Fall at Rolelu

October 18th Justine and I returned to Rolelu to support friends competing from Stable 54 and enjoy the magnificent vistas, hopefully you will too. Mom was not feeling well, so she stayed home with Ethan, and Winnie got a well deserved break from showing. It was cold but still fun and plenty to admire.

Sept 20, 2008 First Dressage Show

September 20th we went to Rolelu Farms in scenic Avon, NY for our first Dressage & Stadium Jump Show. Several of the girls that Justine rides with from Stable 54 and their trainer, Jen were also there. Dressage is different from what Justine has been doing so far in that it is about balance, grace, finese and control. You are not showing in a ring with many other horses, but by yourself with a judge watching, and they see EVERYTING. While Justine doesn't seem to like dressage much, it provides an excellent foundation for anything. If can't be balanced and finely control your horse, well jumping is not going to be easy. First pic gives you an idea of the scenic vista (I don't mean microsoft), as the girls wait to enter the jumps. The grey pony with hot pink is Grace with rider Hannah. Grace rode in our trailer (The WinnieBago) with Winnie to Rolelu. Second pic should be entitled "The Trainer Has Spoken, don't ask, just DO IT".

If you'd like to see the ultimate in dressage, check this video out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKQgTiqhPbw

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

Of course in stadium jumping the intent is for the horse to come down before the rider, but it doesn't always happen that way. The first two pics are Steffanie on Magic. Usually the two of them really are magic since I have many times seen Steff get in tough spots, but the kid never comes off, even if she has to climb back down Magic's neck. However, this day Magic seemed to be a bit more like voodoo. Jumping was not his idea for the day, and based on Steff's leg in the first pic he wasn't an easy ride. In the second pic Magic rejects going over the jump, and Steff came off. In the picture she is still hanging onto the rein and she looks like a yo-yo being pulled back up. The last two pics are Leah on Regally Blonde (Regal). Regal is happiest if you let her jump all day long and it showed with a clean run.

Hi! I'm Winnie and I'm bored.

The judge wanted rider and horse to ride around a narrow path atop a hill around the outside of the arena to introduce themselves and learn more about horse and rider. Winnie was alert and a bit silly. Riding back along the outside of the rail (second picture) she seems calm and collected and those pesky geese that scared a few horses don't seem to be noticed by her. Nahhh it's more fun to notice them when the judge rings the bell and its "show time". Third picture, they enter the arena, Winnie's head is high, eyes and ears alert, gait is long and she's going to move. By the way Win, there's no added points for getting the pattern done in half the time, but hey she's an ex race horse and she was feel'in good.

THEY'RE GOING TO GET US JUSTINE!!!!!!!!

This was the first time Winnie had been to Rolelu, and one of the rules for dressage is the horses cannot warm up or be in the dressage arena other than for the actual competition. The geese in the pond had spooked a few horses, and Winnie who is usually not bothered by anything, kept a watchful eye on the pond while she waited to enter the arena. The start of the pattern seemed to go well except Win was "peppy", then when she turned her backside and blind eye toward the pond, the geese flapped wings, made a lot of noise, and Win was convinced the best course of action was to about face toward the threat and get out of there. Justine struggled to keep her in the corner and slowed down as Win did a few spinning circles and then tried to move straight out. In the third picture Win is calming down, taking her ques from Justine rather than instinct, getting back straight on the rail, and Justine is fighting back tears. The judge gave them a moment to collect and complete the pattern where they left off. Win was still a bit keyed up and tried hard. In her process of anticipating she mistook Justine's leg from walk to trot by the rail to mean "jump that sucker" and before Justine knew it, over they went like it was a hunt show. Two steps on the other side, she came to a stop, Justine started to cry, and Winnie's high proud head slowly dropped as if she knew she did wrong, and she slowly walked back into the arena. The rest of the pattern was much slower and controlled. So much for pattern intro A, but hey we have one more, Intro B to do.

Improvise, Adapt and Overcome

Right after the spook incident with the geese, they are trotting toward the pond. Win's ears are up, head is high, and eyes are alert as she gains a little speed headed toward the corner. All the signs that she once again thinks the new to

her dressage rail are not a fence or border of sorts, but infact very similar to the low cross rails she's used to jumping at home. "Yea, Justine is finally going to let me jump again and I can chase those geese!!!" Justine swallowed fear, kept her composure and posted a little deeper in the saddle as she applied slowing pressure on the reins, and Win kicked it around the corner, ans as you can see in the second picture it was all good. Despite those scary geese disappearing behind her, she has a balanced trot, Justine is on post and straight, Win's head is more relaxed and one ear forward the other back at her rider literally asking/waiting for the next cue. Way to go girls.

Equestrian Idol

Well judge, what ya think? After a nice salute, Win and Justine walked right up to the letter/point C to receive judge comments. The score was very good for a first dressage show, and some reaffirming and encouragement were offered. Some tips on how to keep Win from being so forward (fast/hurried), fine tune the control and staying in a frame were offered. However the judge felt those issues were outweighed facts like: "You two make a good team, she was trying hard to be spirited and do well for you Justine, we've all had the some challenges you did and worse, she's a good mover and your posture is excellent, keep up the good work". The whole time, Winnie is making funny faces with her mouth and grumbling noises. Apparently she had some critiques too.

Enter the Professionals

The prior show experience of both horse and rider become evident. Before entering the arena, the judge like the horse and rider to come to the booth and introduce themselves. Winnie was her typical friendly character self and both with Justine and Jolene, looked upon the judge as though she was a part of the discussion.

Notice the posture or frame of Winnie as the enter the arena. That's a rider giving subtle hand and leg cues to make that happen and a horse that knows what a slight move of a finger on the reins means. No wonder she gets annoyed with Justine and I when we get tense and hand fisted. As usual, Lori Skoog is right when we ride at her wonderful indoor arena and she says "less pressure, give her her mouth or give her the buckle".

Third Picture, Win just did a tight 90 left turn, bent her body to do it and pushed off with hind quaters and actually kicked up some dirt. Until some consistant work and joint supplament, bending in a turn and using the hind was not something she wanted to do. Now????? Well lets just say she's looking for an excuse to do so.

Power

Here they are transitioning from trot to canter. They are in a right turn so the inside front leg is reaching, her mane shows she's putting weight on hind quarters to get the push off power, (that used to be too much work for her, and the head and neck stay in the frame (head vertical). Not bad girls. Win listens well to Jolene who knows how to get what she wants, and Winnie tries to anticipate, sometimes anticipates too much and Winnie tries to convince Jolene "come on kid you know what you're doing, let's let it rip and show em what we got!"

SALUTE!!!!!!!

For those old enough to remember the C&W show "Hee Haw", "salute" was one of their bits, but not to what we are referring to here. Jolene and Winnie are done after a respectable round. Winnie was energetic and extended her gaits and was pretty good about remaining in a frame. The only real stumble was when Jolene asked to go from the trot to the canter in the same corner where she jumped the rail (butt to the geese), she tried to sneak in a couple of gallup steps, but Jolene the pro anticipated it and held her back. The judge found it pleasing to see and old horse having fun, trying to please and full of get up and go. Jolene was very happy with her excellent high score. It was pretty cool how Winnie's head lowered and raised in perfect unison with Jolene's. I'm sure that is a professional's trick, but I sleep better thinking it was coincidental luck.