Trouble wins at Wayne Eventing Derby!

We had a fantastic weekend at the Wayne Eventing Derby April 15-17 (minus the freezing temps, wind/sleet/snow of course). Cathy, Erin and I brought the horses over to Lamplight on Thursday afternoon and they all settled in well. We took a short ride around, and the wind was really blowing so there were lots of scary things happening. Trouble felt a little "up" at first, but he settled quickly and got to hack around in the dressage arenas without issue.

On Friday we got to school in the jumping arena, and he was very well behaved, jumping all the scary fences with many other horses whizzing by. He was a little strong on the backside again, so I need to keep working on keeping my upper body tall and stretching away from him to slow down. We had our dressage ride a test later in the day in front of Cindy DePorter, and he warmed up really nice and relaxed. In hindsight I probably did a bit too much canter as he felt a little tired in the actual test. We had a scary moment when the judge blew the whistle as we started our first trot circle, but we were the first ride a test of the new division, so she hadn't switched tests yet! I was relieved that I did in fact learn the right test, and we proceeded without incident. I should also mention that it was freezing and raining at this point, so less than ideal conditions for Trouble's very first dressage test! At the end of the test, Cindy said that she really liked him and to continue working in the direction we are going. She said to be careful in the 2nd half of the test since he got heavier as we went, and I said that I thought it was a strength issue but would definitely work on it. I didn't get a chance to go get the test before we left for the night, but when I went back the next morning I was pleased to see that we got a 28.5!! There were several 8's and the comments were very positive.

On Saturday it was even colder than the prior 2 days, and we were scheduled to jump our first round at 2:18 and do dressage at 4:30. It promptly started to "precipitate" around noon, and by the time I had to get on it was full out snowing/sleeting!! Trouble handled it well, we did a quick warmup and trotted right straight into the big arena to jump the course. At this point there was no one around but the officials and jump crew, but Trouble stayed in a great canter rhythm and jumped around like a star. I could barely see through the snow, but we managed to find our way and I was very proud of him for handling it so well! I think the weather actually held him from the fences so he wasn't as eager to scoot away as he has been lately. Dressage was up next, and we did a quick warmup again as he felt a little lazy. He was really light in my hand and willing to bend, so I was excited to ride a steady, balanced test and improve on our score from the day before. We did just that, he was quite rideable and I was really conscious of watching his balance in the 2nd half of the test. If I could change anything, it would have been the free walk - I didn't ask for enough stretch and I know he's capable of more. The attention to detail paid off....when I looked at the scoreboard the next day, I saw the amazing score of 22.0 next to our names!!! We had gotten the lowest score out of all the divisions! I am still a little shocked that this actually happened, but I am just thrilled to continue with Trouble's training and see how far we can go. The test had four 7's, and the rest were 8's and even one 9 on the left lead canter depart! It's definitely one to keep on the fridge for a while :)

On Sunday they ran the divisions lowest to highest, so we were lucky to go early. I think we did a bit too much warmup and ended up having to wait at the in-gate which he was not a fan of. I was probably the least happy with our final ride...I felt like I had to really ride up to the first fence, and after we jumped it, he took off and I never quite regained control. He was running through my hands, but I felt like I was doing my best to settle back and use both reins to stop him. We managed to make it around after having one silly rail, but the control was just not there. I am disappointed that everyone had to see us that way, but now we have a definite goal to work towards. I also think that he was quick because he had been in the ring previously and thought he knew what he was doing without my help. Cathy was disappointed in my position and that I had to be in his face, so we will definitely be working on that in our future lessons. The rail was not enough to knock us out of the top spot, so Trouble got to lead his very first victory gallop after taking a picture by the fish jump. All in all it was a great weekend and I am very proud of him, just have a few things to work out with the jumping before our next show in a month. I would love to try him in a Duo with some leverage for jumping since he likes the plain Duo for dressage so much....

An update

A little update on Trouble...he did the TopLine Spring Schooling show yesterday and was just great! We did some Eq. classes with harder turns, as well as some Hunter classes with plain lines, and he handled everything really well. There were a lot of people around, and the jumps were brick walls, boxes, panels, gates, etc which he looked at but still felt relaxed and listening. He also jumped the barrels in our lesson and he has been getting better and better about his canter balance. I have been riding him on the flat in a Sprenger Duo D-ring bit, which is a flexible rubber mullen mouth with a space for his tongue to fit underneath. The roof of his mouth is quite low so there isn't a lot of room for a bit in there. For jumping we've been using a Myler dee with hooks, and just attaching the cheekpieces and not the reins to the hooks. He fussed a little at first but now seems to like it. It gives a little leverage but not very much and the mouthpiece is a thinner curved snaffle so it's comfortable for him. We still need some work on slowing down after jumps, but he is very adjustable before the fence now. I'd love to work on his flying changes this week because the simple changes are pretty ugly at times between trying to slow down enough to trot and get the new lead in time to go to the next fence. Granted we've only jumped in the indoor so far, but it's a goal I'd like to accomplish nonetheless. His flatwork has been very steady and he is comfortable staying in a nice frame now. Even when he loses his balance and gets on the forehand in the canter, he stays round and doesn't flip his head! I would like to work on getting a little more bend and getting his balance better in the downward transitions. We have the Wayne Eventing Derby this weekend, so it will be a great schooling experience to get him out and let him see his first dressage arena and XC jumps!! More soon!