My husband has been wanting to do a real, rated event for a while now. I was supportive, but concerned that they were not going to do very well and didn’t want him to get upset. But he set a very reasonable goal of completing with a number and not a letter and I figured that was certainly achievable.
They’ve been working hard and making a lot of progress in dressage, although I don’t think this will ever be Eugene’s specialty. Then on Wednesday before the show we had a dressage lesson and Eugene was obviously sore. He was having near panic attacks about being asked to bend right. Just what you need right before a big show – an inability to bend right. We put in a call to our chiropractor who was unfortunately on vacation and reached out to some others in the area, but the earlier we could get someone was Sunday, which was kind of after the fact.
We hauled in Thursday and got Eugene set up in his stall. We’ve never been to such a huge show and omg was it crowded. And busy. And very poorly managed. Some moron drove her trailer the wrong way down the lane next to our stable block and blocked us and the trailers behind us in. Then she proceeded to tell me how I should drive around her, which I was not comfortable doing because there was not enough room. She claimed to not be able to fit past my trailer, but somehow it was fine for me to go around hers. The poor volunteer in charge of parking told her she needed to move since she was going the wrong direction, but she refused. All the while, my husband was off riding Eugene, though once he finally returned he wasn’t comfortable trying to go around her either. There’s a reason it’s one way. Finally the volunteer got some help to move equipment from the ends of the stall rows and she drove our truck past the stupid woman. Some of the trailers behind us had to back up and others had to also squeeze by her. God, I hate stupid people.
I love watching the clouds roll over the hills
Anyway, they did a brief ride just to expose Eugene to the sights and then he had a bath. The wash stalls had 2 working hoses for 6 wash stalls and like 100+ horses. Everyone was scrambling around and trying to figure out how to bathe their horses without a hose. I went and got our hose from the trailer so we had one, but I did overhear one guy complaining that you’d think $500 would get you a hose. You would think.
The sun was close to setting by now and the wind had come whipping in. Poor Eugene was shivering so we covered him in a cooler and blanket and got him into his stall out of the wind. Then we went and walked the XC course and removed his blanket before heading home for dinner. We came back after dinner to pull his cooler and he was dry and warm in his stall by then.
Friday morning we were back at the horse park bright and early to feed Eugene and then my husband took him for a short ride just to walk around and get some exposure to the craziness. He was being really good about the chaos, but was still stiff. We spent some time braiding Eugene. Despite his bath, his mane was still quite filthy down at the scalp area so I ended up just doing a running braid. Eugene was more interested in playing with the towel than braiding. Typical boy.
Their dressage time was 3:21 so we had him tacked up and ready to go around 2:30. Sadly, we couldn’t really do much with him given his stiff neck. The plan was basically: don’t ask him to bend, don’t ask him to collect, just try to baby him around the test and get it done. The goal was to not get eliminated; they basically just had to stay in the arena. As they were warming up, I went over to the vendor area to get a drink and discovered there was a chiropractor at the event! Damn, I wish I’d know earlier. I made an appointment with her for that night, but they were still going to have to get through dressage without it.
They did some warm up, then got to go around the ring a few times before they got rung in. Eugene, predictably, was terrified of the judge’s booth and the videographer even though they had walked around the area the day before. The videographer was new and I guess the judge’s booth actually had people now so that renewed the terror.
Then is was time to go in. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know this test did not go well. Giraffe ballet was my description. But given the limitations of not being able to ask for bend or collection, it was probably as good as it could be.
1. A Enter working trot. C Track left.
Judge’s comment: “needs better connection and alignment. slightly left of centerline. above bit often”
Points: 5
To be fair – all four legs are below the bit. I think that should count for something.
2. E Circle left 20 meters working trot.
Judge’s comment: “above bit, counter-flexed. needs connection.”
Points: 4.5
Think Giraffe. Be the Giraffe.
3. Between K and A Working canter left lead.
Judge’s comment: “above and against bit”
Points: 5
No points for tail sass?
4. A Circle left 20 meters working canter.
Judge’s comment: “above and against bit. loss of balance and rhythm”
Points: 4.0
loss of rhythm is actually fairly generous for break to trot in the middle of your circle
5. Between F and B Working trot.
Judge’s comment: “willing transition, above bit, needs connection”
Points: 5
I didn’t catch the actual transition so this is the next corner
6. C Medium Walk.
Judge’s comment: “ditto”
Points: 5
I feel like this was actually the nicest moment in the test
7. HXF Free walk. Between F and A Medium Walk.
Judge’s comment: “needs better stretch in neck and stride. above bit, shortened”
Points: 5
no real evidence of free walk here
8. A Working Trot
Judge’s comment: “above bit. needs connection”
Points: 5
accurate, but I’m kinda tired of this comment
9. E Circle right 20 meters working trot.
Judge’s comment: “ditto. needs bend and balance”
Points: 5
This circle wasn’t good, but it was honestly better than the other movements.
10. Between H and C Working canter right lead.
Judge’s comment: “running steps and above bit”
Points: 5
I feel like this picture needs to be the new dictionary definition of above the bit
11. C Circle right 20 meters working canter.
Judge’s comment: “running out of balance. needs clearer rhythm.”
Points: 5
At least its a different comment
12. Between M and B Working Trot
Judge’s comment: “needs connection. above bit”
Points: 5
I missed a picture of the actual transition because I thought it was after B like in BN B. It’s a good thing one of us knew the test.
13. A Down Centerline.
Judge’s comment: “overshot c line. above bit”
Points: 5
Eugene’s has apparently been learning how to express his opinions on dressage from Nilla
14. X Halt, Salute.
Judge’s comment: “above bit”
Points: 5
OMG with the same comment. We get it.
Collective Marks:
Gaits: 6, Needs clearer rhythm, effects submission
Impulsion: 6, needs suppleness of back and engagement of hindquarters
Submission: 4.5, (incomprehensible handwritten comment) + needs connection
Rider: 6, tactfully ridden
Final score: 49.5
Nailed It!
I told you it was bad. To be fair, I actually don’t think this was a fair score. I’m not saying they were brilliant, but this really wasn’t that bad of a test. The judge was pretty harsh. The lowest score this judge gave in this division was a 33.2. In the other BN division she judged the scores were 34.5-47.6. The other BN divisions with different judges had much lower score ranges. Oh well, it was what it was. Because the scoring was so harsh, they weren’t that far from the rider above them.
Eugene got a visit from the chiropractor later that evening and she even came by the next day to check on him again after his Bemer treatment. I still don’t understand what the Bemer thing is claiming to do, but it was free and the Chiro recommended it. I will say that Eugene loved it. The girl put it on and he almost instantly fell asleep. Droopy twitching lip and all. I only wish we’d gotten all of that done before dressage.
You would have thought the judge could have come up with something else to say. That’s frustrating.
I would have liked some new comments
I’m starting to find that some judges will want to see a specific picture for a level – that a certain criteria is met, otherwise everything is a 5. That was actually something I ran into often with Isabel and her curling – it often didn’t matter if some movements were objectively better than others, if she curled her head it was a 5, end of story. Frustrating for sure. Looks like David did a great job getting Eugene through in a positive way tho!! Looking forward to reading the rest!
I think she was harsh all around. No one was scoring well in her ring.
I mean the giraffe impression isn’t IDEAL for dressage… but they did more or less get all the movements done at the correct time, right? That’s gotta count for something! Bummer he managed to hurt himself just in time for the show. Horses always seem to manage that!
It counted for something, just not much with this judge.
Giraffe ballet is the BEST phrase I have ever heard (read) & I am going to borrow it!! 😀 😀 😀
Hopefully the chiro helped, poor guy.. 🙁
Chiro definitely helped. And Giraffe ballet is all yours.
I snorted at the giraffe doing ballet.
Looks like their last halt was nice and square though 😉
He’s a pro at square halts. Just not at putting his head down while doing so.
That judge did sound pretty harsh. It looks like there was a lot of nice moments too that he/she could have acknowledged as well.
Lucky that a chiro was there to help! 🙂
I only wish I’d know about the Chiro in advance.
Sucks when you don’t like the judging but atleast she was consistent? Sounds like a productive day though!
As for the hose situation… I find that it’s not feasible for show venues to provide hoses when there are jerks that inevitably abuse/break or even steal them. I always bring my own hose and have never been particularly put out by it. That’s the norm here though. I guess I would be more bothered if all venues provided them and a big expensive venue didn’t?
The other big horse parks (and smaller ones) all provide hoses so it just seems weird when the nicest and most expensive of the facilities doesn’t.
Your captions and ESPECIALLY that last photo comparison – I’m dying!
If they invent giraffe ballet, we will totally win it.