Two years ago we were at intro level with not a canter in site. We were comfortably achieving good scores, when we weren't spooking and dancing around, but prelims were hell! We either couldn't get the canter or I bottled even asking for it for fear of leaving the entire arena! 1's were the norm and I had honestly got to the point of thinking it would never come!
Over them 2 years the canter has improved, but not without running, pulling, stressing, racing around, and little grace! We have entered lots of prelims and tried to attend lots of different centres .... miles on the clock as they say, but I felt like we were in a rut, I knew what we could do, knew what we couldn't and knew what would go wrong. Captain Hindsight, maybe the anticipation of the right and the wrong was counter productive!
A couple of weeks ago I had the grand idea, that maybe he has too much thinking time in prelim, as an intelligent but sensitive horse who he has too much time to think and We react. This seemed a gamble as we barely have a canter, let alone medium work.
I am so pleased that we actually managed to pull off a cracking score of 63.81% (even with a getting a little lost!) and a 4th place!
I some how, for the first time managed to put my horse before my competitive nature in that few minutes, which was rewarded by the judges scores! I went in relaxed, I allowed Travis to have his head, as he still needs to be slightly above the bridle to hold his balance, I didn't carry him, I didn't pull his head down, I didn't hassle him to make every step great, I just guided him into each movement, not pushing him or rushing him. He never put a foot wrong, he never spooked, never backed off, just quietly listened for what was next!
We both left the arena with a calm long rein and a mutual respect for one another!
Our next novice is already in the calendar, with the nightmare Novice 30 (Note To Self: Always read the test before booking!)
I feel like the comparison text sheets between prelim and novice speak a 100
Once again I threw Arlo in at the deep end, affiliating him purely for the Arena UK second round show, and once again he pulled it out the bag. How lucky am I to have such a wonderful little horse? We haven’t really competed this year. I don’t really compete over the winter, and also my horsebox was away for repairs up until the beginning of June, so I had no transport even if I’d wanted to.
With the dry ground we don’t seem to be having much luck with shoes, as little madam managed to pull both her front shoes off within 12 hours the other day! We entered the arena with two shoes on for a schooling session and left it with one missing (took about an hour to find it). Then that afternoon, as I went to put some hoof ointment on, I looked down and had to double take, thinking I was looking at the wrong hoof. But, no, the other shoe was missing too.
After having a long wait and some lunch at the onsite café, it was time to get ready for the Joan Wolfe Overall Supreme Shetland Pony Championship. I got changed out of my usual showing outfit into black trousers and a maroon top with white spots, as you are expected to be a bit more “bling” in the evening.
We were all set to go for our next outing, and were super excited. That was until I heard the dreaded clunk of a loose shoe! I checked it over, praying it wasn’t too loose, but, nope, it was going to need a refit.
