Redemption and Summer Weather

After the terrible season debut at MVHC in April, I decided to enter a local schooling show to put things right again in May. With lovely weather and no pressure to achieve qualifications, we were able to enjoy a very easy show experience, Piper and I, while also winning the combined First Level Test 2 / 3 class.

Summer seems to have suddenly arrived! And with it, show season kicks back into fast and furious mode. We have several local shows lined up...

However, with the good weather, training also shifts back into high gear. This includes working over trot poles to strengthen and further improve the trot, going for long hacks and trail rides, putting in fittening miles at trot and canter around the outdoor arena on the grass - after all, sometimes we have to show on grass, and continuing with little games to help Piper learn new things.

Left : A poor man's hay net. Noisy and scary at first, but then great fun!

And for all of our horses, their reward for getting through another long winter is clear: Grass pastures! Yes. Summer is here!

Restarting the 2011 Season with a Bang!

This weekend, Piper and I competed in our first competition of 2011, reviving the paused 2011 season. And oh my, what a show it was!

Despite what the calendar said, Mother Nature decided to throw horrible weather across New England. Travelling from New Hampshire to Connecticut the day before the show felt like time travel. We left the land of lingering snowbanks to find forsythias in full bloom! Spring had sprung in the southern part of the region. It was glorious. That was on Good Friday.

Saturday, show day, bitterly cold rain was constant except when replaced by stinging sleet. Now anyone who knows Piper knows he can be quite the woose at times as well as a bit of a drama queen. And sure enough, the cold rain and freezing sleet on his face and body was simply more than the poor boy was able to cope with. But I insisted we push on and ride the new First Level Tests 2 (a very nicely designed test IMHO) and 3, returning to the stall between tests for blanketing and drying off.

Out of 118 rides scheduled for the day, 35 were listed as scratches / no shows! That's 30%. The highest I can remember ever seeing at a dressage competition. Yes, it really was brutal weather conditions....

With half of our 1st Level Freestyle qualification for 2011 already in the bag, the plan was to complete qualification at this show. Ha! After the lunch break, the wind and sleet was worse than it was in the morning for our first two tests. During our warmup, Piper got a crash course on how to canter through puddles. He was not happy about it at all. But since we were there, we were going to carry on, no matter what!

And what a disaster! Timid horses don't suddenly get braver when pushed harder. Instead, they tend to retreat. They withdraw. They can become worried and more timid. And sure enough, instead of sucking it up and getting on with the job, PIper was simply overwhelmed for our third and final ride of the day.

Piper was tense and stiff. A 2x4 would have been more pliable. Canter work in the freestyle was non-existent. Simple changes went missing along the canter. My carefully thought out choreography went out the window. And in the end, the ride turned into a schooling session of sorts, trying to get Piper to do a little bit more than he wanted to do, trotting through puddles and striding over the small streams purposely put in place by the ring crew to help drain the arena. It was not fun.

( I have to smile..... Jeddien would have loved it, stomping through the puddles for fun. But not Piper. Two radically different creatures. )

I respectfully withdrew. Huge kudos to the judge who was incredibly understanding about the situation, offering kind words and positive feedback about what she did observe. Still, as you might imagine, it was a bit embarassing. But it was also a learning opportunity......

. . . Next time it rains, guess which horse will be worked OUTDOORS instead of indoors!?

Yes, we have restarted the 2011 Season with a Bang. Or was that just a Loud Thud?

Herr Christoph Hess Returns

Two years ago, NEDA, the New England Dressage Association, invited Christoph Hess to the area for the annual "Spring Fling" clinic.   It was Hess's first visit to the area and included the obligatory eating of boiled lobstah!   I reported on the clinic in NEDA's "Tip of the Hat" newsletter with this article.

This week, Christoph returned to New England for a tour of clinics in the region.   Tuesday and Wednesday, he was in Georgetown, Massachusetts at the beautiful Rosebrook Farm, home of Cindi Rose Wylie's Quarterline Dressage.   There, Hess cheerfully worked with a wide variety of horses and riders, from novice to Grand Prix.   As it was two years ago, it was educational, entertaining and inspirational.

Today & tomorrow, Hess is at UMass in Amherst.   After that, he'll be going to Lexington Kentucky and Cleveland Ohio.   Hess will be back in New England for a Young Horse and Dressage Forum Clinic with Michael Poulin on April 9 and 10 in Rhode Island.   Details can be found here.

With a monster nor'easter snowstorm predicted for tomorrow (April Fool's Day of all things!) and tons of the white stuff still in our pastures and outdoor arena, getting motivated for show season has been challenging.   However, after hanging out with other dressage trainers, riders, and enthusiasts, and watching quality training with a world master, the dressage sap is once again flowing!   Time to tap it and start boiling!

Managing Horse Show Entries

In New Hampshire, we are still gazing at snowbanks of fairly impressive but slowly diminishing height and striped pastures of alternating areas of mud and melting snow.   We're a few weeks away from the start of green springtime, but competition season is approaching none-the-less!   So for me, this is the perfect time to put together my ....

The Horse Show Binder

I've come to believe preparing ahead of time to send off entries in an orderly fashion makes life so much easier in the long run.   For each horse I plan to compete, I fill out one entry form with all but the show name, show date, and actual classes entered.   As required, I ensure each line of "Rider", "Owner" and "Trainer" have my details shown in full.   No dittos or "same" allowed!   When each entry form is done, I make about 10 copies per horse.   This goes into the HSB.

For each horse, the HSB also contains sections for:

• Multiple copies of the KWPN registration papers
  
• Multiple printouts of USEF & USDF memberships
  
• Multiple copies of the Coggins / EIA test results
  
• Multiple copies of a dressage test showing qualification to ride in Freestyles
  

Other sections of the HSB include:

• Laminated horse show checklists, used when packing the trailer & truck both to and from shows
  
• Copies of entries sent in to the various show secretaries.   So far, I've only had to refer to them to remember which horse was going to be doing what, when, and where!     :-)
  
• Printouts of ride times
  
• Printouts of scores & results earned
  

The HSB seems to grow and evolve over time, but proves its worth each year!

Read Each Show's Entry Requirements

While nearly all the USDF Region 8 shows listed in the NEDA Omnibus Prize List (aka the Little Black Book) use the entry form included in the distribution of the book and also posted here in pdf format on the NEDA website, not all shows do.   Some shows have their own entry forms.   Reading the fine print in each prize list is critical to sending in a perfect entry form and avoiding disappointment in not getting accepted into the show.

Know the Key Dates

Each dressage competition has unique dates for acceptance of entries, also known as the Opening and Closing dates for entries.   Some shows open entries months in advance, some only a few weeks in advance.   Keeping track of these can be key to getting your entry accepted before the show fills up!

My first year back in the USA after 12 years in England, I learned that the USDF does NOT send congratulatory letters to riders who have qualified for the Regionals the way British Dressage did.   So, while waiting for my letter and invitation to arrive in 2007 when Jeddien and I first qualified for the 3rd Level Open championships, I missed the "entry window" for the championships!   Fortunately, I still got my entry in before the final closing date!   Phew!   Lesson learned!

For those aiming for the USDF Region 8 Championships, keep these key dates in mind!

• Championship Qualification Dates: August 17, 2010 to August 15, 20
  
• Fall Festival Entry Dates: July 18, 2011 - August 15, 2011
  
• Championship Entry Window: July 18, 2011 - July 23, 2011   (The 6 days when only the entries of horse / rider combinations who are riding in championship classes are fully processed - including open classes - and given priority!)
  

Using good calendar management tools can really help plan and manage the dressage competition year!

Summer Dressage Fashion

One of the challenges of competing in the summer time in dressage involves staying cool enough to ride well.   When the temps climb high enough, show management will often allow riders to compete without jackets.   But not everyone looks fabulously wonderful in a white shirt and white breeches while sitting the extended trot!

In a recent issue of Horse & Hound magazine, a new rather chic piece of equestrian apparel caught my eye.   Made by Equetech, the same company in the UK that made some of my favorite competition shirts, it is a waistcoat / vest which looks like a double breasted tailcoat without the sleeves and long tails.

Personally, I think this is a very elegant looking alternative.   And definitely very dressagey.   But would it be accepted in the USA?   Would it be allowed with the current USEF DR120 dress code rules?   Would riders want to buy it?

I also wonder if Equetech will make a version with points, like on a tail coat.   But that would be redundant, I guess, as the points on a tailcoat are supposed to make it look like the rider has a waistcoat on under the double breasted coat.   Still, I think points would finish the look quite nicely.   Just a couple triangles of gold at the waistline....

Time will tell.   In the meanwhile, I am VERY tempted...   My first thought:   Time to email Dressage Extensions!.   Let's see what they think!

One final thought about these nice "cool" alternatives to jackets....   It gives the jacket-less dressage competitor a place to display their USDF medals.   And you know, for those of us who worked very hard to earn our medals, being able to wear them is kind of important.   :-)