First Show: What Worked; What Didn't.

My second show was supposed to be ysterday but it had been a fairly steady rain/drizzle since early yesterday and Armani is barefoot so I don't want to risk a slip and an injury. He works quite happily in the rain though, so that will be a big advantage in the future when and if I breakdown and get shoes on him.

Overall, the logistics of show day went rather well.  I had a lesson in the morning and then went back to braid just before turn-in time. It was freezing cold, so I didn't bathe. Fortunately, Armani is pretty clean and shiny anyway. I managed to get the prep done and everything packed in pretty good time. I think I was in bed by about 11pm.

Here, I am just going to say that from the time I got up at 4am until we arrived home, the help of my husband was absolutely indepensable. I'm not just saying that to suck-up, either. He walked Hazel and prepared a perfect protein-rich yet light breakfast when I myself would have had a hard time doing that since food was the last thing on my mind. He also did numerous other things to make sure I had everything I needed. At the show grounds, it was even more important to have help.

He held Armani while I registered, ran to and from the car to grab things I forgot, wiped green foamy slobber from Mani's mouth several times, and used his own bare fingernails to scratch the sand from the bottom of my boots when I remounted for the u/s portion. (yes, I will have a hoof pick on hand next time so he doesn't have to do this! One of those things you don't think about when you haven't done it before!).

Now, to sum up.

What Worked.
Well, pretty much everything worked out just fine and there was nothing that flat out didn't work. It came down to refining what I had with me.

What I had and didn't need.
There were a few things I didn't end up using but I think I will probably continue bringing, just in case. There wasn't anything that I recall being definitely a waste of space. Here are the details on the "excess."

- Cloths. I used one big microfibre cloth for Armani's slobber and giving my boots a wipe before entering the ring. Since it was a large cloth I was able to use different parts for the 2 tasks.
- Food. Yes, that's right, of all people on earth it is surprising that I didn't eat much until back at my barn around 12. This will obviously depend on what divisions/classes I am entered in and the time between them. I did nibble about 1/2 a Lara bar in between warm-up and the start of my division, which was exactly right for making sure I didn't crash (a big issue for me) while still being light in the tummy and easy to force down.
- Water. It was freezing cold, so I didn't drink very much but will certainly continue to bring the same amount of water/gatorade, if not more. Total fluids brought = about 5 litres. The beauty of extra water is that you can use some to wash things in case you need to, or dampen a cloth to wipe your boots etc.
- Braiding stuff.  Thankfully, I didn't need to re-do any braids but just because I didn't need it doesn't mean I won't bring it to every show, just in case!

What I needed and didn't have.
 Again, nothing devastating here but a few things of note.
- Cooler/dress sheet. In theory, the day was supposed to be around 18C(64F). The reality was that it was closer to 10C(50F), so we were really quite cold. I made a mistake by not bringing a proper cooler to keep him warm-ish after warm-up. I did thankfully have a wool blanket that I use for him once it's in the 0C(32F) range, but it is small and really only covers his back. I typically take the saddle off then put this cooler on, so with a saddle on it looked a bit silly but at least it was something (this was another example of something I had Alex run to the car for).  I'm not sure what I need for these types of shows - my normal cooler is too heavy/warm, so I was thinking a dress sheet of some kind might work.
- Warmer clothes! Again, since it was unseasonably cold it wasn't nice to be so cold. As a rider, I wasn't too badly off since I was kept warm with my bow-flex Armani.
- Warm beverages! I wished I had a thermos with some hot hebal tea or something to sip.

I also didn't have a couple things I forgot to bring but didn't need. Such as my lunge line. I didn't miss it, but will still try to remember to bring it to future shows, just in case. They are useful for more than lunging, so I think it's a good idea to have.

I feel like now that the first one is over, the rest will only get easier. I do expect things to change quite a bit once I'm showing in the heat. Ugh!

I've got the bug, though, and I'm rather annoyed at having to scratch yesterday. I might try to do the show next weekend although it wasn't on our plan, so we'll see.

First Show Debrief.

Okay, so it's been over a week and I haven't written about my first show yet. I also was informed that I was successful in a competition for a promotion last week, so it's been really quite a ride and quite busy!

How was my first show??

Pretty darn good, I'd say.

(Red is best in Canada, don't ya know).

I entered the Green Hunter division (2'3", 3 over-fences classes, 1 under-saddle). We won our first class. Then got second in the second and third in the third. I'm not sure if that progression was because I was getting more tired or Armani was getting more fired. Whatever the cause, we had a few not-so-perfect distances coming in to the lines and did a couple of chips and a couple long spots (as I tried to avoid the chip!). The long spots were quite a bit better - just a hair longer than a good hunter distance. But we've been allowing the add for awhile, so that certainly showed up. In my opinion, once I clean up my turns and get better corners, the distance will be right there for me. I'm working a little too hard right now to keep him out long enough, which is affecting our corners.

We didn't miss striding in any of the lines and got every lead-change smooth as can be. I might be biased but I'd say that's fantastic work for my four-year old baby boy! I was a VERY proud momma!

We ended the day with our under saddle class. When the class was over, the judge called out, asking who was with 51 (that's me), so I heard later. Sasha was near the judge and said "Uh, well, I'm her husband" and the judge proceeded to tell him that she had me pinned 1st for the class and that I was her Champion but that I broke to the trot during a walk segment in the u/s and normally that would have dropped me way worse than it did that day. I have to admit, I wasn't taking the u/s part as seriously as I should have - it felt like I was just riding around. I was trying to keep Mani's walk active...but he finds breaking to the trot easier than a truly forward active walk. And I didn't really make a fuss one way or another...so we trotted...and dropped from first to third. Oops!

So yes, there are, as always. plenty of things to work on, but my goodness I'm pleased with our first time out. It was great since I had no idea what was going on at any point. I am only somewhat joking - yes it was stressful to not know what was going on but it did focus my attention on the tast. All I knew is when my number was called, I had to ride my course. I focused on that and that is all!

Finishing a course and feeling great about it.

My Beautiful Boy.

(note my 1st hunter braids...would need 2x as many

in the next level of competition!)

Almost look like we know what we're doing!

  

Here's a long spot like I mentioned. 

Not quite as nice as ideal but he takes it so easy 

that it's still pretty decent green hunter style.

After the jog-out. 

I was just so impressed with how he handled everything,

I had to tell him what a good boy he was!

Division Reserve Champion. Hell ya!

Horse Show Prep List.

The first horse show of my adult life is next weekend and I am pretty nervous. I'm not really nervous about our performance because I have low expectations given how green I am to the show ring and how green Armani is to pretty much everything.

First jump school on grass, second ever outside!

I will post some video eventually. Maybe.

What worries me is logistics. All the planning that I've never done. When I showed as a kid, I just basically showed up. Not in a diva sense (I hope) but I just don't have any memory of the preparation other than practicing with my horse. I am heading into this show knowing we haven't practiced enough (only 2 jump schools outside in his whole life and the first two for me in about a year), so this show is really just more practice. But I still need to have everything else sorted out, so I'm trying to anticipate my needs; therefore, I'm starting my lists!

To Buy:
- Quick braid product
- Tuff Stuff
- 1 new med/soft brush
- Grooming tote
- Bathing mitt
- water bucket
- Show sheen

Just when you think you have everything you need! I didn't know about quick braid products before - I was taught using human hairspray but knowing how drying that can be, I think I will try a braiding product. Tuff stuff for some natural polish (I don't have any because Mani's feet are awesome and I haven't used anything on them to date, except for some regular Fiebing's before clinics. Tuff Stuff dries better and my trimmer says it isn't as drying as other shine products.

One thing my off-property school made clear was that I needed something better for grooming supplies on show day. The plastic caddies just aren't portable. I want a bathing mitt because they make bathing more effective than just a sponge and show sheen for some extra shine (he doesn't really need it but I feel like I have to). The water bucket is because the only one I have has been used for cleaning (abscess soaking, bathing etc.) so I don't want to use it for drinking.

To Do:
- see shopping list
- Wash half-pad
- Shave Mani's legs (I started this but it's a post on it's own)
- Clean: horse boots, saddle, bridle, martingale, my boots, helmet, show gloves.
- Plan food (very important considerations to me!)

Show Day
To Bring:
-Saddle
- Sheepskin half-pad
- Bridle
- Standing martingale
- Jump boots
- Helmet
- Gloves
- Tall boots
- Sun Hat
- Water bucket

Grooming tote:
- Soft and medium brushes
- hoof pick
- mane/tail comb
- mane/tail spray
- fly spray
- leather cleaner & conditioner
- 3 damp cloths: 1 boots/tack, 1 Armani (nose, eyes etc), 1 extra)
- 1dry microfibre cloth
- scissors
- extra yarn, quick braid
- treats

Am I missing anything? I still need to do my food/refreshment list - arguably the most important one!  Eeeek, it sucks being a newbie!!

I just haven't been that into it.

Blogging, that is.

In case you haven't noticed. Not that there are many of you to notice but I still appreciate the few who do stop by!

I'm not sure whether to throw in the towel or really put some effort into making this something that makes me more encouraged to update.  I haven't built the readership to have real discourse, which make posting seem more pointless, which fails to build readership...

Oh, if only I actually wrote the posts that I thought about posting. If wishes were horses, eh?  ;-)

Well, I feel like maybe I might be ready to dust things off and keep going. We'll see.

Previews:

First off-property school, coach V riding.

Sadly, I didn't have any paparazzi that day, 

so no pictures of me riding.

 Hellebores! I planted 2 of these in spring 2010. 

I knew they were known for taking a long time to establish 

but I have been worried about the lack of flowers 

and the limited foliage expansion. Suddenly, this year they woke up!

 Our first year harvesting asparagus!  

Completely different from even the freshest store or market-bought.

Boot Camp and the "S" Word.

I had surgery yesterday so I won't be back in the saddle for at least 5 days. Armani has been going very well though and I feel like I'm becoming more effective with each ride. Mostly it's because I am applying what my coach V is telling me with more consistency and confidence, so I don't lose her schooling as quickly throughout the week.

I told V on Saturday that she makes my horse so fun to ride. Although I tried to avoid buying a baby, one clear advantage is you have a pretty clean slate to work with. Of course the other benefit is I could afford a fancier 3 year old than a more finished 6-10 year old horse. Yes, the money still gets put into the horse in the form of training but at least then it's training of my choice. But I digress.

So Mr. Manners is in bootcamp with my coach this week, so to speak. I'm not able to ride but I didn't want him to have the whole week off, plus it was a great opportunity to get some focused training rides on him.

Oh, and V mentioned the S word. Not just in the general sense as in "at our first show...blah, blah" but in the "I think you should enter the show on April 27th. End of APRIL?? We still have 4 feet of snow on the ground! I don't see how there is any way the grounds will be in good enough condition but I guess we'll see.

My immediate reaction was to think there is no way we will be ready. V promptly dismissed this thought by reminding me this is about giving Armani good experiences, getting me to my first show in 20+ years, and just giving him a good ride. While I completely agree with all of this, I also couldn't help but think surely that could happen closer to the end of May instead! She also mentioned I should show in equitation, which made me literally laugh out loud. But I was flattered because V has excellent equitation (think Mclain Ward) and was fairly accomplished in jumper eq and she wouldn't suggest it if she thought I didn't have good equitation. We'll see how that goes!

Also, my new juicer is coming in handy since I haven't been able to eat very much. This is going to be awesome with all the fresh produce soon (?) to come out of the garden.

A Little Bit Cowboy.

That was my equine theme this past week.  

Armani’s groundwork is coming along pretty well, although progress is definitely not linear. At this point, I believe a lot of his behaviour is learned. I don’t think even he knows why he’s doing it sometimes. I’m serious! 
 

I also picked up a rope halter. I realized that he was just too comfortable setting back in the webbing halter.  I was willing to wait him out but the advantage of getting a faster response to my ask is that I can reward the correct response to my ask that much earlier, thereby drawing the connection faster for the horse. So far so good.

I’m now back to a hybrid technique that is partly what I had taught him to respond well to initially (dressage whip in my left hand to wave behind to get forward) and partly move forward to get release from pressure. The reason I brought the whip back in was because to solely rely on pressure/release with the halter ended up with me ahead of him further than I’d like. When I go to approach him in those situations, he backs away, which just perpetuates the problem.
 ~~
Last lesson.

I had my coach get on Armani for the first part of our lesson. I like to have her get on for 10 minutes or so each week so she can feel what's going on, correct anything that I haven't developed the strength/skill for, and otherwise make sure his training is progressing well. Then she can use what she feels to better instruct me. It's worked pretty well. 

A few times we've skipped weeks so only I ride and it resulted in a longer session with her next time, so I decided not to skip weeks. But then last week she was running pretty late and I was tacked up and in the arena, so I decided to get on and warm up. He felt fantastic, I told Alex he was "all melty in all the right ways" (That might not have been a wise move on my part, lol. What men must think of us horse-girls sometimes) so once my coach got there I stayed on and rode the whole lesson. 

 So this weekend I had her get on right from the start. I typically find things start to unravel the further from her schooling we get. I wish that weren't the case but I'm an amateur with a capital A and feel no shame in saying so. I thought that since he had only 2 rides the week before due to my french final exam (yee-haw!) and other factors that I wouldn't have messed up whatever magic she conjures as much as usual.

In fact, she rode for at least 40 minutes before handing him back to me. Time well spent, he was all buttery again. At one point while I was riding, she was describing something related to riding Mani and says, "he's a very technical ride, I have to use all my technique to get the best out of him. But he's also a little bit cowboy." 

Don't take offense, even though I can clearly see how it could be offensive, it's actually complimentary. What she means is that he's technical, but also needs a good ol' boot sometimes. In her perception, sometimes cowboys get things done without over-thinking/feeling, etc. Just get er done. 

Lesson Picture Spam!

I was lucky this weekend and Alex decided he wanted to come to the barn to watch my lesson and check on his horse ;-) which means I get some pictures!

Warming up at the walk.
 This was my first time trying a standing martingale on him, 

and as you can see I need to get a stopper to keep it from slipping.

 Warm up. Working hard to keep him straight. I change the track I take all the time so that straightness isn't about the wall but about the line my legs and body are telling him to travel.

I still find an opening inside rein useful to help gently encourage the bend. I have learned that while doing this it is just as important to give an appropriate amount of room for him to round into on the outside rein. He looks pretty good here, though I think my hands should be a touch higher.

 Blooper! This is why we thought it might be a good idea to try a standing on him. Armani likes to try and do things his way from time to time and like any young thing, likes to fuss when he doesn't get his way. Since his neck carriage is naturally fairly high as it is, I only want to correct the extreme evasions, such as this.

Looking early and working hard to shape out the corner.

He might be more challenging than a bow-flex workout

but I sure have fun too! Love this horse.

I can't tell you how hard I'm actually working here to keep it all together. We are just cantering a circle, but it's towards the scary corner and he wants to bulge in, bend out, and would completely spin around if I stopped riding for a second. He isn't really that worried about the corners but he will look for any lack of leadership in you to work ugly through them. Armani is listening well here and he knows I'm on it.

Good boy!

Wee! It is so fun to start teaching him about going over obstacles. He sees any element and wants to go to it, even though he's had no prior training over poles, caveletti, etc. until I started working these things with him last month.

I obviously haven't been jumping recently (say, most of the last year!) as I'm ahead of him here and not as flexible in my hip as I should be. Even though I'm ugly, I have to say I think Armani is going to have very nice form over fences!

  Conformation shot. He's actually not quite as fat as I tend to think he is!