So How Bad Was It?

Well, we earned our lowest score ever, and that's saying a lot. For Training Level Test 1, Sydney and I earned a dismal 47.920%. That's low. That's pretty much as low as you can get.

Our warm-up was an effort to just not explode and take out the rest of the riders. I didn't even try to trot. I simply insisted on a calm walk without his head twelve feet in the air. His back was so hollow that his belly almost touched the ground, but I kept working him. Eventually, I just walked down to the show ring, and since I was the first rider, I was able to finish warming up in there.

Surprisingly, as soon as we got in the ring, some of his tension melted away and he actually started to relax. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. The only good thing about the test was that we actually got both the left and and right lead canter departures. For the left lead canter we earned a 5 with the comment, needs more forward stretch. For the right lead, we scored a 4.5 with the comment, spooking, good recovery. (The next rider's horse had started fussing near A which caused us some big trouble. We earned a 2 for the downward transition).

It was actually not too bad until Sydney lost his focus at movement 11.

I have never earned so few sixes and have never seen so many fours and fives. My test wasn't available to study before my second ride, but it didn't matter. I knew what it was going to show. Instead of worrying about it, I walked back up to the warm-up ring for a minute since there were four riders between my first and second rides. All I did was ask him to walk and relax. And surprisingly, he looked pretty good.

My plan for the second test was to be much more insistent that he focus on me. I can't push him too hard or he'll have a melt down, but I knew that I needed to be much more assertive. I walked back down to the ring and picked a spot to just let him stand. To his credit, he stood rock solid for three full tests. He chewed his bit and shook at flies, but his feet never moved.

When our time rolled around, I walked him into the arena (there was no alley) and down to the judge. We chat for a minute, and then she rang the bell. I continued walking and then at about B, I asked for a trot. The test was still far from good, but finally, we made it through a test that was actually worth scoring. We earned a 57.50%, a full 10 percentage points higher than the first test. We had no 4s and ten 6s! We also had three 6.5s on our collectives.

The best improvement was for impulsion. On the first test, we scored a 4.5, but for the second test, we bumped that up to a 6. In fact, my collective marks rose from 38 points on test 1 to 47.5 points on test 2, a 9.5 point difference! The judge wasn't effusive with her comments, I'd been warned about that, so her very short, Better test. Will be a nice team! was very welcome.

Collectives - Test 1

Collectives - Test 2

There were other things that went quite well. Sydney trailered there and back like a champ. He was stabled in the show barn completely alone and never fussed about it. He ate and drank like a pro and slept quietly all night. I brought him into the barn aisle to tack up, and he stood ground tied pretty nicely while I saddled and bridled. He stood by the mounting block very relaxed and didn't move when I got on. 

During the warm-up, a less experienced rider lost a bit of control and came at us head on. Not knowing which way she was going, I stopped. She came so close to us that she brushed my inside leg. Sydney stood rock solid, for which I was extremely grateful. She apologized profusely, but since no one was hurt. It was fine.

So now, the venue part of the experience is not an issue. I can depend on him to load politely, travel well, and settle in to a strange stall. That's at least one part of showing that I can put in the no problem column. Getting him to focus on me while in the ring is the next hurdle. If anyone knows how long that takes, please feel free to share.