Briefly Benched

 While we were at the first interschools qualifier last weekend with Mawarda and his child, M called to say that Arwen had a mild fever of 38.5 at breakfast. It was 38.8 an hour later, not staggeringly high, but certainly climbing.

This made me a bit twitchy because it's prime biliary (similar to piroplasmosis to my US readers) season in South Africa and I like to jump on them very early and aggressively, which generally gets them sorted out within 24 hours or so. But as it was one of my own, who always suffer from a little neglect compared to a client pony, and also as it was Arwen, who is made out of cast iron, we finished up the show first. Her temperature had dropped to normal by 2pm, but when I finally reached her around 6pm, it was 39.0. Again, not a raging fever, but not right at all.

meanwhile, Mawarda and kiddo were perfection

Now normally I never, ever treat a biliary without a positive blood smear. It's so common here that people LOVE to dose them up with Forray (imidocarb) without a definitive diagnosis, often missing other diseases and giving the poor horse colic because Forray's side effects can be a real beast. But I was looking at the most classic biliary I've seen in years; she was jaundiced, her heart rate was in the 40s (high for her), and she had a miserable look in her eye. It was 6pm on a Sunday and though I take my own blood smears to the vet, it would necessitate a (more $$$) emergency consultation. So I just phoned the vet to check and then gave her Forray right away with a bit of vitamin B/liver extract as a booster and a round of flunixin to make her comfortable.

The next day Arwen's heart rate was still a touch high, which is pretty typical as they can have anemia after the Forray kills the parasites and their host cells, but she didn't have any fevers. After that she declared that she was perfectly fine, thank you, and didn't need any more needles. She has been her usual self ever since but is still getting a couple of weeks off to give that hardworking heart some extra rest.

no Arwen pics because Felix stole her thunder by damaging himself in a far more expensive manner than she did, and yes, there is not a thought behind those eyes

In the meantime, we still had a pretty busy week. Thunder's fitness is slowly returning - thanks for nothing, Friesian blood - and I had a couple of nice rides on him. His canter, as ever, remains a bit of a mission, but it'll come back with strength and fitness. We currently lunge at least two or three days a week to help him rebuild without my hindrance and he should be fit enough to get back into lessons in March, I believe.

I had a really cool ride on Wynnie last week, too. I still plan to do a proper post about her backing, but I've had five or six little "rides" on her now where I basically just sit there and pet her and give her treats. I introduced the (very gentle) whip aids for walking forward and shoulder-in on the ground a couple of weeks ago and last week was the first time they really seemed to translate for her in the saddle. She was still a little sticky and hesitant, but we walked all the way around the arena. Obviously, there was no drama - Wynnie is a brat and a babydragon and the wiggliest youngster you've ever seen, but there's no malice in her. It was the greatest feeling. We're basically Olympians now in my book.

so very grown up

can you believe this was the same horse?

Lancey also had a good week. We schooled on Tuesday for the first time in a hot minute, which is always a bit messy, but he was an absolute rock on Wednesday when I ponied Wynnie out the furthest she's ever gone. Wynnie was pretty good - generally staying by his side on a loose lead - but Lancey handled her odd spooky moment with great aplomb. Of course he did. He's my unicorn.

Erin came over on Friday to teach us more about showing. We obviously started out with a hack on the two unicorns, who were both excellent, although Erin's unicorn did have moments when he thought he might not be.

Then I presented Wynnie for some turnout tips for HOY. Wynnie was impeccable the day before when I bathed and plaited her and she stood still for nearly an hour and a half - a magnificent feat. Sadly, it seems she ran out of standing-still-ability and had none left for Friday. Erin tried to show me how to plait her tail but Wynnie was having absolutely none of it. Horses gonna horse. Anyway, we also showed her our in-hand work, and Wynnie was a star for this part, even standing up for the judge.

That rounded out our week, and this week has been even quieter. Arwen is still off, we had wonderful rain for the past three days, and I had to have a (very) minor procedure that left me with a tiny incision which is annoyingly not allowed to get wet, so there's been no riding in the rain for us. We needed the rain, so there are no protests from me.

Erin is a horse butt artist seriously

Looking forward to green pastures and sunny days. God is good.

also got to hang out with Mystique, who was my up-down pony at the riding school nearby when I was a tiny kiddo <3

Thoroughbred Series Leg 1 2025

Apologies for the wall of text. Apparently I was 0% good at candids on the day.

We kicked off our year without delay. Despite a two-week break over the holidays, Arwen came back into work in January absolutely raring to go, having apparently lost no fitness. Thank you, you athletic little ball of rage. So we entered a nice local show to break the ice at our most favourite venue in the world for February 1st. K was happy to get to come to a show, DH was happy to get pizza, and I was happy to ride, so it worked great for everyone.

Our ride time was only at 16:36, so we had a leisurely morning and then I, true to form, started getting stuff ready much too late and ended up in a flat spin by the time K arrived to help. We were dropping Midas at Penbritte to get sold (boo, but also yay), and of course while I was plaiting Arwen, he rolled in the biggest pile of moo poo he could find. Thanks, bro.

Anyway, K got him cleaned up, I threw Arwen's plaits in, and we jumped in the horsebox without further ado just on time. I've been experimenting with reducing the amount of omepracote she gets for traveling and gave her only one dose before we loaded up, which proved to be a silly idea. She was sweaty by the time we stopped for our routine check at the end of the dirt road. Sorry, big girl. Two doses are clearly where it's at.

Nonetheless, we were all chill when we arrived at beloved Penbritte. I had time to fuss around a bit and poor Arwen dried off from her sweaty ride in the box. We got Midas installed in his new stable across the venue and then it was time to tack up and hop on.

It's been a couple of months since we went down the centreline, but Arwen didn't show it. She marched into the warmup and went to work like the professional she is. We had a nice deep stretch in both walk and trot, and although she had her standard magnificent buck through her first canter transition, we very quickly settled into a lovely warmup.

We'd spent the week before the show working our butts off on our worst mark for 2024 - the change left to right. I am simply bad at them and struggle with both horses, likely because of my uneven hips and general inability to do dressage. But we had really started to nail them down the week before, and she was giving them to me cleanly in the warmup. I knew it would be 50-50 if we got them through in the show ring or not but the progress made me happy.

have a blurry screenshot

We were relaxed and ready as we headed down to the show arena, and as we walked in, Arwen engaged in a new habit of looking up and having a little whinny as we approach the judge's box. Ever since that test at Gauteng Champs where all the horses evaporated from the face of the planet during our test, she likes to just check in and make sure that she, a herd animal, can see other animals of her species. Normally it's one whinny and then we get to work.

This time, of course, Midas heard her from his new stables and whinnied back. Thus ensued a screaming conversation between the two and I knew it was going to be a little bit of a train wreck. She was jogging and whinnying when we reached the judge's box, and the lovely show organiser expressed her surprise.

"She's usually so well-behaved," she said.

I grimaced and explained the situation, which perhaps garnered a scrap of sympathy from the judge. As we waited for the bell, we trotted a little figure-eight. Arwen was obedient to a fault - honestly, she always is - but already trying to dive behind the vertical as she does when she's stressed. I quietly insisted that we stay up in the bridle, and then the bell rang and we wibble-wobbled our way down the centerline to fall in a heap at X. To her credit, she only wiggled a step or two before she stayed still, so we scraped up a 6.0, "more immobility."

She knew the medium trot was coming despite her tension so I didn't give her a single aid for it, just turned onto the diagonal and hung on. This mare pulled out suspension I didn't know she had. Though I felt her collapsing in the frame a little, I worked hard to keep her up and to sit the amazing bouncy power she'd found somewhere. The judge was unamused; "more length of frame and airtime," 6.0.

The rest of the trot work, albeit faultlessly obedient, was mostly my quest to keep her in front of the vertical with varying degrees of success. My unaccomplished butt can only push her neck up if I'm not bending her, so the lack of suppleness dinged us in the half-circles, the shoulder-in, and the half-pass, which were 6.5, 6.0, 6.0 all with "more bend." She threw her head and put her tongue over the bit into the extended trot, then put it back and gave me a really nice trot, but still had 5.5, "some tension." Fair enough. I have to put the bit low because of the melanoma in the corner of her mouth, so that's a thing that happens sometimes.

We started to settle down and halted perfectly for a really fluent rein-back, except I was convinced it was five steps instead of four, so we got 5.5 because I cannot count. Our shoulder-in was another 5.5, but she was feeling less worried and got 6.0 "more uphill" and 6.5 "better" for the half circles and the half-pass.

To her eternal credit, tense as she was, Arwen did not take a single jog step in her walk work. To my credit, I didn't stuff up the TOH. We got 6.0 for both and 6.0 for the medium walk, "some tension, more fluent."

She was still tight and unsteady in the connection in our extended walk, 6.5, "step more to the bit." Again, she was absolutely obedient to the walk-to-canter transition for 6.0, "more cadence." Her half-pass left felt fantastic; she'd gotten over her tension for the most part and was listening nicely, so she asked politely if I wanted a pirouette (which we've been working on) on the centerline and lost her tempo for a couple of steps when I declined It was 5.5, "more steady head." She wanted to dip BTV in the half circle and I worked with all my might to keep her up in the bridle, but we did make a very nice little change that was not late behind despite having a bit of a bounce in it, 5.0, "croup high."

Our next half-pass was great, 6.5, but I was so relieved about our "bad" change being good that I forgot to, like, ride the good change, which was close behind for 4.0, "late behind."

She didn't get antsy in the extended canter although I rode it a little conservatively for 6.5, "more uphill", also 6.5 for the transitions. For once, when we came down to collected trot, she was easy and steady and not rushing, so that was another 6.5. We ended on a high note with our 7.0 for a really fabulous, straight, square, steady and immobile halt. (This particular judge appears to have a case of the 5-6-7s).

We had 6.0 for the paces, an expected 5.5 for the impulsion and submission, 6.5 for my seat, and 6.0 for my aids. Our comment was "Unfortunately quite tense today with tongue over the bit at times. Settled a little towards end of test, relaxing a little over back."

As we walked out I knew it would be touch and go whether we scraped out that last grading point. This judge tends to be harsh, but even under a generous judge, it wasn't a good test. I was really proud of two things, though: that Arwen remained imminently rideable even though she was genuinely upset, and that I rode every step and didn't let my feathers get ruffled. I kept her up in front of that bridle to the extent that we didn't get a single BTV comment, which was no easy feat.

It was a good show, it just wasn't a good test, and I wasn't surprised with the final mark - 58.87%. We'd missed getting our tailcoat by 1.13%. 

I waved the test at DH and told him the mark, and his response pretty much equaled my sentiment. "Oh, well, honey, now we have an excuse to go to another show soon!"

We bought way too much pizza, loaded up, and went our merry way with happy hearts despite the marks. It's always a good day with the horses and people we love.

God is good.

Back Again

Here's a really quick recap so that I can get back into the swing of things with posts for 2025.

As fantastic as 2024 was, our plans did fall off the rails a little toward the end of the year. Although Arwen rocked our socks in October by winning Medium 3 at Champagne Tour and we had another really fun show after that, we didn't quite manage to get our ten grading points for Advanced yet. No regrets - we had an amazing year of showing together.

Thunder also went to Champagne Tour and had a very tense warmup, but settled in the test for a decent score. He started his 2025 three-legged lame with the kind of swelling that makes your heart turn cartwheels, but after a set of ($$$) x-rays, the vet proclaimed that he was merely bruised and would be sound within ten days. I was riding him again the next week and he is completely fine now, having lost much less fitness than I expected over the holidays and after his injury, so good for him.

Lancey went to our provincial Arab show in the end of November to finish off our show season. He was absolutely superb in every way, not putting a foot wrong for three full days of classes, and we brought home a little bit of satin to boot. Our highlight was coming third in a large and strong hunter pleasure class even though, truth be told, I have absolutely no idea what hunter pleasure even is. Someone told me to ride forward so we just zoomed around basically. He makes everything so fun.

Faith was diagnosed with bony change in her left front navicular, the result of an injury she likely had as a foal before we got her. It explains the chronic short-stepping issue she has, as well as the tightness in her back. We gave her a shot of Legend and put bar shoes on in front and I put her into boot camp with me for four or five weeks to lose weight, get supple, and regain the musculature she needs to move comfortably. It worked insanely well, and Faith was going the best she's ever gone by the end of November, when she somehow ripped a hole in her right front. After (more $$$) stitches, it healed like a charm and she lost hardly any fitness. She and K are looking incredible together.

Skye is beautiful, perfect, and still living her best life with no apparent signs of slowing down even though she'll be about 37 this year at our best guess. Her joints remain creaky, but honestly, I'm not seeing anything get worse. She had biliary when the first round of ticks came out in the spring and recovered like any young, healthy horse would. I even had to reduce her concentrates because she was getting rather portly on the summer grass. I know she won't be with us forever, but I'm grateful for every happy, healthy day we get to have with her.

this is me teaching K to ride on Skye like a thousand years ago

Raya handled her weaning with aplomb and is living out now with a cute little two-year-old colt friend who is, in fact, smaller than she is. She has a super-sweet, submissive, totally calm personality with nothing pushy or dominant about her - very similar to her mom's, but more expressive and personable.

Finally, and most excitingly, I started working with Wynnie in November. She already had all the citizenship skills nailed down (after all, she's been to three Horse of the Year shows), but as her third birthday approached, we started playing with ponying off Lancey and then little bits of groundwork. Wynnie has an insanely active and agile mind and is the only horse I've ever seen who actively gets bored in the field. I also took one look at her big personality, loud opinions, and girl-boss energy and decided to sit on it sooner rather than later, thanks. Her physical maturity was there, too, so we did very gentle and basic groundwork and then I popped on for a few little sits in December and January. I'll try to do a full post just about backing her, but in case I don't, here is proof that the baby dragon did not, in fact, launch me during her first few rides.

The stableyard is chugging along fine, with plenty of training horses to keep K and I busy and a few new darling retirees. We nearly closed our doors in November when the terrible drought persisted, but Abba provided the most beautiful rain in December, and now we are full steam ahead with breeding plans for this season and a string of ponies getting ready for HOY.

this child raked in the ribbons on Sunday riding dear old Mawarda

Looking forward to staying caught up as much as possible now, although with so much richness in our lives, it's not surprising when we get too consumed with life to journal it.

God is good.

Penbritte Thoroughbred Series 2024

 September didn't present any suitable opportunities for local shows. We skipped our national championships—the entries were expensive for only two or three classes—and took the opportunity to hang out at home, take a couple of lessons, completely break the flying change to the right, and repair it.

I have so much happy news about the other horsies at home, but for now, let's talk about the main quest: qualifying for Advanced. Arwen and I had six points after Gauteng Champs and needed ten to reach the next level and earn our tailcoat, so now that plenty of fun local shows are happening, we're hitting them as much as we can.

We started with a trip back to our favourite venue last weekend. Penbritte is perfect in every way, from its footing to its show stables to its genuinely delicious pizza, so I looked forward to a chill day out. The forecast was devastatingly hot, and it felt nice and balmy when I fetched Arwen from the field at 6:15.

By 6:30, we were on the road with Arwen and Mawarda for a kiddo. Arwen loaded with a hint of wariness, but I couldn't blame her for that---we've been using the horsebox as a temporary chicken coop after a major storm destroyed one of ours. She nipped at Mawarda's nose and earned herself a tight leash on the hour's journey to Penbritte, but she was only moderately sweaty when she arrived and looked very chill when we disembarked.

I promptly realized I'd cut things a bit fine with our timing. We arrived at 7:30, and my ride time was 8:20, which would have been perfect, except that I still had to get both horses settled in their stables. This is normally my darling husband's job, but a stable cat appeared at that moment, making adorable noises and rolling over to have its tummy stroked. This rendered my husband thoroughly enchanted. He forgot that wives and horses existed at all and lost himself in a joyous world of friendly kitties.

I scrambled out of the stable with my bridle all hanging out of its keepers in a terrific fuss. DH snapped out of it at this point and filled water buckets while I struggled into my boots and charged off to the warmup, leaving this longsuffering man to sort out the complete tornado I'd created in the process of tacking up.

Arwen, at least, was a thousand times more relaxed than she'd been at Gauteng Champs. She strolled on a loose rein to the warmup and didn't even mind when I accidentally shut the paddock gate on her hind fetlock (equestrian of the year, I know). Our competition, a majestic warmblood, was being well-behaved in the vast warmup when we arrived, and Arwen happily did her walk work. She was a little rushy stepping into the trot, but after a few quiet reminders, we even had a stretchy trot almost right away. It was chalk and cheese compared to Gauteng Champs or even Eaton Farm. I had my horse back.

Of course, my horse is still the Dragon, so when I asked her to canter we got a few handstands instead. This is pretty normal behaviour for her so we just went back to walk and tried again. She was gorgeous; into the bridle, forward but not racing off, and collecting every time I asked. We had a few more bucks through our changes, but after some practice, she settled and felt good.

I think the day that Arwen doesn't give me a little extra sass at a show will be the day I know she's done. Her tension at Gauteng Champs was real worry and anxiety, but this? This is just who she is - somebody who gets excited about life. I don't expect her to be a happy little robot. She's a majestic beast with loud opinions and a cheeky streak, and I love it.

We had a little less time to warm up than I would have liked (thanks for nothing, adorable cat/Firn's brain), but we still felt fine as we headed in. Arwen had a moment of worry when she glanced around to make sure that all the horses in the world didn't abandon her again, but the sight of several horsies in the parking lot reassured her, so she gave one whinny and then relaxed about that. We halted by the judge, who made me introduce myself (talking to people, eek). I then noticed that the strap of Arwen's noseband had escaped its keeper. Knowing there was a livestream, I decided to fix it real quick so that it wouldn't flap around on the video. That gave us this true gem which garnered over a thousand likes on Shitedressageunited, I'll have you know. (Equestrian of the year once again).

Crisis averted, we headed in for our test. I immediately felt that our trot was much less rushed than before and she felt steady in the bridle, to my tremendous relief. I had an issue with looking at her neck instead of at the letters for most of this test. This was pretty dumb, but in my defense, I was concentrating really hard on keeping her from diving behind the contact. So our first halt was an uncharacteristic 6.0, "not quite on center line after entry, not quite square." This judge never likes our medium or extended trot so I'm not surprised that our very sexy medium was a 6.0, "slightly hurried, needs ground cover." She actually parked a bit behind my leg in the first shoulder-in so I booted her a bit and we wobbled in the connection, but it was accurate enough for 6.5, "curling back."

I remembered to look up for our half-circles and not to completely destroy them this time, so they were an easy 7.0, her rhythm much easier to maintain on a nice flat level surface unlike what we have at home. Her half-pass felt nice for 6.5, "more lateral bend". I rode the extended trot a little conservatively but needn't have worried; she gave me a fabulous, powerful, rhythmic trot that still got a 6.0 from this unimpressed judge, "more ground cover." Her extended has been a 6.0 and an 8.0 in the same test from different judges, so I take that with a pinch of salt. We got 6.5 for the transitions.

I hopelessly botched the halt and rein-back by halting about four kilometres before A (see above re: not looking up). She gave me a nice rein-back, though, for 6.5, "not square, willing rein-back." We wobbled in the position slightly in the next shoulder-in for 6.5, "changing position", and 6.5 for the two half circles. Her next half-pass, the right one, has always been the tricky one and I pushed her up in front of my leg for 6.0, "lack of bend, becoming slightly hurried." I often mess up this half-pass a little because if they don't come off my leg in it, we struggle with the flying change to the right, historically my worst movement.

That concluded a boring but very solid trot tour and we confidently moved into the walk. I felt she was calm and not hurried or tense, but ready for some mischief. Our first turn on the haunches was a colossal flop for no good reason other than that I rode it badly for 4.0, "stuck badly." I kicked myself for that one and rode the second one much better for 6.5. She maintained an effortless, loose medium walk for 7.0.

When we went to the extended walk, she snatched the reins a bit, an issue we've since been ironing out with the Nathe. I'd much rather deal with a little snatching than the BTV issue we had before, but it kicked us in the teeth now, making one of her best movements a 5.5, "head bobbing a little too low at times, needs more ground cover." I whispered "Don't buck, don't buck, don't buck" as I gathered her for the canter transition and apparently she listened because it was a 7.0. We cantered merrily up the short side as I congratulated myself for my awesome dragon-taming abilities and gently put my outside leg on for her best canter movement, the half-pass left. Arwen promptly planted her head between her knees and threw a few little bucks. I scraped it together swiftly and she continued into a lovely, easy half-pass, but the damage was done, and we had 4.0, "resisting badly, broke." So. Thanks for that, Dragon.

the moment at which I realized it was about to go down

She REALLY, REALLY wanted to buck through the left to right change and gave it to me on the aid but plunged downward afterward for another delicious 4.0, "croup high, late behind." After that we got our marbles together a bit and had 7.0 for the half-pass right and 7.0 for the flying change to the left even though I was doing some major buck management there, too.

Given the level of dragonness that we were dealing with, I rode the extended canter conservatively too, but honestly I doubt it would have mattered - we got the expected 6.0, "more forward, more ground cover". The transitions were 6.0, although I felt quite controlled as we went around for our trot transition, which was a surprising 7.0. And then I promptly realized that I had absolutely no brakes. Zip, none, zero, zilch, nothing. I gave an experimental pull and an experimental half-halt from my seat and got nothing at all. We careened around the turn onto the centerline, with my dragon proudly snorting and flinging her feet, and I momentarily thought we would end up in the judge's lap but then Arwen remembered there was a halt at the end and tried to stop a few steps before G. I gave her a little squeeze and she took the few extra steps to G and halted absolutely immobile and obedient as if we'd had brakes all along. Somewhat breathless, I threw down our salute like a gauntlet, and we left with much patting of the fabulous, ridiculous dragon. The wobbly halt got us a 6.0.

first flying change photo

Our collectives were not to be sniffed at. We had 7.0 for paces, 6.5 for impulsion, and 5.5 for submission (I would not exactly apply the term "willing cooperation" to several moments in our test). My seat was a 7.0 and aids a 6.0, understandable considering that I only have about 70% control over the dragon at any given moment.

"Horse could have been more consistently active and ground covering but showing some pleasant work," the judge summarized. I thought that "horse" could also maybe have not bucked, but we still garnered a 61.12% - enough for a precious grading point toward earning our tailcoat.

Arwen was relaxed and chuffed with herself as we strolled back to the stables on a long rein. If we'd had ten more minutes in the warmup, I know we could have gotten the tickle out of her feet and avoided a few fours in that test, but I also hadn't competed since Dressage Connection and felt a bit rusty in the ring. I also feel that we would have gotten better scores for our extended movements with many other judges, so I wasn't at all dismayed by our final mark. We had a messy test, but we still did it. Best of all, my dragonbeast felt like herself. She was silly and playful, not the tense and nervous mess we had last time.

She did give me a worried few moments when we were back in the stable. She isn't great about drinking water directly after competing and didn't go near it, but she also only picked her hay for a few minutes and then stood in the corner shifting her weight in a suspicious manner. She didn't have that tight look in her face that real colic horses get, but I wasn't super happy. She also didn't want the slightly wilted carrot I had for her (equestrian of the year yet again) but crunched the nice fresh one that one of the kiddos brought. Her gut sounds were fantastic and she'd passed plenty of normal manure, so I gave it half an hour to see what would happen, and it completely resolved and ended with her eating her haynet with great relish. 

feeling a little off

I had caught her eating sticks in her field the day before as if she had no grass to eat and was a poor starving pony, so I wouldn't be surprised if they caused a little irritation on the way through. The other possibility, always present in a performance horse, would be a bit of gastric irritation or a brewing ulcer. If she does this again, she'll go for a scope. I don't think it had anything at all to do with her behaviour. She was just being the way she always is - even at home on a fresh morning - and the bellyache only started several minutes after she was done riding.

We spent the rest of a long and very hot day at the show for kiddos, but Arwen was perfectly behaved and content in her stable. DH and I enjoyed milkshakes and pizzas because Penbritte is the best. We got home in the dark, but Arwen was really nice about it.

91F at 5:30pm on the way home - and no, the judge did not waive jackets

Though we've had nicer tests, I couldn't have been happier with the feeling she gave me. My dragon enjoyed it out there. As for me, I can't help but enjoy a happy day out with my cat-obsessed husband, the man of my prayers.

sometimes he looks at me the way he looks at pizza

God is good.

Dressage Connection 2024

 We're in the privileged position where we live that we have many of the nation's nicest show venues within two hours of our home. KPC hosts all the big shows, Penbritte is my personal all-time favourite, and there are many others nearby in Joburg.

show photos by Denford Studios and Crystal Baldwin Photography

I'd never ridden at one specific venue, though, and it had become a bucket-list item for me. United Equestrian is one of the fanciest and most aesthetically pleasing venues in the country. Its gorgeous, beautifully decorated clubhouse oozes class, the arenas are stunning, and the whole layout is very horse-friendly, too. Sadly for me, it only hosts a handful of dressage shows each year. For 2024, the only one I saw was Dressage Connection.

this venue is drool-worthy

This is one of the best opportunities afforded to dressage riders in South Africa. Dressage Connection brings an international judge to South Africa a few weeks before our national championships, not only to judge riders, but to present a kind of mini-clinic. We receive videos of our tests with the judge's full commentary in real-time, as well as getting feedback directly after our tests. While each class is expensive---I normally pay around R400 (roughly $25) a test; this one was R1400 (closer to $65)---the judge also conducts a free seminar open to riders, spectators, and anyone else interested on the second day of the show, using footage from the show to explain scores and concepts.

It's a fantastic chance for South African riders to receive European input that goes beyond a score-sheet and, since the horses were kinder than normal this winter in terms of vet bills, I was able to pick one horsie to attend one test. Thunderbird was the obvious choice. I adore my dragonbeast, but she's not exactly conventional. Also, we only have about a 50% chance of standing still for judge feedback. No thanks.

I haven't shown Thunder on his own in years, but he was amazing---the best he's been all year. He loaded and traveled absolutely perfectly and arrived at the show with barely a twitch of an ear despite very noisy construction going on right next to the parking space. I tied him to the box and got him ready in a leisurely fashion, greatly helped by Erin when she arrived and did the most exquisite quarter marks on his ample bottom.

hubby resprayed my stirrups for me

Thunder was still being very relaxed as I saddled him up and headed to the warmup. The lovely large warmup is right next to the show arena, and both are surrounded by paddocks with resident horses in them. I'd had misgivings about being the last rider of the day (again), but thanks to these factors, there was no need to worry. He was chatty, as always, but never tense. He's perfected the art of whinnying to everyone without lifting his head or even getting tight. He just likes to say hello and announce his presence, which is fine with everyone, especially since I don't ride with a caller anyway.

He warmed up better than he ever has. Though we did have one teeny-tiny spook at an extremely ominous leaf, the rest was great---relaxed and stretchy on a loose rein. This venue has a huge screen next to the warmup featuring an enormous digital clock, which made a world of difference in timing our warmup. It was divine. I felt so spoiled. It was so easy to take our time through the stretching and suppling work knowing that we had time to spare.

peep my support crew in the background <3

When we moved into the canter work, he was instantly better than he has been at the last few shows. His canter was not particularly cadenced but had none of that four-beat nonsense he occasionally pulls out at home and almost always starts with at shows. Though he gave me a few late changes in the warmup, he was on the aid and instantly off my leg, which was great. They were those only-barely-late changes that I, to be honest, don't reliably feel yet. Erin helped me to feel them a bit better and we got them straightened out before we headed to the arena a little early as they'd allowed generous time for the judge's feedback.

This next bit boggled my tiny brain a little, but luckily Erin had been watching and pointed me in the right direction. The dressage arena was the length of the whole arena, with just enough space for the judge's box at the end. I'm in no way complaining---the venue had a friendly gate-opening man to let me in---it was just something I wasn't expecting. I walked in feeling like we'd broken the rules, but the judge kindly asked if I'd like to go around once and let my horse have a look around, so I relaxed instantly and said yes please. I proceeded to walk a lap on a loose rein looking like a complete fool because Thunder was half asleep by this point and didn't look at a single thing. I let the judge know we were ready, and he rang us in.

Though our scores might not reflect it, this felt like the best test we've ever ridden together. There were no big mistakes except that his first flying change was sort of late---that kind of barely-late for which some judges will nail you and others will give you a 6 if it's calm and on the aid. That was our worst mark. I was a little distracted in the trot half circles and didn't make them quite accurate. Apart from that, I felt like we put in a good effort, with no major oopsies, and that Thunder was a real dream. He was a bit sleepy but I didn't feel like I had to boot him through any of the movements; he gave me both changes willingly and on the aid. His halts were super, and his walk work was great. Instead of giving a play-by-play recap, here's the video. Sound up for the scores and the judge's comments.

The judge was extremely kind, constructive, but accurate in his feedback. I had half expected to be screamed at by an angry German, but I absolutely loved how much the judge put me at ease and had good things to say as well as giving solid criticism. He complimented Thunder's obedience and willingness but mentioned that he was flat in his canter. Looking at the video, Thunder was pretty flat for the entire test, which is par for the course for him but I can and do get him more engaged at home. It wasn't anything new to us, but it was so good to have that feedback in real time, and the video was extremely helpful. I hadn't realized how many marks we lose for gait quality despite doing really correct and accurate movements, like the last centreline where we only got a 7 because of the trot quality when the halt itself was an 8.

so fancy!

Overall, it was not a cheap show to attend, but it was absolutely worth it. The venue is breathtaking, the judge was great, and I regret that we couldn't stick around for the seminar. It was amazing to go dancing with my Thunder while my dear husband and my best friend were there to support me. I loved every second!

Gauteng Championships 2024 Part 2: Championship and Freestyle

 I know it's been, like, a very long time since this actually happened, but it was one of the coolest horse experiences ever with my clever dragonbeast.

After our successful ride on Friday, I worked late and then slept great. I rode at about ten o'clock on Saturday so we arrived around eight to get Arwen ready. To my delight, she had an excellent night. She had neighbours across the aisle, which definitely helped, and she ate, drank, and pooped like a champ. Best of all, she was covered in straw---she clearly lay down to sleep on Friday night. It was a big win in my mind.

We hand-walked a little, groomed the sweat-sticky beast, and headed for the warmup arena at a brisk trot to mitigate the horrors of the empty parking space. She felt even more settled than the day before and I had a whole support crew of family and friends watching as we warmed up, including my precious stepmom-in-law, who'd never seen me ride before. Though still quite rushy in trot, she was better in the bridle and much less worried in general, and I was ready to relax and enjoy our very first championship class together (as much as one can be relaxed when riding a lit dragon).

When my ride time arrived and I headed out of the warmup, I found that DH had hurried off to make sure other relatives found their way to the arena in time to watch my test. He had (brilliantly) left my stepmom-in-law to look after me. She was an absolute pro at helping me into my jacket and stock, handing me some water, and giving me a brief pep talk. 10/10 horse show supporter. After announcing that Arwen was the cutest horse at the whole show, she straightened my stock and sent us in.

We had two different and notoriously strict judges for this test, so I was mildly dismayed when things did not start well. We trotted in and halted nicely, then something slightly spooked Arwen to her left, so she turned ninety degrees, halted square to look at it, and turned back again, halting square a third time. Although I'm sure she would argue that three square halts are better than one, we still garnered a 5.0 and 6.0, "unsteady halt". I rode the medium trot fairly conservatively to avoid any over-enthusiasm and we lost some of the medium-ness at the end, earning 6.0 "some interesting steps shown, not maintained" and 6.0, "slightly hurried."

The first shoulder-in was still a bit rushed, another 6.0 "little hurried, more stepping" and 5.5, "too much angle." I scraped things together a bit for the half circles to get more communication about where I wanted her to put her body, but half-halted a bit too much for 6.0 "little more fluent" and 6.0 "more forward". One judge liked the half-pass for 6.0 "more crossing", but the other said 5.0, "more crossing and reach". Her extended trot was as polarising as ever. It felt like pure magic to me, and got 8.0 from one judge "bold" (truer words were never spoken), but the other gave it a 6.0, "hurried". She was so obedient in the transitions, though, that both judges gave her 7.0.

Her halt and rein-back were prompter than necessary for 6.5 "little hurried" and 7.0 "rein-back a little tense." She was more settled for the next shoulder-in and half circles, though, getting 6.0 "more fluent" and 6.5 "more fluent" for the shoulder-in and 6.0 from both judges with one remarking how big I made my half circles. Nothing like making accuracy mistakes in Third Level, womp womp.

She felt a bit tight in the half-pass for 5.5, "slight loss of regularity" and 6.5, "more reach", and then came the turns on the haunches. The first one was 6.0 from both judges, "little loss of bend, but correct". She really wanted to jog, but I stayed soft in my hands and communicated with my seat instead, so we kept it nicely together for 6.5 and 6.5 for the next TOH and 6.5 and 7.0 for the medium walk, "more overtrack" and "fairly good." That was a big triumph for us.

We'd broken in both extended walks on Friday and Saturday, so I was really quiet in my body as we turned down the short diagonal and slipped the reins. She flipped her nose once, but stayed in a steady walk for 6.0 "shorter left hind" and 6.5 "fairly good overtrack, unsteady head." Her left hind is a strength issue, not a soreness thing, and contributes to the dodgy half-passes right as well. To my delight, she was really obedient as we headed for the canter transition. I felt a jog building and stopped it, taking a few extra walk steps after K, but it paid off for 6.5 "more uphill" and 6.0 "not quite at K."

Surprisingly, her marks took an upswing in the canter work, normally not the case for us. We had 6.0 "more self carriage" and 6.5 "little behind vertical, corrected" for the half-pass left, then 6.0 and 6.5 for a bouncy but through flying change, "jumped through hand." This is our harder direction, so I was really pleased with that. The next half-pass was 6.5 and "more fluent" from one judge but 5.0 "jumped through hand, not through" from the other (who, in hindsight, was maybe not focusing on which movement they marked). The next change was another 6.0 from both judges, "flat" and "tending to become deep." I was aware of the deepness and trying very hard to change it, but Madam Dragon knew there was an extended canter coming up and was turning into a freight train.

I felt we had a bit more control than we did on Friday, which is to say that I could redirect the energy slightly more forward than upward, but she was still pulling like a train for 6.0, "hurried, more ground cover" and 6.5, "bolt and straight, more uphill." We got a 6.0 and 6.5 for the transitions because it was once again something of a debate whether or not we could slow down at M. She was happy to go to collected trot at the end, though, for 7.0 "fairly well balanced" and 6.0 "more forward". I was actively trying for less forward, so that was on me.

I thought we had a super halt, which one judge rewarded with 8.0 "good halt"; the other was a 6.0 with no comment. Though our marks had worsened after Friday, I was over the moon as I patted her. She felt much more settled and though she was challenging to ride, I felt like we kept all our marbles together admirably.

Our collectives were 6.0 and 6.0 for paces, 6.0 and 6.5 for impulsion, 6.5 and 6.0 for submission, 7.0 and 6.5 for rider position, and 6.5 and 6.5 for aids. The judge at C said "A willing and active horse, but needs more elasticity and suppleness," and gave us 62.875%. The judge at B's comments were "A steady test, accurately ridden, scribblescribblescribble" and our mark there was 62.09%.

I was pretty happy with that---I felt our test was better even if the marks were not, and it was still a grading point---and delighted when I found out that we'd placed 10th of 25 horses in our level's championship. Not shabby at all for our mutual first big show like this, especially since I was one of only two riders in the whole class who'd never ridden higher than Third Level before.

She relaxed in the stable for a few hours while we all went out to lunch at Prison Break Market (100/10, amazing place) and I came back that evening to school her briefly before our freestyle, including the counter changes of hand, which I absolutely could not ride before her other tests because she would have ad-libbed them throughout. She was once again a bit spicy, but listening much better, and much less rushy in her trot work. I didn't ride for long and tucked her away with her bandaged legs for the night.

Arwen slept great on Saturday night, too, waking up on Sunday morning covered in straw and looking deeply content. My ride time was mid-morning on Sunday, so I didn't bother with a pre-ride this time. We just watched a few of the fancier freestyles, then got ready one more time---my poor white leggings looking a bit sad by this point even though my precious hubby had hand-washed them in the tub for me on Friday night---and returned to the warmup. Arwen felt entirely herself by this point. She was relaxed and stretching, standing still on a loose rein, and generally behaving perfectly. Riding her was fun and easy for the first time all show.

K showed up to watch, which was sweet, as did another batch of relatives from the Hyde side of the family. We finished our warmup early and relaxed in the shade for a few minutes as the rider before us finished their super nice Sound of Music-themed test. Then we headed in, did a quick sound check, and started our music.

After the train wreck that was our freestyle at Champagne Tour the month before, I'd redone our entire freestyle to make it more difficult. At the same time, we'd had much less time to practice our freestyle (and let's be honest, my choreography skills leave much to be desired). Still, it felt amazing to canter down centreline to our Moana music, even if we weren't technically supposed to enter in canter (oops).

Our first halt was solid, contributing to a 6.5 and 7.0 overall for our halts, "more balance" though it was a bit "abrupt" from canter (I was merely relieved that we had brakes at all in canter). We proceeded to our shoulder-ins separated by two half-circles, garnering 6.5 for both from both judges, "clear rhythm, scribblescribble, tight in neck, more supple over back". We did a little half-pass from the long side to X and back again, earning 6.0 for the left one from both judges and 6.5 for the right one from one judge, "too much inside bend, more position and parallel, more fluency." 

I had then planned to do either another set of half-passes or a medium trot loop but my brain froze and decided we didn't have time, so we merrily trotted down the long side, very boring, and reached the corner right on time for our extended trot. Arwen knows and enjoys the trot music and I rode it carefully to avoid breaking, but our extension didn't quite have the chaotic energy it had had all week, so it got 6.5 from both judges, "too much right rein, wide behind, more over back". That led us to the walk work. She was tired and well-behaved for this so we strolled along calmly in a medium walk and free walk across the diagonal, getting 6.0 and 6.5 for the medium ("more energy") and 6.5 and 6.5 for the extended ("clear rhythm, more shoulder freedom.")

She was obedient again into canter and we did two counter changes of hand, allowing us ample opportunity for lots of flying changes. The half-pass right was 6.0 and 6.5, the left 6.0 from both judges, "more fluency, position, and bend." She got tense for the changes but actually gave most of them much more cleanly than before, albeit she did offer half a change in our last half-pass. Her bad change was a bit hollow on one occasion and got 5.0 from one judge but 7.0 from the other; the other change was a 6.5 and 7.0.

We did our extended canter on the diagonal for 6.5 from both judges, who both wanted to see more uphill and noted that she dipped behind vertical toward the end (there was a certain amount of "whoa dangit".) She gave me a nice change at the corner and an obedient downward to trot, which ended with a well-behaved halt at the end.

The test was nice enough but our artistic marks lost us several places. We got 6.0 for rhythm and 6.5 for harmony, but only 6.5 and 6.0 for choreography and 6.5 and 6.5 for degree of difficulty. Our music and interpretation were 6.5s for both. "Walk music little heavy for horse," one judge commented.

The judge at C said "Arwen could work more over back with softer frame," while the judge at B thought "Obedient horse, test could be more inventive, more off track, and less test movements. Increase degree of difficulty by joining movements together. More forward and supple." I thought her comments were extremely helpful and hit the nail on the head considering how much time I spent piddling around on the track; the whole thing was rather boring and conservative. All the same, we got 63.500 and 63.000, a mark that I was totally happy with even though it was a bummer to drop to 9th place out of 12 when we'd done so well the day before.

We finished with giving Arwen a short break in her stable while I devoured the most amazing chicken strips I've ever eaten (and now regularly crave, thanks Kyalami Park for the great new caterers). My sister helped us load everything up, and Arwen happily hopped in the box for the journey home.

It was an epic experience and made all the better by all the friends and family who came out to support us. Everything with this man by my side feels like pure magic to me.

God is good.

Gauteng Champs 2024 Part One: Warmup and Qualifier

I know it's been like... two months since this show, but here we go anyway!

I promise that we do things other than horse shows, even though the blog might not reflect that fact this year. Skye, Wynnie, Raya, Lancey, and all the others are alive and well and still being loved. In fact, Wynnie has had some early training which I'll post about later. For now, let's recap one of the most epic horse experiences I've ever had.

In 10 years of dressage, I've never ridden my own horse in a championship show. I rode a client horse in Prelim at Nationals one year, which sucked for many reasons and crushed the fragile little flower of my ever-struggling confidence, and sort of avoided it ever since. This year, though, with Arwen on fire (in both good and bad ways), it was time to give it a shot.

The whole thing turned out to be not as expensive as I'd feared. The composite entry fee turned out no more expensive per class than an ordinary dressage show and KPC charged no non-member fee because it was a championship show, so that was fabulous. Stabling did add to that somewhat, but was less expensive than fuel for driving up and down. In the end, it was a surprisingly cost-effective way to earn grading points. May my poor American readers read it and weep---the stabling and entries together for a prestigious four-day dressage show at one of the nicest venues in the country worked out to US$128. I'm awfully sorry. We also got free sherry, albeit at nine in the morning, so my lightweight butt skipped that one.

Very dear relatives of ours live fifteen minutes from KPC, so we stayed with them and had a truly fabulous time hanging out with them all weekend. They were a definite highlight of the show.

I spent Thursday running around, trying to get everything in order for us to leave the farm for three nights and being quite frantic. Still, we got Arwen plaited and on the box by one in the afternoon as planned. As we were packing, I threw in her double bridle, then eyed the snaffle bridle she only really uses for hacking and lungeing. I guessed I wouldn't need it, but grabbed it anyway. Lucky I did. 

Poor old Arwen had to be squished into one partition while we packed all her hay and bedding on the other side. She was a real superstar about this, but it was hot and she was alone, so she arrived really sweaty at KPC. I'd hoped to get her clipped before the show and failed; as a result, her coat was super yucky the entire time, because one of us sweats like a pig and the weather was really nice. Luckily for us, dressage is not a beauty pageant, so I did my best but didn't let it get to me.

She was pretty chill when we arrived---much more so than she had been arriving alone at Easter Fest in April---and stood tied quite happily while I tacked up. However, I could see that we would have challenges to face that weekend. Only eight horses competed in the warmups on Thursday, which were for Third Level through to Grand Prix only. While many horses had arrived to the stables, these are all the way on the other side of the property from the dressage arenas. A few horses drifted around the warmups, but we were mostly on our own---and the last horse and rider to go in that day.

I jumped on without much ado and headed to the warmup, feeling a little tense after our less-than-great experience at our last show. This feeling did not get better as we passed another warmup arena fulled with riders who were passaging and one-tempi-ing around, but I felt greatly reassured when we approached our warmup and discovered a kind and friendly lady doing late-behind changes on a magnificent grey horse. We had found our people.

She warmed up super great. She was instantly professional with none of the fussiness we'd had at Eaton Farm, honestly never putting a foot wrong. In fact, everything was peachy until we headed down the centreline for our test and all the other horses evaporated from the known universe. Arwen trotted down, obediently halted square, yanked the reins through my hands and dramatically flipped her head left and right. I scraped the reins together and managed a salute, albeit one without as much flair as hers.

much elegance, greatly dressage

It all went downhill from there. She was rushy and tight; I got a little rushy and tight myself, but didn't quit riding, so that was a small victory for me. She dived behind the vertical---something she's almost never done before---and I spent the whole test juggling my curb rein between super loose and grabbing it when she was trying to bomb off. It was a hot mess. I didn't even keep the test papers because it was so uncharacteristic for us, but I know we had a few sixes and sevens and a few well-earned threes and fours. She broke in the walk and the extended trot, bucked through the first change, and spooked into the second one. The thing that nailed us the most was the connection---my usually rock-solid dragon was all over the place, fussy, BTV at times despite my best efforts, and flipping her head anytime she got the chance.

To her great credit, she didn't pull out any of her previous signature moves when she's tense. She didn't buck into the canter transition and her halts were absolutely rock solid. Even when she threw her head, she didn't move her feet one inch.

I didn't quite get what had gone wrong until I looked up as we walked out and realized that all the horses had vanished. I could hardly blame her for how she'd behaved, but I'll be honest, I was a bit slow to realize just how much separation would affect us at this show. This particular test was a train wreck: 55%.

We conducted the first of many long hacks from the arenas to the stables, and for the whole show, this was a fairly miserable experience---not just for me, but other competitors as well. Arwen hacks out alone just fine at home, but she jigged and squealed all the way to the stables, for which I couldn't blame her. I didn't try to modify this behaviour all show long, just to be as reassuring as possible until we could get back to the "herd." A school of thought exists in horsemanship that the horse should be a good little robot and not be bothered if they can't see other horses. While some horses certainly can learn to cope on their own (exhibit A being Lancey, who honestly doesn't care), it's not something I *expect* from my horses. It goes so deeply against the core of what they are as a species. So we just sort of handled this as well as we could for this show. She was OK as long as we were at the stables or arena where we could see friends; in between, she was never rude, but tense and upset. Again, couldn't blame her.

When we got to the stables, we found that we were in the same row as several of our old friends from the Friesian stud, so that was lovely. Arwen was a little busy in her stable but not making any attempts to pace or jump out. I wrapped her legs with Ice Tite since they fill overnight if she's in, and this worked like a charm all weekend---they never filled at all. Finally, I gave my hairy beast its handful of dinner and put on its thin sheet while everyone else fed their warmblood bucketfuls and wrapped them in duvets.

She was more relaxed than I'd expected when we arrived the next morning. She'd eaten a mountain of hay, pooped like a champion, and had cool, dry legs. This was the only night she didn't lie down to sleep, though, and the moment I'd fed her and took her out of the stable to hose the Ice Tite off her legs, she was a firecracker. My nerves did not help the situation whatsoever. I tried to keep a lid on things as I saddled her up and headed to the warmup arena next to the stables to see how she was in the snaffle.

screenshot from the test bc this is becoming a wall of text

The snaffle was a hit. My riding was not. Arwen was tense and rushing in the extreme. Her walk was OK, her canter was fabulous, but she ran in the trot while pulling and being BTV at the same time. I felt like I was torturing my horse, which didn't help. She kept napping toward the dressage arenas (not the stables) and her electricity wasn't her usual dragon sass, it was genuine anxiety. I hated the feeling. She hated that I hated it. Things went downhill from there. I tried using Thunder's usual brain-reset activity, which is to halt and rein back when he starts to ignore my aids. It works great on him. It made the dragon absolutely furious. I, ever slow, kept reining her back when she got hot, apparently not realising that this only made her hotter and hotter. It was a disaster.

When my poor, longsuffering, undeserving husband enquired for the sixth time when my ride time was, I may or may not have had a magnificent meltdown. I halted Arwen (who stood, to her great credit) and threw my reins down like a toddler. "My horse won't listen to me and neither will my husband," I wailed at this unlucky soul. "I want to go home."

Instead of yelling at me, which any sane person in the world would justifiably have done, this pure and gentle man of mine said, in the kindest of tones, "No, you don't. You can do this. She can do this. We're not going home."

I breathed deep and walked my horse around on a long rein. We were both tired and sweaty after half an hour of struggling, and it was tempting to drill more, but it wasn't good for either of us---least of all the dragon. We made peace in walk and then I hosed her and put her away to rest for a couple of hours until it was time to warm up for our test.

Things already felt better as we headed to the warmup. Arwen relaxed as soon as we reached the dressage arenas, and while she was still rushing somewhat in trot, she felt a thousand times better in the connection and in her mental state. This was more typical Spice Dragon behaviour than anxiety. A lot to manage, but not unhappy in herself, which made me feel much better as well. 

We charged down centreline with two judges watching. I didn't have much brakes, but we scraped out a solid first halt (C 7.0 "good halt, slight deviation behind", B 6.0 "past X, not square behind"). She bombed off and wanted to fall through the first corner but we scraped it together and I rode extremely conservatively into the first medium trot. She still dropped a little in the connection but didn't rush. The judge at B liked it (7.0) but C said 6.0, "BTV, hurried". Sometimes Arwen gets "hurried" simply for having short legs, but the BTV was valid. She came back beautifully for 7.0 from both judges for the shoulder-in right, and though she wanted to fall out on the half circles a little, we communicated and sorted it out for 7.5 from the judge at B ("accurate") and 7.0 from the judge at C.

I worked hard to keep her from getting tight in the neck, but couldn't quite keep it together for the half-pass left, which garnered a 6.5 from both judges (C "BTV, more position"). I slipped up in the extended trot and rode it like I normally do, not like I would do on an active inferno of a dragon, so we rode lovely transitions up and down but broke in the middle and lost our balance. The judge at C gave us a 4.0 for the trot ("very hurried, losing rhythm") and 6.0 for the transitions; B was a bit more generous with a 5.0 ("showing difference, then lost balance and rhythm") and 7.0 for the transitions.

We got it together and didn't let the mistake get to us. Fired up though she was, she halted absolutely dead still and gave me a fluid rein-back (C 7.0, B 6.5 "almost square, willing rein-back"). The shoulder-ins really helped to lift her into the bridle, so we got 7.0 from both judges for the shoulder-in and the half circles. The half-pass right is her harder side but still got a 7.0 from the judge at C, though the judge at B saw "slight neck bend" and gave us a 6.5.

She came back to walk beautifully for me and I stayed awake for the turn on the haunches, riding it as well as I could, which is much better than my track record of totally falling to bits in the TOH. The judge at B liked it for 7.0, but the judge at C saw that she stuck for a step with both hind legs and gave us 4.0. We had the same mark and comment from the C judge for the next TOH; the judge at B gave 6.5, "more active behind." Still, despite her spicy feeling, she remained beautifully smooth and rhythmic in the medium walk in between and didn't break. She was trying so hard despite feeling her oats---it was fantastic. We got a 7.0 and a 6.5 for the walk.

Things did go a bit wrong in our extended walk, though, when I dropped her a little and she took two trot steps, garnering a 5.0 from B ("some tension") and a 4.0 from C ("trotting behind"). Still, she came back perfectly when asked and was completely relaxed and obedient into the transition to canter for 7.0 from both judges---a little triumph for us both. She felt much better in the bridle in canter, too, although I lost control of her inside shoulder for a few strides in the corner. The judge at B spotted us and gave us 6.0 for the half-pass; we got a 7.0 from the judge at C. Her half circle and flying change was a 6.5 (B: "on the aid") and a 4.0 (C: "late behind"), which just shows you how much angles matter.

We kept our balance nicely into the next half-pass (B: 6.5, "more supple", C 7.0) and had a really clean but slightly bouncy change right to left, which is our better side (B: 6.5, "hop and change", C: 7.0). All that was left was the extended canter, during which I dearly missed the double bridle because we had very, very little brakes. The judge at B liked it (7.0, "bold" lol) although the judge at C gave it 6.0, "more ground cover". Their marks were identical for the transitions - 7.0 from the judge at B, 6.0 from the judge at C. I felt that our upward was fabulous but the downward was something of a wrestling match as Arwen would gladly have galloped the rest of the test.

She wasn't particularly keen on going down to collected trot either but did it obediently and on the marker, albeit dropping BTV for a stride, getting a 7.0 and a 6.5 for that. Despite the fact that I felt like I was sitting on a runaway jet ski down centreline, her halt was absolutely perfect, and neither judge could help but give her an 8.0 for that.

I was so pleased as we headed out of the arena. She was a total firecracker, sure, for a variety of understandable reasons, but she gave me absolutely everything in there. The few mistakes were mine and though it was a constant struggle to keep the connection solid, I actually showed up for it and worked every step of the test to keep her poll up. Despite her tension, she also didn't pull out any of her usual habits when she's feeling spicy, like dancing in her halt or bucking into her canter transition. I couldn't have asked for better and I was over the moon with how we pulled ourselves together after a particularly tough morning.

We were all smiles as we headed back to the stables, and our score gave me reason for more smiles. We got 7.0 and 7.0 for paces, 7.0 and 6.5 for impulsion, 6.5 and 6.0 for submission, 7.0 and 7.0 for rider position, and 6.5 and 6.5 for use of aids. Our overall marks were 65.375 ("some pleasant work shown") and 63.250 ("a willing horse needs to work more over a supple back to produce more ground cover and fluency"), for a final mark of 64.31%.

I was over the moon with that. It took a lot from both of us to pull out a personal best score under tough circumstances and riding against the best riders in the country. We placed 11th out of 25 riders---definitely the best we've done in such good company. To my amazement, we even qualified for the championship class the next day.

We spent the rest of Friday just relaxing with the relatives, taking Arwen for the odd walk and keeping her happy. Some neighbors had moved into the stables and she was totally content in there. I slept well that night knowing that my dragon was just fine and ready for the championship.

God is good.