Middle Tennessee Pony Club Horse Trials

"It is time to go up a level."

Ruby and I competed in our first ever recognized show (even though we only did starter level) last weekend in Nashville, TN. Although I had originally planned on competing her in the beginner novice division, my nerves got the most of me and I decided that I wanted this show experience to be a 'happy' thing for both of us and dropped down to starter.

First up- Dressage:

Overall- she definitely did not have the impulsion that I wanted from her, but our cues were on point. Transitions were clean and much nicer than they have been in the past. Our free walk was terrible (this is usually her best movement), and I think she was just not at all focused. My errors were, again, ring size- it was so tiny compared to what we usually ride in so my geometry was a bit off.

We scored 129.5 points at a 35.3% with scores at:
1. 8.0
2. 6.0 (wanders on center line)
3. 7.0 (fairly steady)
4. 5.5 (needs more reach in shoulder; falls in)
5. 7.0 (obedient)
6. 6.5 (fairly straight; show left bend)
7. 5.0 (active but falls through left shoulder)
8. 6.0 (small circle; falls through left shoulder)
9. 5,0 (cantered early; late transition)
10. 6.0 (correct frame but off track)
11. 5.5 (needs downward stretch)
12. 7.0 (obedient)
13. 8.0 (straight and steady)

Definitely the most difficult judge that we have had so far. Time to start getting a bit more nit-picky (sorry Roo).

Collective remarks: Gaits 7, Impulsion 7, Submission 7, Rider Position 7, Rider Effectiveness 6, Geometry and Accuracy 6.

Overall remarks: Cute pair- fairly accurate. Be sure to bend and flex to the left.

Second phase was xc- very straightforward. 13 jumps and one water element. We ran right through that with no issues!

The first two phases were completed on Saturday- Sunday was stadium. The course had a lot more loops and turns that I am used to (yikes, lead changes!) but it was fun once I felt comfortable knowing where I was going. When the pair before me finished, I took Ruby in the ring right away and cantered her around some of the 'scarier' jumps to give her a chance to at least see everything. The judge was ringing the bell pretty fast to get people in and out quick, so we wasted no time!

Third place in Open Starter division. There were 12 entries, but I don't know how many of them made it to compete. By Sunday, I think there were only 6 left to ride stadium because of xc eliminations.

Super stressful (shows always are for me), but I think we had a good time too? Ruby knew what she was supposed to do, even if she was a bit of a diva! In the ring, she was great- out of the ring, she was ready to be done with me haha. Love you too, pony...

Thanks to Joe and Valerie, who came to help out and support me! I know it was two long days and I really appreciate y'alls help. Also thanks to Marion, who let us stay in her home (if you haven't tried it, I highly recommend looking into Airbnb- my experiences so far have been nothing but positive).






No upcoming plans thru the end of the year, but we will use the winter season to get ready for next year...and definitely moving up a level!

She's a Bouncer!

"Stay back through the grid!"

Ruby and I had a great lesson last Tuesday. She has been very consistent with her stadium jumping (although xc gave us some issues recently due to my lack of confidence). This week, we had a new course to practice and a grid to start us off.

Grids are a great way to teach your horse how to jump. For Ruby, she has a tendency to get into a very long canter right before the jump and then dives down onto her forehand. Grids, especially this one with the bounce, forces her to snap up her front end quickly and keep her weight back where it should be.

This was (going right to left was the direction we took it) a one stride, bounce, bounce, two stride. Starting out, we had the first jump set and the others set to poles- as we went through, the other jumps were set one at a time. By the end, we started raising the last jump for height and continued to the other jumps on course. Ruby was super good, looking and trying to figure out what she needed to do- my job was just to get her there and stay out of her way...

Easier said than done. When we come up to a jump and the distance is in any way awkward, I have a habit of 'jumping for her' (basically, I get into 2 point before she actually jumps). This throws her off balance, throws me off balance, and throws Debi a teaching curve ball (lol, if she could reach she'd probably smack me- and I'd deserve it). A year ago, Ruby would have dumped me for riding like that, so to Ruby: thanks for putting up with my crap in that lesson.

This is why we practice :)

Goal Setting

“What are your goals for this year?”

I am sure that by now, most everyone has heard of the importance of goal setting- whether that be financially, in academia, professional career, or general life choices…but what about for your riding?

At one point I was boarding Ruby at a very nice, quiet barn. There was no resident trainer, so Connie was traveling an hour each way to come teach me once per week. However, only so much can be done in only one weekly ride, and the fact that the other boarders had horses more as pets did not help my motivation. Stepping back, I realized that I was spending all this money on board and lessons for…what? Shortly after this epiphany, I moved Ruby to an active barn where others had more of the same goals that we did- showing the local circuit.

Debi asked me about my goals in my last lesson, and I honestly did not know how to reply. I mean, I knew I wanted to take Ruby to shows, but had not put much thought into what kind of shows/at which level/how far away. After all the years of incessant blood, sweat, and tears (literally), I suppose it never occurred to me that Ruby and I had finally reached a point where we had options: Did we want to compete Hunter/Jumper, Dressage, or continue with Horse Trials? Maybe all of the above?

Finances are still an issue for me at this point in my life: juggling the cost of living, Ruby’s other expenses, student loan debt, and retirement; because of this, I had to be especially careful/picky about this decision. Debi and I agreed that our near term goal would be our first recognized show in October: Middle Tennessee.

What is goal setting?

Goal setting is the process of defining goals (short-term and long-term). Seems pretty self explanatory, right?

In my opinion, there are a few requirements for goal setting that will make you more likely to succeed. For riding, the general guidelines for business goal practices are applicable:

1. Write your goals down: make sure to include a time-frame, specific terms, and make sure it is measurable. If you write/log your goals you are much more likely to commit to them!

2. Make a goal that has value- choose something that is important enough to you that you will not lose motivation when you hit obstacles.

3. Goals should be achievable, but challenging.

4. Choose a support group- having others who support your goals can help keep you motivated and on track.

I am going to start out with saying my goal for this year is: Finish BN at the Middle TN show with Ruby!

8 Years of Friendship

"Thanks for being you, Ruby"

Today marks mine and Ruby's 8 year anniversary.

That smile sums it up

Recently, I have been swamped with medical bills, car repairs, and one difficult cat that keeps getting sick. This has forced me into a very sticky financial situation; one where everyone automatically says "why don't you get rid of the horse- you'd save SO MUCH money then!"

I won't deny it- I WOULD save a lot of money; it was a financially irresponsible decision to have a horse while I was paying for school and living on my own back in 2007.

I will starve first.

Yes, it costs money. Yes, I sometimes wish I could have my own house now, or go out with my friends every weekend, and update my aging wardrobe. But what you have to consider is this: what has Ruby done for me, and what is the price of that? When my ex of 6 years cheated on me and all my friends had abandoned me- Ruby was there. When I was struggling with bullying, lack of self confidence, and depression- Ruby was there. When I graduated college and had to deal with the stress of my first 'real' job- Ruby was there. Even when I showed up only once a week at 11pm, she was there to greet me with her cute Ruby nicker. No matter what, she is always there; to hug, to make me laugh, to remind me that not all strong bonds have to be human. She will never betray me, she will never tell my secrets, and she will never give up on me.

How do you put a price on that?

So to Ruby:Thank you. Thank you for being there when no one else is. Thank you for your patience, your kindness, and your uncanny habit of not allowing me to mope. Thank you for your willingness to give in a world full of takers. Thank you for helping my dreams become reality. But most of all, thank you for being you.

Chattahoochee Hills Schooling

"Well that went better than expected!"

Ruby and I went to our first overnight show this weekend at Chattahoochee Hills- schooling show. This was our second eventing event, so I was still a bit nervous about how she would do; the xc will probably always make me nervous, but recently we both have been much more consistent and confident in our jumping so I figured 'why not?'

I decided to enter us in the same division as our Riverdale show (Tadpole 2') since this was our first time at this venue.

Dressage Test: overall, much better than our last test except our halts were pretty much non-existent. This judge was more difficult than the last one; although our score was lower this time, trust me when I say it was still the better test.

We scored a 66.25% with scores at:
1. 5.5 (nicely forward, careful motion; halt for 3 sec)
2. 7 (active and steady)
3. 7 (active and steady)
4. 6.5 (could be softer into hand, better balance)
5. 6 (up transition too early)
6. 6 (up transition too early)
7. 8 (nice and steady)
8. 6.5 (circle loses roundness, but active)
9. 5 (past A)
10. 7 (fairly smooth, nice march)
11. 8.5
12. 6.5 (smooth pickup; anticipated trans early)
13. 4 (unstable in halt)

Like I said, halts did not happen today- she might have just been nervous. For the last halt I think she just wanted out of the ring! For future reference; practice a couple walk-halt transitions before coming in...

Collective remarks: Gaits 7, Impulsion 7, Submission 7, Rider Position 6.5 (bit of a chair seat), Rider Effectiveness 7 (careful to balance halts), Geometry and Accuracy (movements came early)

Overall remarks: Clean up the details, especially those early canter transitions, Lovely horse and capable rider.

(haha, see Ruby, someone called you 'lovely')...

The jump course was 8 jumps: diagonal single right lead 1; rollback right to bending line 2,3; left turn to bending line 4,5; right turn to outside line 6,7; right turn to opposite outside single 8.

XC consisted of 12 jumps through the field and one water element. In practice, I was able to get Ruby through the water. In the show the next day, she spooked at the water and darted sideways. Since the water was not actually marked on my test, I continued around it. Probably should have forced her in, but I was not really sure how "disobedience" was scored if it was not a mandatory part of the test...

Overall, good day! We finished on our dressage score, with a final of 33.75. This put us in first out of 12 pairs.

First Three-Phase

"Aw, beat out by half a point!"

Ruby decided to behave and load on the trailer for our Riverdale show (thank God!). This was our first time ever being judged in a dressage class. Since we have not worked much on cross-country, we decided to enter in the tadpole 3-phase (USDF Intro C, 2' stadium, 2' XC).

For the dressage: not our best performance. Mostly from nerves on my part- our warm up was absolutely beautiful, but once we were in the ring I started getting overly anxious. This resulted in messing up a cue for our sticky left lead, so we picked up the wrong lead for that canter circle (ouch).

We scored a 73% with scores at:
1. 8
2. 6.5 (not deep enough in corner)
3. 7.5
4. 6.5 (awkward circle)*
5. 6 (abrupt)
6. 8 (very good rhythm)
7. 7.5
8. 3 (picked up wrong lead)
9. 4 (still wrong lead). Didn't fix it, so my bad haha
10. 6.5
11. 5 (needs to stretch down more)
12. 7.5
13. 7 (not straight but beautiful halt)

*awkward circle- I practiced my tests at home in a full (large) dressage arena...which  means I was missing a whole circle in there and had to do some interesting calculations quickly.

Collective remarks:
Gaits 7, Impulsion 7, Submission 7, Rider Position 7.5, Aid Effectiveness 7, Geometry and Accuracy 7.

Overall comments: Very nice test; circles and bends very good. Need to pay attention to your corners.

Not too shabby for our first time :)

The stadium jumps were fairly straightforward. Very simple hunter course with an outside line, two diagonal lines, and another outside line. The first jump was the most difficult/spooky since it was a plank. I had Ruby trot in and canter the rest of the course. Clean round.



Thanks to Dan for the pictures!



I did not get any pictures of the XC round because Dan had to leave (to make me dinner!). Since we have only ever had one XC lesson at Debi's I decided to start out trotting all the jumps. By about jump 7, Ruby broke into a nice quiet canter so I figured, why not? Completed the course like a champ!

From an artistic standpoint, Dan snagged an interesting shot for me (which I tweaked a bit with my "I am too poor and cheap for PhotoShop alternative, Picasa").

Next show is on June 6th at a new venue: Chatt Hills. Can't wait to see how that goes.

Trailer Failure

"Well, guess I can go back to bed"

Nothing is more frustrating than having a horse that doesn't load...especially when the issue arises out of nowhere!

Debi trailered Ruby to a show earlier this season with zero issues, so when I scheduled Ruby for her next Riverdale show, loading was one of my last concerns. I was more worried that I would forget my dressage test! (This was to be our first dressage show).

Here is the interesting thing: Ruby walked on the trailer fine. She would go in, get up to where she was supposed to be, and have an exceptional panic attack resulting in her 900 lb (eh, give or take a few) pony body flying out backwards at ten million miles per hour. Yeah, okay Ruby, let's decide to be a serious safety hazard shall we? In this situation, the key was to get Ruby in, calmly stand there, and back her out quietly. Debi had me walk her in, stand, praise her, and keep contact off if she bolted back out; once out, we immediately walked back in. The first few times were terrible! At one point, I went under the escape bar thinking if I were in front of her she would, I don't know, chill out. Except instead, she bolted and I couldn't do anything but let go of the lead rope...

Que Ruby's catching issue.

Chased her around the property both confusingly fearful and yet almost hoping she would run into traffic and get hit by a bus. Really not pleased with the pony at this point- the only reason I caught her is because she stepped on her lead and jerked on her own face- we did have a chain on her.

Back to the trailer to try again. This took quite a few tries before she settled down. She never got quite where we wanted her to be, but she got on and waited for me to ask her to back out without killing anyone, so we called it quits at that point and decided not to take her to the show.

Debi met me at the barn on two other occasions this week to practice some more, with much better results. We are schedule to go to another show this Sunday- we will see if we make it there!