Another successful show...
Fizzy and I just returned home from a weekend of showing at King Oak Dressage Days in Southampton, Massachusetts. We have our sights set on competing in the summer and fall CDIs in Saugerties, New York, so King Oak offered a nice chance to get in the ring one last time in the Grand Prix before heading off to our first CDI in August.
I will preface this all by saying that Fizzy has been breeding heavily for the last three weeks, in addition to having a fairly laid-back riding schedule. June and July are the height of breeding season, and as strong as he is (there's a reason most stallions in Europe either don't breed while they're showing, or don't show while they're breeding!) I still worry about over-taxing his body. Since he's been breeding so much, and since he had such a busy show schedule from February until July (I did seven shows which doubled the number of shows I'd done with him... ever!), and since I decided it was time for a break, we have done very, very little up until this show. We've galloped in the field, we've chased deer, we've worked lightly in the snaffle, and on more than one occasion, we've yelled through the house window, "Hey mom, look!" and proceeded to show off our piaffe on the back lawn. But we have spent very little time in the dressage arena or in the double bridle. And it's been grand.
But, the reality that we do have to show in our first CDI in less than a month, means we should probably get back to work. So, we went to King Oak this weekend with high hopes, a horse and rider more secure in the Grand Prix work than ever, and most importantly, both completely refreshed and ready for a challenge. And wow did Fizzy ever rise to the occasion.
On Saturday we put in a really lovely Grand Prix, with highlights being the piaffe/passage tour (all of them!), the two-tempi changes and the extended gaits. My zig-zag in the canter was fairly terrifyingly placed, and my one tempis we done at about zero miles an hour. He felt a little tired to me, and I would have liked a bit more expression in the trot half-passes, but I was so excited that even a little tired, he still puts down 7s and 8s for piaffe/passage, in the ring, without a whip, and it's easy. :-) But still, very few 6s, mostly 7s and 8s, and a few 9s. I was particularly excited about my 9 for seat and position (don't tell the judges it must have been all that jumping position from galloping in the fields!). We finished on a score of 71.875% (the judges were very close- 71% from one and 72% from the other) to win the Grand Prix stakes class and also took home the FEI High Point for Saturday (in fact, he had the highest score of the whole show for Saturday). I was particularly excited as one judge had given us a 62% in the winter for a Grand Prix Special... because the piaffe was still too forward at that point, and the carriage wasn't confirmed. So to earn a 71% from her was really a good indicator that we're going in the right direction!
Today we showed in our second ever Grand Prix Special. Although the weather was a bit warmer today than yesterday, Fizzy felt more energetic from the start, and put in a super test for me. The trot half passes were better today and were rewarded with 8s. The canter tour overall was about the same; although the one tempis were better on the diagonal, the ones on the centerline were not so well placed by me! Oh well, live and learn. We had some super extended trots which were rewarded with 9s, and again we got a 9 on a halt. Fizzy sure does stand still well. :-) I had a super right canter pirouette which I usually mess up in the ring, so I was pleased to see that get an 8 from one judge. Unfortunately, I started my left pirouette too big (it is usually good for an 8) and ended up way off the centerline... but I'll figure it out. It's all such a learning process. We won again today with a 71.9% (71+% from one judge, 72% from the other), and again won FEI High Point.
For me, there were a few awesome highlights from this show. First, sentimentally, I have been coming to this show for close to fifteen years. From doing the Junior Championships on my pony Warlock, to showing Pie in his first ever dressage show, to showing Hierarch for the first time... I have literally grown up showing at King Oak, so to get to show Fizzy here was a very cool experience.
Second, what really made this show for me was how many people (those who know him and those who don't) told me how happy my horse looked, and how easy we made the Grand Prix look. That, for me, means so much. How many Grand Prix horses do you look at and think, "Wow, I'd love to ride a horse like that, he looks so easy to ride!" For me, not so many horses.. But Fizzy really is as easy to ride as he looks, and I am so glad that people see the joy he has in is work. I hope I can keep it fun and easy for him forever.
One last aside- I love that after our Grand Prix Special today, Fizzy and I went out touring the cross country course (we were "cooling out" but mostly wanted to go exploring) in the woods on a long hack, and he just smiles, and walks in his huge walk as only Fizzy can- forever on a mission somewhere, always walking faster going away from the barn than towards it. Carpe Diem.
I will preface this all by saying that Fizzy has been breeding heavily for the last three weeks, in addition to having a fairly laid-back riding schedule. June and July are the height of breeding season, and as strong as he is (there's a reason most stallions in Europe either don't breed while they're showing, or don't show while they're breeding!) I still worry about over-taxing his body. Since he's been breeding so much, and since he had such a busy show schedule from February until July (I did seven shows which doubled the number of shows I'd done with him... ever!), and since I decided it was time for a break, we have done very, very little up until this show. We've galloped in the field, we've chased deer, we've worked lightly in the snaffle, and on more than one occasion, we've yelled through the house window, "Hey mom, look!" and proceeded to show off our piaffe on the back lawn. But we have spent very little time in the dressage arena or in the double bridle. And it's been grand.
But, the reality that we do have to show in our first CDI in less than a month, means we should probably get back to work. So, we went to King Oak this weekend with high hopes, a horse and rider more secure in the Grand Prix work than ever, and most importantly, both completely refreshed and ready for a challenge. And wow did Fizzy ever rise to the occasion.
On Saturday we put in a really lovely Grand Prix, with highlights being the piaffe/passage tour (all of them!), the two-tempi changes and the extended gaits. My zig-zag in the canter was fairly terrifyingly placed, and my one tempis we done at about zero miles an hour. He felt a little tired to me, and I would have liked a bit more expression in the trot half-passes, but I was so excited that even a little tired, he still puts down 7s and 8s for piaffe/passage, in the ring, without a whip, and it's easy. :-) But still, very few 6s, mostly 7s and 8s, and a few 9s. I was particularly excited about my 9 for seat and position (don't tell the judges it must have been all that jumping position from galloping in the fields!). We finished on a score of 71.875% (the judges were very close- 71% from one and 72% from the other) to win the Grand Prix stakes class and also took home the FEI High Point for Saturday (in fact, he had the highest score of the whole show for Saturday). I was particularly excited as one judge had given us a 62% in the winter for a Grand Prix Special... because the piaffe was still too forward at that point, and the carriage wasn't confirmed. So to earn a 71% from her was really a good indicator that we're going in the right direction!
Today we showed in our second ever Grand Prix Special. Although the weather was a bit warmer today than yesterday, Fizzy felt more energetic from the start, and put in a super test for me. The trot half passes were better today and were rewarded with 8s. The canter tour overall was about the same; although the one tempis were better on the diagonal, the ones on the centerline were not so well placed by me! Oh well, live and learn. We had some super extended trots which were rewarded with 9s, and again we got a 9 on a halt. Fizzy sure does stand still well. :-) I had a super right canter pirouette which I usually mess up in the ring, so I was pleased to see that get an 8 from one judge. Unfortunately, I started my left pirouette too big (it is usually good for an 8) and ended up way off the centerline... but I'll figure it out. It's all such a learning process. We won again today with a 71.9% (71+% from one judge, 72% from the other), and again won FEI High Point.
For me, there were a few awesome highlights from this show. First, sentimentally, I have been coming to this show for close to fifteen years. From doing the Junior Championships on my pony Warlock, to showing Pie in his first ever dressage show, to showing Hierarch for the first time... I have literally grown up showing at King Oak, so to get to show Fizzy here was a very cool experience.
Second, what really made this show for me was how many people (those who know him and those who don't) told me how happy my horse looked, and how easy we made the Grand Prix look. That, for me, means so much. How many Grand Prix horses do you look at and think, "Wow, I'd love to ride a horse like that, he looks so easy to ride!" For me, not so many horses.. But Fizzy really is as easy to ride as he looks, and I am so glad that people see the joy he has in is work. I hope I can keep it fun and easy for him forever.
One last aside- I love that after our Grand Prix Special today, Fizzy and I went out touring the cross country course (we were "cooling out" but mostly wanted to go exploring) in the woods on a long hack, and he just smiles, and walks in his huge walk as only Fizzy can- forever on a mission somewhere, always walking faster going away from the barn than towards it. Carpe Diem.
posted by Liz @ 5:23 PM
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