Reflecting on 2012

2012 has been quite a year for the Spotted Duo! We trained hard all winter and then made our debut into the eventing world with lots of lessons, clinics and schooling shows spaced out between lots of trail riding.

Down the center line at Devonwood

In February we went to a local schooling dressage show at the prestigious Devonwood and even though Deuce was a fire breathing dragon in warm-up (and I nearly called it quits before we even got in front of the judge), we managed to get ourselves together to rock our Intro test earning a 67.5 and a pretty blue ribbon.

March took us to the Jump for Joy schooling jumper show where we flew around a few 2' and 2'3" basic courses and learned the need for practicing more half halts.

Once the ground got a little drier in the spring we were able to get out for some cross country schooling.

Splashing at Aspen!

Then in May, the Horsemasters (Adult Pony Clubbers) were fortunate enough to be invited  participate in a neighboring pony club's eventing camp at the beautiful Aspen Farms in Yelm. That's where the big spotted boy discovered the joy of jumping up and off banks and galloping through water. That was also when it became solidified in my mind that this big spotted horse is truly thrilled with his new career and a he is in fact the fine makings to be the honest, brave and talented event horse that I envisioned he could be.

Later in May we went to an  event clinic at Inavale for cross country and stadium jumping then competed and won in our first ever event derby. This is also when our diving left before a jump issue became very evident. June led us to to our very first horse trials - it was a one-day at Inavale and we went Hopeful (2') with tremendous success though we were still working through the dive left issues.




July took us to another dressage schooling show that was another great practice for being out and about and then 1-day horse trails at Caber Farm at the 2' level, where we proved that we had fixed our dive left issues and brought home a second place!

Then we went to Pony Club camp at Caber where we did lots of jump schooling and conquered all the beginner novice fences (including the scary brushy roll top!) and several novice lines and ditches. We even jumped up the and off the training bank line. (Deuce chose that line for us!) So I had to put on my big girl pants and decide I had an event horse that was ready to move up and I needed to get with him and move up too.

So on to beginner novice we went! The next 1-day in August was a huge success for our debut into the Beginner Novice division. My wonderful husband, and Mom and Dad were there to see us bring home our blue!!!


 In September we did lots of trail riding and ponying with Flash and we went BN at an event derby at Lake Oswego. I was super proud of our performance on that course as Deuce had never schooled any of those fences before and he not once balked at any of the cross country jumps. And the course took us through the bank complex multiple times!

 
The end of October turned rainy but we still had a blast at the final 1 day HT of the season - we went beginner novice again and placed second  on our dressage score despite the downpours during stadium and cross country.



In late October, we had a fun pony club lesson where we became a purple sparkle mess with wings and then repeated the costume at another soggy outing for a neighboring farm's jumper derby.


November dried out a little and we did some more trail riding and lots of lessons.. and we got a new jump saddle and bridle!!!! Gotta have the right equipment if we are going to be serious about this sport! In December we were off to another dressage schooling show at Lake Oswego and did very well in our Beginner Novice test with a score of 34.

I can't believe how much we have accomplished in one season nor how far we have come with our training in one year. From a nervous novice to a solid and confident  Beginner Novice competitor. Deuce truly is an event horse and I am so thankful that he was true to his Appy nature and did not take my "no" for an answer. What a great year we have had, and looking forward to many more!

SNOW!!!

This was a surprise and a rare occurrence here! There were flurries at the office. I left about noon to head to the barn for a ride.... the closer I got to the barn, the more snow was on the ground! The temps hovered around 32 degrees. Water troughs were not frozen. Just the right amount of wet air hit cold air for a few hours in the right places to make some snow. It won't stick around long.... but its fun to see. Deuce and Flash didn't seem to mind at all. Other than they had to push the snow aside with their muzzles to find the grass.
Since the roads were slightly slushy around the barn, snow still falling and I am a giant chicken when it comes to winter weather driving; I opted out of a ride today. I snapped some pictures, gave some pets and scratches, fed some carrots and headed towards home.

Ready for Santa

It's this look right here....

Always eager and ready for the next job or adventure. The mighty Deuce is such a wonderful horse!

I just love this boy! 

And the dressage work continues..

Even though I had a week off from riding while I was visiting Georgia, Deuce did not get much of a break. Erin rode him while I was gone to keep him tuned up and ready for work when I got back.

 I had a lesson with Erin again today to continue our work on dressage. My focus this week is to use my legs and softening reins in the right combinations to maintain the bend and suppleness.  If I get stiff for even an instant, Deuce will brace and lock in the base of his neck and drift out the circle or fall in. So with lots of practice and reminders from Erin, I am finally starting to get a better feel for when he starts to lock up and am able to put my leg on and send him forward and get him back to supple and round again. 

So we are making our way into more fine details and technicalities of dressage, and it's quite tough for me but I remind myself it will make me a better rider and will help make Deuce a better athlete .. so I'll keep working at it. 

Success at Lake Oswego

Deuce and I went to Lake Oswego for a Dressage Schooling show today. I figured it would be good for us to get out and apply some of the good work we have been doing this past week. We sigend up for the Eventing Test  - Beginer Novice B Since that is mostly what we have been doing.

Our warm up went great. The rain looked like it was going to hold off for the morning so we were able to spend some time in the out door arena getting forward and focused. I loved how responsive and concentrated he was from the start. Very relaxed and ready for work. What progress we have made from last year!!! Then we had about fifteen minutes in the indoor arena and dressage court to ride around too. Which was great, I could find the spots where Deuce would be distracted (going past the judges table and the door to the outside.) We worked through those minor issues and then it was time to clear the arena and ride our test.

When I entered at A; I had a clear mind and was able to remember half of what we worked on and recall my dressage test too. We ended up with some very lovely round and bendy moments mixed in with a few not so nice nose in the air while we pass the door moments too. But overall not bad. We ended up with a score of 32... which I'm pretty happy about. We've been improving all year. And that score put us in first in our division, so a blue ribbon makes it pretty rewarding too.

Gotta love that striking spotted rump.

Ugh Dressage!

The event season is pretty much over for the winter (it's too wet in Area VII to school cross country courses, much less compete outdoors. So while it is fun to jump in the indoor arena, it is also a good opportunity to  focus on flat work and dressage. This past week I had gotten super frustrated with my riding and pretty much convinced myself that I had somehow become a terrible rider. Even though my last lesson with Erin was great with help on canter transitions, for some reason I was not getting it on my own. On top of that, I was having major trouble keeping Deuce together and bent on a circle without falling to the inside going right and popping the shoulder out going left. Then the more intent and frustrated about it I got, the worse he went. Poor Deuce. He was probably wondering what the heck I was trying to do up there on his back!

So I decided it was time for another lesson with Erin who again helped us tremendously. We broke down the steps to canter transitions, again but to tiny parts.  The key (even though, I know this and have heard it a million times... it just clicked this time, at last!!)  is to keep him bent to the inside with a giving rein and lots of leg (squeeze the rein for the bend then push hand  forward) while maintaining the outside rein, sit up, right leg behind the girth and shift my weight to the inside leg and step into canter. It took some doing but we got it and then got it consistently. Erin also give me some pre riding strategies to help develop a mental action plan to help keep from getting into the vicious frustrated cycle. Then tonight I road again and practiced everything Erin and I worked on in our lesson and while it was not perfect, it was so much better!

Now that I can reflect on it objectively;  our point of frustration is actually a good thing. It means Deuce and I are progressing in our training and we are now getting into more technical aspects in our riding and training.

Eating Habits

Deuce is funny about his grain. He is quite eager at feeding time; he looks anxiously for the ones that feed him to get to his stall and sometimes even paws at the door and neighs his little high pitched whinny neigh. He gets his hay, then his grain and dives in like any normal horse. But in the mornings, he gets about 3/4 of the way through his grain and leaves it for his hay!! That's a new one to me! Most horses will clean up every last bit of the tasty grain before thinking about hay... but Deuce must like leftovers.  When he is turned out in the morning after his hay is gone, there is still grain in his feeder and when he is brought back to his stall in the late afternoon he must enjoy his afternoon snack, because by dinnertime at night, his feeder is empty again.
maybe he is just that clever.... =)

A time to give thanks

There is so much to be thankful for in my life... Of course my wonderful horses are one of many.

Deuce is quite a horse. He's talented and while a bit opinionated at times, overall he is willing and agreeable to all I have asked him to do. (even if he does try to talk me into getting away with bad habits) I am thankful for his strength and health. I am thankful for the wonderful barn where he lives and all the people involved with his care and our training.

I am thankful for my fellow horse enthusiasts and all those eventers who are passionate about our sport and making sure it remains the fun and exciting competition it is.

I am thankful for my dear friends and family who are encouraging and supportive of my horse and eventing habits. And especially thankful to Russ who is patient and ultra supportive of all of my horsing around.

A loaded lesson

This afternoon I had a lesson with Erin; yay! It has been too long since I have had her instruction and Deuce and I needed it. The biggest focus on the flat was to get him to bend off my inside leg and get round. He tends to get stiff at the base of his neck and plow through my hands and pop his shoulder left on a circke right or  fall into the circle going left.  I worked really hard on staying back and keeping my legs nice and long and supportive while using my subtle inside rein to encourage the bend and an outside supportive rein to keep him his shoulders in line. I also had gotten into the habit of being stiff in my shoulders and arms which caused his trot to get short and choppy. So I need to push him forward and soften my hands. And for now, even lengthening my rein a bit to get him forward.

In the course a of a few weeks, my upward canter transitions fell apart too. We had fallen back into running  into canter (ack!) So we worked on that too. I was caving in and throwing away my reins and thus throwing him out of balance and not getting a good transition. But Erin helped me remember to sit up, keep my outside rein and still maintain the bend. I finally got it and had multiple lovely trot-canter transitions. 

Then it was time for gird work. The line was a trot with a canter pole then one stride to a verticle and then another one stride to an oxer. The great thing was how straight Deuce stayed down the line. Then I was able to really focus on my riding by sinking in my heels and giving a better release over the top. Both of these things really helped him get better take off points and remain balanced on the landing so he could stay nice and soft to make the sharp turn a the gate without stumbling. Yay! While we improved, Erin kept raising the oxer height. By the end of the lesson, we were clearing 3'2"! Go us!

New Saddle!!!

Since the realization this summer that I have a competitive event horse, I have had it in the back of my mind that I need a new saddle... My Wintec Close Contact has done well for where I was but Deuce and I are stepping it up and I need a saddle that puts me in a better position. I have tired out a few in my budget range and decided I wanted to go with a monoflap... so when I found a nearly new M.Toulouse Marielle Monoflap for a great deal;  I pounced on it! While I was at it, I got a new jump bridle too as we really needed one...

Working on the flat....

Today was a pony club mounted meeting. The instructor was Marc and the focus was Dressage.

We had to drop our stirrups and stretch out our legs in an effort to stretch out our legs and lengthen our thighs. This was easy to do at the walk, but once we started trotting, it got tough to keep balance and not grip and shorten the legs. The idea was to keep a long upper leg to wrap around our horses' barrels and loosen our seats and flow with our horse's rhythm. (Locking the hips inhibits the horse's movement)
It was a really good exercise! And while I was concentrating on staying in the saddle and keeping my legs long... Marc reminded me to point my thumbs up and lift up my hands.... I was bracing and keeping my hands too low. Argh! But when I got it all right, Deuce let me know. His trot would get more forward and fluid since I am not inhibiting when I let go.

After we started to get the hang of keeping a nice long leg... Marc talked about half halting with lower abdominals.  So the idea is to use my abs to half halt, which creates a lifting effect in the front part of my seat and a bit of a tucking effect in the back and allows Deuce to lift his withers up and sit back a bit into a proper half halt. And when I remembered to do it; I got a great balanced half halt!

Then we did some canter work. I finally got the hang of keeping my leg long and preventing it form bunching up his sides and then it was back to the drawing board again in a new gait. I also worked on more of a  scooping seat and rocking hips back to get my shoulders slightly behind my hips (I have a tendency to fall forward). SO keeping leg log, thumbs up, fluid, rocking motion at the canter and stay back in upper body... oh yeah, and steer, and try to keep him round too...Sure, no problem!

It was a great lesson, really. There were lots of technical things Marc helped us with and they are just what we needed to get to the next step in our riding. It was hard work and I am sure I will be sore tomorrow but it will be one of those good sores... and lots of homework to do! But Deuce and I are most definitely game!

Ahhhh!

It was going to be a late night at work so I decided to take the morning off and spend it at the barn. It was a beautiful sunshiny morning Deuce and I had lovely ride in the arena then took Flash for a walk out in the fields.

After our ride, I turned him out and he promptly  trotted off to the bare spot in his field, dropped and rolled and rolled! Deuce is not a roll all the way over-er. He rolls one side, gets up, shakes and drops to the other side. At least he's balanced that way.

Big Sky Ride

After a ride on Deuce, I took him for a cool out walk with Flash along side as we enjoyed the setting sun. These pictures don't really do the sky justice. The colors and contrast were pretty cool... and it looks darker than it really was. 

The perfect name.

Second Draft is the name I have been using when I enter Deuce  in competitions this season. I don't love the name but I have not come up with anything better. Since we have not yet gone recognized  I have not registered him with USEA and thus not locked in an official name. However, I have since found his name. It came to me while I was reading one night and the word jumped off the page....

Paradox.

There are some many ways this name fits the big spotted half draft trail horse/pasture ornament- turned  big bold jumping machine and eventer.

Deuce is a true Paradox

Halloween Event Derby!

Another fun little competition opportunity came up this month. A local up and coming eventing and boarding facility held a low key jump derby in their lawn today. It was Halloween themed and costumes were encouraged so I decided that would be pretty darn fun. 

The day was wet; but again about mid 50s so not cold. It was manageable.  We got all decked out in our purple, our twinkle dust and sparkles and headed off to the show. 

Did I mention it was wet? As badly as I wanted to wear my wings as we flew over jumps, I decided to forgo them due to the amount of water coming from the sky. Wet wings would be heavy and could throw us off balance. 

We were able to do most of our warm up in the nice big indoor arena but the jumps were in the outdoor arena that was rapidly deteriorating in footing quality. By the time it was getting close to our turn to jump the course, I went out to hop over a few jumps to get in a jumping mind set. But the arena was a swamp. Deuce did not even want to canter in the mess. He carefully hopped over the cross rail a few times but he was not feeling too goo about the 2'6" vertical. He jumped it but he let me know he was not feeling confident about the footing. So I decided we would forgo any more jumping and just wing it on course. (the actual derby course was out on grass and while it was wet, traction was much better). 

The course was really fun! It had elements of cross country and stadium jumps and twisted around in the field. Lots of big "scary" stuff too. With pumpkins and spiders and corn stalks and open things and all. 

It was a good opportunity for us to test our confidence in new jumps. 

We bounded across the start line and Deuce knew immediately what to do. All I had to do was show him to the next jump and keep my leg on. He cantered on boldly from the logs to the vertical to the  big white bench with pumpkins. Then instead of a hard right to the next vertical  we circled left to turn back to the vertical then a long gallop down to the lattice roll top and around the corner to the next vertical and another gentle sweep left to the blue coop. He was going so confidently at this point I was mostly cruising and I took that coop for granted (and there was no jump to it's left) so with no strong ride to the base, he dove left at the last minute and we had a run out. Darn it! We circled back, I sat up and road and he jumped it. Then it was a careful turn around left again to a open sloped vertical that I was a little worried about, but Deuce cleared without question, then back over the coop the other way, then a skinny roll top, then around to the barn then the final fence, a log with a pole and turn right to cross the finish!  Not a clean round but a REALLY fun round! He jumped everything well and it was a huge confidence booster for me. 

We did not participate in the costume class but we were one of the few that dressed up despite the rain so we got an honorary costume ribbon and even with a run out, we got a pretty pink fifth place ribbon. Yay!

Fall scenes in the field

I really like Halloween... and Deuce does to!

Our October mounted Pony Club meeting was a jump lesson combined with a Halloween party and we were encouraged to dress up... I couldn't resist... I had to do something to dress up...


Originally, I  had a grand idea that involved Deuce being a lion and I just needed a bit of lion mane type material from the craft store (or yellow and orange or brown fleece blankets from Goodwill... but the fabric store was closer to the office and time was short) After a strike out for lions mane type material in the fabric aisle,  my eyes landed on a mannequin wearing an awesome black and purple sparkly tutu and ferry wings.... and I had to have it!! Purple AND Sparkles... oh heck yeah! In that moment I suddenly recalled that I had some wonderful ferry wings at home. Oh yeah, this is gonna be good!!  So I searched the store and found the last purple tutu on the rack... and it happened to be on major sale (60% off, baby!!)... and then with a bit more wandering around the store, I also found some wonderful matching purple and black sparkle garland and some fantastic purple glittery ribbon (all of these also on sale AND I had a discount coupon for half off the rest! OOOOHHH Yeah!!!

Deuce and I made quite the turn out in our purple sparkles. After our Safety inspection, I climbed in the saddle and paraded around the arena, grinning ear to ear! As we passed the mirror down the long side, Deuce did a double take of himself with all of our sparkles. It was pretty funny... but I think he liked it. He sorta puffed up in his "I am hot stuff" frame.

Our lesson was great; we worked on going way forward and big strides in the canter then half halting back to get his hind end under him and better balanced. It made a huge difference in his jumping and his straightness  It was a good lesson and it was the first time Marc had taught an adult in braids, a tutu and glitter.

Spooktacular end to the horse trials season!

We are fortunate to live in an area where there are lots of pony clubs that put on 1-day Horse Trials at different venues across the region.

So this one day was the Halloween Spooktackular put on by Briarwood Pony Club and held at Northwest Equestrian Center in Rainier and it was Halloween themed! (riders were encouraged to wear costumes.. and there were some fun ones!)

Mid October in western Washington is a risky time to be planning anything outdoors if you rather not get wet. 

The week before was looking pretty good. But the rains came Friday night. Fortunately it was not too cold but it was a wet morning and not looking like it was going to improve much. Unfortunately  I did not get myself together enough for competition or rain friendly enough costume... but that was not going to stop us from having fun!

Upon arrival, I got Deuce settled with some hay and then took a walk of the cross country course. It was intermittent light rain, but nothing soaking at that point. It covered some terrain! The start was down at the lower end of the property along the creek and looped back and forth and then up a really steep hill and then ran fairly straight with a few small turns and then a line of jumps fairly straight to the finish line. We had been up to school a few weeks before so I was feeling pretty good about the course and none of the jumps had me worried at all. It was more a matter of traction. Deuce is barefoot so no chance of putting studs in shoes that he's not wearing.   I decided I would be very conservative on the turns and take our time. (this was not going to be a timed course anyway...)

I got back up to the trailer and started getting ready for our dressage warm up and the rain started coming down; at least it wasn't cold. Warm up for dressage was busy. It was along the entrance road so there were lots of horse trailers and horses coming and going. Deuce and I had a difficult time focusing on what we needed to be doing - fortunately coach was able to help us focus a bit better. I wanted to keep him round and maintain support with my lower leg but I did more hanging in his face and bracing against him and thus he just braced against me. Erin finally got us focused and working together better and we headed into the arena (they were running ahead, amazingly) So into the arena we go and darn it if does't go straight up in the air again as he looks over to the horses in warm up in front of him. Instead of closing my leg and pushing him forward, I get tense and brace and so we set the stage for our test....our center line was straight  which was a plus, but most of the test I concentrated too much on my test and not as much on supportive leg and softening my arms and not bracing. So it was not the lovely frame and movement that we have been getting at home, or even in the warm up... but it wasn't a complete flop either.  Average test; we ended up at a tie in second with a 36.

We had a little bit of a wait till our cross country ride so I watched some stadium jumping and chatted with one of my barn friends while we waited. The rain let up again and it looked like the sun was even thinking about coming out. That was encouraging! But by the time it was time to get ready for our cross country ride, it was getting grayer again. We got down to warm up and I was impressed with Deuce's sure footedness on the terrain. Erin helped us warm up again for cross country, the key was to keep him in front of my leg to get a good takeoff. And the sky really opened up again, lots of rain! However, when we were going, neither one of us noticed.

Soon it was our turn to head out of the start box. Deuce was ready, I was ready! Off we went to the first log, he hopped over it with no problems and I brought him back to a trot to round the corner to the bench. We cleared the bench with ease and then it was to the logs; this one was a little tricky as there was a slight down hill slope about 3 strides after the jump and then a hard turn left to head through the woods. Wet grass, a slope and a turn are a recipe for a crash, so I decided to ride a straight line after the logs, stop then turn back into the woods. The straight line took us right into a non mowed weedy steep bank of a hillside. I had planned to use that as our breaks to slow and stop and re group. Deuce was rather confused when he cantered right into the weeds and then stopped. But he was game and cooperated with my requests. So we did a little roll back and got pointed out through the woods and we were on our way again. My plan worked beautifully; no slipping or crashing and we were on our way again  Many of the jump judges had umbrellas to keep off some of the liquid sunshine and Deuce thought those bright overgrown mushrooms were more interesting than the obstacles we were dashing towards. He wasn't spooky at all, it was more of a lack of attention being paid to the fast approaching jumps when we came up to them. So the next 2 jumps I really had to work to get him focused on jumping. I didn't want him to get up to it and have a bad jump or a run out or a stop because he got surprised by the jump. But he got focused about 3 strides out each time and we cleared both. By jump 6, the red ramp, he was back to paying attention to cross country and we had a nice canter established; we sailed over the ramp and power surged up the steep hill. Good boy! Then we were on to the log cradle and log pile. We were in sync and having a great time! There was a gentle turn left again to the next log pile under a tree and there was another bright, overgrown mushroom in the shadows. He looked a little bit but I said "hey, pay attention, we are jumping those logs!", gave a strong leg and he locked on his jump and took off beautifully again. We had another turn right... he was doing great with the footing, and then down the almost line to wall, another log cradle and then a log palisade to finish! Yeay!!! Another clean round and exhilarating ride!!! As we walked back to the trailer, I finally noticed the rain and how soaked we were... good thing I brought extra gloves.

After another wait, it was time to start thinking about stadium jumping. The rain had let up then started coming down again but at that point we were so wet, we hardly noticed. At least I had dry gloves to put on... and the arena footing was a nice well draining sand; meaning great traction! Warm up went well, I had a nice jumping forward horse and round and soft too; we had been working on both of those things at home, so I was pleased that it was coming through out in competition. Soon it was our turn to go. We circled and circled, waiting for the horn to start, finally got it and then went around to make the approach to our first fence. We had to go between a jump and the arena railing to get to the start line. However, that was also right under the announcer tower, where a bunch of spectators had huddled to get out the rain. And it was windy... and all the papers flapping around on the score board... needless to say it was pretty scary right there. Deuce was not at all interested in going past that scary place! He took one look at the shadows and commotion and did a little duck and weave to avoid the tack. I did a little talking and kicking and steering and after only minor resistance, he finally passed with an arched neck and a snort and we carried on to cross the start line and jump our course.  Once he saw the jumps, he was all focus on his jumping course. That was great!! But I was already making notes on to ride strongly to the fence near the announcer tower. Turns out it wasn't an issue. He was so focused on jumping he never even noticed the scary shadows along the fence line. What a ride!! We had a clean and fast and super fun ride!! Woo hoo!

The rider in first was only 2 points ahead of us and maintained her placing and we maintained our second place (though the person we tied with moved out of second) So we finished on our dressage score; yay us!

This is the last 3 phase of the season, but what a season it has been! It was our debut into the eventing scene and I'd say we are ready for recognized next year and will start looking more seriously at Novice in the next year!

The last bit of summer

I know the wet dark winters that confine us to the indoor arena are right around the corner so I have been soaking up every bit of the sunshine I can when we ride. I have been taking Deuce and Flash on trial rides around the neighboring Christmas tree farm and we have even ventured out down the road and out across the main road a few times to the big hay field. Flash is pretty content to just poke along and follow Deuce wherever we happen to go.....

While on our ride, he was trying to "help" with Deuce's steering... going for the reins every time we stopped.... Flash succeeded in pulling the rein one time and poor Deuce turned his head just as he was asked to do and bonked his head into Flash. It was kinda funny. 

Deuce is so patient with the little one..

Lake Oswego Event Derby

The Historic Hunt Club in Lake Oswego hosted an event derby this weekend. The compact facility is one of my favorite places to compete in the local area. It is close and very community oriented and they are always adding something new on their condensed cross country field too.

No more little heights for us! I signed us up for Beginner Novice. The competition, being a derby is only 2 phases; dressage and a modified cross country course that combines cross country elements and stadium elements. The real challenge is getting your horse into long and ground covering speeds then bringing him back to collection and jumping accurately over the stadium jumps that have rails that are easily knocked down. (there are penalties for knocking rails as well as for run outs)

Deuce had never run the course before so it was a super test for our training and confidence to this point. When we arrived, I walked the course and noted that it was a long course with lots of jumps and turns and loops and circles! I always get worried about remembering my course.

Dressage warmup was uneventful in the outdoor. He felt pretty good and forward and moved into the bridle very well, canter transitions were even decent  Lately  he has been running into canter a bit, but I have been learning to keep him bent and move off my inside leg as I keep my upper body tall and he is able to depart much more prompt.

So I was feeling pretty good. I always get on too early for warm up so we had time to cruise around and watch some of the other jump rides. Deuce really likes to stand and watch the cross country rides. Eventually it was time for us to go in the arena for our dressage ride. I was planning to have  few laps around the outside before the judge rang the bell signaling us to start. I wanted to give Deuce a chance to look around at the shadows of the arena (the historic barn can be a little scary as it is dark with shadows and light patterns from the windows)... but the alas the judge was prompt. She rang the bell pretty much as we entered the arena. Darn it. I trotted Deuce around once, which was not enough time for him to see everything. And then we entered at A. Our line was straight, that's good. We've been having trouble with that. But I had to work for every bit of his attention. He was nice and forward but he wanted to have his nose out and his head all over the place. I tried to stay tall, shoulders back and leg on, and still remember all the places to turn and change gaits too. In the end it was an okay test, but I was a little disappointed that it was not as nice as our warm up or even our schooling rides had been. But much of that is me... I get tense as soon as I enter the dressage ring and he simply responds to my tenseness.

It was a quick turn around to cross country. We did a few warm up jumps in and then watched a rider run the course just to make sure I remembered where to go and then we were off. Deuce bounded into a canter and ears were forward looking for the first jump. He is learning his job as an eventer! Good boy! First 3 jumps were stadium fences  pretty easy 2 then a left hand turn to number 3 which had jump judges next to it. I should have taken that into consideration  But... after a nice start with 1 and 2 I was cruising a bit to much to 3 and with very little supporting leg and we got up to it and he dove left. Arg! We circled back promptly and cleared with no trouble and cantered on to the little hop up the bank into the woods. He looked a bit as we approached but my leg was there to support him and say "Yes, that's where we are going" and he hopped up and then we had an odd sharp turn left to a long log hung between 2 trees, he took that easily and then on through the woods and out back on the lawn over a red barn, which he totally owned!!! Then a bit of canter to a potting bench, and then I needed to be rocking him back a little bit more for a combination, but we came in a too fast and flat and he knocked a rail on the second fence. We got lucky and it did not come down. It should have though. Then it was off to the super bank complex. The up was marked but the down was choose your own adventure... For us, the obvious path was up, and 2 strides then off the other side. Deuce loves drops and does them well. However, I was being conservative so I opted to turn left and go down the ramp. Deuce was like "what the heck, I soooo had this!!!" I promised him we could go off the other side the next time around. (our course gave us 3 banks!! Lucky us!) Then it was over a log pile and another show jump ( I remembered to put him back together again!) and then snake back around to the scary water at the edge of the woods. I was sooo proud of Deuce! He was being so brave and forward to all these new jumps and then we went around the corner past the pump house and "HELLO WATER!" I knew it was coming so I kept my leg on, but he only slowed to a trot and I legged him on and he plunged in. It was a little deep and all the lilly pads and cattails and other green stuff along the edges gave him some things to look at so he slowed to a walk part way through but he kept  moving forward so I was happy. Then we were out and he bounced into a canter as we headed to the hedge framed by huge arborvitae. Jumped with ease and looking for more! We had another turn left, I kept a strong inside leg and over the pagoda with no hesitation.

Up the bank for the second time... 

And back to the bank complex for an up bank again, and then a nice 3 stride and jump off the other side; whoo hoo! I could feel him smiling when we flew off the drop!

...and  as promised; down we go! weee!

We had another right hand turn to the tires and on to a big table. The table made me nervous for some reason, so I said for both of us "We're going!" but he didn't need it, he sailed over like a pro! Long gallop to the last fence, a stadium jump,and I remembered to put him back together and he sailed over. Not a clean round this time, but I was pretty pleased. He did great with taking on all the cross country jumps he had never seen  before. And when I was there for him he listened to me cues and carried on. For that I say it was a good day!

Not the straightest approach, but we took that table!