This weekend Banner & I participated in another one of our local schooling shows! We decided to enter the Novice HT round + a couple of 3'0" show jump rounds.
Saturday morning bright and early, we pulled out of our driveway (sometime around 6:30am?) and headed off to the show. Our ride time for dressage was around 7:45am, so I managed to get tacked up & on him by 7:10am.
We got some good warmup time in the nice arena which is technically the jump ring warmup, but the footing is better there, so I wanted to spend more time there than in the dressage area. We headed over to dressage at 7:30 and of course we were already a couple of minutes behind schedule, but it kicked off pretty well after that.
I forgot to fly spray his ears and there were a lot of gnats, so I lost some focus once we got over to the dressage arena unfortunately, but Banner was still mostly a good boy.
I forgot how stupid deep the footing is in that dressage arena and so I decided to just be a bit reserved in how much I asked for from him. We had a lot more forward energy in our warmup but I really hate that footing and Banner was not loving it either, so I decided to just take it easy and keep my horse happy.
One of the things I enjoy about schooling shows is getting feedback on dressage tests, so I was really looking forward to that. Unfortunately I didn't get much or very good feedback in my opinion. We scored a 37.6 I believe? I was a little disappointed with that test score, but then I realized that nobody scored better than a 35.1 all day so I couldn't be that upset with the score. Banner and I need to spend a little more time in dressage rings too, just so I get more familiar with the size of the ring again.
Overall I felt like we had a very pleasant test and Banner was a solid partner for me during it, even if neither of us appreciated the awful footing.
Since Novice is technically 2'11" maxed out, they opt to make the schooling show height for Novice HT 2'9". I slapped some jump boots on B, threw his running martingale on, and headed to warmup to pop over some fences. I was definitely pretty off. I couldn't ride as well as I wanted to, and B was totally just saving my butt. Finally we got a couple of decent warmup fences so I headed to the ring!
We had a solid 2'9" round, with no rails down and a very good pony. He feels like such a packer over 2'9" now! Its pretty easy for him for the most part, and he makes up for any mistakes I make at that height now.
I pretty much rode like a giant sack of potatoes in our first 3'0" round. I totally biffed it at the first jump and Banner bailed us out like the Good Boy that he is. We had a few good moments, but I definitely could've been a better partner for him. I walked out of that round a bit frustrated with myself unfortunately. I decided to still ride our second 3'0" round and see if I could make it better.
Sure enough, I went back in and tried to quiet down my own riding and just allow Banner to do his thing. It rode better than pretty much every single 3'0" round that I've done on him so far. We didn't get perfect striding in the lines, but they rode better when I just let him put in the extra stride! Sometimes you just need to chill out and ride the horse that you have.
Overall I was really happy with how Banner was all day, and it was a good show experience for us. We ended up being able to return home by 10am which was incredible! We never get show days that are that short, so I really appreciated that.
Sunday we went out to do XC, but I'll make a post about that tomorrow!!
Saturday morning bright and early, we pulled out of our driveway (sometime around 6:30am?) and headed off to the show. Our ride time for dressage was around 7:45am, so I managed to get tacked up & on him by 7:10am.
We got some good warmup time in the nice arena which is technically the jump ring warmup, but the footing is better there, so I wanted to spend more time there than in the dressage area. We headed over to dressage at 7:30 and of course we were already a couple of minutes behind schedule, but it kicked off pretty well after that.
I forgot to fly spray his ears and there were a lot of gnats, so I lost some focus once we got over to the dressage arena unfortunately, but Banner was still mostly a good boy.
I forgot how stupid deep the footing is in that dressage arena and so I decided to just be a bit reserved in how much I asked for from him. We had a lot more forward energy in our warmup but I really hate that footing and Banner was not loving it either, so I decided to just take it easy and keep my horse happy.
One of the things I enjoy about schooling shows is getting feedback on dressage tests, so I was really looking forward to that. Unfortunately I didn't get much or very good feedback in my opinion. We scored a 37.6 I believe? I was a little disappointed with that test score, but then I realized that nobody scored better than a 35.1 all day so I couldn't be that upset with the score. Banner and I need to spend a little more time in dressage rings too, just so I get more familiar with the size of the ring again.
Overall I felt like we had a very pleasant test and Banner was a solid partner for me during it, even if neither of us appreciated the awful footing.
Since Novice is technically 2'11" maxed out, they opt to make the schooling show height for Novice HT 2'9". I slapped some jump boots on B, threw his running martingale on, and headed to warmup to pop over some fences. I was definitely pretty off. I couldn't ride as well as I wanted to, and B was totally just saving my butt. Finally we got a couple of decent warmup fences so I headed to the ring!
We had a solid 2'9" round, with no rails down and a very good pony. He feels like such a packer over 2'9" now! Its pretty easy for him for the most part, and he makes up for any mistakes I make at that height now.
I pretty much rode like a giant sack of potatoes in our first 3'0" round. I totally biffed it at the first jump and Banner bailed us out like the Good Boy that he is. We had a few good moments, but I definitely could've been a better partner for him. I walked out of that round a bit frustrated with myself unfortunately. I decided to still ride our second 3'0" round and see if I could make it better.
Sure enough, I went back in and tried to quiet down my own riding and just allow Banner to do his thing. It rode better than pretty much every single 3'0" round that I've done on him so far. We didn't get perfect striding in the lines, but they rode better when I just let him put in the extra stride! Sometimes you just need to chill out and ride the horse that you have.
Overall I was really happy with how Banner was all day, and it was a good show experience for us. We ended up being able to return home by 10am which was incredible! We never get show days that are that short, so I really appreciated that.
Sunday we went out to do XC, but I'll make a post about that tomorrow!!
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