Ace's first ever scored Novice test is here.
http://youtu.be/vINELGWI32M
I think you can see that it is a big improvement in his head carriage, but the judge did not like him. She scored his Prelim at 60.5 and all the way through the comments are "tempo too fast". The same again with this novice, which she scored at 58.4. He came bottom in both tests out of 5 entries. Not our day!
The tempo is the right tempo for him. It's where he was comfortable, and since he was ignoring the letters I wasn't about to provoke a reaction by slowing him down. She even said the free walk was too fast. She is only a list 5 (maximum Novice level) judge and I wonder if he just didn't fit her view of what a Novice should look like.
He was a very good boy. We went into an empty ring to do a few minutes warm up before our Prelim test, and he began to spook badly at the letters. Then I went into our own ring (you can do that if there is no path around the outside of the arena) and he was getting even worse. I was ignoring it, but he was winding himself up nicely! I did a big "what now" shrug of my shoulders gesture to SH and thought to myself that I had to change something, but what ? In a flash of inspiration I threw away my whip. Instant calm! He did what I thought was a lovely test but we are both very bored with prelims now and that will be our last.
I have taken several pats on the back for keeping a clear head and not getting wound up myself.
I managed to carry that through into the Novice and the only thing we really messed up was the walk to canter which he was not ready for. I deliberately did not push him for much lengthening, and I allowed him "too many" trot strides in the canter changes so as not to put too much pressure on him, as he is very new to doing either of those movements.
All in all I am pleased with him, pleased with me, but not pleased with the judge!
C
I have always said that you know yourself how you did. What an inspiration to throw away the whip! It seems like an inconsequential part of the ride but I guess he doesn't view it that way.
ReplyDeleteHe's an interesting creature ML. He is "cumulative". He behaves fine as one stress after another is added, (leaving Radar, leaving home, warming up) until you add the last one that takes him over the top, and then he reacts. By throwing away the whip I reduced the stress factors by enough to bring him down below his threshhold. He's a real introvert. I have never owned one like him before. A few years ago I would have hated a horse so secretive and sensitive, but now he is just a nice challenge.
DeleteI don't think the tempo is too fast. He is still a bit inconsistent with his head, but that's not a surprise what with the layoff due too a certain person....'nough said. He looks 'bouncy" and forward to me. Just goes to show...whatever.
ReplyDeleteGood move getting rid of the whip. Sometimes a flash of wisdom comes at just the right time.
For a first outing at novice, well done. And it's only going to get better.
It wasn't so much the score, as she did score everyone hard, it was putting me last both times when I saw other people's overbent tests with horses with their mouths winched shut and stilted paces. I don't like the way dressage is going at the moment. I'm reviewing my options for competing. I love schooling but the constant negativity in dressage scoring gets me down, and so does the subjectivity. That speed would have really pleased the judge that gave us 68 for the other test. This one got a real bee in her bonnet about it and mentioned it about five times in that test and the same in the prelim.
ReplyDeleteIn restrospect I am so pleased with him. We worked out how to drop the anxiety level by getting rid of the whip. He was hardly spooky at all. His lines are getting much straighter and his transitions have improved a ton, especially the trot to canter.
He's a lovely boy.
C
I think he has looked much better in other photos and clips you have showed us, but he has been out of work.
ReplyDeleteAt least you didn't have the scarey naughtiness !
Good boy.
I do agree with you Suzanne but the drop in score seems a bit excessive and coming last against the other horses we saw was a bit of a surprise!
DeleteHis back is fine today and tomorrow I'll be working towards getting his full spring back into his trot work.
C
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ReplyDeleteKate I get emailed comments so I read what you wrote and I thought it was well written and understand what you were saying. There was no need to delete it on my account, and I will share your views by copying it in here myself if you agree, so people don't wonder what was wrong with it?
ReplyDeleteHi, yes of course - I was just concerned that I had offered an opinion when actually you hadn't requested one!
DeleteI never have a problem with nicely put opinions even if I don't agree with them Kate, we can all learn by discussion.
ReplyDeleteKate's comment (and very nicely written and a good point, I think) was:
I usually read only, so I appreciate that you have no idea who I am and may not feel that My thoughts and ideas on bio mechanics and movement are on your wave length at all!
Anyway, he is beautiful and clearly a talented horse, but I would agree that the tempo is a little quick. This slight quickness means that his hind leg joints do not have time to open and close as much as they need which leads to him ' appearing' slightly flat and strung out with his movement looking to go 'across' the ground rather than bouncing along on top as he is not 'pushing' off as much as I think he could. Don't know if that makes sense as he obviously has big paces. I think by just adjusting the tempo slightly you could make quite an impact on his general way of going, the speed just pushes him out of balance so he finds it harder to maintain his hindquarters beneacth him on circles and turns. I think this slight loss of balance is also why his head and neck carriage are slightly inconsistent. I also can not bear some of what I see on the dressage scene and whilst most judges appreciate what me and my horse do there is the odd one whose sheet I put in the bin! Anyway, if he were mine I would just slow down my rising slightly to allow him time to use himself more fully which I think would allow him to be more consistent and better balanced and show of his cadence and lift to better benefit!