Spring Schedule and Ride Recap

I have so many fun horse things coming up over the next 1-2 months!

To start off, this weekend I ride on Saturday, lesson on Sunday and then I’ll be going to see H ride in a dressage schooling show at a gorgeous facility on the west side of the twin cities!

The following weekend I don’t have any current horse related plans but then after that (sort of the following weekend) I’ll be riding in another Suzanne Winslade clinic on May 9^th! So excited for that one.

Then, next weekend I have vacation Thursday and Friday with Friday being the start of the MN Horse Expo!! I LOVE going to the horse expo and usually take a day off so that I can spend a ton of time there. In the past it’s been an hour drive for me but now it’s actually within walking distance of where I live (I’ll be driving so that I can do more shopping but it will be a short drive) so that will mean that I can literally spend the whole day there on Friday. On Saturday I’ll be watching H ride in a Janet Foy clinic (!!!) and then we’re going to the expo after and finally I have my lesson on Sunday.

Then there will be another couple of quiet (maybe) weekends and finally on May 29^th Katai and I will basically be doing our first real show. We did do one previous schooling show but I rode in the ring that I was used to having lessons in, with my instructor as my judge, and before the show actually started since I was able to be there then so that doesn’t really count.

To prepare for the clinic and show I’m working hard to make sure that Katai and I are both prepared even though I know the wheels will come off at the show. At least I won’t feel like I didn’t prepare her which will mean that I can be more relaxed.

Speaking of that, I’m so proud of both Katai and myself for our ride last night. To start off I really was thinking about not going. I know, I know, I’ve been trying to actually get 5 rides in for a few weeks now but it was gorgeous out and the plan for riding was to ride indoors. Plus, the next day was supposed to be nice as well and I was going to spend the afternoon/evening at the barn again getting Katai’s feet trimmed.

However, I did make myself go and was so happy that I did. It was very quiet at the barn, probably because everyone else was outside enjoying the gorgeous weather, so that meant that I got the arena to myself and we used all of it. To start off Katai was a little bit short and seemed stiff. I’m sure it was because she tore around on the lunge line yesterday in deeper footing but it did make me wonder how productive our ride was going to be. I ended up being surprised and pleased with her behavior since after our warm up she went right into work mode.

We did a lot of our ride using the whole ring including working on some leg yield. I definitely need to get my body in the right place but right now part of the problem is that when we start going straight down the quarter line Katai knows what’s up and gets fussy. That then makes it hard for me to concentrate on what I’m supposed to be doing and just doesn’t set us up for success. The focus last night was to get rid of that fussiness and make this just part of the routine so that Katai continues in the same balance and remains on contact. Then L can help me focus on myself. 

After we did several of those in each direction, playing with staying on the quarter line or sometimes doing a leg yield in either direction, and Katai was calmer and less fussy and took a brief walk break we did some walk/trot/walk transitions. This has always been a struggle for Katai but last night they were better than they’ve ever been. She was staying on the contact and not flinging her head in the air and I could really feel the power coming up and through from behind rather than feeling like we were falling apart on the forehand. She was also really responsive to my leg and going right into the trot when I cued rather than making me beg for it. Even better, she didn’t lose her mind the third or fourth time that I cued for it which is a huge improvement since these normally make her pretty hot.

Finally I decided to ask for a small amount of canter in each direction. Instead of asking her to do it from a slower trot I sort of let her run into in but I was concentrating on myself and making sure that I wasn’t hindering her forward movement by grabbing. Probably because of this, she did a really nice transition without throwing her head in the air and she remained calm and cool through the circle or two that we did. Going to the left, my tough direction from Sunday, I was focusing really hard on my left hand and keeping it forward (again I didn’t have enough contact but that’s better than jerking back as she makes the transition) and we had a lovely transition. She really sat and pushed forward and again remained calmer than she has.

The wheels fell off a little when we came back to trot. Katai was bulging her left shoulder into the circle really bad and didn’t want to bend. Plus she was like a runaway freight train and not listening to my cues to slow down. I got a semi decent half circle and then called it. I really didn’t want to work her into the ground especially after the rest of our ride was so nice and she normally has been doing really well in her trot after canter.

Tentative 2016 Show Schedule

It feels crazy for me to even be talking about a show schedule for myself. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve done four shows in my entire life and three of those were when I was 13-14. We are really at the point where this makes sense though and I’m so excited! I’ve done some planning and this is what I’ve come up with so far, I may still add some as I’d like to have at least 5-6 opportunities to get Katai out this year for exposure more than anything.

May 29th - Three Ring Circus Schooling Show

This is a big local schooling show that has dressage, hunter, and jumper classes. I’ve been here as a spectator/groom before for a couple of friends. It is quite chaotic and tends to be a show that a lot of people bring their young horses to. That makes it perfect for me and Katai because the more chaos the better and I won’t feel judged since I won’t be the only one with a screaming young horse. The other thing that makes it perfect is that several people from my barn are going which means multiple open trailer stalls.

June 25th and July 23rd – St. Georges Dressage Schooling Shows

St. Georges is a local FANCY dressage barn with board in the 4 figures. My trainer has said that these are low key schooling shows and that it’s worth signing up for the show just to ride in their footing J

September 3rd – Dog Days All Breeds Dressage – schooling show

This one I’ve gone to as a spectator as well. It’s put on by the local Arabian group who do a few Arabian specific dressage shows. This one is for everyone but the main thing that makes it a good option for me is that it is held at the location that most of the local rated shows are held. It would be great to expose Katai to this environment specifically for that reason since I’m hoping that maybe, just maybe, next year we can do a rated show or two.

There are some great schooling show options in between and after these shows that I can fill in. Each of them have their own challenges and no matter what I’ll have to try to find a way to bum a ride which limits what I can commit to ahead of time. I do have to try to avoid signing up for anything in August because work will be extremely busy and I’ll likely be in WA again that month since we are opening a new site in Seattle.