Learning lessons and moving on.

Wow, once again I have failed at keeping up with the blog.  I hope I can remember everything!

Back in mid-February, I took both of the boys to the Frostbite Series at Why Not An American Ark.  Bug did 3 Prelim dressage tests back to back to try to get him to behave better in the arena.  He LOVES to warm up really well and then go into the arena and be wild.  He went from a 43 in the first test to a 35 in the last test.  He also competed in the Prelim Horse Trials.  He had two double clear jumping rounds.  I was thrilled with him.  This day was all about kicking off the rust again, and I felt like we did a great job! 

Bug doing his dressage test at The Ark

Renn was competing in the Training Horse Trial.  This was his first time out since November, so I was sure there would be some major rust.  He surprised me, though.  He was very very well behaved.  His dressage test had some issues, but on the whole, I felt it was a lot better than we were given credit.  I think he got a 38, but the test felt more like a 34 or 35.  Oh well.  He went on to jump a very green but double clear show jumping round.  There were dogs penned at one end of the arena, and they were barking wildy.  Renn found that to be very scary!   However, he kept it together, and we got it done.  He went on to jump a very big boy XC round with just a few time penalties.  Once again, I was THRILLED.  My boys were great, and I felt like I had knocked the rust off.  

Renn show jumping at The Ark

Two weeks after The Ark, I packed Bug up, and we headed to Thomson, GA for the Pine Top Advanced Horse Trials weekend.  This was to be our first Intermediate of the season, and I was very excited.  I wanted to have a good weekend, where I felt like I rode my best, and we got around safely.  I walked the XC with Kim, and I felt like it was a nice, straight forward course.  Yes, it was Intermediate, and I still had to be "on," but it wasn't trappy or scary.  


Bug warmed up like a pro for his dressage.  I was sure he was finally going to behave.  Alas, I was wrong.  He was a wild man.  I have to figure out how to be able to have the conversation with him in the arena and keep riding him forward.  We ended up with a 43.2, which should not be happening.  I was frustrated yet again.  Due to the close timing, I had to bring him straight back and tack up for show jumping.  

The course was a tough one, and I knew that I had to keep riding forward to make all of the striding.  Bug was a superstar.  I felt like it was the best round of our lives.  We were together, forward, and hit every stride perfectly.  He jumped around a lovely double clear round.  This moved us up to like 10th out of 22.  I was thrilled.


For XC, I knew that Bug was going to be a bit wild, as he LOVES his job.  He started out the course quite well and listening, but he got a bit fresh in the middle of the course.  He was leaving some strides out, and I was letting it get to me.  Unfortunately, this cost us a lot of time, as I got discombobulated after launching a big table and went down the wrong path in the woods.  I had to turn around and go back.  :(  After that mishap, he really started listening a lot better.   He was great for all of the combinations, but he just thinks that he can launch the gallop fences sometimes.  However, I think we were on the same page by the last half of the course.  We ended up with 22 time penalties which dropped us way down the rankings.  Unfortunately, he had been pretty close to his minute markers, and would have been in the top 8 had we had just a handful of time.  

Bug jumping into the water at Pine Top

I have tried not to kick myself too much over the loss of direction, but I'm competitive, and it's hard not to do.  


Our next stop is the March Full Gallop Farm Horse Trials this weekend in Aiken, SC.   Bug will be doing Intermediate again, and Renn will be doing his first recognized Training!  


In other news, my student, Catherine Schumack, and her horse, Mr. Secretagentman, won the Novice combined test at Hillcrest Farm the end of February.  I'm very proud of the hard work she's done with him.  They will also be going to Full Gallop to compete in the Novice division.


That's all for now!  I'll check back in after Full Gallop. :)  Keep kicking on!