Show Recap: WWU Fall Schooling Show Saturday

I was initially going to write a single recap encompassing the entire show, but I have so many photos! And also no time... haha. Saturday, Ruby showed in T1 and T3. Initially when I sent my entries in, I assumed DH would be working Saturday, so I wanted to save Cinna's tests for Sunday, when he was scheduled to be off. Due to spending last week training, he ended up being off on Saturday, which sucked in the sense that I would have liked to show Cinna both days if I'd known I'd have help both days, but whatever.

 

My favorite thing about moving Ruby up to training level this year is that I have much later ride times -- sleeping in FTW! My first ride Saturday wasn't until 11:20ish and then my second ride was after the lunch break around 1:40. Saturday morning I got up, did chores at the house, then headed over to ACS to bathe Ruby and load my tack. And by bathe Ruby, I mostly mean just rinse the worst of the dirt off her. Have I mentioned how much I LOVED just showing a bay this year? I do NOT miss all the bathing from last year with Topaz, although that's definitely in my future again with Cinna.

Stretchy trot is her favorite!

I got to the show, got unloaded, picked up my number, and had plenty of time to leisurely tack Ruby up and head over to school a little. She doesn't require a lot of warm up, so we just did a little W/T/C each direction and waited for our ride time. DH was working on homework in the morning, but he arrived on time to snap a few warm up shots, and then photograph both of my rides. I opted for our red "ensemble", mostly because I'm obsessed with that saddle pad, but I switched it up and wore a Kastel shirt instead of a polo. The show manager of this show was the one who initially called me "dressage Barbie" and so I got to have several fun conversations with people who stopped me to tell me how much they loved our "look", haha.

 

 

Something we only seem to struggle with in the show ring (versus at home schooling) is breaking gait at the canter. We also had some issues with it in lessons. I'm not sure if it's just a matter of increased tension in those situations? At any rate, in both our tests Saturday we had a break at the canter, which cost us points. I also have a nasty habit of riding counterbent frequently (probably due to my narcissistic left hand??). Obviously, also a major point drain. Our first test brought home a 63.696% and 2nd place. She picked up points with her excellent free walk (always a solid score for us), and we had some nice moments in the canter. We also had some moments where she was fussy in the bridle, and also some disorganized transitions -- my fault, I tend to get nervous in the show ring and ask frantically right at the letter instead of waiting for a good moment to ask between letters (which is the option at training level). I think the comments at the end summed up how I felt about the first test pretty well: some really nice moments developing correct connection, just inconsistent.

 

 

 

There were quite a few scratched rides so I was able to bump my second ride time up about half an hour (which was nice, because less time hanging around the show ground!). This test was a little rougher -- similar score (62.727%), but bringing home a white 4th place ribbon. This was where my inability to maintain correct bend in the show ring really kicked our butts points-wise, as well as some bad geometry. I am absolutely terrible at geometry in dressage tests, mostly because many of the arenas I ride in are smaller than 20m, so when I get in a real dressage court I'm like "OMG ALL THIS SPACE" and I ride horrible egg-shaped messes. I really need WAY more work with the exercise dressage instructor made us ride this summer with cones, but hindsight is always 20-20! We picked up points at the walk, since that is the one gait I can't fuck up too badly, but lots of comments about being counterbent and irregular circles.

 

 

 

The silver lining is that I'm aware of these problems and working to fix them -- at least I'm not getting dinged on things I thought we were actually good at! The only saving grace in the comments on this test was that I was making good corrections. I like it when a judge can look at a pretty mediocre test (which this one definitely was) but still find something good and positive to say so you don't get overly discouraged. I've had judges where the comments literally make me want to pitch my dressage tack onto a bonfire and just trail ride the rest of my life (like the particularly memorable show with Topaz where I scored FOUR times under 50%. That hurt. A lot). Thankfully, this was not one of those shows!

 

 

 

 

Scores were in and I picked up ribbons by 2 pm, so I took Ruby home and tossed her out in the pasture for a brief graze while I prepped for the second day of showing. I had evening chores at ACS, which DH helped me with, so I could get back up to the showgrounds to support a friend and fellow boarder showing western dressage! After her tests, DH and I went out to our local Mexican restaurants to preemptively celebrate Cinna's impending test the next morning. We headed to bed early, knowing that Sunday would be an early morning!

I asked for a nice photo of us. This is what I got. Thanks for worrying about ears, DH.....

I would apologize for the overwhelming amount of trot photos, but she has a really fun trot and walk photos are boring (and our canter photos are hit or miss), so you get trot.

 

Sometimes we look dressage-y!