The Nationals are over and what a weekend it was.
Des was once again a rock star, having a very full weekend competing in the Young Dressage Horse classes and also the Level 2 Accumulator Final and Championship classes. He was second in the 5yo YDH class to the eventual Champion of Champions winner, second in the Accumulator Final, which was enough for him to take out the overall title for the South Island season and third in the two Championship classes to come third overall. He was beautifully behaved all weekend and gained many new admirers. I fully rate this horse and know he has earned a couple of weeks in the paddock. Actually he'll hate being left out - it'll only be a matter of days before he starts pacing although Bruno over the fence will hopefully keep him company.
Gosh, on the other hand, had a disaster of a weekend in the ring. A minor change I had made to his tack at the South Island Champs lead to a complete meltdown in the week leading up to Nationals. I changed the bit position back on the second day but his lack of confidence was apparent and lead to virtually non-existent piaffe all weekend. This was very disappointing as the piaffe is his strength – the one he did do scored very highly, but in these tests with the scoring weighted to 30% being piaffe/passage and the transitions between, this was extremely costly. Of course I am kicking myself, especially as he had been training so well (in a different bridle) in the lead up to Nationals. All I can do now is continue to do all I can to restore his confidence between now and HOY and cross my fingers we get a performance I know we are capable of. I am extremely heartened by a great schooling session today – I hope we are over the hump!
If you are at HOY, have a great show. If you see me, come and say hi - although not right before a class or you may not get such a gracious reception!! I'll be hanging around the food stands - hopefully the whitebait man is back...
Chat soon!
Gosh, on the other hand, had a disaster of a weekend in the ring. A minor change I had made to his tack at the South Island Champs lead to a complete meltdown in the week leading up to Nationals. I changed the bit position back on the second day but his lack of confidence was apparent and lead to virtually non-existent piaffe all weekend. This was very disappointing as the piaffe is his strength – the one he did do scored very highly, but in these tests with the scoring weighted to 30% being piaffe/passage and the transitions between, this was extremely costly. Of course I am kicking myself, especially as he had been training so well (in a different bridle) in the lead up to Nationals. All I can do now is continue to do all I can to restore his confidence between now and HOY and cross my fingers we get a performance I know we are capable of. I am extremely heartened by a great schooling session today – I hope we are over the hump!
If you are at HOY, have a great show. If you see me, come and say hi - although not right before a class or you may not get such a gracious reception!! I'll be hanging around the food stands - hopefully the whitebait man is back...
Chat soon!
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