Weekend Preview

This weekend's recognized show started out a bit rough- I was unimpressed with the location/set up/management on Friday when we arrived, but things improved as much as they could have and 99% of my complaints were addressed (only one couldn't be helped). However, Penn continued his stunning ways this past weekend!

So much pretty satin!

Saturday was awesome, but I made some mistakes Sunday that didn't allow Penn to be his awesome self. Live and learn.

However, the mix of Probios and Alfalfa really paid off- he had very little diarrhea on Friday, his poop stayed solid all weekend, and there was ZERO diarrhea on Sunday. I'm hoping with a couple weeks of Probios and Alfalfa the week of travel, during travel, and post travel will keep him perfectly regular!

This Week's Happenings

So you guys are getting spammed by horse show posts this month (this is not one). We're going away this weekend for a 2 day, 2 show weekend. But first, let's recap this week because there are some notables (pictures are only kinda sorta relevant):

Penn is spoiled rotten and he got a Mio flysheet from SmartPak.
This is his first time wearing it. He was super grumpy when he wore it in the field that night and ripped one of the straps from the webbing... I sewed it, so now it's patched... just like all of his clothes. #thisiswhywecan'thavenicethings

1.  Lesson 6/7

Trainer got to watch our 1-3 video before lesson, and she asked me, "If you could change one thing, what would it be?" I said the balance in the canter. It's so hit or miss for us, and all of the places we lost points were due to balance in the canter issues (in one way or another).

Trainer confirmed that we had all the scores we needed for championships, and our plans for the next few weeks, and then started tearing down our canter a little (full band-aid rippage will be after the last show this month, which is on 6/26, and then we'll build it back up for championships).

Basically, I do a lot of the balancing for Penn. I think that's pretty obvious. That is the biggest thing holding us back right now, so Trainer had me work on keeping him in a longer, lower frame than usual. Basically we need several "frames": Working (highest, most uphill balance), Training Level frame, lower than Training level, stretchy trot. Right now she want us to work a bit lower than training level, but not as low as a stretchy trot. We're working with such a low frame because that is the one place I can't help Penn's left/right balance. We're working to get me to do less (half halts with the shoulder and seat are still totally ok and needed), and to get Penn to start self carriage. He also needs to learn that while my right leg means turn left, it also means step up with the right hind and connect to the right rein. He needs to learn that my leg means all the things!

We started in trot first on a 20-25m circle, encouraging the stretch down. Penn is fairly balanced at this, so then while he was somewhere between long and low and stretchy trot, I asked him to spiral in on the circle. He immediately jumped off the bit, looking for me to help him (which I didn't). I put my inside leg back on and pushed him back out to the outside rein. Repeat the spiral in. As soon as he lost his balance or got to a 12m circle, I'd push him back out. Repeat.

Next, while still on the circle and in the same lower frame, I asked for shoulder in, haunches in, shoulder out, etc. All the lateral things. As soon as I asked for shoulder in, Penn steadied himself and sat down and lifted his shoulder, all from a very minimal cue from me. We flip flopped between lateral and straight on the curved line.

The final step in the trot: without shortening the reins, sit the trot, half halt and bring his balance back up to the Working frame. Once there and steady, push for more trot. Just a hair- it doesn't have to be dramatic. Half halt, post, stretch down again.

Holy shit guys, he held himself up! He was so steady. So pliable and responsive to faint cues! We changed directions from the working frame in a half figure 8 to the outside of our circle, and he just floated through it.

In the canter, things are a bit different. He can never stretch too far down in the canter. He needs to develop a stretchy canter. This was so hard for Penn. We moved out to a 30-35m circle because Penn couldn't balance himself on anything smaller. It took 4-5 circles for him to stretch down, and then another couple for him to really start balancing himself. I have to be careful I don't end up sitting into my left seatbone going left- he makes a hole there and I sink into it and am not longer effective. I need to keep my hips squarer so he can keep himself squarer.

After Penn got his act together a little, Trainer had me move his hindquarters around- push them out, push them in, push them out, push them in, STRAIGHT. Out, in, out, in. Then she said to find a countdown I liked (I picked 5 strides), and make a collection and uphill balance shift happen in those strides. The count is to make me make it happen. 1- start the shift in my shoulders with a small half halt, 2- small half halt, shorten the inside rein a few inches (stretchy canter let it out 8+ inches longer than I usually carry, much longer than the trot work), 3- small half halt, shorten the outside rein, 4 & 5- the biggest MFing half halt through my seat and shoulders and LIFT!  This all sounds very complicated I'm sure, but really it's not (and I'm not good at keeping to the exact rhythm, but that's the kind of thinking I go for because it all happens so quickly and it makes me get the job done). Hold that canter for 3-5 strides, stretch back down and hindquarters in/out/in/out.

My legs were exhausted! It's all worth it for sure though- I had some of the most divine canters! Before Penn couldn't hold his balance anymore and went past the bit in an effort to find my hand support that is. Just a strength issue since I've never made him carry himself this much. He caught on so quickly, it won't take long to master a stretchy canter and the transitions between working and stretch.

All of this work kept him moving to the bit, lengthening his neck, but not past the bit, and did away with any lingering hiding behind the bit he would do. It made him so much steadier in the bridle and on his own feet in the trot and canter.

This stretchy work is more basic work that should have been done a while ago. However, Penn came to us wanting to put his head between his knees and lean with very little balance of his own. He and I would have ended up doing somersaults like this roll cage car, just sans roll cage.

I'm supposed to do most of my warm up in this lower frame, and at home, most of my work in general until he gets his balance. I'm really excited to try this lower frame this weekend in warm up- I think it'll really sharpen up the tests as long as I can keep him connected from the warm up to the show ring. Maybe I should practice quick stretches in trot so I could swing past the judge, stretch down the long wall, shorten and collect, enter at A.

SO MUCH FLY PROTECTION. Just need boots.

2. Penn's new saddle is on order.

His current one is a Stubben 1894 18" 29cm tree. I ordered the exact same saddle in a 31cm Thursday morning. I made a quick trip to the tack shop Wednesday night because they had a 30cm saddle in stock (but 17.5" seat), and I wasn't sure I wanted a 30cm... considering Penn grew out of his 29cm in 6 months. It's a good thing I tried that saddle because Penn fills it completely and then some on one side, and it fits well on the other side. So if I ordered the 30, I'd be ordering again in 6 months, or it just wouldn't fit when it came in. Also, I realized his muscles aren't developing evenly. The new saddle should be here in about 2 months.

Anyone want his current saddle? I'm not actively trying to sell it until my new one comes in, but if you're interested, send me an email at codexdressage at gmail and I'll let you know when it's officially for sale! Obviously, it's still in excellent condition. I'll probably end up putting it up for consignment when my new one comes in- tack shop seems to be ordering a ton of these saddles, so I expect it won't be there for long since it's readily available.

I got this fabulous silver pad for $32 when I went to the tack shop! I love it. I could even use it at a show in a pinch too. I think I can use a seam ripper on the logo in the corner and it'll pop right off.

3. We're back to trying things for tummy problems.

Penn had horrible diarrhea on the 20min drive to Trainer's for lesson last time. Like, I washed his butt before we rode. It was bad. He had more cow pie like poop (and lots of liquid) this past weekend. It seems his diarrhea is back. Trainer is very concerned about him getting sick (I am too, don't worry!). She gave me the scenario we're going to face for Championships: an 8+ hour trailer ride where temp differences from start to finish are 20 degrees different. He's going to be feeling a little under the weather with diarrhea, which will compromise his immune system, and he's going to get very sick very far from home. We need to figure out how to 'stop him up' without drying him out and making him colic.

Trainer suggested Succeed, and I priced it and it's over $100 for 30 days. I'm not opposed to it since he'd be on it for about a week before shows, during the show, and for a few days after getting home. Except I haul him all the time- to shows, to lessons, to just go hack with friends at Trainer's barn. He'd need to be on it all the time! I also can't get it immediately. Other options include Bio-Sponge, Probios, Platnium's Probiotics, SmartDigest, etc. Most of these things I can't get before going away this weekend. I'm not eager to do Bio-Sponge- we tried that when he moved to this barn, and while I think it helped, it didn't take care of the problem.

The best I could do was go to Tractor Supply and get him Probios Soft Chews (they were on sale, more cost effective than the powder, easier than the powder, available, and had decent online reviews) and a bale of compressed alfalfa. I have omeprozole for this weekend already. He'll carry on with the alfalfa no matter what since it's just good to have more ruffage in his belly (I'll have to talk to BO about getting him actual bales because that's cheaper to buy than TS's compressed bales).

I tried U-Gard before, but I'm unsure how well it worked for his diarrhea. That was always hit or miss and I couldn't identify a trigger, other than he got in the trailer... which triggers it at seemingly different severity with no clue as to why each trip is so different. A 20 min trip with a buddy had poop in majority of his tail and down his legs. A 4 hour trip had clean hind legs with some in his tail, but loose poop all weekend and into the week after he got home. Another 4 hour trip with a buddy for part of the way seemed to be fine, only the usual small amount of poop in his tail. I'm not concerned about ulcers at this point- it's the diarrhea. Suggestions?

Edit: What about it being a possible training issue? What if I loaded him every time I was at the barn and fed him part of his dinner or some alfalfa or other tasty treat? He's obviously anxious about the trailer, yet still willing to get on, so maybe I can associate it with positive things like really good food?

6/5/2016 - NC PAHA Recognized Show

Otherwise known as, "that time we went and played with the Arabians of PA, part 1." (part 2 is going to be the last weekend in June)

Don't get too excited (unless it's about matching wine glasses),
I was the only one in 1-2 AA and there were two of us in 1-3 AA.

Man, let me start off with, those Arabians f-ing BROUGHT IT. This was a small show- rides started at 8 and ended just after 4, with only one ring going. There were some open slots and several breaks. However, there was a very healthy turnout across all the levels- every level had an entry, from Intro to Grand Prix. And everyone was oh so competent and better. There were very few bad scores from what I could tell, and a lot in the mid to upper 60s. Maybe that's a sign of a generous judge, but I don't think so. Everyone was GOOD. I was able to watch a lot of them.

These were from I-2 (sorry for the crappy editing, my phone was NOT helpful in its picks of exposure):

Canter pirouette

11 one-tempis that are pretty darn good I think!

Final extended trot

This rider made up all of the FEI rides- she had 3 horses there. She did have each horse ride two tests... I-2 & GP, I-2 & Inter-B, PSG and I-1.

I think Penn and I were one of two or three non-Arab competitors at this all-breed show. The show is sponsored by the PA Arabian Horse Association, and there were two days of all Arab halter/HUS/driving/breed-show-activities the days before the open dressage show.

I only have one bone to pick about this show- the lack of riding rings. The show was at a county fairgrounds... one without more than one proper ring. There was a gravel/sand pad near the ring that was barely bigger than a 20m circle for warm-up. The judge and TD made the call before the show started that the area between A and the main show ring fence could be used as a warm-up area for people on deck and in the hole. Before I found that out, I was planning on warming up in the grass on the car-racecourse. Anyway, the space they allowed was about the size of a small dressage arena on good footing, so totally doable.

Stabling. Penn was in the wing to the right of the big red storage looking area.

I really liked the stabling, and I think it agreed with Penn nicely. The stalls were small, but they changed from wood to metal chicken type fencing halfway, on all 4 sides. They allowed an excellent breeze and Penn had a ton of "windows." He did significantly less stall walking Saturday night than he did at Morven last time out.

He settled in like a champ. No screaming, no spinning. Just straight to the hay net.

Speaking of stabling, this is the first time I've opted to have a tack stall. I added it to my entry after arriving and realizing how far up shit creek we'd be if the inch of rain and horrendous downpours actually happened. Luckily, I was on the end and there was an empty stall next to me! Penn's overnight stall was $50, so a tack stall was also $50. Considering I only spent $141 on his entry (office, stabling, 2 tests, drug fees), I think this show was dirt cheap and that let me get the tack stall.

Somehow as Sunday progressed, there was less and less room to walk. I sure do spread out at shows!

I got to school in the main show ring Saturday evening, but I didn't go into the dressage court itself. There was plenty of space to ride around it and get some work done. And of course I have a ton of pics of that! Penn was all business, as seems to be his usual.

Leg yield series

He's starting to look so grown up in canter!

One loop on the right lead. Just thought this was a neat view of it!

The judge was going to be sitting in a horse trailer with ramp. I made Penn take a good sniff of the trailer.
He still gawked at it Sunday morning, but got over it quickly.

I braided Saturday night, then we tucked Penn in and went to Husband's favorite brewery for dinner (he went to school near these fairgrounds).

Penn has an oral fixation... he likes to hold his rubber stall guard and mouth it and shake it a little.

All ready to be tucked in. (I did shut the doors overnight!)

We got some rain overnight, but it was just enough to create some very nice footing. Since the predicted weather was so bad and seemed to be holding off until about 11:30, the TD and the judge gave the riders quite a bit of free rein- you could ride out of order if you checked in at gate check and asked to move up. My original times were at 8:10 and 11:13, however I got my second ride moved up to 8:40 or something. I think I still rode sooner than both of my times. Everyone was on a mission to get done ASAP, it was nice.

I rode this test as a mix of sitting and posting because he didn't feel like he would tolerate sitting. In hindsight, I should have warmed him up more aggressively to make his connection better, so I had a place to sit. The problems in this test were all lack of riding by me. I had trouble identifying the right track for the first leg yield. Coming past A in right lead canter, I almost let him leave. I never confirmed the line with him. At the end of the last canter lengthening and into the trot, it was just a clusterf**k because that's a bad spot for him anyway, and a rider had just entered the ring to walk down the long side, which surprised Penn.

Penn: "I was just a freaking rockstar, yea!"

69.063%!!! Yea!!!! So it was first out of 1, but that is still a dominating and first place worthy score!

We got my second ride time all squared away, and I made the decision to ride Penn more aggressively before this test so he had a better connection.

The squarest halt... that happened in warm up.

I just love, love, love this pic!

My aggressive riding plan paid off!

68.971%! GAIG Qualifying! 1st out of 2. Second place had a VERY respectable and gorgeous test- 67%. As I said, this was a very competitive show.

I didn't realize his hind end was trailing so badly in the first part of the zig zag- oops. I loved his stretchy trot. His good stretchy free walk seems to have gone AWOL at shows- we'll have to work on it more. I loved a lot of this work. I knew this test was better than the first test, but I was miffed at scoring less- until I really sat down and looked at the test. I'm kicking myself for letting him break in the first one loop- that earned us a 4. If we had managed a 6, the final score would have been 70%+. Darn double coefficients! I didn't completely see the break coming when I was riding... but watching it, I never established a "counter canter" and tried to pull him around the turn at X on a whim, he got confused and broke. I'm sorry Penn! But seriously, how about that final halt getting a 9?! The judge is spot on about getting better balance in canter and adjustability. Penn is just getting to a point that I can really work on it at home, and it'll come in public with time.

Penn was AWESOME this weekend. Ever since PVDA, he's felt very grown up, and it showed this weekend. Less than a year into showing and he's scoring almost 70% in 1-3 at recognized shows? Not too shabby baby horse! I guess he's not going to be baby horse for much longer. He still needs a lot of help in the tests in public, which is fine. He's still learning his job!

Oh! I also finished my First Level Rider Award! It took me a while because of the 4 different judges rule even though I now have 7 scores 60%+ at first level. It's just how the judges worked out at the shows I've been to. If I had actually ridden my first test at PVDA last time instead of letting it just go by, I would have gotten the 4th judge and my award. Oh well! I have the award now.

He liked playing with the wine glasses.

We were able to get everything packed up before the rain hit, except for Penn... I got drenched loading him in the rain since he didn't care to be rushed and hurried to the trailer, and so he flew backwards off it when I took a bit too long getting him latched in. After that, Mother Nature just dumped the rain down.

I'm so excited to see what the next few shows hold! We'll have a lesson this week, then a couple quiet days before shipping out to the next show on Friday.

I love this face!

Pennsylvania Pete Does the Rain Dance

Thanks Austen for Penn's great nickname! I love it.

Apparently Penn's dressage is some kind of rain dance, because remember how the last show was soppy as all hell?

Soppyness.

Guess what...

This might just be worse.
However, this is better than the original forecast of tornadoes.

We're doing a one day recognized show on Sunday, just when the east coast is going to get hammered with some pretty severe weather. The original forecast was brought to my attention via weather.com app giving me a "Severe Weather Alert for the Upcoming Weekend".  Original forecast was for extremely severe thunderstorms with a high likelihood of tornadoes- the affected area stretched the entire way from where I live to the show we're going to. Great.

Penn did a perfect and too large turn on the haunch Thursday evening! Just gotta tighten it up for 2nd level.

At least it seems to have been downgraded from "extremely severe" to "potentially severe" thunderstorms. I like thunderstorms. As in, I like sitting on my porch watching them with Husband where he's attempting to get pictures of the lightning. I'm a bit nervous, only because I had a dream last night about really super severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.

A freshly dragged arena Thursday night meant I could see all my tracks, so I made my own dressage court in the middle (probably about 10m too short) and kept myself in it and working my corners properly!

It seems we'll be working around thunderstorms all day long- showing between them, then driving home in them. I ride at 8:10 and 11:20something, so I'm hopeful that I'll at least get to ride before most of the rain happens.

I am glad I never got my show coat to the dry cleaner- I'd be super pissed for it to be spiffy clean and get rained on again. I'll take it first thing Monday morning! Also, I still haven't gotten the stains from Morven's footing out of my breeches...

The cats love it when Penn gets things from Smartpak. Their boxes are perfect for box catting.

New toys post coming soon! And a post about Flexible Fit Equestrian!

I did consider scratching and saving the gas money, but I'll be out my entry fees and hotel at this point. We'll go and see what the weather does, and possibly scratch once we're there. I'm not sure this facility's footing will hold up to intense rain like Morven Park's did.

Well blogosphere, I'll certainly let you know how this weekend goes!

5/30 Lesson + Horsey Products

I have no media from lesson, so the media in this post is from various days in the last week.

I worked from home from the barn last Wednesday (our barn is awesome and has excellent wifi). I could see Penn's stall from where I was sitting in the lounge, which enabled me to run away and snag a picture of him trying to sleep. BTW, doing my working remote day from the barn? Incredible. I took Penn for a spin at lunch and was home for dinner!

Hawk and I hauled to Trainer's house for lesson on Monday. Its been super hot here, and today was only slightly better than the weekend. (I know, 88 degrees is not hot to a lot of my southern readers, but hey, it's hot for us!)

Trainer and I caught up on the last horse show, Penn's abscess remnant (something I may eventually talk about on here, but I really don't have enough information right now- the only thing that matters is Penn is sound and comfortable), and issues that we need to work on. I mentioned that both judges nailed me for head tilt and a lack of balance in the canter- mostly in the corners where I either bounce him off the corner or bury him in it. I wanted to work on my halts, because he's generally fairly square, but I want to make those halts super square because of the extra halt in 1-3.

We went on a big group trail ride Friday afternoon. Penn is styling how to trail ride safely, and in style.
#don'tshootme #psofsweden

Another thing I've been playing with is a regular snaffle bridle with a flash. Trainer suggested it in our last lesson, but Penn immediately went lame and I never got to test it before our last show. I've been borrowing a regular noseband from BO since my only black one is in bad shape from a flash dragging it down Mikey's nose and is no longer usable with a flash. She suggested it because while the Micklem is great, nothing beats the steadiness of an actual cheek piece, and steadiness is something we've been lacking. I had mixed feelings about the regular noseband (it was a different feel to both of us), but he definitely went well in it, and he went REALLY well in it at lesson.

Close up of the pretty.

Trainer had me trot on, and then immediately pointed out that I'm shoving his haunches in. She had me play with a balance between how I use my legs (like keeping a soccer ball straight and even in front of me). Tracking left, she also had me post on the wrong diagonal to help my timing with the right hind. I found an interesting rhythm of bouncing him off the inside leg and supporting with the outside, and a lot of our issues cleared up (ie, head tilting, falling in the corners, unsteady steps). I spent some time just going around the ring and doing circles to figure out how to get Penn balanced properly without shoving Penn's hindquarters around.

Keeping that in mind, we did some lengthenings on the long wall, came back around and did some leg yields out on the next long wall. If Penn got fussy, I would sit the trot and kick him on using that same rhythm, just louder. The lengthenings are very small and basic because we're having this straightness issue, and he just isn't strong enough yet once he's straight. Bringing him back from the lengthening is easy- half halting through my core and shoulders, and he lifts right up and shortens his step. Very cool.

Trail ride ear shot!

We changed up the trot work to the left- leg yield into halt, trot off promptly, leg yield again immediately. This, ahem, pointed out how much I over use my left rein and made it click to me that if I bear down on it, Penn isn't going to let his left hind follow through into the halt. Penn did not like this exercise and tried to back out of the halt and threaten me when I asked him to move off. Eventually we got it a bit better, and it's something that will work for me when I'm alone and without a ground person. If I'm doing it wrong, he'll swing his butt and lose his straightness and not be able to trot off promptly. It's very clear when I'm wrong and when I'm right. I also ended up swapping to sit trot for most of this work- Penn just needed the extra help and it let me get after his fussy moments quicker.

We spent a long time working the trot. Penn was fabulous. Light, bouncy, through, and VERY steady in the bridle. I need to figure out how to make that steadiness happen at this weekend's recognized show without working the trot for a half hour plus. Keeping him balanced between the leg helped a lot, but I'll have to work the other trot work in too.

Nomming grass from the hay field.

As for the canter, each lead has it's own theory:

Canter right:

• Start in trot on a circle, do haunches in on the circle.
• Canter right lead, still in haunches in.
• Transition to trot, still in haunches in.
• Repeat until comfortable.
• Take it large and repeat the transitions on the straight lines.
• Eventually you want to be able to do 2-3 transitions to canter on one long wall.
• The short side of the arena really screws us up. I have incredible difficulty getting him back properly after cantering the short side because I lose the left hind or I overdrive it to the inside instead of bending around the corner.

Canter left:

• Leg yield right in trot from centerline to quarterline or quarterline to wall.
• Straighten, canter left, continue leg yield right.
• Transitioning out of the canter, leg yield into trot.
• The left lead transitions are all about keeping Penn busy, active, and engaged.

This lesson mostly focused on the failures of the left hind and it's unwillingness to keep up, as well as my enabling it to happen.

Oh yea, I had her look at my saddle's fit because I've begun to suspect that it doesn't fit Penn anymore... and she agrees. So I'll be ordering another Stubben 1894 (I like this saddle a lot and the shape is still good for Penn) and selling mine... I believe mine is a 29cm tree, I'll order the 30cm... good thing I logged which tree is in it when I posted about it in November!

_______________________________________________________________

Alright, horsey product time!

Pretty. Yes? Please?

I'm shopping for a new snaffle bridle. My only black snaffle is in use as a double bridle via bradoon hanger, and while I don't need it to act as such, its noseband is not in good shape. Using a flash attachment (that I can't find), I managed to pull the top of the noseband down for long enough that it has trouble staying up on the nose where it should. The bridle is also too big for Penn. Cue shopping!

I'm looking at the Flexible Fit Equestrian bridles- I only want a headpiece, checks, and noseband which totals to $159 and change (plus $35 in shipping that I may be able to split with BO, plus some unknown amount from customs). I looked into buying just a noseband from elsewhere, like at Bit of Britain, and just that totals $90 before tax and shipping. And I'm just not excited about that noseband. If I'm going to spend over $100, I may as well (hopefully) love what I get!

• Flexi-Fit Gel Mix and Match Bridle - Headpiece and cheeks
• Anatomical Converter Crank Noseband with Silver Piping

When put together in the build a bridle, it's a bit less expensive than buying each piece on it's own. I'm not fond of the crank, and there is an alternative, but I don't like it as much. They're almost identical, but I can't put a finger on why I don't like it.

I'm currently going back and forth with reps from the company about the proper sizing (hint, I've measured Penn twice now), and I think their bridles run a little small when compared to American sized bridles (the company is in Australia).

Anyone have experience with these bridles?

___________________________________________

Anyone have experience with this product, or this type of product? I found a super scary COTH chain that gave some horrifying allergic reactions to either this product, or ones like it. I think I'm going to return the spot treatment to Tractor Supply, I'm just too afraid to use it. The chain is old (from 2009) but even the packaging warned about allergic reactions, that may happen without warning, even after successfully using the product, and may increase in chance with continued use. I wanted it mostly for ticks, but I think I'll just have the vet give Penn a Lyme vaccine instead.

5/21-22/2016 - Penn's First Recognized Show!

This is a long post (mostly because it has a ton of pictures and some video). Sorry!

Successful weekend!

Penn took his good old sweet time, but his abscess issue cleared up mid-week as he became sound on Wednesday. I decided to take him to the recognized show this weekend even though we hadn't practiced at all- if he didn't seem up to it, I could always scratch and he could just get a big whiff of a bigger horse show atmosphere. May as well get something for my money!

Plus, we had to pick up Guinness so we could meet and hang out with Austen all weekend! (which was completely awesome!)

Picking up Guinness!

I got to meet the magnificent duo of Austen & Guinness!

Friday's weather was perfect traveling weather. Sunshine and warm. I took Penn for a spin in the warm up ring where he proceeded to be an excellent and on task baby horse (he had a couple very baby horse moments going from stabling to warm up)! Too bad the wonderful weather and on task horse were not going to stay!

Settled in for the night. I love these stalls- they all have windows! Penn really liked that. I'll have to remember to request this barn (or any of the non-shedrow barns) next time we're back at this venue. For my future reference: Barn 4 is where we stayed.

It started raining Friday night, and I don't think it ever really quit all weekend. It was always at least misting, if not down pouring. To make matters worse, the temps stayed in the 50s all weekend.

I had a little free time Saturday morning, so I took Penn out for some grass so he'd settle in his stall.

Grazing Saturday morning in his new Mio sheet.

Grazing time ended when the rain stopped misting and started really coming down. I popped in some braids when we got back to his stall.

Freshly done braids.

________________________________________________

1st Saturday Test: First 3, AA, GAIG Qualifying

Our first test of the weekend was 1-3, which threw me for a loop because I expected it to be 1-2. Penn was good in warm up- I made him go through all the puddles (which were everywhere) and he was very impressed by the footing- he was taking big slow suspended trot steps. I didn't warm him up like I should have- I was concerned about stressing him, worried about him slipping, and worried about tiring him out... so I let him get away with a lot and never found the right connection, which didn't help me in our test.

Leg yield and the start of the head tilt nonsense that plagued us all weekend.

Very up and down canter into the lengthening.

Loss of control of the shoulders as he gave F and/or a puddle a hard look.

I never got my head in the game for this test. I rode poorly. I forget that Penn is still a baby horse when it comes to the show ring, and he got off task and I never corrected him. There were so many distractions for me: the rain, it being my first time back in the USDF/USEF show ring since 2014, and my flipping coat tail is too long and I kept sitting on it which pulled my jacket around. My ring geometry was atrocious, our normally excellent leg yields had leading haunches, I couldn't find right bend or get Penn back on task to save my life. It was just bad. Penn had zero interest in the free walk or stretchy trot and we left a ton of points on the table.

Link to video here.

58.971% - 5th out of 9 (originally 13, but there were 4 scratches), not a GAIG Championship qualifying score.

Totally deserved that score. Just have to chalk it up to both horse and rider being distracted.

________________________________________________

We had about an hour between tests, so I took Penn back to the barn to decompress and to attempt to get my brain going again. Husband used the break as a chance to get some pictures of Penn with his head out of his stall:

I love this picture. Head resting, eyes closing.

Peeking out at the rain.

Eventually we made our way back down to the soppy warm up and show arena.

3 of the show rings in the misty rain. There was a 4th off to the right.

________________________________________________

2nd Saturday Test: First 2, AA, CBLM Qualifying

I took Penn back down to warm up and attempted to get myself on task and working. It kind of worked and I had much better luck riding 1-2, which I think both Penn and I prefer.

I joined my local GMO group the week before this show when I found out Region 1 does a region specific championships- the Colonel Bengt Ljungquist Memorial Championships (CBLM Championships). In order to qualify at First Level, you have to be a member of your local GMO and score a 62%+ in 1-2 at a qualifying show. The percent differs for each level, just like GAIG Regional Championships. This championship further splits First Level riders- Section A riders cannot have shown at 3rd level or above at a recognized show. Section B riders are those that don't qualify for Section A. Oops, I guess I'm Section B. I'm still not clear if they lump AA and Open together, so I'm not looking forward to that if it's Section B, AA & Open competing together. I'm not sure I want to go to CBLM championships, but I paid dues to the local GMO so I can decide later (plus I only planned on riding in two classes that are qualifiers this summer, so I needed that membership ASAP to not miss out on a possible score!).

Lengthening

Canter across the diagonal to trot at X.

Yet another loss of control of the shoulders as he looks at a puddle. Or something. This is my life in canter once we get into the show ring.

Not many comments for this test, I was just happy it went better than the first! I think my dad had some technical issues because all of the right lead canter work is missing from the video and I had to piece the test back together from 3 different video segments.

Link to video here.

62.500% - 3rd out of 11 (originally 13, but there were 2 scratches), a CBLM Championship qualifying score!

I was super happy to get my CBLM Championship qualifying score- no wasted time there!

________________________________________________

At Saturday evening's night check, Penn and Guinness were watching Horse TV.

Saturday afternoon was for watching Austen's ride (which was exciting and she'll have to tell you about it), and then setting everything up for Sunday.

While it may have misted for most of the day Saturday, it poured all night long and kept pouring throughout the morning. Luckily, it slowed down to misting for my last ride of the weekend! (It was really Austen's magical raincoat that stopped the rain for my ride... but not hers... thanks!)

A ton of riders had scratched on Saturday, and the trend continued Sunday. The rings were even sloppier. Coming from event land, I didn't think too poorly of the footing- for as sloppy as it was, horses weren't slipping when they stepped on the surfaces, and it wasn't shoe sucking mud either. By the end of the day, the show organizers were trying to get riders to move up their ride times so everyone could get in the ring and get home because no one really wanted to play "day at the horse show" anymore!

Even sloppier warm up area. He had such nice suspension in here though!

________________________________________________

Sunday Test: First 3, AA, GAIG Qualifying

I came to this test's warm up with my head on right and Stephen's warm up routine in mind. Establish the bend each direction using leg yields out, some figure 8's with trot/walk/trot transitions, run through a couple leg yields from 1-2, then the 1-3 zig zag a couple times. Work the trot/halt/trot a little. Canter became more of "keep cantering!" as Penn didn't want to continue cantering and I had to tap him with the whip to remind him to keep going. Penn started picking up the wrong lead just before we went into the ring. Eeek! I did the right to left simple change once.

I ran the idea of sitting the trot past Austen, who agreed it would probably be better (she noted after that I probably could have posted the lengthenings... oops). I also kept my whip so I could remind Penn about keeping the canter (I've only used the whip in the ring once or twice... I know I tapped Penn at least 3 times to keep moving). Off to the test!

Halt at X between 10m circle madness. Look how straight!!! Too bad this halt wasn't actually square!
He left his right hind behind...

... and brought it forward when I was being confusing (yet again!) as I asked for trot. (this shot is a video screenshot to prove square happened late)

More head tilting nonsense in the 10m circle left.

LOVELY one loop though. The judge didn't seem to agree as it only got a 6.5.

The second step of trot in the simple change. I just liked how the right hind stepped up.

Air time in the lengthening canter!

More lengthening canter.

The second shallow loop.

Lengthening trot.

Lengthening trot again.

Final halt of the weekend!

I kept my head in this test and had to really work for it. Penn just wasn't keen on the footing. He didn't like the splashing and wasn't sure of himself, so I ended up doing a lot more supporting than I've ever done for him in public. But we can chalk that up to him being a baby horse and me not giving him enough experience on poor footing.

I need to equally support Penn's hind legs in the trot-halt-trot. He's very capable of square halts and I gave away points in this test. He squared up after I added my leg back, then moved on to trot! I also have to stop the halt/salute mentality. I spent time fiddling with my reins again! I also completely forgot where I was going when I picked up the right lead canter. The 15m circle right at C was poorly placed because I simply forgot about it when I was trying to make Penn pick up the correct lead! I loved the canter one loops though- he really stood up and balanced.

Link to video here.

62.206% - 4th out of 7 (originally 9, but there were 2 scratches), a GAIG Championship qualifying score!

________________________________________________

Even though the 1-3 Saturday judge gave us a lower score (totally deserved), I much preferred her judging to the other judge I rode for (1-2 Saturday and 1-3 Sunday). The first judge varied her scores, where the second one became a 6'er. Almost everything was between a 6 and 7 in both of the tests I rode for her, and I thought the Sunday test went better than the Saturday. She wasn't nailing me as hard for mistakes I think, but she also wasn't giving the extra points. She comes to my area often for clinics, but I still don't really have any desire to lesson with her. Maybe I should since she's a judge.

Penn got some bling this weekend too:

PS of Sweden browband, passed from Emma to Austen to me- it fits my bridle and looks incredible on Penn!
Thanks Emma/Austen!
Edit: Thanks SB too! I didn't realize it started with you!

And I didn't bother cleaning my tack before my rides... I needed to clean it after so I could put it away!

The footing was a bit... sloppy.
Girth, boots, saddle, breeches (!!!!!), horse all looked like this. Penn even managed to get sand on his hindquarters and up my back! Also, I need help cleaning my white breeches... I've washed them 3 times now and they still have sand stains.

I watched Austen's rides Sunday afternoon (she totally rocked them and I'll let her tell you about it), and hung out with the best husky dogs ever, Sonka and Lyra. Husband liked them, and he's not a dog person. Mostly because these two are very cat like! I quote: "Huskies are my kind of dog. They're cat-dogs. I'd like one."

Taking Guinness home. I may have tried to take Sonka home with me after dropping Guinness off. I love him!

Even though I botched our first test of the weekend, we still got the qualifying scores for GAIG Championships and CBLM Championships that I came for. I couldn't have gotten two scores for GAIG at this show anyway, even if they were both qualifying scores (silly rules about how it has to be at 2 different shows). I'm super pleased with Penn- I've never ridden him in muck like that and he's never been at a show this big. He had baby horse moments, but seemed super proud of himself at the end of the day Sunday. We got some experience, so now we're going to work on making those scores a bit better for next time!