My husband also schooled XC on Friday and Sunday, but I am going to make those a separate post for the sake of this post not being really long.
Eugene is getting better about going to new shows, but he’s still tense and dressage is not his favorite. Is it any horse’s? For this show we tried out having my husband take him for an early morning warm up after breakfast. Then he got a second warm up after my test and before his. I’m not sure if this was successful or not. My husband said he was actually calmer at the first warm up.
At least some of our training is working. This is the first time this horse has gone into a dressage test without spooking at the judge’s booth first.
Dressage Test – BN B
Format: movement, judge’s comment, score, picture, and my thoughts in the picture caption.
Movement 1: Enter working trot.
Judge’s comment: “weaving on centerline”
Points: 6
Movement 2: 20m Circle at B.
Judge’s Comment: “unsteady but better 2nd half”
Score: 6.5
Needs a dressage saddle
Movement 3: Change rein KXM
Judge’s comment: “needs bend to left at M”
Score: 6.5
Movement 4: 20m Circle at E
Judge’s Comment: “needs bend left”
Score: 6.5
There is no bend. There is only Zuul.
Movement 5: Working Canter Between K and A
Judge’s Comment: “counter bent”
Score: 6
Eugene: “OMG I can’t go over there”
Movement 6: 20m Canter Circle at A
Judge’s comment: “good energy but falling in”
Score: 6
Eugene: “If I lean this way I can get further away from the scary chickens”
Movement 7: Between B and M, Working Trot
Judge’s comment: “counterbent”
Score: 6.0
Eugene: “OMG the metal chickens are still there. Evade! Evade!”
Movement 8: Change rein HXF
Judge’s comment: “fairly steady”
Score: 6.5
Movement 9: Between F and A, Working Canter
Judge’s Comment: “obedient”
Score: 6.5
(I got this exact same comment and score for this movement on Nilla – how funny)
I am so good at photography. Hire me for your next show.
Movement 10: Circle Right at A
Judge’s comment: “circle small + tempo quick”
Score: 6
I would have commented “leaning” on this one
Movement 11: Working Trot Between E and H
Judge’s Comment: blank
Score: 7
This was actually a really nice transition for his level
Movement 12: Medium Walk at C
Judge’s Comment: “accurate”
Score: 6.5
Not sure how this was “accurate.” They’re like 2 strides out from C.
Movement 13: Free Walk from M to E
Judge’s Comment: “good energy, could stretch down more”
Score: 6.5
He’s got the walk, he just needs the connection
Movement 14: Working trot at K and down centerline
Judge’s comment: “braced in turn but straight on cl”
Score: 6.5
braced indeed
Movement 15: Halt at X
Judge’s comment: “square halt”
Score: 7
Why can’t Nilla halt like this? Why?
Collective marks:
Gaits: 6.5 No comment
Impulsion: 6.0 “somewhat braced throughout”
Submission: 6.5 No comment
Rider: 6.5 No comment
Final Score: 36
Stadium
I didn’t get to see their stadium test or take any pictures. They were double clear though my husband said Eugene was quite spooky at some of the jumps. We went in and schooled some of the jumps the next day so you get some “dramatic re-enactments.”
Jump 1
Jump 3 (raised)
Cross Country
I did hang out after I finished my test to see my husband go. They were running a little behind so we had a few minutes. I reminded him to turn on his cambox and he still completely forgot to do it. I did get some very distant shots with my iphone of them doing a few of the jumps, so that’s all the media you get. Sorry.
Jump 1
Jump 4
jump 15
My husband also went back and forth about doing BN for this show. He ultimately decided to do intro because he hadn’t schooled XC since November. We made a few attempts to get to a XC course for schooling, but they kept being closed because of the rain. In hind-sight Eugene does not need to do intro anymore. But it was probably the right choice with what we knew at the time. His next event will be BN.
My husband was 6th after dressage, 5th after stadium and 2nd at the end of the day. And they finished on their dressage score. The 2nd place prize was a set of HDR rubber grippy reins which I think will be really good for XC. Winning prizes is addictive.
Congratulations on such a good result! You guys certainly put the work in. Once Eugene stops looking around it will get much easier.
I think we can get him used to things, but I doubt we’ll ever get him over looking around and panicking about new weird things. At least not soon. He still have those wild horse instincts.
Congrats to the husband and Eugene. Winning prizes would be addictive.
If only there was someway to always get one. Good riding you say? That seems unlikely for me to accomplish.
Congrats! I LOVE good prizes at shows!
Yes. So fun.
Woohoo! Congrats to the hubs and Eugene! They’ve really come a long way!
It’s been quite the year.
i really love these posts bc it’s so apparent the partnership your husband is forging with Eugene – considering both of their disparate backgrounds (esp Eugene!!).
They really do have a great relationship. That horse trusts him way more than he should.
Glad it was a good outing!
Congratulations to both of you!
They’re a great team! What progress they’ve made together 🙂
I loved the breakdown of the dressage test 🙂
I like doing it for my own education. it really helps me compare the judge’s comments to what actually happened.
Hooray for winning prizes! It’s totally addictive.
More shows should do it.
Your comments on the dressage test breakdown > judges comments
If only mine counted