Two Years and Counting

On November 30, Belotti and I will celebrate our 2 year anniversary. Awwww. I know, right? As the flashback goes, it feels like only yesterday that I walked off the plane into chilly Milwaukee, Wisconsin, into the barn that held the other half of my heart (my husband shotgunned the first half two years ago). For a nostalgic dip, I decided to make a video photo montage of his first year under saddle.

It's heartwarming to think that just over a year ago, B timidly walked up to the stall door when I'd arrive and now the moment he hears my voice he nickers with ears perked. As you guys know, there's nothing better than that. :0)

Exit Stage Left

Beamer has been very busy these last few months, but now things are starting to settle down. Whew! We had two more licensed shows, which rounded out our season quite nicely.

Foxcroft was in April and the first day's weather was nothing short of miserable: Windy and rainy. The warm up was on grass and the bluestone ring was a swamp. As we approached the ring I had that moment of, he can either say I'm not sure about this Mom, but OK, or the dreaded hell no! Thankfully, B was true to his character and put his faith in his mother. B gave his best impression of a Saddlebred for the first half then settled into the splashing. The only thing that wasn't happening was the stretchy circle. Can't really blame him there. One splash and he could lose an eye. For our second test we were even luckier and it was full on raining. Oy vay. B once again pulled through. We even managed a 65+%. Wa hoo!





The weather at the Morven Park show in September was slightly better...at least it wasn't raining. B was a trooper as he chugged around the ring like a veteran. Sunday the sun came out. Wa hoo! We rode Training Level 4 test as this was our last chance to qualify for the regional championships. B felt very together and the test felt pretty darn harmonious. We managed to pull off a 74.4% and first place! Woot! Not too shabby for a 4-year-old's first year out. Yahhh B!! That was our second qualifying score. As a professional, I had to obtain two scores over 68% while Amateur's need 62%, just a tad difference. ha.





Once I qualified, the question was, do I really want to drive all the way to Lexington again this year? Hmm....I was so undecided that I even asked for input on my facebook page. After much debate I decided to end things on a high note and exit stage left. B is still a youngster and I want to make sure he enjoys the journey as much as I. Til next year show ring!

Teenage Angst turned Teenage Stardom

First off, GIANT apology for my blog-slacking especially when I have so much news.

B survived at his first overnite dressage show in Lexington, VA. Yahhh, B! I packed everything up on a Thursday morning and my husband, Teddy dawg and I headed up to the big show grounds with Beeburr in tow. When we arrived after our 3-hour trek I was extremely happy to see that not only was B bone dry, he had eaten almost all of his hay along way. Always a relief for an overprotective pony mother.

We found what we would call home for the next four days. When B walked off the trailer he stood and stared at the grounds for a good 5 minutes. Thankfully, at no point did I see the crazy eyes. Whew. After having a rather "enthusiastic" mare in my previous show life it was a big relief to see his reaction was that of curiosity rather than intense, I'm going to kill you in your sleep, fear.

A couple friends from the barn had already arrived, so that was a comforting surprise for both B and I. We placed B in his concrete palace while we unloaded everything. I threw him a flake of hay and after looking around the stall and being somewhat fascinated by the little black horses bouncing up and down across the way, he began happily munching. Praise the baby Jesus.

The previous two weeks I had worked 12 hour days to make up the time for Lexington, which meant being up at 4am and home at 8pm (after riding) so my body decided that waking up 6am on the show travel day was just not happening. Hence, we arrived much later than I had planned. I was finally tacked up and ready to go around 7pm. We were riding in four different rings over the next three days, which meant I had to ride in all of them that night. Good times.

We started in ring 8, which was indoors. We wandered into the ring right as couple of tween riders being directed to fly around the ring as fast as they could. OK, so maybe they weren't being told exactly that by their trainers, but that's what it looked like. Have you ever ridden in a dressage warm-up ring with tween riders? Think Twilight on horse back. I swear they are out for blood. I quickly discovered it is not so easy to make a quick turn on an 18.2 hand, 12 foot long, 4-year-old Oldenburg. Actually, it's down right impossible. All I kept thinking was this little girl on her warp-speed pony was going medium canter right under my horse. In between this there were of course random Dressage Queens of varying ages, shapes and sizes. How was B taking all of this commotion? I think he found it rather amusing. He certainly has gained some serious confidence. At our first "pretend" show in March he would tuck his bum in when horses passed and scoot away. Now, not so much. Another tween came right up behind us on her belgian cross (?) and B kicked. Did I get mad at B for this behavior? No. Frankly, I was getting annoyed with everyone coming to close and trying to pass right on right. Secretly I said good boy. Does that make me a bad person? Probably not, right? Does the fact that I wished he had drawn blood make me a bad person? OK, I'll give you that one. ha ha. I'm kidding I swear....

The next day we were showing in Materiale and Suitability in the coliseum so that was a big one on the list. I'd heard many a horror story of horses freaking out when they go into the coliseum so I was fully prepared for some antics. Nope. Not B. The only thing B didn't like were the giant blue garbage cans he had to pass before entering the ring. I didn't like them either. So there. We walked, trotted and cantered around there like he's been there his whole life. Yahhh B!

Our last stop was the ring on the mountain. Seriously, a mountain. To this day, I barely know how we, and the other 500 horses, made it up and down without rolling over. B was pretty cool with this ring too.

I finished the evening up with some purty braids and tucked my boy into bed.

I'll just give you some of the highlights because if you read my blog regularly you know that even the highlights mean this entry will probably go on for another four pages. ha...sorry

Friday: Show day. Dun dun dahhh!!! I was sooooo psyched because my coach decided to make the long haul up to Lexington to help myself and the other five or so students she had showing that day. Materiale and Suitability were our challenges today. B was super, uper, duper UP in the warm up. For the first time since probably the initial canter I did on B many months ago I was a little nervous to even canter. I sucked it up and asked him to roll and roll he did. We went in the coliseum and rocked the house. Yeee Yahhh! We ended up a really close second—71.7 percent pour moi and 72.2 for the winner—out of eight horses. It was a super long class too. It lasted about 35 minutes. After about the fourth lap in the canter I decided to let B fly. I figured if he's cantered this long it's the least of a reward I can give him while in the ring. He bounded around that ring like he was on a pogo stick. It was really fun. As for suitability, we missed the class...it's a long story. I was just happy he was such a star in Materiale. Check on the video on the right by the way.

The rest of Friday we relaxed and cheered on our friends.

Saturday we had Training 3 and Training 4 to tackle. Training 3 was early in the morning on the mountain. B and I warmed up beside the ring with about 50 other riders and horses of all ages and levels. To be honest, B just wasn't with me...at all. He felt like a firecracker ready to explode. All that sense and sensibility had been drained out of his body and he was ready to be a 4-year-old. I dug in as best I could and practiced our w/t/c and figures but as I walked over to the ring I knew he wasn't really paying attention to me. The buck just outside the ring after the judge ring bell said it all. Hang on to your hats kids it's going to be a wild ride. We made it through the first trot and canter tour without too many fireworks, but then came the left canter tour that starts right in front of the judge. Well, we made an impression. 18 hands of fury leapt into the air landing on the wrong lead. OK, OK we can recover, right? I brought him back and asked again. B jumped even higher into the air this time but at least we got the correct lead. We continued on our merry way with the pattern ending at our halt salute. The judge was at least smiling. Nothing is worse than when your horse asks like a total brat and the judge gives you that stern look like teachers used to give you in class when you misbehaved. She seemed pretty psyched that I stayed on...ya, me too. Needless to say I was holy disappointed and my score reflected this feeling. I didn't actual check my score until after my next test, which turned out to be a really good thing.

So, the second test. That was it. It was on. I figured if B had enough energy to leap all over the ring like an F'in gymnyst then he had enough energy to work. My motto, you wanna dane? Oh, we'll dance. I channeled all of this disappointment and frustration into productive serious riding. Our warm up for our Training 4 test was a battle of wills. B was throughly convinced that his role in this new venue was to play and show off to all his new friends. B was not stressed—at all. He thought this was fun to do whatever he wanted when he wanted. I felt like I was dealing with a 16-year-old girl who was convinced she knew everything about life and was going to go out and party with her 20-year-old boyfriend because he's cool. Time to lock the door and throw away the key. B and I had a non-verbal discussion for about 15 minutes. Every muscle in my core burned by the end of it. He finally figured out after a whole lot of firm, non-allowing aids that play time was over. We finished our warm up in the covered arena as it was getting rather steamy. I finally felt he was actually with me. We went in the show ring and did what we came there to do-rocked. B was the star I knew he could be if he was properly motivated (ha). Once again, a frustrated parent seeing a child with a wealth of potential wasting it on some useless distraction. The result? 71.2%. Aaaahhhh yaaaaaa. That's the pony I know and love.

Sunday we rode the 4-year-old test and it was a non-event. B was rock solid, but he was tired and it showed. Our score wasn't great, but it could have been awful and I wouldn't have cared. B and I had already far surpassed our initial goal of our first licensed show—be sane, happy and smile along the way. Layer an over 70% score and I'm down right bubbly.

Since the show, B and I have been living on the trails. His walk has already started getting more free in the shoulders and he's mighty perky when I arrive. We even had a little crow-hopping episode in the field while I we were cantering, as I wasn't able to get him to slow down before we started going downhill, but guess what?I didn't bite it!! I was able to get his head up and he stopped. That's probably the biggest accomplishment of them all.

We started work on our flying changes last lesson, so that was a blast. Just testing the waters and it seems they are just about the perfect.

Every day I watch B grow a few more brain cells and I'm amazed as I see my little guy growing up. Then a bunny runs by on the trail and B leaps out of his skin and I'm reminded maybe he's not so grown up after all. ;0)

Beware the White Poodle

**New video to your right. Check it out!

Well, we survived our first licensed show. I might even venture to say we thrived, once we got past the white standard poodle that is. Every show has to have its obstacles, right? We arrived at the show around 7:30am, about a half an hour later than I was hoping. Now that we have a dog it takes extra time to finally get going in the morning. Meh. Thankfully, B cooperated pretty well in the loading process or we may not have even had the opportunity to test the recognized show waters. You never know with babies....

Anyway, once we escaped the clutches of the standard poodle we began our wander down to the outdoor warm-up ring. K, so what's the story with the poodle? I was hand walking B with his longeing gear on when he stopped dead, his eyes bugged out of his head and he snorted. You'd think I just threw him into a Lion's den. He seriously lost it. If I wasn't so rushed for time I probably would've laughed. Instead I secretly cursed the man with the poodle. We were able to get out of that situation without making too much of a scene. Just one leap backwards. One thing about having a horse that's 18 plus hands is one leap backward is enough to get the attention of quite a crowd of people.

The next obstacle in our gauntlet known as a breed show was a barely there yearling. Oh ya, super fun. This baby was leaping in the air and generally having a pretty fantastic time torturing his 12-year-old handler. All I needed was the 12-year-old to be handling the lion-poodle and I would have had a real show on my hands. We braved past the baby, baby and luckily the warm-up had a soothing feeling with only one other horse.

When I put B on the longe, I told myself, whatever tension you have in your system let it go, now. Right now. I knew that B would feed off any nerves, tension or hesitation I reserved. Right there, I let it go. He longed fantastically. Super stretchy, soft and loose. I hoped on and he felt even better. Before I knew it, we were called to the big indoor ring.

My ever-supportive and ever-adorable husband loaded all my stuff up and walked with me to our licensed debut. He is a self-proclaimed horse show pack mule. I highly recommend everyone get one.

As I entered the ring, I realized that all of these people had been in the ring warming up. Ya, didn't quite know that you could warm up in the actual show ring. Oops. There were banners, people walking around on the metal stands, crowds at every end, flash photography, videography and many other distractions. How was Mr. B? Absolutely rock solid. He glanced at the banners and perked his ears at the people, but he remained super awesome soft, loose and forward.

The challenge came when every other horse in my class was tiny. By tiny I mean under 17 hands. ha ha. Is that my bias speaking? We ended up playing the passing game for most of the class. My biggest question about riding him in a flat class was how would he be with a bunch of other horses cantering around him? How was Mr. B? Awesome. We even passed people, circled, turned in and out and he never even questioned my requests. Near the end of the class, the judge asked for a stretchy circle and B was so loose and soft already that he stretched down and out, lifting his back like dressage riders often only dream about.

The results? Third. Not great, but the judge commented that it was really close and we had the best stretchy circle by far. My real satisfaction came as I watched the video and saw this fabulously happy, soft, loose, 100% correctly trained horse that I was lucky enough to ride.

Priceless Perspective

We had our second horse show on June 14th and I'm happy to report that B was cool as a cucumber. Within a few minutes of being off-loaded he was happily munching grass and enjoying the warm, breezy summer air. We arrived just before lunch time so he a chance to hand walk around the ring. I even ran beside him straight up centerline and didn't pass out immediately following. It's like running beside a smart car, only faster and more powerful. There were a couple other youngsters in the ring that weren't as well behaved as B (wow, can you believe I just said that about my 4-year-old? ha), but it was yet another good experience for him to learn that just because one horse spazzes out doesn't mean he must spazz out. Good pony.

My trainer was able to make it for our first test and she made sure there was no slacking in the warm-up. Unfortunately, the transfer from the firm footing of the indoor arena to the deep sand in the outdoor would quickly proved too much for my baby cake. The moment B stepped from the grass into the big arena it felt like we were battling quicksand. During the test, he would relax and soften into my hand only to then trip. Poor B. Although, much sympathy was lost during the first canter tour when he broke. I was so unaccustomed to this behavior that I barely knew how to react. He lost the canter near our transition point so I decided just to ride it out. I thought it must have been a freak incident, so I wasn't worried about the second canter transition. Ask and you shall receive, right? Ya...not so much. I brought my leg back to politely ask for the canter. Nothing. I squeezed with both legs. Nothing. Mind you, we are now about halfway down the long wall when we are supposed to circle at A-abort mission. I decided to take the -2 and fix this problem. I asked a second time and he picked it up. Oy vay. All I could think was, ah geeze, here my coach has made a special effort to come see me and it's a bloody disaster. We saluted and left the ring with a smile, but I wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

I met my coach at the other end. I immediately said, well that was a disaster. And, here's a perfect example of why everyone should have a quality, experienced coach. Her response? Not really. Arrrrhh? She said, he simply had difficulty with the deep footing. He's just 4 and 18 plus hands. He needs to build strength. The real relief came when she said that my decision to throw in the circle was the best decision I could've made at that moment. Whew. She reminded me, it's a schooling show. You're here to school. Awww perspective. I later watched the video and realized it didn't look half as bad as it felt. Once again, whew! We walked away with a much deserved 58%. The judge's comment was what I'll take away from the test though, "Once he gains strength, he'll be a star!" I couldn't agree with you more Nancy. ;0)

Our second test was much improved as I knew what I was up against. Only one trip and no breaks. We has a little "discussion" during our initial trot around the ring that involved a couple half bucks in, but luckily I won that one. We rounded that test off with a 63.6% and a third place. Not too shabby considering.

We spent all this week riding outside, up and down hills and around the driveway when the footing was too wet. It's a fun time in his training. He knows his ABCs, now it's time to put them to use. Next Sunday is our first licensed show-Materiale and Suitability. Not much will change training wise this week. A lesson tomorrow then lots of hill work again.

What lesson did I learn in our latest adventures? You can't put a price on a great coach.

Really B?

I guess the first event of note is my latest tumble off my pony. Yes, again. I'm making up for a good four years of not falling off...I'm due. Last Thursday, I thought I'd try riding B without longeing him first. I've been gradually longeing him less and less and I haven't had a problem so why not right? Famous last words. The last time I rode B without longeing him first was at least eight or so months ago and it was the first time I fell of my munchkin. I took B into the arena, lined him up beside the mounting block and stepped into the saddle. We started walking and I thought to myself, what a nice forward walk. Red flag! Red flag! Ya, B was just picking up steam for his rodeo episode. He was on a long rein down to the buckle so it was over before it even started. The bucks were at least slower and having fallen off him the same way three times before I had lots of time to think. I literally thought, do I A) try to ride this through and possibly get thrown into the wall, which by the way was coming closer and closer, or, B) do I bail? Plan B it is. I tried to bail on about the third buck but he jumped toward the wall: Abort! Abort! The next buck I did my best to wait till his feet were on the ground to roll off. I landed on my butt and hopped back up to stop the mayhem. His eyes were as big as saucers. My pony was wiggin out. I stopped the mayhem but he was definitely scared. Fine. Back to the longe line. 

What did I learn from this episode? Ya, ya, ya, longe before I ride, but what I really became aware of was B's girthyness. B holds his breath on the cross ties when I do up his girth. Not in a I'm a 20 year-old school horse and I know better way, but as in a oh my god, oh my god, oh my god kind of way. I can barely get the girth up to the third hole on the cross ties and it goes up to six once he's worked. I think when I got on, he was still holding his breath, so the saddle felt übertight. This added with me on top equalled panic zone. Meh. We're just going to take it easy on the non-longeing thing, eventually weaning him off by walking him around a lot and moving the saddle on his back first. I haven't tried it yet, my butt needs time heal. Good news is I only had a bruise on my upper thigh and knee, but other than that I was no worse for wear. Whew!

I rode the next day and he still had the I'm scared look in his eye so we took it easy. By Friday we were out in the open field walk, trotting and cantering. I had my lesson on Monday and he was a good little solider. With youngsters I'm learning that you have to relish in the good and stomach the bad...and as my coach says, it doesn't hurt if you bounce well either.

Blue Ribbon Style

We survived our first horse show. Whew! We walked away with a blue ribbon and 68+% in our first ever dressage test. Yahhh B! We received 66% in our second test and third place. Yahhhh B! Sorry, is that getting annoying yet?So, B rocked it out in Training Level 1 and 2. Now, for the gritty details.

My ever-supportive husband and I arrived at the farm around 6:30am to get ready for the day's adventures. B was still out in the field after a long night of grazing, so we quickly brought him in for some last minute primping. Lucky for me he chose not to roll and was therefore as shiny as I had left him the night before. Yahhh B! Ha ha...sorry...I digress. I gave us a solid 45 minutes to load, as this is not B's strong suit. Plus, I hadn't loaded him since our last outing in March. I was perfectly willing to accept his possible refusal, but, once again, lucky for me, B climbed on up within the alloted time. Off to the show! 

We arrived at the farm 15 minutes later ready to rock. Woot! We soon learned that the farm where we were showing was in a low lying area that 8 gazillion nats had made their home. Within the first minute, one flew in my ear. In my ear. After dropping the F-bomb one hundred times the little bugger flew out. Ok, ouch. Meanwhile, I was walking B around the show ring. He was uppity-up once in awhile, but overall he just wanted to make friends and graze. Longeing proved difficult as we had to attempt it on grass. Mission aborted. 

By the time I had given up on longeing I realized that it was 9:25am. We showed at 9:44am. Oops. We ended up doing some trot diagonals, a couple circles and one quick canter each way. By the end of that warm-up I was seriously wondering why I couldn't just be doing Intro. I heart walk/trot. Here goes nothing...

In classic first show style, B and I walked up to the judges box and the scribe shuffled a bunch of papers. Yee haw! To the middle of the ring in one swoop. The judge thankfully told the scribe to put her papers away. Awww 4 year olds. After a brief jaunt around the ring, the whistle blew. I'm not going to give you the complete blow by blow as I don't want to bore you completely to tears. In summary, it was a blast. :0) I have never had so much fun showing in my life. We boogied around that ring and I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. It was another "first ride on a pony" moment.

Our second test was more contained, so it felt better to me, but, as a result, wasn't as brilliant to the judge's eye. Fair enough. Our only snafu was when two people on dirt bikes decided to be a little bit evil and rev their engines right behind the ring (which was maybe 10 feet from the road). B jumped in the air, but then came right back to me. I definitely didn't blame him for that one.

Both of my tests are up on my you tube channel. You can access them on this page directly or go to my channel: youtube.com/jhmctaggart. The tests aren't exactly polished and perfect, but I think it was a delightful first outing. 

I can put a big check mark beside another rite of passage in this Baby's career. Yahhh B!