Third Level with Arwen

 Technically, our South African dressage levels (or "grades") still go by their old names, Walk/Trot, Preliminary, Novice, Elementary, Medium and Advanced. Considering we only use the American tests now, I'm sure we'll inevitably switch to the American names.

no filter for this African sunrise

Either way, Arwen and I headed to our favourite show venue in the world - Penbritte - at the beginning of February for her first ever Third Level test.

It was the weekend right after pre-HOY and I was hopeful that there would be slightly less dragoning. She loaded up next to Faith (for a kiddo), filling up our horsebox with their gigantic grey butts, and we headed off uneventfully for the 60-minute drive.

apart from traveling and standing in the stable like a champ, Faith was a butthead on this day

We dumped Faith unceremoniously into a stable, poor girl, but she behaved surprisingly well while I saddled Arwen and headed straight to the warmup with thirty minutes before our ride time. This turned out to be the perfect length of warmup, for once. I had time to ride her down if she needed it, but actually, she was pretty chill from the get-go. Forward, supple and focused, with a minimum of dragoning.

She gave me a beautiful stretch in both walk and trot, and then we ran through a few things, focusing mostly on her halts so that we would actually halt instead of manic piaffing at X. She felt steady and easy, and her extended trot, which had evaporated mysteriously the week before, was great in the large soft sand arena we warmed up in.

Both of us felt relaxed and ready when we headed into the familiar arena and said hello to one of my favourite judges, who had the decency to ask if I knew the new tests. Then he rang the bell and off we went.

Our endless practice on the centreline paid off. She came straight in, halted dead still, and remained totally motionless for my salute. An easy 8.0 right there to start off her career in the upper levels.

Obviously, things did not continue in this vein. I was a little lackadaisacal with my leg in the first shoulder-in for 6.5, "some fluency loss", and our half-pass was another 6.5. I argued with her a little into the shoulder-in right which led to 6.0, "little tension, lost fluency", but the argument paid off when she slipped into a very obedient half-pass for 7.0, "fairly fluent".

Her medium trot felt fabulous for 7.0, and then we cruised into the halt. She didn't stand perfectly still - I was feeling a little rushed and didn't wait for her to put her left front down, which she tends to dither around with sometimes - which led to a slightly messy rein-back for 6.5, "slightly hurried, steps not quite equal". We can do better. At least I counted the steps properly like a grownup this time.

That led us into the walk work, often a challenge on the PiaffeDragon. Her extended walk was 7.0, "some ground cover", and then came the dreaded turns on the haunches at which I am so pitiful. I've been working hard on them and they were, in fact, better, albeit not great. The first was 6.0, "lost little rhythm", and the second was another 6.0, "some tension." On the livestream (yes, Penbritte livestreams everything because they honestly just rock), I notice that she lost rhythm in the last step out of the TOH, so that's where we can make up a half mark or so.

with my vast audience of seven

It was as we were walking to C for the canter transition (the walk 6.5, "some tension") that my brain quite simply evaporated. I knew we had to canter at C. I also knew that I had, in fact, cantered on a horse before in my life. However, I couldn't for the life of me remember how to canter. I sat there in a panic for a few seconds and then waved my legs around. Arwen bucked magnificently, which apparently jolted my brain back into gear. I applied the aids and Arwen obediently set off. That earned us a 5.0, "resistance", although I believe the resistance came from my brain cells and not my horse.

The medium canter was a bit floppy, 5.5 "more ground cover for medium", but I had returned my brain to my skull by the 10m circle which was a 7.0. Next, we headed into the flying changes. The first one, right to left, felt pretty good to me but was a 6.0, "little late behind". I tried for a bold extended canter and must have redeemed us a little for a 6.0, "bit hurried, more ground cover" (my dude she is 14.3, we have little legs). The transitions were a 6.5, and we had another 7.0 for the canter circle.

She leaped through the flying change left to right, as she does, but it was clean for 6.0, "lost fluency - jumped". We got it together for a transition to collected trot that garnered a 6.5. The wheels all fell off in unison when we went across the diagonal and I magnificently overrode the extended trot, so she broke, pirouette cantered, trotted a bit, broke again, and then gave me three good steps before we reached the corner. My bad. Those got us a 4.0 and 4.5, obviously, "broke after M (x2)" and "more difference!".

Kudos to the judge for using all the numbers, though - we had a fabulous second centreline for 8.5, "steady and straight", certainly the best mark I have ever had in graded dressage. That concluded her first ever Third test for 63.3%, rider brain farts notwithstanding.

Also, thank you Arwen for being really good in the stable for the rest of the show while I wrangled children and their desperately uncooperative mounts.

I absolutely loved riding her at this show. Not only is this the best venue I've ever had the pleasure to ride at, but I also felt the judging was extremely fair. Also, thank you America for your tests. This was such an easy test to memorise and so uncomplicated while still asking all the right questions for the level. I massively enjoyed riding it and it felt both horse and rider-friendly.

We have big dreams for this year and it feels so good to have her first Third Level in the books. Now to train for Horse of the Year!

God is so incomparably good.

Pre-HOY 2024

 My bestie Erin's young horse has been with us for a year or so now to be schooled, and last weekend, it was time for her very first ridden outing. Since she has an illustrious showing career ahead of her, we picked Pre-Horse of the Year at Fourways for her first show, and I figured it would be silly not to put Arwen in the box and take her along as well.

Once I had given Erin and K, showing queens both, a few small heart attacks about my total lack of showing-appropriate attire, we were finally ready.

After a final schooling ride, during which I completely forgot how showing classes worked and dedicated myself to practicing an individual test that did not apply to the class I had, in fact, entered, I spent a peaceful twilit hour doing her mane. She snoozed peacefully throughout.

I also succeeded in angering my showing friends by completely ignoring their advice to dye her tail black, then regretted it intensely when four washes with purple shampoo and stain remover completely failed to achieve anything other than pale yellow.

my commentators (helpers would not be accurate): hubby, Titan, Rain, K, Barnrat and Blizzy

Still, with her hair all done and her National Champion daysheet on, Arwen looked like a film star in her fancy robe, ready for the set. I turned her out in the big field in the hopes that sticking with her routine would make her slightly less dragonish than usual. (Spoiler alert: I was wrong).

thank you K for making Arwen look amazing and me like a grinning blu of pale legs

The next morning, Arwen grazed peacefully in the field, looking clean and perfect in her day sheet. She was so good to get ready that I thought maybe our days of being a mad dragon at shows were behind us. (Again, so wrong).

Erin's mare loaded picture perfectly---straight into the box like an old hand---and Arwen, as always, went straight in. She's an absolute pleasure to load even though they snarked at each other a bit once they were in, but if you're going to put two grey mares in an enclosed space, this is what happens.

Did I mention that last year we finally purchased the horsebox and fitted hubby's SUV with a tow hitch? It has been life-changing for us. We have so much freedom now.

I had some trepidation about the whole thing, considering this was our first horse-related outing since hubby's surgery. K, BarnRat and I only yelled at him about six times to remind him not to lift the ramp. We did this on girl power, much to hubby's amusement.

The drive up got a little eventful when Erin's mare somehow got her sheet under her feet and stomped around a bit, understandably, but we fixed it and she was very good after that, to her great credit. Arwen was soaked with sweat on arrival---she always is---but happy to go into a paddock and eat some hay while we got K and the mare into their classes. (Shout-out to K and Erin and the mare, who were all amazing and netted her very first ridden satin).

I had ages to get ready and somehow still endeavoured to be late. By the time I had washed Arwen's tail (again), gotten dressed, and saddled her up, I only had fifteen minutes to warm up. This would be fine, I thought. It was only a showing class; we didn't need to check in with lateral work or any of that kind of thing. Trot and canter a few figure-eights and we were all good.

After years of SANESA, almost never getting a kid to the gate late, I had forgotten that showing classes follow on. I showed up at the warmup as they were calling us in. I apologize to K and Erin for causing them emotional distress.

Well, in we went, and my 17-year-old horse abruptly morphed into her draconic form.

She walked and trotted around effortlessly, but once we got to cantering, chaos ensued. This beast of mine leaped through every transition. It bucked. It stood on its hindlegs in a joyous celebration of being a fierce and fearless woman who doesn't listen to anybody. The judge stared and I tried not to look like this is a thing that happens regularly.

She was so absolutely wonderful in every moment other than the odd chaotic episode that she still came second in a class of four or five, so that was a surprise. We did the championship class too, in which there was somewhat less leaping, but still obviously came second to the other horse who did not attempt to commit any homicides.

The judge had asked us for a bit more canter in the first class, so I pushed her out of the collected canter for the second one, and he was happy with that.

"It was a bit naughty," he commented.

"It was very naughty," I said.

It accepted its rosette and plunged madly during the lap of honour while I hung on saying, "Ma'am. MA'AM COULD YOU NOT."

K and Erin both had their eyes popping out when I came out, but I was grinning. I would have gotten right off any other horse that tried this sort of thing, but it's Arwen. She's not trying to get me off. She's not in pain, or frustrated, or fearful. If you put a little kid on her she toodles around like a schoolie. She's just got a little extra... pizzazz for me, and I know and love her for it. I would be worried if she didn't have these moments now and then.

This did not stop me from spending the next thirty minutes cantering around and around the warmup to take the edge off, and it was with a much more pleasant creature that we headed down for the working riding. It was a technically simple and not particularly spooky test, and if I could get my dragon to stand still when necessary, I thought we'd have a nice test.

We almost did. The first half for four seconds was easy, and we trotted the bending poles with one hand without batting an eye. The lane was no big deal, and she popped easily over the weeny little cross. Then we got to the barrels where I had to move a stuffed animal from one to the other and my brain froze because the previous rider had already done so and I was approaching from the wrong side. I fixed it quickly, but Arwen saw herself in the mirror at the second barrel and piaffed a little, so we lost marks there.

The trotting poles were perfect, and then we approached a liverpool with a few puddles in it. I was not confident about this but had the presence of mind not to override it. This was a good thing, because Arwen didn't even look at it. She trotted right across without a second thought.

Regrettably, the getting lost and then piaffing at the barrel cost us a few marks, but the judge was really complimentary about this very well-behaved horse of mine and said that she looked forward to seeing us at Horse of the Year itself.

I look forward to this also, although maybe with a little bit less piaffing.

God is so good.