Portland).
This past weekend they held a weekend chocked full of education and fun! Saturday was a day of clinics for cross country and stadium jumping and Sunday was a day to test our new skills with a Derby (A compettion that combines scores from a dressage test and modified cross countrery course that includes stadium jump fences)
Friday evening Russ and I packed up the trailer with camping
gear and Saturday morning we loaded up ourselves and the doggies and struck
out to gather the horses and my eventing pal from the barn and then we were off
for our weekend adventure.
We arrived at the farm just in time for Lea and Special to
get saddled up and headed off to their cross country lesson. Deuce stood at the trailer with hay to munch
on while he watched Russ diligently set up camp and I went to work on getting
the horse stalls set up for our overnight stay. Deuce was so entertained by the activity of
camp set up that he hardly even got worried that his travel buddy had left him.
Before too long, it was our turn to get saddled up and head
out to the cross country course for our jump lesson. Deuce is starting to get
used to the idea of going to new places and having to work. We met up with Lea
and Special on their way back from the field. Deuce immediately recognized his
pal and was happy to have her in his sights again. Lea and I chatted about her
lesson as we approached the tree line that opened into the cross country field.
Walking through the trees, the field lay out before us, with all the jumps and obstacles,
and a flood of memories washed over me from my last adventures in this field
when I was astride my beloved Warren. A wave of sadness washed over me for the
absence of my dear friend but then a familiar, steady presence pushed through
and reminded me about all the fun we had on these fields and how carefully and
comfortably the big blonde fella carried me around the course. I was reminded
that Warren was always with me, and this time it was almost as if he were
saying, yes we had fun and now its Deuce’s turn to get out there and play… go
enjoy, I am here. So with a mental hug to my big blonde horse and thanks for
being close by, I trotted off into the field with my big spotted horse. Deuce was
quite wide eyed and as he always does, scanned the landscape for anyone or
anything that might be interesting. He was not concerned with all the jumps at
this point, just taking it all in. Lea and Special headed back to the trailer
when we met up with the rest of the riders in my lesson group.
We began with a warm up with all 4 of us trotted and
cantered our horses around a large circle in the field. It became clear that some of the horses in
the group were not up for an open field group work situation. One very amped up
horse bolted towards the barn and left his rider in the grass (she was okay,
horse was eventually retrieved and they were re united). Our instructor decided it would be better to
have the horses out one at a time. So we all took turns cantering and getting
up in galloping position. The biggest lesson learned is that I don’t need to
keep such a tight rein on Deuce, I can let my reins lose at a big field canter
and he will not get out of hand.. in fact he gets better and more responsive as
I let him open up more. It was quite fun! Eventually we built up to hopping
over a few low logs and then a nice long canter around a corner and then to a
little table. Deuce was awesome when we were between fences; focused and looking
for the next jump. I have a tendency to
get tense and let my leg off about 5 strides out (but my eyes are up!) and then
Deuce will either lose momentum or throw his shoulder left and run out. Which
he did when we got to the table the first time. Grr. So I came to it again with
a strong leg my eye up and over he sailed. We landed with a party of praise and
encouragement. We did the mini course of
logs around to the table a few more times and worked on those lower legs
staying closed and we both got it. Then
we went down to play in the water. He trotted right in and then with the second
pass, he was ready to gallop through and jump up the bank. He even bravely led a few of the other horses
through the water who were not quite as excited to get in.
The lesson did not cover as much of the field as I had hoped.
There were a couple of horses in the group that were quite on edge and swinging
from the rafters so we were limited in what we could do as a group. Some
lessons are like that. You just have to ride the horse you have and manage the
group… I happened to have an awesome horse that was ready and willing to go
where I asked him. Other horses were not quite as calm or ready to go to work
that morning. a
After our lesson we headed back to camp for a rest and some
lunch and then it was off to our stadium lesson. Again, Lea’s lesson was about
an hour and a half ahead of my ride so Deuce got a little worried when Special
left again. Overall he was not too bad, lots of looking and some talking, but interrupted
with bites of hay.
When it was time for our stadium jump lesson, our group
gathered in the arena. The other horses in the lesson seemed to have climbed
down out of the rafters and were looking much more composed and ready for work.
The instructor for this lesson had us working on a lighter seat and a softer
ride. Deuce tends to get up on a stadium fence and charges it. We worked of
finding a balance with the half halt and the soft seat to get a nice even ride.
Several times we got in and had some really nice rounds!
We wrapped up our day with a tasty supper from the grill thanks
to my wonderful husband/camp cook chef and settled in for the night (sleeping
in the trailer with the dogs made for a bit of a cozy night).
We were up with daylight to check on horses and get everyone
fed. Today was compttion day. A chance to practice what we had worked on
yesterday. The format for an event derby competition consists of a dressage
test and a jumping round on the cross country course that combines both cross
country fences (solid, natural type jumps) with stadium jumps (they have movable
rails that can be knocked down). So you ride for optimum time and a clean
round. (points are taken off for going too slow or fast, having a refusal or
run out and for pulling rails.)
The first phase on the derby for everyone is the dressage
test. When Special went out for her dressage test, Deuce was left without his
trailer pal again. While he was starting to get accustomed to the idea of his friend
coming and going, he still was not all that happy about it. He still paced his
stall a bit and called out on occasion but he still would take long moments to
munch on hay so I did not worry too much about him being overly stressed. I went up to watch Lea’s ride and then I was
back to the stall to get Deuce ready for our ride.
The warm up for dressage was in the outdoor arena
along the main traffic line for all the horses coming and going to the cross
country field. At first, Deuce found it difficult to concentrate on our warm up
as he wanted to check out all the horses going by. However, once I continued to
work with him, he settled down into work and we got into our grove. It was
nearly time for us to go up to the indoor arnea for our dressage test and I
caught a glimpse of Lea and Special headed out to the cross country course. I
did not want Deuce to lose his focus by getting distracted with his girlfriend
so I kept him pointed the other direction and kept him busy with transitions
until she was out of site. He must have picked up her scent for as we headed up
to the main arena, he got all tense again and let out a loud neigh.
Fortunately, no one responded to him so he did not get any more worked up about
hearing another horse to talk to.
The dressage arena was set in the indoor arena, which was
rather dark and was surrounded by stalls – meaning lots of distractions. On the
upside, our ride was scheduled as the first one after a break so Deuce and I
were able to get in the arena and cruise around and check it all out before
we had to actually perform our test.
Our ride was decent but we were both quite tense; even after
having some time to settle into the new surroundings, he was a bit stiff and
rigid in some of the circles I would have like to have had a bit more suppleness
from him, but that can only happen if I am soft and relaxed too. Stuff to work on!
We had another short break and a tack change, it was off to
warm up for our jumping phase. Deuce was
quite interested in the horses running around the field when we arrived in the
warmup area. I set to work having him moving up and down the hills then hopping
over the warm up fences. He felt ready to go and then it was our turn
to get out on the field.
The jumps on course were 2 feet high or less(mostly less!),
as I had decided since Deuce is still pretty knew to the eventing scene it
would be better to have smaller, less ominous looking jumps to go over to build
his confidence (and mine too!).
The whistle blew and we were on course. I set off with a
nice big trot and Deuce bellowed a big neigh to announce his presence on
course. My plan was to take the first cross rail fence with a big trot approach
to establish a nice forward and confident tone to carry through the entire ride.
I sat up put my leg on and over he sailed, landed and cantered on, looking for the
next jump.
It was a little log, then another little cross rail stadium fence along
the woods and then around to a vertical stadium fence, up some terrain to another
log (and another loud holler erupted from Deuce as we cantered on – I could not
help but laugh, he was obviously enjoying himself and wanted everyone to know) then
around the corner in along the fence in the shadows with cows up the hill. When
I walked the course, I figured at that point, that I would need to come back to
a trot to give Deuce a chance to look while we made the turn since it was in
the shadows and there would likely be cows standing right there staring and
being somewhat scary. But oh no! Deuce was quite focused and happy to be
cantering along and did not even bat an eye at the bovine spectators in the
shadows! I still asked him to come back to a trot, but it was with reluctance
that he made his downward transition. He eagerly launched back into the canter
on my cue to go up the hill and then again reluctantly came back down to a trot
to come down the hill to the next stadium fence.
I was mostly concerned with a nice
straight even pace to the fences and a solid landing on the other side. Deuce
was giving me all of that, but coming down hill, I wanted to play it super safe
and have him balanced and together on the downhill approach to the little vertical
and it is easier to do so at the trot. Furthermore, time was not an issue as we
were on a 350 meter per minute pace and that allows for plenty of time to trot
as long as we have a clear round, which so far we have… So after a beautiful jump
and landing from the downhill vertical and a canter off on a sweeping turn left
and then up the hill again to the tiny table. I took it for granted that Deuce
was taking everything with such great gusto to this point that the solid little
2' jump would be a non issue.
 |
| Tiny Table - isn't it cute!? |
Well…compound my failure to ride this element with
the fact that we were coming up a hill and losing some momentum (the canter was
there, but I should have kept my leg on more), Deuce lost confidence and dropped
his shoulder and ran out the left at the last second. Arggh! You’d figure I’d learn by now!! So we circled
back and I had both legs on and this time he sailed over. But that cost us some
time. On we went back down the hill over a tiny little drainage ditch ditch
(which he did not even realize was a ditch and just cantered over, since we
were looking up the hill to the little coop). So I learned my lesson about uphill,
I kept my leg on, stayed riding and felt a slight hesitation a few strides out
to the coop but gave a little bump and up over we went. Next it was on around
the fun wooded corner for a bit of big canter then back down to balanced canter
to the little table ramp we jumped yesterday (but they gave a little log option
too; I decided to take the table!). I remembered to keep my eye up and my leg
on for this one and I felt the slightest hesitation but then a response from my
reassuring leg and seat and he said okay we will go and over we sailed. Then it
was around to another little log and then a cut back around through the water.
Since it was a different water complex than the one we were in yesterday, I
decided we’d approach with caution at the trot, he was again reluctant to go
back to the trot, and although he did comply, the slower pace was not needed. He
splashed right through the water without question. He would have cantered
through, given the opportunity! The last fence was another stadium jump, the
same as the first fence.
We approached with a nice composed big canter, I sat up, leg on, and over we went. Then
we crossed the line to stop time and there were lots of praises and scratches
for the big fella as we slowed to a walk. He looked quite proud of himself, as
well he should be! We walked back to the trailer for a cool out and un tacking
and then started breaking camp down while we waited scores to be posted.
I reflected on my rides and went over the things I had learned today. Deuce really enjoys the thrill of cross country; but he is still
learning his job and building confidence. He is super responsive on course and
waits for my cues and reassurance. I cannot forget that t is up to me to give
them. If I do not, he will not take on a fence and if I am tense and hold on to
him, he is more likely to brace and rush, both to jumps and in the dressage
ring. Lots to work on! But we’ll get there!
When we were nearly all ready to load up and head out, we
went back up to check scores… turns out my dressage score was not all that terrible;
I think the judge was being generous. Also, there seemed to be other
competitors that had more jump penalties than us, as we wrapped up in first
place with a blue ribbon! Yay Deuce!
