Savvy Equestrian - Horse Blog

June 10, 2009 - 10:43 AM

Tet Time Again!

Hey Everyone,

Today we will be leaving for Tet Rally, and we won't be home until Wednesday next week. We will be visiting friends and going to Rolling Rock Camp to teach and practice switch riding.

I feel pretty confident about Tet considering I really only started preparing a few weeks ago. Riding and fencing will be my strong points, per usual, and running and swimming will be my weaker points. Shooting will be rather hit or miss, depending on the day.

Just wanted to give a quick update, I will write again when I return!

Andy

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June 5, 2009 - 1:38 PM

The Season Has Started!

Hello Everyone!

My last blog was four months ago, and tons has happened since then! The whole season has started and I competed in the first rallies and my first horse trial.

Winona was the first official start to the event season in our area, and it was extremely exciting and fun. There was an enormous amount at stake at this show- I needed to do well enough for my second, and much needed, affidavit for Pony Club Championships, which required a clear cross country round. I also needed to try and pull off a win so that I could qualify for the Area VIII Championships, which was a goal at the start of the year. Fortunately, Red and I had a fabulous weekend and achieved all of our goals.\

For my dressage test I decided to sit the trot to help my horse stay more collected. The risk paid off because I was tied for first after dressage with a 32. Show Jumping was nerve wracking because I knew I could pull off a clean cross country round and win it, but if I knocked a rail, not all too uncommon, I was out. My stadium was rather slapdash compared to previous rounds, but it went off without a hitch.

Quietly excited, I knew that I could go clear on cross country, as it was easily both my and Red's best phase. The course was altered from the previous year- the course went way back into the woods and went full circle with a unsettling optimum time of 5:46 seconds (usually the Beginner Novice times are around 3 minutes, and this early in the season many horses are unfit). These obsticals were no trouble though- we went totally clear with a finishing time of 5 minutes and clearing the infamous bank that I had stopped on last year.

I won a fly sheet and a blue ribbon, and pulled off my first win at a recognized show, also scoring 6 USEA points.

The next challenge was a seemingly impossible task- a double rally weekend. Show Jumping and Dressage Rally in two days. Preparation was a nightmare as usual, but we ended up at Peace Point in West Virginia on time on Friday night. The Rally itself was bittersweet- on Dressage day both me and Ariel were deducted a point each landing us in fifth in HM, but our team pulled off a third place win overall, which was ok. My rides in particular were a big accomplishment- I competed First Level Dressage, a huge step from the previous year. Ariel and I performed ok in our Pas De Deux- we ended up messing up our changes of direction and circled twice in one direction. It was no matter though- everyone said it was very entertaining to watch. Our music was the Beatles, with words and all!

Show Jumping Day was better, but just as mixed. I lost a point for our team for leaving my horse's tack on in the stall, which of course won us the same place as the day prior- fifth. My jumping rounds were just as polarized- my first was a fiasco. Red was uncollected (my fault), and knocked two rails and had several time faults (also my fault). Round two, on the other hand, was perfect- it went off without a hitch. Red and I performed very well, but the judge was not a big fan of my equitation which spelled death for an equitation award.

Overall our team won the exact same awards as the day before- third overall and fifth in HM. The rally was a great experience and we had a blast ticking off HM judges with out loud music.

So what's next? Well, the famous Tetrathlon Rally is next weekend and I am of course cramming to prepare- I ran for the first time two days ago, and have yet to go swimming. I am very confident about my shooting, fencing, and riding though so I have a feeling all will go well.

I will update everyone once before I leave, and then when I come back, so you can expect regular blogs now that school is out!

Andy

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January 5, 2009 - 3:34 PM

Yes, I Am Alive!

Hey everyone-

It has been a long time since my last entry! This is mainly because of two reasons- lack of interesting writing material and lack of time. School is picking up what with midterm exams next week, but I am here now so I can fill everyone in.

I had a great Christmas for horse items. I received new galloping boots (red), a new crop (red), a new Tipperary vest (red), and most importantly, a cross country watch that is not analog, and also happens to be.... red! I will be like a beacon out on the course with all my red gear. I have everything for next year now and there's no excuse for bad cross country timing!

As far as riding is concerned, nothing major has happened but my horse, Red, is much lighter on the mouth by one hundred and fifty pounds. This is mostly due to a whole lot more leg and a whole lot less hands. I can now canter without wild head swinging, and it seems to be coming together well for next year. By the way I haven't jumped in months, which is okay but very boring sometimes.

The first major outing on the list for next year is Winona, of which I have unfinished business, and this is crucial because I need to go clean to get my second affidavit for Champs. I've ridden it before and its the same every year so I hope it won't be a problem. I have already ridden it in the worst conditions anyway. If I don't make it there, for some reason, I have South Farm as a backup which is another fun and untaxing outing. I would love to go to AECs, but that would require placing 4th or above at two recognized shows so we will have to see how that works out.

My main focus is to get myself to championships, and I've only fought half the battle so far. The following are the steps that must be taken to get there

1. Qualify at Eventing Rally- Check
2. Get first affidavit- Check
3. Get second affidavit
4. Keep horse fit and healthy until the end of July

I have one and two done but four is definitely the hardest to get through as I have many rallys and events between Winona and champs, so I am going to be extra careful to keep it together in between. I will also need to do some extra conditioning because Virginia's weather is unrelenting and the course is a lot harder than any courses around here except for Erie, maybe.

Those are my plans for the coming year, so I will keep everyone updated if anything new happens.

Andy

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November 10, 2008 - 5:19 PM

Hibernation

Hey everyone!

Not much has been going on lately. We have officially relocated to our indoor arena for the winter, and while it may bore the heck out of anyone, the situation is tailored for my dressage needs. We need to be able to be supple and loose in small spaces. Right now my strategy is to do some extreme bending exercises because Red is so stiff in the jaw. By bending him in a ton at the walk and keeping him on the track with my leg, it makes him wake up to my leg aids and also get him loose. Then, all the kinks are worked out at the walk before I even trot.

Another technique I have been working on is the ever popular going forward technique. When the horse is going forward at just the right pace, while your contact is extremely light, the horse will stay on the bit and all you have to do is hold your hands still and keep him going forward. Sounds easy right? Wrong. First they have to respect your leg which, for my horse, is like trying to learn Japanese from infomercials. My leg aids have become so blunt that there is no response. This brings us back to what I mentioned earlier about the bending exercises.

As for the canter- not even started. I have to master the walk and trot before I even make a canter departure. While this process is gradual, it will make my dressage 1000 times better for next year. The bad part is, Red has to relearn from years of unused leg aids and incorrect hands, so I guess I shot myself in the foot on that one. Oh well, at least there's something to do. I heard a quote once that said "There is no greater bore than perfection", and I'm sure then that I won't be bored for the rest my life in this business.

I guess that's all to report- I'm sure you'll hear when we make a major breakthrough!

Andy

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October 20, 2008 - 7:29 PM

Dressage Down The Tubes

Hey everybody!

I think the title says it all. My dressage has gone down the tubes. It's been a sinking ship, but luckily I have all winter to practice. It is that time again and soon I will be confined to our 20 meter circle indoor. But that's good because my dressage is nowhere near good enough for Championships next year, and speaking of which....

Talks are going around that they might just get rid of Champs after 2009 because of expanses, and even if they don't take it away they are going to condense it which takes away from the whole experience. Expense problems and the lack of cash flow is making it tough, but I thought it wasn't fair at all that all the grown ups were making the decisions about OUR Champs, so I started a Facebook group for all people who want it to stay. We have about 60 right now, but I'm hoping it will go up and then it will make a good case for Nationals to stay. So if there's any Pony Club members, friends of Pony Club members, or former members reading this, please join the group at the link below- Nationals is too fun to be taken away!

With that being said we are making sure that if '09 is going to be our last Nationals in this format, we're going out with a bang. We're going all out on tack room decorations, neat little
memorabilia, and stylized stall cards. We're also resurrecting our old cabinet which is big, red, and ways about 1000 pounds. It holds everything- has bridle racks on the front, saddle racks on the side, 6 shelves, and rack for jackets, and a place for boots - everything goes in. We're going to repaint it, and spruce it up. We're also going to get carpet and new curtains. That is, if I can get my affidavit next year and manage to keep Red sound(:

I guess that's all to report now! Remember to join and support Nationals!

Andy

Links: [ Nationals Facebook Group ]

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September 29, 2008 - 4:14 PM

It's Over! Not.

Hey all-

I've been taking some time off, still riding, but just working on the basics, with no clear show to work towards at the moment. It's nice not to have a deadline to work towards, and just enjoy getting on and riding around. I skipped show jumping rally- there was no point in doing it. It was nice to end the year on a good note with the rating, and speaking of ratings....

I am already preparing for the next one. Yeah no joke! As you may not know, before you can take your C-3, you have to take your H-B which is the C-3 and B knowledge packed into one no riding test. It is an outrageous amount of knowledge, and I have to study now if I want to learn all of it by August of 2009. Yeah- I need that long to get it all in. Just to show, I put the H-B test sheet link at the bottom. Basically I have to know everything about everything.

So taking time off for bookwork- what do I have planned for showing next year? I hope to get an affidavit at Winona in May, and get that over with for Nationals, and compete Novice at some combined tests and Mini Trials, and then hopefully at the rest of the Horse Trials for next year, but I will probably just do Beginner Novice at AECs, if we go, just because of the level of competition. Then of course Nationals, slightly overshadowed by the possibility of AECs.

That's pretty much next year in a nut shell. I am going to go do some more flat work with Red, so I will write again to update my H-B studying progress.

Links: [ USPC H-B Test Sheet ]

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September 16, 2008 - 4:21 PM

Somebody's A C-2!

Hey all-

As you may have guessed from the title, I did indeed pass my C-2 rating. I had an awesome day and Linda (the examiner), said I was the most prepared all around. It was a really hard test though- only me and one other person there passed, and the others have to retest sections. One of the main problems was that this was a national examiner, and if she didn't think you were good enough she was not going to pass you. The thing you have to remember though, is that it is just one person's opinion, and it doesn't judge how good or bad a rider you are.

On Friday night, we all gathered and met with the examiner, had dinner, and were tested on the knowledge. The format of this portion was much like the HB- she had a stack of cards, each with a question, and she shuffled them and we each were handed an equal number of cards. I was extremely lucky- I was given all the one's I knew, and the only one I didn't get fully right was a question about black walnuts. Other than that, I gave all the right answers, and I knew that because when I gave my answer she moved on to the next person. If she asked for more, you know you didn't give enough.

I think everyone passed the knowledge although I can't be sure because the only test sheet I saw was mine. We then drew formal times for the next day, and I was first. The best part about being first was that I hadn't cleaned my tack, and by the time I finished cleaning it was about 1 AM. So after ten seconds of sleep I woke at 5:30 and packed everything in the trailer, and groomed and tacked up my horse.

We arrived in time to throw the bridle and saddle on and go to formal. She hated my hair, but let it slide, and of course Red decided to "hang out" at the formal, and I was slammed for a dirty sheath. Soon after I showed I could take temperature, pulse, and respiration, and then changed out of my formal clothes for flat work.

Flat work was easier than I expected. I just had to show her that I could bend and supple my horse and go forward with good position. After a quick breakfast of muffins, I then pulled Red back out of the trailer for bandaging. Linda said I had the best bandages out of the group and said they were well above C-2 level. I then tacked back up for longing, where success continued and she said I had excellent longing. Linda is such an experienced rater that she can tell within five minutes whether you are a good enough longer or not, and fortunately I only had to be in there for five minutes.

Now I didn't mention this earlier, but we had the whole first portion of the rating at a local indoor, because it was raining cats and dogs outside. To our delight, we had to jump at Remsen road, so we packed up the trailers and went over to Remsen in the rain. After demolishing a three foot sub between the kids and parents, the six of us were divided into two groups and we had to prepare a D-1 for turnout. This was easy after the experience as a Stable Manager I gained at Nationals. Then, as it was still raining, we tacked up Red in the trailer and came out to do our Show Jumping.

The course was pretty easy, but Linda was not. There was a certain thing that she wanted from everyone and after doing the course twice she finally told me to go forward or fail. I practically galloped the course, and she said, 'Good, great, you passed stadium.'

By now it had stopped raining, and it was time for cross country, oddly my best and most anticipated phase. It was a breeze, we only had to jump a few novice fences, and we were good. At this point, I had no idea whether I had passed or failed. With Linda you never know. If you met the standards, she would pass you. If not, you would have to retest. After a half hour of waiting she called us down, and we were given our test sheets. Whew! Relief! I was one of the two that passed, which floored me that I had done well enough in front of a national examiner.

What a great way to end the year! Now I am an upper level member, and I get the perks that go with it like Upper Level Camp, and I can qualify for Show Jumping (one that I'll probably never use, but it's still there), and Novice Level Eventing at Nationals (one I plan on using in the near future.)

So what now? TIME OFF. Time to wind down one of the best years for me, and Red to have some time off for one of his hardest years. Good boy! But as always, you are never truly off. Now I have a paper to write for school, so catch everyone later!

Andy
C-2

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September 6, 2008 - 12:47 AM

Give Me The Watch

Hey everyone

I am back from South Farm and it was awesome and at the same time not so awesome. My dressage wasn't very good- only a 36, which was so so. There was just no energy in the test and it was mostly do to me and Red being lifeless. Cross Country on the other hand was great. I walked the course with Emily, and she let me use her watch which helped immensely. I could monitor my time much easier than on the old analog watch. I came in at 5:00, and the optimum time was 5:15, so it was perfect. Stadium was hard though- the course was odd. They had this plastic jump that many people were knocking down. Red knicked it, but then again he is always a horse to rub rails, but not usually knock them. There was also a strange turn to a Swedish oxer, which once again Red rubbed.

I had no stadium faults, and came in fifth in the Horse Trial, but the point was for me to go clear Cross Country so I could get an affidavit for Nationals, which I did. This means that I only need to get one in the spring to be on the Nationals team!

Now I have to shift my focus and get ready for the rating which is one week from today. This rating is highly contrasting from my last rating, which if you remember reading on here, I was very nervous. This one, however, I feel extremely confident and comfortable with the whole test. Our rater will be Linda, who if you remember, was the clinician at the D3-C1 clinic. This is a huge advantage because I know exactly what she's looking for.

I hope to write again once more before the rating and then after to give a follow up, so keep an eye out for those blogs later this week.

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August 23, 2008 - 7:28 PM

What A Week!

Hey all

I want to first start out with Olympics reactions. I did watch all of the eventing online, and was pretty shocked. From shocked about our awesome dressage, to shocked about our abysmal cross country performance, to shocked about stadium, and then finally the tell tale boots. Thats the sort of thing you want to put your foot through the screen for. I'm really glad that Gina Miles got her Olympic medal, but sad that no one else on team USA did. Our Dressage was awesome but some of the judging seemed a little wacky. As usual the Show Jumpers bombed everyone out of contention, and Beezie was solid - the woman has nerves of steel.

As for what I've been up to, I had a fabulous run at Lost Hounds Horse Trials, which was in conjunction with the Qualifying Event Rally. I had a blast! The whole day both Red and I were on top of our game, and we had the best stadium round ever. The course was extremely tight, and people left and right were getting time penalties, and I could move up if I went clear. I did awesome and had all my turns correct, but I dropped the last rail on the last fence, which kept me in the same place (4th).

Cross Country was one of the hardest courses I have ever seen, but it sure didn't ride that way. We ate that course for breakfast. Every jump was a blast, and I enjoyed it too much because I wasn't watching time and when I finished the steward told me I had thirteen time penalties. I went back to the barn crushed because that would certainly not be acceptable enough to go to Nationals, and it completely blew my horse trial placing. I could have easily prevented it too. When I went to the scoreboard and saw that the steward was wrong. I was thirteen seconds to fast, and that only gave 5.2 penalties. That changed everything, and I won fourth in the horse trial and got the second spot on the team for nationals!

So what's next? South Farm again where I hope to go clear on cross country to get an affidavit (you need 2 to be able to go to nationals), and then the rating. Then it's off for the rest of the year as far as showing! I'll write back about how South Farm, then, so see y'all later!

Andy

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August 8, 2008 - 4:38 PM

Olympics Time Again

Hey Everyone

Tonight will be the first online broadcast of the Olympics! I think I am going to skip watching the opening ceremony because Eventing Dressage is broadcasting online live starting at 6:30. I will watching the majority, if not all, of the happenings in Hong Kong on the computer, mainly because I always hate how the TV versions aren't live and it kind of kills the excitement knowing that what is on the screen has already happened. That being said, anything I miss I will probably watch on TV because the next two weeks happen to be the busiest of the summer.

You can view all the action by just downloading the Silverlight player which only takes a minute, and then follow the links on nbcolympics.com.

Our Pony Club's camp happens to be smack dab in the middle of the eventing portion of online viewing, and I am happy to say that I will have a computer available to watch everything live. The only thing that I might miss is part of the eventing Show Jumping on Tuesday because I have a lesson at 8. On Sunday night I will have the whole block to watch the Cross Country though!

I do wish I could be there to actually watch it all, but even money aside there would be so much that I would miss, namely Camp and Qualifying Event rally, the latter being the most important event of this year and next year, because that is how I hope the get to Nationals.

Right now I have to go out and ride so I can get back on the computer to watch the Dressage, so happy viewing and go USA!

Andy

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August 1, 2008 - 9:26 AM

USPC Championships '08

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July 12, 2008 - 9:32 AM

Ok- Now I'm Getting It

Hey everyone

I just returned from South Farm last weekend, and while our second Horse Trial was much better than our first, we still have things to work on.

We drove up to the facility on Saturday to walk the cross country course, wheel out my minute markers so I know if I'm on time when I ride it, and to pick up Emily, who was staying at our house that night. The course was actually much simpler and much less terrainy that Winona, plus there was no bank (which was a disappointment), and no ditch (which was not a disappointment). The pace on the course was very slow, only 300 meters per minute, usually it's 325.

The next day was Dressage and XC. Dressage was extremely disappointing. We warmed up in the corner of the warm up away from the ring, so when we went over to go in, Red saw the jumpers warming up behind the dressage ring and got excited. Tactical error. We still managed to pull off an OK test, 43, which landed us in 14th out of 20.

After a quick break it was time to do XC. We made several mistakes here that could have affected the outcome. We took very little warm up, and there were horses racing in after XC right into the warm up so that made Red excited. I wasn't nervous about the course but aware that I couldn't have such a slow pace like Winona. So When I took him out of the start box, I made sure he was rolling. And he was rolling, and the problem was he kept rolling.....and rolling. We were going so fast that we only came in 3 seconds before getting speed faults. WOW. The complete opposite of Winona.

Show Jumping the next day was a very nerve racking experience. I was tied for 11th after XC, but I was pretty sure I was in 12th because they break ties by seeing who was closest to the optimum time on XC. Dang. I jumped clean on a very touchy course- rails came down everywhere. I stood on the side watching everyone after me go (in SJ last place jumps first, the second to last, all the way up to first in backwards order of placing), hoping they would pull rails because ribbons were only awarded to eight and up. I moved up to ninth, but it was not to be. Oh well at least I went home with my dressage score- had we warmed up in dressage more prudently we might have won a ribbon.

So- to do list for the next show-
1. Running Martingale (keeps horse from putting head up on XC)
2. Slow Twist Bit on XC (more brakes)
3. Warm up more for XC (Self explanatory)
4. Let horse look at jumpers while warming up

So fortunatley I have a few more chances to try this formula out before Lost Hounds Horse Trial/Pony Club Event Rally- there is a Mini Trial at South Farm this coming up weekend (the 20th) in which I will ride the same course, but I won't school the course before like you're allowed to in Mini Trials.

So what's the deal with Lost Hounds you ask? Well this Horse Trial is a rally- we compete in the horse trial and the scores factor into the rally, and we have HM in the barns, and this also happens to be the event that I am going to try to qualify for PC Nationals in 09. And if I qualify, then what? Well, I will ride in South Farm's Fall Horse Trial (you need 2 affidavits to go to nationals from recognized shows), and then I will probably compete in AECs (American Eventing Championships) next year at Lamplight. Yes, yes, exciting.

One last thing I have to report is my C2 rating I will be participating in this September at Bath- nothing much to say here, by now we all know the drill on ratings, just more knowledge and higher jumps this time!

I will probably write again next week to report on the mini trial-

Andy

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June 20, 2008 - 2:33 PM

Back To The Grind - Return from Tetrathlon

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June 8, 2008 - 11:11 AM

Tet (And Summer) Time Again!

Hi-

School is out now, and I'm free to train (yeah right) for Tetrahtlon now without school getting in the way.

Everything for Tet is coming along great- we have a strong team this year, and everything is organized for the rally next weekend. Tet came up on us quick this year, and surprisingly enough I have done very little training at all and I am doing better than ever. Even the sliprail and gate which I have not practiced very much are going good. Jumping Red is, as always, the best and easiest part.

Shooting was a disaster starting out this year, however. I was given lots of info on techniques and breathing exercises, but the truth is that those actually were the things that we screwing up my shooting. Taking my time and raising my arm slowly and holding it there for several seconds actually makes it worse because my arm gets tired faster. So my technique now is to raise arm quick, take a shot, lower, and repeat. It actually works best because I'm shooting my best since I bench shot my first year at Tet!

Swimming is still just barely par, but it makes the cut, and is about as good as last years, but I have only gone to the pool about 5 times the whole year, so there you go. The nice thing about swimming is that now I don't fear for my life and can focus on swimming faster.

Running is okay- pretty basic since thats all we did in gym class for the last 5 months. No worries here, just something to get out of the way.

Fencing is as always my second best- I am confident that it will be pretty easy- I think I'm the most experienced in this event of everyone going to the rally.

Another exciting event I went to was the D3/C1 clinic. It was held at South Farm, and man was this a wake up call. I went into the ring for my first Dressage lesson and the first thing out instructor Linda asked was what did I call the position I was sitting in. Then it really struck me how bad it was. I slouched my shoulders, sat back on my seat too much, had my hands on the saddle pad, and pinched with my knees. After several minutes of being picked on, both me and Linda were thinking the same thing- Oh boy another one of these. After we worked for a while we began to like each other even more.

Then I took a jumping lesson with both Linda, and another instructor named Jean. Jean was one of the nicest and informative instructors I have worked with. She had a very bubbly (did I just use that word?) personality, and was great to work with.

I have been working on my position the past few days and I think both me and Red are going much better! I'm glad we got this before the rating.

I think I'll write next after Tetrathlon, so see you after!

Andy

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May 28, 2008 - 4:59 AM

Quick- Pictures!

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