First Show Jitters

March 11th was our very first show and I was super excited. Gryfon and I had been working on the Intro A test, along with the 6 Feet on the Ground Test 1. I felt really confident we would do a good job. I was not expecting any ribbons, but did expect to at least ride! That turned out to be wishful thinking...

My friend DLB came along with me for support and we left "dark and early" Saturday morning in order to make it to Donida in time for my first test at 9:18. We arrived shortly after 8 and had about an hour to get ready. DLB helped my unload all my gear and then parked the truck and trailer for me while I got Gryfon settled in.

The venue was super busy as there were 140 horses registered to compete! The weather was quite chilly and very windy. Most of the horses were quite "uppity." Gryfon settled in well and was eating and drinking in no time. Once we had everything all set up, I got my number and decided to take Gryfon for a walk to get him use to the area. That's when the drama began...

We walked around the barn area with no issues and started to explore further out. I wanted to find the arena we would be showing in first. As we approached the warm-up arena, a big gust of wind picked up the pop-up canopy just as we passed it. Well, let me tell you...Gryfon reared, spun, and ran off like his tail was on fire, dragging me behind him like a water skier! I felt there was no way I was going to get him calm enough in 40 minutes to do the 6 Feet test. I told DLB to go to the office and scratch us. Well, she wouldn't let me scratch. (Thank you DLB) It was an in hand test so she encouraged me to just walk into the arena and walk out, but I needed to do something!

I worked diligently over the next 30 minutes to calm him. We made it out to lunging area and I kept his feet moving, practiced all our usual things and tried to do a normal routine with him. He finally calmed down enough to at least pretend to listen to me so I made my way over to the arena and waited for my turn to enter.

He was still very "alert" but at least had 1 ear on me. Once we entered the arena, we had to wait several minutes for the judge to ring the bell. (Lesson learned: Wait at the back part of the arena and keep him moving rather than stand in the middle and wait to begin.) 

We did our best. Gryfon was still pretty high strung and was certain the a horse was being killed in the next arena over. We made it through the test and left the arena. 

I decided to scratch the Intro A test, as the ride time was less than an hour after this test. I did however keep working with Gryfon until he was super calm, and back to his old self. (an hour and a half after my Intro A ride time) DLB and I returned Gryfon to his stall and then ate lunch. After lunch, I tacked him up and we went to walk around some more. He was a champ the rest of the day. All in all it was a successful day. I didn't fall off, and no blood was shed. HAHA! We even ended up with a 4th place ribbon for our efforts! (out of 10 horses) 

The next show we go to will be a smaller local show. We are not ready for the big leagues yet... 

Busy Busy Busy

It has been a super busy few weeks. I missed my lesson 2 weeks ago, but a for a very good reason. Last week I had H5 Fencing and Dirt Work come out to and do my outdoor arena! It took 3 days and I absolutely love it. The first picture is the finished product. It measures 80 x 144 and is just big enough to set up a pretty dressage court inside of it.

The first day was spent leveling the space, removing the big rocks and moving dirt. The crew showed up bright and early and put in a hard day's work, leaving near dusk. The horses stayed in the barn, so the machinery wouldn't stress them out as much.

The second day the crew showed up even earlier and did some finishing touches on the dirt work. Then they laid heavy duty driveway fabric as a weed and rock barrier. Once that was down, the dump trucks started showing up with the arena sand.

The third day was still more trucks of sand and they crew took great care packing and spreading it evenly. The night before, Gryfon got out and ran through the sand. The foreman was glad he did so he could measure the hoof indentations and pack the sand accordingly. 

It turned out beautifully and full disclosure, I have ridden in it nearly every day! Here is a picture of the dressage court set up. It took my less than a day to do it and I love it!

Lessons Learned

I had high hope for sharing video clips and still shots from my lesson. However, using my new Pivo last night was an epic fail. It was 100% user error. I didn't change the tracking setting from "Face" to "Horse." Is that something I need to change every time I use it? The more I use it, the more proficient I will get.

Now on to the lesson. I worked pretty hard at using my seat and legs instead of "strong arming" the reins when asking for a bend or turning a corner. I still had several moments where I slipped into the habit of using reins, but I'm working on it. I had some very nice bending moments (in both directions). I got to feel the difference between the quality of Gryfon's bend when I use my legs and when I just use the reins to bend his neck. It was great! 

The next thing CG had me work on was arena geometry and picking up the trot AT the letter, not after the letter. I worked on touch points of my circle. I think using my legs more effectively helped me make better circles, but I still have a long way to go. I also need to be more aware of letters and ask Gryfon to change gaits when HIS nose is at the letter, not when I am at the letter. That was a pretty good Ah-Ha moment. CG kept telling me I was late, and I finally caught on! 

On a separate note, I have a company coming out next week to level, remove rocks, and haul in arena sand footing! I am super excited and know that once my outdoor arena is done and I can ride several times a week, my progress will be faster! Here are a few "before" pictures. I'll post "after" pictures once they are finished!