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.

Champagne Tour 2024

With that tailcoat so close I can taste it, longsuffering hubby has consented to spending many weekends this winter watching me go around in slightly fancier circles than before. He is doing incredibly well lately---praise God!---and so it was no big deal to enter a show last Saturday and go pick up a few grading points.

We have provincial championships around the corner and so I took the opportunity to get Arwen ready for our mutual first freestyle. I'm not sure how I've managed to do this sport for nearly ten years without ever riding a single freestyle, but here we are. I had somebody (Dressage Freestyles by Anrike) do the music for me and I 100000% recommend her, she was incredible throughout the process and so inexpensive. Our freestyles are all the same as America's now and (like most South Africans) her English is very fluent, so if anyone across the pond wants great music for their freestyle for like $25, hit me up for her details.

The idea of doing our first freestyle made me nervous. I rode through it a dozen times in the week leading up to the show, trying to make sure I hit all the musical cues, but I was worried that it wouldn't work out in a show arena. Our arena is 20mx60m but has a fence around it for riding school kiddies and feral youngsters, so sometimes it feels smaller than a show arena. I was worried it would ride smaller too and that I'd be left without enough music for my movements at the show.

Usually, I try not to ride Arwen's tests too much because she learns them by the second run-through and anticipates more than ever. Spoiler alert: I should definitely not have ridden my freestyle this many times.

We managed to fit in a lesson the day before the show, which was fantastic. J helped us to find a much smoother flying change that was far more through. Because she's hot I often think she's responsive when she's actually just reactive, so we worked on getting her truly off my leg laterally, and the pieces really started to come together. Part of this involved playing with her first three-tempis, which she figured out instantly because she's considerably smarter than I am, and she hugely enjoyed them. Maybe a little too much.

Thunder's prep went really well, too. I devoted a lot of time over the past two weeks to get him a bit stronger laterally, so we did plenty of canter travers on a circle and steep half-passes in all three gaits, as well as J's favorite TOH exercise---walk half-pass on the short diagonal, walk pirouette 360 degrees on the centerline, continue in walk half-pass to the wall. 

When J came for our lesson, our lateral work was much more easy and consistent off my leg. We did beautiful, near-perfect walk pirouettes in our lesson and worked on increasing activity and cadence in the collected canter without increasing speed. It became of primary importance that my inside leg in collected canter says activity and the outside leg says push. This is far too delicate for my tiny brain, but Thunder figured it out fast. We had several of those moments when you taste pure magic and your horse's feet don't quite seem to touch the ground.

Our ride times were spread out but leisurely this time. We loaded up in nice sunshine and with no fuss whatsoever, and DH, groom M, and I set off for the show venue. I was trying not to be nervous for the freestyle and failing a bit.

shout-out to my gorgeous new QHP Sashas for breaking in super easily

Both horses were chill once we unloaded, though Arwen's neck and shoulders were quite sweaty. She needs to be clipped again and it was pretty hot, so I wasn't surprised. They settled down to tuck into their haynets at once despite this being a new venue to Thunder (Arwen had been there once about four years ago). I got most of the dirt off Arwen---it was way too cold to bath her beforehand---and fussed around a bit. I had too much time and it was not a good thing.

As an aside, it was really cool to see Shy Boy and his lovely new owner at this show. They parked next to us and Shy Boy had his freestyle right after Arwen. He came second and looked amazing and kind as ever.

Finally, I hopped on Arwen and headed for the warmup. M followed with Thunder, who was good again and happy to hang out at the warmup. Arwen paid him no attention at all. She marched into the warmup like she owned it and maintained more attitude than necessary. From the moment we picked up our first canter, this girl had those three-tempis on her mind. She tossed changes in everywhere, bucked through her walk to canter, and forcibly insisted that changes in the middle of her half-passes were a great idea.

You wanted this yesterday, woman, she snorted when I chided her. You're getting them today, too. Deal with it.

I was too busy worrying about the newness of riding a freestyle to effectively correct this, though I genuinely did try, albeit I tried by riding the movement as it appears in the test instead of doing a bunch of counter-canter like I usually do when she gets like this. In hindsight, that would have been an amazing idea.

My worry mounted as the time ticked past. I knew there was a rider before me, but her ride time came and went. My ride time approached. I waited for her, but eventually went looking for her in the warmups and realized she wasn't around. Nor was there any sign whatsoever of a gate marshall. Nor did anyone make any kind of announcements. Ten minutes after my ride time, I headed to the judge, who proceeded to yell at me for being late. This was fair---I should have simply shown up on my ride time. A gate marshall or even just an efficient announcer would have been really great, though, and my people pleaser side badly wanted my brains to melt out of my ears and dribble onto the floor.

A year ago, I would have gotten stuck right there and become a mess. Instead, I reminded myself that this was not the end of the universe, but I did have to make a conscious effort not to let the judge's words replay absurdly in my head the way us people-pleasing overthinkers would like to do. I didn't panic but I had to make an effort not to, which left fewer brain cells free for dressage.

another shout-out to both horses for being absolute superstars about standing tied to the box

Arwen reacted as she always does. Aw girlfriend, you're only bringing 50% today? Don't worry. I got this. So she brought about 600%, which was much more than we really needed for a Third Level freestyle, and when she heard her music things did not get better. She grabbed the bit and told me to hang on and let her do her thing.

This is my jam, sweetheart. Stay out of my way, she ordered.

The resultant freestyle had many hurried moments, almost removed my arms from their sockets, and contained several interpretive dance moves. I'd kept the choreography simple in a bid to make it manageable. We had 6.0s for our shoulder-ins and the trot half-pass left, but 6.5 for the trot half-pass right, which was nice because that's been our harder direction. Her extended trot was as fabulous as ever for 7.0. Despite her dragoning, her walk was really relaxed and rhythmic, and we got 6.0 for it with comment "more ground cover" for the extended walk.

The canter work was where the wheels fell off the bus a bit. She knew exactly when the music was going to change for her canter and bounced wildly through the transition to celebrate, and our extended canter was heavy in front for 4.0, "resisting, on forehand." We moved straight into her canter half-pass left for 6.0, but she changed messily from left to right as we got to the wall instead of waiting on my aid for 5.0, "not straight." It was through, though, so that's a huge win for us after working so hard on it. 

Our next canter half-pass was another 6.0 with another squiggly change for 5.0, "jumped together behind". We repeated the dodgy left to right change and, on the video, it was actually the most through it's ever been---less close behind than at the last show, but definitely still a bit close. 

Our final halt was absolutely straight and square but she moved a step after I saluted for 6.5, "moved in halt."

photo by Denford Studios

The collectives were the part that really nailed us: 5.5 for rhythm "(hurried)", 5.8 for harmony ("on rider's hand"), 6.0 for choreography, 5.8 for degree of difficulty, 6.0 for music, and 5.5 for interpretation ("hurried"). Our final comment was "Horse needs to show more self carriage and a more ground-covering stride." That gave us a bummer of a final mark, 57.975%.

The mark was disappointing, but it was mostly my own fault for being late. Arwen only rushed because I rushed. The main thing is that our beautiful music from Moana worked unbelievably well. In terms of timing the test rode just like it rides at home, so that gives me plenty of confidence with choreographing future freestyles knowing that they'll work out just fine in the show ring. What's more, I didn't actually come to pieces the way I did in the Supremes at HOY. I was just a little tense and using more brainpower than usual to make the butterflies go in formation. Plus Arwen's changes were better even if they were at random points in the test instead of where I wanted them lol.

We spent several hours lounging around, doing Thunder's hair, getting lunch, and generally killing time before I finally saddled him up and got ready for 3-3, the same test as we did last time. He was tense as we went into the warmup and looking for something to spook at, but he didn't try to nap this time. In fact, he was a bit quick off my leg rather than lazy. I had to pull myself together before getting on because I kind of wanted to get it over with and go home after the bad mark for Arwen's test, but with a bit of self-discipline, the Spirit's work, and hubby's pep talk, I climbed on determined to actually ride properly and not let something silly mess up a perfectly gorgeous day with the people and horses I love.

"he's getting fat" - J

I spent a lot of time stretching him and lengthening his neck---originally staying on the side of the arena nearest where M stood with Arwen to help him relax---and it paid off. Once we had done loads of stretchy walk and trot, we headed into canter and he was supple, listening, and cadenced. He wanted to cheekily fall into my inside leg in the corners at times but I tickled him with my spur occasionally and he swiftly cut it out. He listened to my leg and made no attempt to give me lazy changes, and though I reminded him once or twice to keep stepping off my leg in the canter half-pass right, he actually felt pretty superb. For my part, I was so disciplined about keeping my hands in the right place (J had only said "hands on the hairline" about 60 times in my lesson) that my knuckles rubbed out one of his plaits. Overcorrecting? Probably, but at least I was paying attention.

We walked down to another arena for our test. The show was nearly done, but on another level lower than this arena, a few horses were still busy with their tests. Thunder wasn't sure why there were other random horses down there and wanted to be spooky, but I kept him busy with a bunch of shoulder-in left and right to keep his feet moving and his neck supple, and he was an incredibly good boy. Of course, I showed up to the wrong ring, not being sure which was which, but this time the judge was unbelievably nice and pointed me in the right direction so I was calm and collected when I showed up at the correct arena this time (and with three minutes to spare, having learned my lesson).

It was the same judge as at the last show. We went to say hello and then headed right in. He stepped a tiny bit to the left with his shoulder in halt but kept his attention with me for 8.0, "halt straight and square, a little abrupt into halt, straight after X". I kept my body forward and didn't push the medium much for 6.5. Then he flowed effortlessly through all of his trot lateral work, supple as a noodle and absolutely obedient. We had 7.0 for the shoulder-in right, 7.5 for the two half circles ("fairly good bend"), and 7.5 for the half-pass left ("correct"). Our extended trot was another mystifying 7.0 but he did actually throw his toes a little bit for me, so that was cute. He had 7.0 for the transitions as well.

The halt and rein-back was a 6.5, "not square behind in halt". He almost stepped out at A but did give me good rein-back steps. Mindful that this judge wanted fewer steps last time, I felt that the first step was not quite diagonal but only asked for three steps more, so she didn't comment on that. His shoulder-in left and half-circles were two more 7.0s. In his half-pass right he was soft and lovely but starting to fall against my left leg. Knowing this boded poorly for the canter work, I did elect to give him a sharp tap, and he squiggled across for a couple of strides that earned us a 7.0, "slight loss of rhythm".

Heading into the walk tour, I girded up my loins and ordered myself not to bugger up the turns on the haunches, and we more or less succeeded. They were both 6.0: "could be more fluent, not keeping rhythm behind, pick up both legs evenly behind". On the video, he skipped one step with each TOH, both times interestingly with the outside hind. I've always been focused on avoiding pivoting with the inside hind. Either way, they were much, much better than before and I'm happy with how they went. His medium walk was lovely and earned a well-deserved 7.0. I pushed him for more overtrack in the extended walk and we got another 7.0, then followed it with a third 7.0 as we picked up a very nice, soft transition to canter.

The canter work was again not as good as the trot work. Our half-pass left was 6.5, "a little more supple", and I freely admit that I messed up his changes. Since he was still a bit tight and spooky I didn't rev him up for the change like I should have. It took several aids to get him to change left to right and we had a well-deserved 5.0, "kicking up, not on aid, very untidy". His half-pass right was tight but well-aligned so we got a 6.0, "more suppleness and bend". I ordered him to change properly this time but he was still a little lazy through the change for 5.5, "together behind."

The big difference came in his extended canter. I didn't have to chase him, I just closed my leg and we got a 7.0, "fairly bold", with another 7.0 for the transitions. He was super obedient into the collected trot for another 7.0. I thought his halt was nice but it was not quite square for 6.5, "straight, almost square".

My collectives came up a lot compared with last time. He had 7 for paces, 6 for impulsion with engagement underlined, 6.5 for submission with lightness of the forehand underlined, and both my rider marks were 7.0. Our comment was "accurately ridden, fairy good 2-track," and our final mark was 66.375%.

I was over the moon with him as we headed out. I knew I'd messed up the changes, but that's just a matter of getting to know his feeling in the show ring again, no big deal. A tiny tweak in the way I ride them will make them 7s again. Overall, though, he felt amazing. He was obedient, focused, and delightful in the connection. Though his canter half-passes were a little stiff, they were accurate and perfectly positioned. His trot half-passes were super. I was really, really happy with him.

Of course, I was even happier when I found out we'd once again come second in some very good company. That was the cherry on top of what had really been a nice day.

They both hopped in and traveled mostly well on the way home, barring Arwen nipping Thunder's nose once to irritate him. It was another super day out with my precious hubby---who only seems to be getting more and more passionate about my riding---and two of the nicest horses I've ever had the privilege to know.

God is good.

June 2024 Terrouges

Professional photos by NC Phillips

Long time, no post. We spent April and May tucked away at home, putting in the reps and giving DH time to heal and adjust as he returned to work five months post-op. He's doing super great, but we'll be on this recovery journey for a little while. In the face of having my sweet husband by my side, horse shows on the back burner was barely even an inconvenience.

We took advantage of the time off from test riding to do loads of strengthening exercises. Coach J came out twice and got us stuck into endless canter travers circles, then endless canter half-passes, flying changes on the wall, and medium-collected-medium canter transitions. We cantered until both horses had big round bums and I had legs of steel.

Thunder was originally not into all the cantering

Things came together for us to do another horse show last weekend. Of course, since I had picked a much further show venue than usual, I also drew the first ride time of the day. I dragged my poor, long-suffering husband out of bed at 4am on Sunday morning to load the two beasties in the box. Love is patient and kind indeed, even when your crazy little spouse wants to run around outside in the dark when it's -1C (30F).

We were alone with loading the two critters and I don't really want DH to hold horses who might yank him around yet, so I made a master plan. While DH hooked up the box and sorted out lighting, I got Arwen and Thunder dressed, then brought Thunder---the less chaotic one---to the box. He walked right in, we shut his chain, and I dashed down the hill to grab Arwen.

To Thunder's credit, he was really good. He called a few times but didn't stomp around even though he had no other horses in sight. DH stood by the box door and chatted to him while I attempted to wrangle Arwen, who had been totally chill until she heard the velcro on her travel boots and knew that she was Going on a Quest. She was galloping around the small paddock where she'd spent the night, tail flagging, snorting, and as I always do, I wondered if she was afraid to load in the box.

Nothing could be further from the truth. When I got to the paddock gate, she ran up to me and shoved me so hard with her nose she nearly knocked me over. I leashed the beast and she physically dragged me to the horsebox---not back to her home field, in the other direction---and then trotted into the box with me flapping behind like a kite's tail.

You're not leaving me behind, she snorted on a cloud of steam.

not even kidding about the steam

Thunder looked mildly concerned by her chaotic presence, but she booped him with her nose and then settled in to eat hay with great violence. Despite the cold, I travelled her only in her day sheet to see if we could mitigate her sweating. Thunder had his fleece on and I left all the windows open.

We stopped once to check on them when we picked up BarnRat at her house down the road, and both were eating contentedly, so we set off without further ado. The drive took nearly two hours, but the horses barely moved, and when we arrived to a frigid sunrise just before 7am we were right on time.

We unloaded the horses and BarnRat wrangled Thunder while I tied Arwen to the horsebox and got to work. She was much quieter than she'd been at Easter Fest, and stood chowing her hay while I ran a brush over her and saddled her up. For once, she'd also barely sweated in the box, only a couple of spots on her shoulders and pectorals. I hadn't put a tail bandage on---she hates them---and I think that may have contributed to her stress level being lower, but also, honestly, I think she gets really hot in the box more than actually stressing that much.

Either way, it was nice to have a cool, dry dragon to saddle up. She stood tied like a champ while I quickly got Thunder beautified. Then I squeezed myself into my brand spanking new long boots---I know, I know---and we headed to the warmup.

BarnRat used Thunder as a hot water bottle

Terrouges is a new-to-us venue but felt safe and homey because my bestie Erin stables her horses there. With BarnRat bringing Thunder along to keep everyone chill, Arwen and I headed into a beautiful mirrored indoor for warmup. Arwen hasn't been indoors much, but she didn't miss a beat.

What's up, sexy? she asked the pretty grey horse in the mirror, then went straight to work.

We had a chill, uneventful warmup with a ton of stretching. She felt like she does at home, totally unbothered, but I spent more time stretching her out than usual and thought it was a mistake when the ring marshall called me down before I'd done any collected trot work. We did have time for plenty of lateral walk and canter work, lots of stretchy trot, and a bunch of changes, though, so I wasn't too worried. Arwen's trot work is usually on the money from the word go.

Thunder dragged BarnRat around a bit as we headed down to the arena. DH assumed his position to take video. I walked past the judge and said a quick hello without the awkward introduction rigmarole and then the bell rang and we were off to ride Third 3 for the first time.

We marched down centreline and had a steady, straight, square halt, but as soon as her feet stopped moving, Arwen threw her head up to gape at guys watering the arena next door, so that garnered a 7.0: "straight halt and square, inattentive, more balance." To her credit, she set off boldly as soon as I asked and didn't look at the guy again, although she was a little unbalanced in the C-H corner throughout the test so I think she was still eyeing them a bit.

Our medium trot was a 6.5; it felt rhythmic, obedient, and steady, but maybe a bit conservative. We headed into the shoulder-in right for a 7.0 and got another 7.0 for the two half circles. Our half-pass left felt solid to me, but got a 6.5, "showing bend, more fluent." Fair, she can be a little hurried in the half-passes.

Her extended trot felt absolutely incredible. She was on the aid, balanced, and throwing those toes as high as they can go. Honestly, watching the video and seeing the pictures, I'm pretty surprised she didn't get a better mark for it. It was outstanding. We got a 7.0 for the extension and the transitions.

🔥

The halt at A was good, but we both botched the rein-back a little bit, losing rhythm. I felt one step was not fully diagonal so I asked for another. That was a 6.5, "square halt, willing rein-back, one step too many". I'll take it. The rest of the trot work dipped a little in the marks, with 6.5s for the shoulder-in and half circles with the comment "hurried" (it was a bit), and another 6.5 for the half-pass left, our more difficult way, comment "keep bend".

We proceeded into the turns on the haunches, which I ride every single day at home because I know I'm not great at them. They were solid at home. In the test, I completely ruined them. I get in my head about this one specific movement and reliably destroy them at shows. We got a 5.0, "stuck one step", and a 6.0, "more fluent", which was more than I expected. She jogged a little into the first one which earned us a 5.0 for the medium walk, "more rhythm". I felt that was pretty fair.

Our extended walk was conservative in the interests of maintaining the rhythm, so we got a 6.5, "more overtrack, correct rhythm". We found a small triumph in the canter transition at K, which was a 7.0, "obedient". I've historically destroyed those in tests, too, so I was pleased with that.

dragon magic

The canter half-pass felt a bit mediocre and clearly was; 6.0, "showing bend to [illegible], keep parallel". She kept it together nicely into our harder change, left to right, where she can sometimes jump or prop a bit. Her change felt close behind but very obedient and I was a little annoyed by the mark, 4.0, "late behind". It was close behind, not late.

Our half-pass right was another 6.0, "more suppleness", but her easier change was really good and got a 7.0. She charged gloriously through her extended canter for a pleasant 7.5: "bold, slightly hurried". We haven't had great marks on the extended canter, so I was chuffed with that. Somehow, our transitions were a 6.0, "show more".

She was a little abrupt into the collected trot for 6.5, but our final halt was super for 7.5, "almost straight."

I was over the moon with the test as we walked out. She was infinitely rideable, so obedient, so focused, and so energetic. I loved every second. Although I botched the TOH, I was also really content with how I'd ridden most of the test. I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable in the show ring and it shows in quiet, effective riding that's more like what I can do at home.

Our collectives were fairly solid: 7 for paces, 6.5 for impulsion with suppleness underlined, 7 for submission, 6.5 for rider position, and 7 for aids. The judge's comment was "Accurate and obedient test, slightly hurried in extensions. Keeping steady frame and fairly good bend."

Our final mark was 63.8% and fourth out of five. I think there were a few movements that she deserved a bit more and that we could have gotten less for our TOH, but overall, I was chuffed with the mark---a new personal best for Arwen.

4th... out of 5 lol

There was little time to reflect on the test. I bounced off Arwen, switched numnah and bridle number to Thunder, and bounced onto him. (We definitely need another white numnah and bridle number for future shows, which would have made this so much quicker and easier). BarnRat was greatly relieved to be rid of the Thunder menace, and I had to quell some nerves as we headed to the warmup. The last few times I rode Thunder off-property were abundantly crappy. We had spooky, naughty lessons at the Friesian stud, a generally tense and spooky experience at J's (my bad, nobody else's), and a really naughty and spooky last show at Easter Fest 2023.

He got a round of ulcer treatment before coming home from J's, though, and I think a lot of that spooking was linked to his tummy. A lot of it was also linked to the way I rode him back then. I haven't been good about being clear and consistent with him, leading him to do more or less whatever he wants, which includes spooking at everything when he senses inconsistency in the one who's supposed to know what she's doing (me).

He wanted to spin around as we approached the indoor when Arwen was out of sight, but there were plenty of other horses around, so I put my leg on and ordered him to get his butt in there and stop being ridiculous. He swiftly responded by putting his head down and going straight to work. Though BarnRat did stand by the warmup with Arwen, he didn't try to nap towards her the way he's done with friends at shows in the past. In fact, he almost completely ignored her, and we got to work with a minimum of looking around at things.

I was really proud of the fact that he was so chill and rideable, but our warmup was far from satisfactory. While he wasn't naughty or spooky, he felt like the pre-training Thunder---the one whose response to all of my aids tends to be half-arsed. Not outright rebellious, but not obedient and willing either. He was only sort of on my aids, and this manifested in downright lazy, late changes.

We went down to the arena having achieved the bare minimum, and then found that we had five more minutes. I dithered for a second. My show nerves wanted to hang by the arena to get him used to the area more, but I knew we could do better, so I turned him around and marched back to the warmup with the purpose of getting him on my aids. I tuned him up with some lateral work, being uncompromising about moving off my leg, and tapped him through a couple of cleaner changes, and we made it back to the show arena with him feeling a bit surprised that I'd brought my big girl pants.

He was really fabulous about entering the arena. It's not particularly spooky, but there are definitely things to look at, and Thunder just... didn't. He was all business. We headed down the long side with shoulder ins changing direction every few strides to get him off my leg. Then the bell rang, and we boldly headed down centreline.

He wiggled into his first halt and was a bit inattentive and cheeky, but we got a 6.5, "straight entry, quarters right in halt." Our medium trot was unbelievably bad, which it always is, and garnered a well-deserved 6.0, "go with horse's trot; against movement." Yeah, first I need to make the medium sittable, then I can sit on it.

His trot lateral work was absolutely phenomenal. Although he was trying to fall behind my leg and go above the bit where he could, he finds this work really easy, and I didn't have much difficulty keeping him flowing. A long string of sevens followed: the shoulder-in, the half circles, and the half-pass.

His extended trot is fairly horrible as well---it's barely a medium trot, to be honest---but somehow he had a 7.0 for that and a 7.0 for the transitions. I know I'm not a judge, but I seriously question those marks compared to Arwen's. She deserved so much better if Thunder got sevens for that movement. In fact, as we flopped through the second transition, I whispered to Thunder, "Wow, that was hateful" and he twitched an ear in agreement.

Anyway, we floated into a really nice half and rein-back at A. Again, I felt not all our steps were diagonal so I took an extra one: 7.0, "halt square, good rein-back, one extra step. Pity." His shoulder-in and half circles were sevens again, but he was starting to get behind my leg into the half-pass right and got a 6.5, "more position."

As we plodded into the walk, I knew I was going to have to ride the living daylights out of this test if we weren't going to bomb spectacularly. He felt as flat as a pancake. Not tired---he hadn't yet broken a sweat or gotten out of breath---but decidedly against my leg. I pulled myself together a bit in the TOH, managing a 6.5, "more active for one stride", and a 6.0, "slight swivel." I can do better, but it was an improvement.  His walk was a well deserved 7.0.

Our extended walk was another 7.0; I think he can do better, but I was struggling to keep him in front of my leg and relaxed, and the extended was not the place to make that correction. We still got the comment "fairly relaxed, more overtrack." Our canter transition was another little triumph. Despite being a bit against my leg, Thunder is nothing if not instantly obedient to the buttons, and I didn't override it, so we got another 7.0 for that.

Things fell to pieces a bit in our canter work but it was not for lack of trying. He can turn into a completely unmanuevrable boat in the canter and he did it at this show. I got after him about it as much as I could, but still ended up carrying him through most of the movements. We had a 7.0 for the half pass, "more position", and a 6.0 for the first change, "through but a little high behind." That was a kick at the whip, which I used to remind him not to be late. He wasn't late, so we achieved that objective. I really dragged him through the next half-pass for 5.5, "more bend and position", but boldly rode the next change for 7.0.

"OK, OK, I'm through, I'm through"

He got a 6.5 for the extended canter, which I kicked him all the way through; I thought that was a bit generous of the judge. It barely extended at all. We collapsed around the short side for 6.5, then had an excellent transition down for 7.0. Our final halt was absolutely super but not entirely square behind for 8.0.

The judge liked him better than me: he got 7 for all three collectives, and I got 6.5s for mine, with comment "more position in half-pass."

Still, our overall comment was "Well ridden test on willing horse," and our final mark was the best I've ever had beyond novice - 67%.

I patted him as we came out, exhausted from dragging him through the test, but unbelievably happy with how well-behaved he'd been. I'd expected him to be a bit tense, spooky, and separation anxious. While he did appreciate having Arwen around (who doesn't like a friend's support?), he didn't look around at her, call during his test, or nap toward her. He was a superstar in that department.

The fact that he ignores my aids and parks behind my leg is a training thing. We've addressed every possible physical cause, and he doesn't do it with J on his back---or with me, if I'm consistent about it. We seldom have behind-the-leg days at home anymore, but I used to be floppier and less effective than ever at shows, and I think he was expecting me to be ineffective. Who can blame him?

My show confidence, however, is at a real high point right now. Arwen's responsible for that, as well as just a ton of personal growth and God's work in me. When one has walked in the valley of the shadow, the dressage arena no longer holds anything all that scary.

DH and I headed back to the horsebox, unsaddled, and spent a pleasant afternoon helping Erin and Jamaica's kid with their tests. Arwen and Thunder spent the whole time tied to the box, eating, drinking, and not putting a foot wrong. The cherry on top was when they traveled perfectly all the way home even though we got a flat tyre (which hubby fixed in minutes, because he's Superman).

It was a truly perfect day with my two dancing horses, my BarnRat kiddo, my bestie, and the man who's always in my corner. Forever grateful for every moment with him.

God is good.

this husband of mine, you guys 💜