Yes, yet again I have failed in giving an update within a few days after a competition. Instead, I've noticed I wait until I have the time and mindset to sit down and type, which happens to take over a week to do. I've realized that seeing as I've competed at eight competitions this spring, it seems like I'd have a lot of updates if I created a post after each and every show, so I decided to combine a recap of my CIC* at Greenwood and the prelim I ran at Feather Creek Horse Trials last weekend.
To say I got my last qualifying round I needed at Greenwood by the skin of my teeth would be quite the accurate statement. My dressage was horrendous, only being a qualifying score by less than five points. It was bad. Stoney got ridiculously tense, and it didn't help that I got tense as a result of his actions. We had a nice warm up, but as soon as we got into the ring it all changed.
As for cross country, it was hot and the ground was HARD. Even after having a thunder storm roll in the night before running cross country, the ground went from unbearably hard to bearably hard. Stoney went around like a champ (if you didn't see the video on my Facebook page, you should really check it out!). I'll admit, I was REALLY nervous about the water complex, but Stoney showed little hesitation and jumped in quite confidently. I think it's safe to say this horse is beginning to get over his timidness at water complexes. Unfortunately, the course took its toll on him, and he was quite tired when I came down to the third fence from home. The poor guy was literally shaking when I pulled up, but he cooled down fairly quickly like always.
So, after lots of icing and walking that afternoon, my horse was quite stiff behind. Even with walking him all afternoon and that night after the Area V dinner, he hadn't gotten much better. Sunday morning started EARLY for me. I was at the barn by 4:30 that morning, where I then walked him, iced him, and then eventually rode him (as soon as it got light enough outside) to let him work out of his stiffness behind. I then had to bathe him (gotta love greys) and get myself ready for jogs, which started around 7:30 that morning for the one star competitors. Although he was still just a teeny bit on the stiff side, we passed the jog.
Show jumping was quite bad too. Just being brutally honest. We had four rails, which is the limit you can have to getting a qualifying round. I missed at the swedish oxer, being too worried about the strides Mike told us to get instead of riding it off my eye and ended up adding a stride where I shouldn't have. The other three, however, were due to Stoney's exhaustion from the day before. I'm not even exagerating when I say Mike purposefully put a placing rail on the ground (too close to the fence) in order to make my horse crash through it, causing him to wake up and pick up his feet. After taking down poles and standards numerous times, my mother finally had to walk away because it was such a stomach twisting episode to watch. Most of my rails didn't come down until the end of the course. We somehow managed to hit all four back to back (at least for the most part I think). We hit our fourth rail the next to last fence from home. I did whatever I could to get my horse to clear the last fence and somehow we did. I swear, I've never had to work so hard to get that horse off the ground at every fence. He was beyond exhausted.
I was a little surprised seeing as the CIC* at Poplar was just as long/fast (with lots of hills!), and he jogged up great there, feeling fantastic going into show jumping on the third day. It was because of this that I kept our conditioning the same going into Greenwood. I guess the two underlying factors were the extremely hard ground and the heat that took effect at Greenwood. I had no idea it would create such a change in my horse.
So, somehow we managed to pull out a qualifying round and ended up placing fifth. I can tell you I have never felt so much pressure in my life these past few months, and I've never felt such a huge amount of relief as I did when I left that ring. I come out to Mike, who shrugs his shoulders and gives a small smile, saying, "Well, you got it done."
The two major things I learned from Greenwood: I needed to increase my horse's conditioning schedule and we needed to figure out how to simmer down and relax in dressage as to manage a better score. My first thought was, "Great. My horse is so fit that he can't stay relaxed and calm in dressage, and now he has to become even fitter."
I came home that day and Heather decided that since I was going with her to Feather Creek anyway to groom, I might as well enter Stoney there. It's not like I'd need to run for time or anything on cross country, and if the ground was hard, I could just withdraw on Sunday.
So off to Oklahoma the very next weekend we went. We arrived Friday, and I rode dressage that afternoon. Just like at Greenwood, he got quite tense once I moved over to the dressage ring from warm up, but I told myself it was schooling, not a competition, and I did things I normally don't, like over flexing him each direction, halting, and trotting in ten meter circles. He got down to business and had a great score. He was 7th after dressage and pulled out a 37.3. That was even with our unfortunate "4" we were given for our free walk. He doesn't quite understand yet that he can't run off in this movement. I practically halted him right in the middle of it and made him pay attention. Even with him trying to exit the ring...twice... *sigh*, we still got some good scores, including an "8" on our medium walk, medium canter, and on BOTH our counter canters! This horse could barely even counter canter back in Florida and he got eights on them in both directions. Collectively, he got a "7" for his freedom and regularity, and I was even given the comment of "well balanced and nice use of topline" in his medium canter. It's safe to say it was a complete turn around from Greenwood. Lynn Partridge was the rider after me and saw my test. Back at the barn she gave me a hug because she was so proud of how we did. She has known for a while that we can come together in warm up but seem to fall apart in the ring, and she was ecstatic for me that things were improving.
Saturday we show jumped, and it couldn't have been more perfect. I was seeing my distances perfectly that day, and I am now able to set him up and, wait for it... *the key point and ahha moment here* LET GO a stride or two away from the fence. And contrary to what I believed, he won't get faster. Crazy how much better my horse jumps when I can do that and he is able to use himself better to clear the fences.
After A LOT of rain, I ended up running cross country Sunday morning...practically in a lightning storm. Complete truth, I promise. The weather was quite eerie. Later after I rode they ended up putting the show on a two hour hold because of it. Turned out, the ground was extremely muddy and slick. I ran not only because the ground was soft, but also because Feather Creek had completely changed up their cross country course, and it was no way on the soft and easy side of things. It was definitley a test of accuracy, with plenty of bending lines, corners, and skinnies. Lots of skinnies. Most being in combinations. With the exception of having a little bit of a sticky ride through the new coffin they built (which was my fault), everything rode great. Even after coming in three fourths a minute over optimum, we ended up in fourth.
I was so relieved to have had such an improvement at Feather Creek. Even with the stress of qualifying out of the way, you can't imagine the stress I feel every day towards needing improvement on a daily basis. Not to mention after Greenwood I was so confused with how exactly I needed to even ride my horse. I had no idea the kind of ride he needed anymore. Up until this point, I've had to help him along the entire way. Now, he is learning to hold himself up in dressage instead of relying on my constant leg being there to help carry him, and he is now learning that when I give my hands and drop his mouth in front of a show jumping fence, he has to do his job and jump on his own. No more of me helping him get over the fences, and no more of him relying on me. He has to grow up.
Finally, things are clicking. Granted, we have our days (like this past week), but that is what Heather and Mike are for. Heather has been helping me a lot lately on the flat with him, getting on him and riding him on the days that he struggles so much that he needs a professional ride. I myself struggle too, so putting us together can result in a mess on some days. That is why I'm at Gold Chip. There are just days that he needs someone with their skill level and years of experience riding him. Some people tell me, "Well, if you just did this on the flat," or "If you just didn't do this," but it is so much harder than most think. Because Stoney and I both struggle with our flat work, it is a constant battle we face together.
At this point, it is just brick by brick. I can only take one day at a time. Earlier this week, I had to accept the fact that yes, his canter work is great, but he very well can't hold himself up in the counter canter yet. It's hard for him. But we have improved. Our trot work has improved, our canter work has improved, and during my trot sets the other day, I can now have him consistently trotting into the contact on an extremely loose rein (for forty minutes I might add!), something that has taken me two and a half years to accomplish and that I used to not be able to do without a training tool to help. We are also completing a trot set after our flat work most days, along with one day a week being devoted to trot sets. Brick by brick. More are being put into place each day (or at least most days). Even though there are still tons more to go, the fact that I can stand back and see the progress being made is what keeps me going each and every day. I can only hope things fall into place next weekend at Texas Rose, the "mandatory outing" for all the qualified Young Riders. All the selectors will be there, and it is after this show that we are informed on if we make the team for this summer. Also, I can only hope that I am not asking too much in the fact that I hope everything can fall into place for Stoney and I...again.
