Skip to main content

He's a trooper

Image
By
On Thursday it was around 90 degrees, so I decided to wait until late evening to ride. It the perfect temperature and Gadget worked really well. I thought about lowering the neck and bring the hocks under to help keep Gadget round, but stepping up to the contact in the canter. Overall, I think it worked. I am mostly schooling on a 15-20 meter circle right now without much schooling of other movements. I am really focusing on keeping Gadget softer over the back and in the neck. Then by adding impulsion and activity from behind, I am hoping he will naturally come back up in the shoulders and neck.

As we schooled in the large jumping ring this evening, Gadget gave a jump with new decorations the evil eye. However, aside from giving it a sideways glance and bit of a sidestep the first time we passed it, Gadget never gave it another thought. It reminded me that at nearly every show we have attended this year, Gadget is mostly described as a "trooper" by me and my friends. We may not be the most talented pair, but I think it's obvious that Gadget is a good egg.

Warming up at GH June 2012.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When old becomes new - update to my old Pikeur Diana!

By
Here is the finished product! It was a plain black jacket so I added white and light blue trim with RHINESTONES! It's very sparkly! Here's a closeup of the collar, which looks better than the pocket. Now I am going to try to add coordinating trim (minus the rhinestones) to the saddle pad.
Post a Comment
Read more

Catch-up Post -- Putting Together the Puzzle

By
It's been a long time since I have actually written any updates about Iggy. Partly, that is because it is difficult to write about things when you are still very much in the experimental stage. I think I have loved dressage since I was a teenager because of the constant experimenting, strategizing, and problem solving of every ride. I love the intellectual side of it. However, puzzles are more fun when you are making progress toward solving them. They are less fun when you spend a lot of time wondering if you have made progress, stayed the same, or actually screwed things up. From Iggy's first show - trying to keep the big canter in one piece! Iggy is my puzzle. He is a puzzle that makes my eyes light up and my heart sing when I see him. He has this sweet baby face and the personality of a labradoodle. When I look at him, he is everything I ever wanted. Yet, our journey has not been quite as straight forward as I thought it might be. When I sat on Iggy for the first tim...
Post a Comment
Read more

Third Level Test 1 - with comments from Judge Natalie Lamping

By
Here is a practice test of third level test 1 that I rode on April 27, 2013.  I then submitted the test for an online evaluation by Judge Natalie Lamping at horseshow.com. I was pleasantly surprised to get a 63.2% (which may be a bit generous in the spirit of a schooling show) from Judge Lamping. This test was before my "breakthrough" of collecting the canter the next weekend. She correctly notes that the canter still needs a good bit of work. However, our turn on haunches have improved dramatically from that year, which is great since they are a coefficient score! My right flying change received a 7, and if I can line up the left one to be clean, it is an even better change. See my scores and comments from Natalie Lamping below: Apr 27th, 2013 April Dressage Festival 2011 USEF Level 3 Dressage - Test 1 Judged by  Natalie Lamping Featuring  Lindsey S Score: 241/380 (63.29%) 2nd place Overall Rows Test Rows # Tests Score Coef Err Comments 1 A ...
Post a Comment
Read more