Provincial Championships
Well, I already posted my results from the Provincials, but here is a report with a bit more detail:
This weekend I took Prussia to her first show: the Provincial Championships. They were held at the Princess Louise Horse Park in Sussex, right next to a kid's baseball tournament, and also right next to the train tracks. There were plenty of things for the horses to be frightened of!
The first surprise of the weekend was that Prussia just walked right on the trailer. She hasn't been on a trailer in 5 years, and she just walked on immediately. At home Prussia is quite the alpha mare: bossy and opinionated, but once we got on the show grounds she was entirely different. She went into her shell completely, and was looking to me for guidance and support. It was really special: I have never experienced a horse trusting me like that, and she showed me this trust time and time again.
I know I am anthropomorphizing here, but we would be approaching something scary, and she would be acting like "Oooooo thats so scary! I can't walk near that! can I?" and I would tell her it was ok, and she CAN walk near it, and walk near it she would. She would still look at it a little, but her demeanor would be as though she was saying "Well, maybe I can, If you say its ok, it can't be that bad!"
We showed training level adult amateur division. In Prussia's first test at her first show, we scored 67.727%. I was extatic, especially since Prussia got an eight for gaits, and I got an eight for rider! In test two I pushed her a little more and we got 68.846%, and again, eight for rider.
The next day, I was a little more tense and made more mistakes so in test 3 we got 63.75%. Test 4 was an improvement, but she was getting tired and I was exhausted and made a couple mistakes, but we still earned 65.769%.
Prussia was a super star all weekend. Sure, she looked at some stuff, she bucked a few times, and she spooked a bit, but on the whole she was listening to me the whole time. And trying for me! Dymo always looks out for No.1, so Prussia's behaviour shocked me to the core.
I also came away with a renewed appreciation for how difficult dressage is. I am an amatuer, and I rode my very best during training level test 2. I was really trying to score above 70%, but I made some mistakes during the walk work, and came away with a 68%. When I say I made mistakes, I mean that the walk was slightly less forward than it should have been. Because of that, I lost 8 points off my test, which is what kept me from hitting 70.
On that same test, two of the people riding in the open division (Erin MacQuarrie and Harma Germs) scored 72% and 75% respectively. Let me tell you, they couldn't have made ANY mistakes to earn those scores. Every transition was right on the letter, and every long side and corner perfectly straight. The attention to detail and focus you need to get those sorts of scores is truly incredible.
It doesn't help my cause that I usually get to ride Prussia only once a week. I wish she was located closer to me, so that I could school her on a regular basis, but she isn't. So, considering that I get to ride at most twice a week, I think she and I did pretty well! ;)
This weekend I took Prussia to her first show: the Provincial Championships. They were held at the Princess Louise Horse Park in Sussex, right next to a kid's baseball tournament, and also right next to the train tracks. There were plenty of things for the horses to be frightened of!
The first surprise of the weekend was that Prussia just walked right on the trailer. She hasn't been on a trailer in 5 years, and she just walked on immediately. At home Prussia is quite the alpha mare: bossy and opinionated, but once we got on the show grounds she was entirely different. She went into her shell completely, and was looking to me for guidance and support. It was really special: I have never experienced a horse trusting me like that, and she showed me this trust time and time again.
I know I am anthropomorphizing here, but we would be approaching something scary, and she would be acting like "Oooooo thats so scary! I can't walk near that! can I?" and I would tell her it was ok, and she CAN walk near it, and walk near it she would. She would still look at it a little, but her demeanor would be as though she was saying "Well, maybe I can, If you say its ok, it can't be that bad!"
We showed training level adult amateur division. In Prussia's first test at her first show, we scored 67.727%. I was extatic, especially since Prussia got an eight for gaits, and I got an eight for rider! In test two I pushed her a little more and we got 68.846%, and again, eight for rider.
The next day, I was a little more tense and made more mistakes so in test 3 we got 63.75%. Test 4 was an improvement, but she was getting tired and I was exhausted and made a couple mistakes, but we still earned 65.769%.
Prussia was a super star all weekend. Sure, she looked at some stuff, she bucked a few times, and she spooked a bit, but on the whole she was listening to me the whole time. And trying for me! Dymo always looks out for No.1, so Prussia's behaviour shocked me to the core.
I also came away with a renewed appreciation for how difficult dressage is. I am an amatuer, and I rode my very best during training level test 2. I was really trying to score above 70%, but I made some mistakes during the walk work, and came away with a 68%. When I say I made mistakes, I mean that the walk was slightly less forward than it should have been. Because of that, I lost 8 points off my test, which is what kept me from hitting 70.
On that same test, two of the people riding in the open division (Erin MacQuarrie and Harma Germs) scored 72% and 75% respectively. Let me tell you, they couldn't have made ANY mistakes to earn those scores. Every transition was right on the letter, and every long side and corner perfectly straight. The attention to detail and focus you need to get those sorts of scores is truly incredible.
It doesn't help my cause that I usually get to ride Prussia only once a week. I wish she was located closer to me, so that I could school her on a regular basis, but she isn't. So, considering that I get to ride at most twice a week, I think she and I did pretty well! ;)
posted by Pippa at
8:57 AM
3 Comments:
Congratulations Rosie! :D Sounds like you did awesome and had a blast! :) The pics are great too.
Holly :)
Hi Rosie,
Nice to see your blog too! You did a wonderful job this weekend. You should be proud of yourself and your horse!
We enjoyed the weekend, it was nice to see everyone and meet new people!
I'm still riding Conner a couple of times a week. Just don't have enough time to show him this year. Maybe next year again...
Hope to see you again at the dressage shows!
Hey Harma,
Thanks! I was very proud of Prussia, and a little proud of myself. ;)
I love showing, but it seems I never have much time for it. Hopefully once I finally finish with school and get a real job I will be able to attend more competitions!
I look forwards to seeing you (and Whiscalina, Connor, and Kionus) next summer!
Rosie
PS. I checked out Whiscalina's bloodlines and WOW! No wonder she is so lovely! :)
PPS. There is some talk of another Cindy Ishoy clinic in October. If that is the case, you should definately come! The clinic with her in May was fantastic.
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