Gia - sessions 764 and 765 - schooling and show at War Horse

 I took Gia to the War Horse schooling and show this weekend.  On Saturday, we schooled stadium and cross country.  She warmed up fairly quiet on the lunge line, even when I asked for canter.  Her canter to the right was not as balanced as her canter to the left.  In stadium warm up, she was quite relaxed.  In the arena, we trotted back and forth past the "scary" judge's stand a few times, until she was less worried about it.  On course, she was obedient and well-behaved.  On cross country, she was also pretty relaxed, and more confident than last time.  We jumped all the green as grass jumps, most of the starter jumps. and a few of the beginner novice jumps, including the ditch and banks.  She only stopped at one or two jumps, but got over them the second time.  The banks and ditch, and even water, were no problem at all!

On Sunday, she warmed up still fairly quiet on the lunge line, but it probably took a little longer since she had overnight stall energy to work off.  In dressage warm up, she was practically perfect for the walk/trot stuff!  So, I decided to try the canter.  There was some bucking and naughtiness, but we did get a few ok moments before we had to go in to the show ring.  In the dressage arena, she was awesome!  I really focused on staying loose and relaxed, and keeping her moving forward.  She ended up scoring a 23.1% and started out in first place out of 12 entries!

Her stadium warm up started out fairly quiet, as she had in dressage.  The walk and trot were good, and the jumps were good.  So, I tried to add canter again.  Same problem again.  Charlie was out there to give me a hand, and had me really focus on pushing the outside shoulder to the inside, or rather, just keeping it from falling further out.  The first few attempts were not great - she was frustrated that I wouldn't let her shoulder go out.  Once she got the hang of it though, everything got remarkably easier, and we got some nice canter moments!  In the jump ring, I didn't ask for the canter, I only asked her to keep her shoulder from going out.  About halfway through the course, she started to feel more balanced, and offered the canter herself, and it was quite nice!  We finished the course, at the canter, with NO bucking, under time, and with no jump penalties!  We were still in first place!

On cross country, I did the same thing with keeping her shoulder from going out for the entire course.  The first few jumps felt squiggly and squirmy, as she was trying to find her balance in this different situation.  However, once she found it, she started cantering, and the rest of the course felt so smooth!  She jumped everything cleanly, even cantering into the water with NO hesitating, and finished with no time penalties!  We won the blue this weekend, but I'm most excited about how much more relaxed she felt for the entire weekend!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gia - session 955 - lesson at CDP

 I had a lesson with Hayley today at CDP.  Gia felt great today!  We started with a nice, crisp walk, and then moved right into a forward trot.  We worked all over the ring with changes of direction and in a good, steady tempo, we also worked on lengthening and collecting the trot.  Gia was nicely obedient to everything I asked her to do.  When I first asked for the canter, I forgot to keep my arms soft, so it didn't last more than a few steps.  But the second time, I remembered, and stayed a little off her back as well.  It started awkward, and counterbent, but as I stayed soft and following with my seat and arms, she eventually figured out what to do with her body, and started to come nicely around my inside leg.  We did the same thing in the other direction (which is usually her bad direction), but it went really well!  We decided to quite while we were ahead after that!  Hopefully, this ride will carry into this weekend for the show! 
Read more

Gia - session 956 and 957 - War Horse schooling and show

 I took Gia to the War Horse schooling and show this weekend at the Carolina Horse Park.  When I got on Saturday morning, she started out quite tense - wanting to go up in the front, and up in the back as well, but not really wanting to go forward.  I finally did get her forward, eventually, and slowly, and we made it to the stadium warm up.  After warming up with some trot, and over a few jumps, we schooled the stadium course.  She was a bit nervous, but did OK otherwise.  So, on to cross country schooling.  She felt fairly the same on cross country - a little nervous, but at least by that time, she was moving forward.  She was a bit nervous about a couple of the jumps, and some of the soggy ground.  We "discussed" it, and then she was able to get over/through it.  She felt a lot more confident by the end. On Sunday, she felt fine when I got on for dressage.  I warmed her up in the grass, near the barns, first, where she could stay calmer.  She was fairly responsive and rela
Read more

Gia - session 947 - lesson at CDP

 I took Gia to CDP for a lesson today.  She was very good with her shipping boots this morning - no drama at all!.  She was also pretty good for getting on the trailer, with me on the off side.  She did get her head a little stuck on the wrong side of the divider, but I quickly got it unstuck, and she was good to go. I warmed Gia up deep and low at the walk and trot with lots of changes of bend and direction, all over the ring.  She was a bit spooky and resistant, but we worked through it, and she started to settle down, relax, and stretch her neck out a little.  I added canter transitions, and those went fairly well.   Susan worked with us today.  She had me focus on Gia's rhythm and the timing of her footfalls at all gaits.  She also had me focus on my straightness in the saddle and my alignment with Gia, as well as Gia's straightness on the circle, and through changes of direction.  We worked through transitions between the gaits, and they gradually improved, and I felt Gia
Read more