Hey hey hey, show season is in full swing (in Florida, at least) so it’s that time of year where we have lots of show recaps. I have plenty of pics from this one thanks to both Xpress Foto and my friend Michelle, therefore we’ve got another two-parter blog recap. Starting with dressage and SJ naturally, because those were the first two phases and also because what kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t give you a little cliffhanger drama by saving the best phase (XC of course) for part 2? It’s coming tomorrow though, don’t worry.
If you’re thinking that it’s been a while since you heard anything about Rocking Horse, you’d be correct. We haven’t shown there since 2023. We always had good shows there, but then had a pretty disastrous schooling day later in 2023 where he wouldn’t go near a ditch and pretty much just spun like a top the whole time. It was before we figured out his ulcer issues (one of the catalyst events that made me go looking for the problem, actually) and it made me hesitant to return last season since we’d just finally gotten his stomach ironed out. I’m officially out of semi-legitimate excuses this year though, so it was time to rip off the bandaid. I had to branch out from constantly ping-ponging back and forth between Florida Horse Park and Majestic Oaks, and despite the fact that we’ve run what feels like eleventy thousand Modifieds by now, we hadn’t actually done one at Rocking Horse yet.
They offered a Thursday One-Day option for Open Modified at this show, so naturally I took it. Rocking Horse is like an hour and a half drive, so if I only have to haul the horse and trailer that far once, I’d much prefer it. But of course taking a weekday one-day option once again lands me in the division with all the pros. At least the shows are quieter on those days? It’s a worthwhile trade, all things considered.
My ride times were absolute perfection when it comes to a one day show. Dressage at 10:10, SJ at 12:30, XC at 1:10. I was able to feed all the horses in the daylight and get Presto on the trailer by 7:30. I’d gone over the afternoon before to pick up my packet and walk my courses, so I was able to get there, find a place to park, and take my time grooming and tacking up.
My ride times conflicted pretty perfectly with my coach’s ride rimes, so in my last couple of lessons leading up to the show she was pretty specific with me on what I should do in warmup and what kind of feeling we were aiming for. I greatly appreciated that, because whether I have eyes on the ground or not, it gives me so much confidence having a very clear plan in advance on exactly what we’re doing and why, and be able to just go execute it on my own. To me, being able to go and do things well without always having a helping hand is a very vital part of what I’m trying to get out of my riding education. I don’t always want or need someone standing there telling me what to do, I want to think and do for myself, and learn why I’m doing whatever it is. That’s actual education vs just following instructions, and that’s what I’m really after.
I followed the warmup instructions I’d gotten the day before, and whattya know, it all not only made sense, but it worked. Rocket science, y’all.
It wasn’t the most stand-out test we’ve ever had, in that parts of it just lacked a little bit of energy and crispness. My judge was Peter Gray, who you may remember I had a lesson with last year, but I haven’t ridden in front of him since then. I do know a few things about Peter though and what he likes to see, and made sure to fulfill those things as best I could. There were no real mistakes, and I had no complaints. Not our most pizazzy, top notch work, but it was good. Peter agreed, and we got a 28.3.
All of the places where I felt like I made small mistakes (like the haunches leading for a couple steps of one leg yield, a slightly early transition, a slightly late transition, losing his haunches a bit in one of the canter lengthenings, etc) perfectly matched up with the comments on the test. That’s always nice too. Nothing worse than thinking you did something great and the comment is the total opposite. It also makes me feel like I’m on the right track with the self-awareness and ability to know/feel when I make those mistakes. That’s step one to learning how not to make them in the first place and get better at test-riding in general.
After dressage Presto got untacked and got hosed off (it was already getting hot), and I got all my stuff ready for stadium. I was able to leave Presto with Michelle and her friend Jules (whoever babysits my horse is always the MVP of the show day, he requires adult supervision) and go watch some jumping rounds. I’d walked it quickly the afternoon before and wanted to see how the turns and lines rode.
After watching some of the Intermediate and Prelim my two main questions were: should I jump fence 1 off the left lead or the right lead (I’d seen both but wasn’t sure that one seemed superior to the other) and was the line from 8 to 9AB better as 7 or 8 (again, I’d seen both work). So I tracked Ellie down when she finished her round and did a little quick fire questions – she said jump 1 off the right, and probably 8 in the last line but to make up my mind one way or the other depending on how we jumped in. Aye aye cap’n, can do (probably).
With the original ride times Alex’s Modified horse was supposed to be jumping like 15 minutes after me, so we were hoping he’d have time to at least watch me a jump a few before we went in. In reality though, XC had been running behind, so he was running behind getting to his Modified horse, therefore didn’t make it to warmup. No worries though, Michelle and Jules (MVP’s again) came in and set a couple jumps for me, and I warmed Presto up the way I’ve been taught over the past couple months. He was jumping great.
The thing about Rocking Horse that’s markedly different from other local venues is the size of the ring. It’s pretty small, especially with a full course in there. All the jumps end up being a few strides off the rail, turns come up quick. and there just isn’t much time to fool around. Honestly I much prefer it to a big huge ring. When your only option is to ride forward out of the turn, it makes it easier for me personally. I think we’ve always had good jump rounds at Rocking Horse. I can’t overthink anything or screw up my rhythm when the jumps just keep coming rapid fire.
I was a bit deep to the first jump, but he jumped it great anyway and I landed, put my leg on, and made sure we got back on a forward rhythm quickly. After that, everything came up nicely. It’s been pointed out to me over the past few months that when Presto starts to get behind the leg and lose power, the first clue is that he gets a left drift. It’s his way of giving himself more space at the base so that he doesn’t actually have to rock back and power off the ground. SO, I’ve been working hard on being more aware of that particular “tell” and focusing on keeping him really straight. It’s why he’s all the sudden been jumping so much better through his entire body, but the hind end in particular. Amazing how straightness works, eh? Duh.
Anyway, we had what I think was our best stadium round so far this year. I felt like I had a clear plan, knew what to do in any scenario, was focused, and executed said plan/reacted to things correctly. Competent, I guess would be the word? Perfect, no. But it felt genuinely competent. Modified is looking pretty small now too (I would hope so, good god), which is also nice.
Presto didn’t come anywhere near touching a pole, and we got to put a nice double clear in the books again.
I really don’t think I can overstate how pleased I am with how much his jump has developed over the past few months. I know I say it all the time but like… the difference is nuts.
I saw Ellie in passing and she asked what I scored on the flat. I had no idea. I don’t look at that stuff before the show is over, it’s not my business. But I told her Presto jumped like a little (big) rockstar in stadium and she was really happy with that, and then off I went on my merry way back to my trailer to throw all of our XC stuff on.
Tomorrow: the runny jumpies!
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