to the arena boards, to try to despook Ace to letters because he gets upset by them easily if anything else is not quite right, and it's his second season at this now.
Radar noticed the letters but made no fuss at all. Better still, he was, for him, brilliant! He walked well right from the start, he trotted beautifully with quiet, gentle transitions and then he walked well again after a very short time to settle. He even stayed soft through changes of rein. He did some fantastic walk to canter and canter to trot, and then he walked AGAIN, after just a bit more time to settle than after the trot. What on earth has got into him? Whatever it is, I hope it stays :-)
C
One of the days you just put down as "experience".. ;) Happy despooking.. one of my favs is to tie plastic bags / streamers etc to the top of fence poles (leci ones are good as easy to move around).. all makes the schooling more errr "entertaining" ;)
ReplyDeleteIs Radar is loosing his aR(ghh)?
Will I miss it if he is, NH? He could get a bit boring if he goes on like this - nah, actually he is such a sensitive horse to the leg and hand that he's a lot of fun to learn to manage.
DeleteC
We all have had days like that. Nice of the judge to let you ride the wrong test. These weekday show are proving to be a great learning experience for both you and Ace.
ReplyDeleteAs for Radar, perhaps the letters made the difference. As an educated, well-read horse, he now realizes you are trying to do dressage in the arena instead of just some kind of mindless series of exercises! *G*
Of course! He can READ. Now why didn't I think of that?
DeleteC
It is amazing what horses will find to spook at. Not the best day maybe but a "learning" day.
ReplyDeleteI did an indoor test and my horse's eyes were on stalks as we proceeded down the centre line, as someone had placed two flower arrangements at the end. As if he hadn't seen them before - but they had moved!
It's so odd when they have seen something before but object to it being in a different place isn't it Judith? It just goes to show how wired they are to identify "change" as a potential threat.
DeleteC