I saw an ad on facebook for a "fun show" at a local-ish h/j-ish barn and thought that it would be a blast to take Whiskey to. I'd planned on poles and cross rails. Then I found out that there would be a dressage show at the same venue, at the same time. So I started looking at the dressage classes, too.
I registered in advance and when the ride times were announced, I found out that there would be at least a solid three hours between my jumping and my dressaging. It didn't seem fair to expect Whiskey to hang out for that long at his first show, so I scratched the jumping.
So here's the rundown on my first class: Trail Dressage
The test I'd been provided was literally this:
So from that description, I thought the course would look like this:
Alas, it did not. They had no hay bales, instead stools. And not enough poles. I actually had to ask them to raise the stools, because they'd been set with my sole competitor, an Arabian, in mind.
So you enter at A at a working trot, trot the poles, halt and salute, then trot on up to C. Track right at C, follow the rail, and serpentine the cones.
Then walk at A, "navigate the U", which just meant walk through the two poles, and turn right back on the rail on the longside.
At the first stool, I had to pick up an "object". This turned out to be a bag of fun-sized bags of chips. Whiskey gave no shits. And then I dropped it at the second stool.
At the second stool, I picked up a trot and turned down the centerline, going back over the little poles. Then walk at A and track left.
Then navigate the cones again. Walk to the third stool and pick up a ball. This was sorta hard because I felt like I had to lean way out of the saddle because Whisk is so tall. Damn Arabians.
I had to trot a 20 meter circle one-handed with the ball, then drop the ball in a bucket. Halting at the bucket was optional, so I just tossed it. My trick for this was to bridge the reins in one hand. Then back down the long side with a half 10 meter circle to end up somewhere on the centerline.
Whiskey and I came in first place, even though it felt very rough to me. I can't even begin to properly articulate what a fucking good horse he is.
Photos!
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| He so handsome. |
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| Halting is hard. |
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| Navigating. |
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| Navigating. |
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| Still handsome. |
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| Walking. |
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| Bag of bags of chips in hand. |
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| Trot poles on centerline. |
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| Walking. Still handsome. |
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| Ball in hand, showing off. |
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| Trotting with ball. |
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| Just threw the ball and finishing up. WHY ARE MY HANDS LIKE THAT? |
Video!
Results!
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| The only thing I really disagree with is the "immobility" at picking up the ball, step 7. If you watch the video, Whiskey stood like a statue for me to lean over and get the thing. Again, I'm just overwhelmed by this horse. From a pasture ornament that wouldn't let me mount to a show pony in less than six months. |
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