Two speeds - stop or go
Well the weekend was.... interesting at least.
The forecast was not good - gale force winds and rain - and it was a pretty close call as to whether to venture out in the trailer or not. But we did - the competition venue was not far away and down relatively sheltered roads.
My aim for the Intro B (walk and trot) was to work on the judge's comments from a few weeks previously and try to aim for something that was not hurried. This time the test was back in a sand arena and with fences on 3 sides. I warmed up initially out on the grass field as there were half a dozen people in the 40x20 warm up. Then roughly 10mins before the test time, I went into the proper warm up, and then just before the test, into the area between the two test arenas.
Rosie had warmed up relatively well, with the odd objection but nothing major. But as I went into the test I felt energy was lacking. She started quite well though (and her test sheet showed some decent scores for these movements) and then.....
she ground to a halt.
Well and truely. Got her going again briefly before she did it again and simply refused to move. I got a begruding walk (when we should have been trotting) and couldn't get any sign of acceptance from her at all, so I turned to face the judge and saluted to show I would retire.
The judge was great and "suggested" I should get her going before I left the arena. I was still struggling to get any kind of obedience so the judge actually came out and suggested I should be as strong as I needed to be (the words she used were a bit more colloquial) and get her trotting.
Before the next test we were standing having a cup of tea and she actually came over and gave me some great advice. She said most judges are riders themselves and will understand. if you deal with the resistance in the first movement it comes up - you have already dropped marks for that movement so you may as well sort it good and proper, and then get the rest of the movements better.
Well needless to say I was determined that the next test (prelim 1) was going to be the chance to prove to Rosie she MUST move when asked. The warm up left no room for doubt (and involved Rosie's hind feet being in the air a few times). The test was in the second of the two test arenas. But Rosie did NOT stop.
The irony was that I got a collective comment not to hurry her (if only the judge knew !).
So it seems we have two speeds at present - STOP and HURRY
At home we certainly have more variation in the trot than this, and are working on the canter.
The forecast was not good - gale force winds and rain - and it was a pretty close call as to whether to venture out in the trailer or not. But we did - the competition venue was not far away and down relatively sheltered roads.
My aim for the Intro B (walk and trot) was to work on the judge's comments from a few weeks previously and try to aim for something that was not hurried. This time the test was back in a sand arena and with fences on 3 sides. I warmed up initially out on the grass field as there were half a dozen people in the 40x20 warm up. Then roughly 10mins before the test time, I went into the proper warm up, and then just before the test, into the area between the two test arenas.
Rosie had warmed up relatively well, with the odd objection but nothing major. But as I went into the test I felt energy was lacking. She started quite well though (and her test sheet showed some decent scores for these movements) and then.....
she ground to a halt.
Well and truely. Got her going again briefly before she did it again and simply refused to move. I got a begruding walk (when we should have been trotting) and couldn't get any sign of acceptance from her at all, so I turned to face the judge and saluted to show I would retire.
The judge was great and "suggested" I should get her going before I left the arena. I was still struggling to get any kind of obedience so the judge actually came out and suggested I should be as strong as I needed to be (the words she used were a bit more colloquial) and get her trotting.
Before the next test we were standing having a cup of tea and she actually came over and gave me some great advice. She said most judges are riders themselves and will understand. if you deal with the resistance in the first movement it comes up - you have already dropped marks for that movement so you may as well sort it good and proper, and then get the rest of the movements better.
Well needless to say I was determined that the next test (prelim 1) was going to be the chance to prove to Rosie she MUST move when asked. The warm up left no room for doubt (and involved Rosie's hind feet being in the air a few times). The test was in the second of the two test arenas. But Rosie did NOT stop.
The irony was that I got a collective comment not to hurry her (if only the judge knew !).
So it seems we have two speeds at present - STOP and HURRY
At home we certainly have more variation in the trot than this, and are working on the canter.
posted by seahorse | 2:57 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home