Transitions Dressage Day
To complete our weekend of dressage Henry and I had entered 2 prelim tests at the Transitions dressage day. I had decided to do prelim to really try and get Henry to relax and find it all boring. We had very civilised times so after I plaited and walked the dog we arrived just after 8.30. I used Quick Knots for the first time and they were great, so much faster than anything else!
Henry was very relaxed when we arrived, and mooched about while I chatted to a friend for a bit. I had enough time to watch her ride before I got ready and hopped on with 40 minutes to warm up. I had a plan and implemented it and Henry was quite calm and relaxed from the start. I played with all the buttons, insisted on flexion and had a a consistent outside rein. Henry for his part was willing and mostly focussed and I kept him busy and on task until it was our turn to go.
We entered the arena and put down a nice relaxed test. There were a few moments of tension but he was obedient and it felt like a nice test. Not amazing, not the winning test, just cool and calm. I executed my plan, looked up and around, and rode the horse not the test. It made a huge difference and I was so much more present and relaxed myself. It scored 62% and had some solid comments from the judge about Henry needing to be more forward and me maintaining a better contact. Nothing unexpected at all!
We have about an hour between tests so we chilled out for a bit before I hopped on for a shorter warm up. i retuned the buttons and Henry was feeling way more relaxed and connected. We had a really solid test and there were a few moments where things just clicked and flowed. It was an incredible feeling, it suddenly got really easy. Those moments got 8's, one for the trot diagonal and the other for a canter circle. He had a few wobbles where he got a bit tense, once in a canter transition between the 8's, so it was encouraging to know that if that happens it only really affects one mark.
Overall that test scored 70% and we got some really good marks throughout the test. i think it's the test that I have scored the highest in the collective marks too, 7.5's for everything except paces which was an 8! Super exciting.
The comments across both tests were very similar, I under rode the walk in both tests (it was a shame I didn't get either test until after, I could have done with that feed back) and both made comments about my contact. Everything related to issues I had already been working on in my recent lessons (with all the different coaches I have had recently too!).
Overall it was a very useful outing and I am looking forward to our first event in 2 weeks!
Henry was very relaxed when we arrived, and mooched about while I chatted to a friend for a bit. I had enough time to watch her ride before I got ready and hopped on with 40 minutes to warm up. I had a plan and implemented it and Henry was quite calm and relaxed from the start. I played with all the buttons, insisted on flexion and had a a consistent outside rein. Henry for his part was willing and mostly focussed and I kept him busy and on task until it was our turn to go.
We entered the arena and put down a nice relaxed test. There were a few moments of tension but he was obedient and it felt like a nice test. Not amazing, not the winning test, just cool and calm. I executed my plan, looked up and around, and rode the horse not the test. It made a huge difference and I was so much more present and relaxed myself. It scored 62% and had some solid comments from the judge about Henry needing to be more forward and me maintaining a better contact. Nothing unexpected at all!
We have about an hour between tests so we chilled out for a bit before I hopped on for a shorter warm up. i retuned the buttons and Henry was feeling way more relaxed and connected. We had a really solid test and there were a few moments where things just clicked and flowed. It was an incredible feeling, it suddenly got really easy. Those moments got 8's, one for the trot diagonal and the other for a canter circle. He had a few wobbles where he got a bit tense, once in a canter transition between the 8's, so it was encouraging to know that if that happens it only really affects one mark.
Overall that test scored 70% and we got some really good marks throughout the test. i think it's the test that I have scored the highest in the collective marks too, 7.5's for everything except paces which was an 8! Super exciting.
The comments across both tests were very similar, I under rode the walk in both tests (it was a shame I didn't get either test until after, I could have done with that feed back) and both made comments about my contact. Everything related to issues I had already been working on in my recent lessons (with all the different coaches I have had recently too!).
Overall it was a very useful outing and I am looking forward to our first event in 2 weeks!
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