So, the show was yesterday and it was a really good time!
Nav and I did Training Level 1, 2 and 3, so we didn't ride until the afternoon. All morning I was volunteering as a runner so I was taking scores from the judge to the "office" so scores could be tallied and ribbons handed out, etc. While I was doing that, Nav chilled at the trailer, snacking on hay and being a little worried about cows he saw way down the road (silly horse).
Around 1 I tacked up and went to warm up (my first ride was scheduled for 2:35). Nav, seemed a bit annoyed at not being allowed to snack on the grass, and he was pretty wound up, I think from being tied all morning. We did a bit in the outdoor ring, where we would be competing, first and he was super looky. There were horses pastured nearby that he was worried about, the letters were scary, the judges tent was super scary, a wet spot on the sand was scary... you can see how that was going! I had him trot and tried to get him focused and working but he was still pretty looky. Since no one else was in the ring I tried cuing him for canter, which resulted in a buck and a fast, flat and incorrect lead canter. Brought him back and asked again and he just started a running trot. Nav! By then it was time for classes to start back up so I was asked to move to the indoor ring to continue my warm up.
In the indoor there were mirrors, which Nav had never seen before and he was very concerned about the horse in the mirror! Every time we passed it, no matter how much inside leg I put on, he would bulge away from the mirror and turn his head to look at it. When we cantered past it he broke to trot to look. Very frustrating, but I tried to just smile and calmly get him past it. Honestly no reason to get frustrated and upset at the show - there's no time to make any big changes! I just tried to keep him calm, and working as much as I could.
Pretty soon after that I was told that since some people had scratched I'd be riding my first test much earlier than anticipated. Which was kind of fine seeing as we were at a point of "it is what it is" and not much warm up was going to change anything.
I brought him back into the ring when it was my turn and waited for the judge to ring the bell. By now he had settled - I think he figured that this outdoor ring was much more like home so he didn't need to be as spooky and looky as he did in the indoor. We walked around and made some circles and just stayed calm, and when the bell rang off we went!
I heard somewhere that at a show you can expect your horse to perform about as well as they had been 6 months ago... I don't think we were that far back, but we definitely weren't at our peak. However, I do feel like this test was better than the same one last year. Nav was more forward, and had more good moments, in spite of the extra looky moments. I received an 8 on our initial halt/salute (unfortunately not on the video...) and both canters which was very surprising but nice! However, I also received a 4.5 on my transition from the first canter to trot because Nav threw in a flying change right before trotting - which I didn't even know he knew how to do! Thought that was a bit low but oh well. Our score on this test was 72.4%. Main comments included needing more flexion and bend in general, and also more stretch down on the free walk.
I went into test 2 feeling confident. Nav had performed much better than expected on test 1 after our pretty awful warm up, and since that test was kind of a warm up itself, I was ready for test 2. Nav had a few other ideas though, as you'll see in the video... (at 1 minute in and 3.45 in)
So, you can see our canter was rough this time. I know I should have corrected his lead on the first circle but I was a little worried we would have another bucking moment and just thought it would be better to keep him going (we got a 4.5 consequently on the circle and the continuation of canter). Our second canter transition also got a 4.5 (cross cantering) but since I switched him that time our circle got a 5.5 instead. We did get mostly 7s and 7.5s, but those 4.5s just brought us down, so our final score was a 69.5%. The main comment take away on this one was that I need to encourage more stretch on the stretchy trot (and of course, get better canter transitions).
By this point it was starting to sprinkle, and a somewhat heavy storm was headed our way. There were only three rides to go so we didn't move to the indoor. My final test was ridden in a fairly steady rain, but I am happy to say that we did alright, in spite of that!
Our trot loops were not as good as I wanted, but we had never been great at them, they were definitely something we didn't practice enough. The rest of it was good though and I was happy with it. Although once again Nav decided to add a little flying change before we transitioned to trot (1.06), we didn't get too penalized on it though (a 6). Our initial halt was nice and square and received another 8. Overall I feel like this was our nicest test, even though at 70% we got a lower score than the first one.
We placed first on all three tests and got three pretty blue ribbons, however classes were small and no one else even rode the third test. But, I've heard that judges will not give a first place in single entry classes if the score doesn't deserve it, so I do feel like we earned it! My main goal for this show was to score about the same as my scores from last year's show. I looked at my tests from last year and realized I was about 5-6 points higher this year! Now, it isn't a perfect comparison because it was different judge, but I still feel really good about it and think our scores are fair.
It was a long day but it was fun! I think the main take aways are that we need to work a lot on stretching down on our free walks and stretchy trots. This is something he struggles with at home so I knew it would be hard to get much of any stretch at the show, however we did get a little. Definitely needed more though. And better bend, which if you've followed my journal you know that's something we've been working on extensively since late fall/winter last year, so I knew that could be questionable. Our work on trot halts has definitely paid off though, since we got those square halts! And if you remember his canter back in January/February when we couldn't pick up the correct lead without running into it and bending completely incorrectly, yesterday was so much better! I'm glad we went. Now I just need to take him to more places so new places aren't such a big deal/so spooky.
I love my guy though. He tried hard and did well after a long day of waiting. Everyone thought he was super cute too, which always makes me feel good.
And now for a few more pictures:
And after, in the rain!