Sunday's Show

I should be pleased.  Really.  We scored a 65.625% at Introductory B.  I guess we "fooled" the judge, or she just couldn't see what I was struggling with.  I felt like Speedy would not maintain a steady tempo, he kept trying to break gate (walk-to-trot and trot-to-canter), and he kept trying to "suck back."  The judge's scores? For the test: one 5, four 6s, two 7s, and two 8s.  For the Collective Marks: two 6s, four 7s.  There were three things that I was excited about.  I was very pleased by the 8s (who wouldn't be?) for our free walk and our working trot rising between H & C which was right in front of the judge!  For Rider's Position the judge gave me a 7 and commented that I was quiet and tactful.  That may seem like no big deal, but I am pretty self-concious about my seat and hands and I usually score a six for position.

Test C, the walk/trot/canter test that is similar to the old Training Level test 1, did not go as well as I was hoping.  That canter transition has really turned into a problem for us.  Before we started "working" on it, Speedy and I could pick up the canter any ol' time we wanted.  Now ... we can't.  Just like at the May show, he bucked and kicked when asked to canter.  Good thing the test says developing working canter because that's what we're doing, developing.  Once the tests says CANTER, we might be in trouble.

I don't have very many scores of 4 in our previous tests, but we earned TWO of them for our second transition in and out of canter.  The first canter we earned two 5s.  My overall points for this test were: two 4s, three 5s, four 6s, three 7s, and another 8.  The 8 was again for working trot rising between C & M, right in front of the judge.  Our Collective Marks were nearly identical as in the first test: three 6s and three 7s.  And again, I scored a 7 for rider position with the comment, "tactfully ridden."  The judge's further remarks were this, "Nice moments.  Elegant horse."  That's a comment any rider would like to hear!

The overall score for Introductory Test C was 60.500%.

(Click the photos for a larger view.)