I decided to go ahead and move Wanda up to Training at the Difficult Run Pony Club Spring Horse Trials this past weekend. The course is tighter than most and doesn't have a whole lot of gallop room, so I figured it would be a good course to show her the bigger fences without exhausting her with tons of space. I also love it there because I am still a Difficult Run Pony Club member (until 25!) and I have a huge support team there no matter how we do.
The dressage went great, and I was thrilled at her consistency. The Training A test introduces a few new movements, such as 15 meter circles, stretch-down circles, medium trot, and medium canter. I was a bit concerned about the transition from medium canter back to canter, but she was a superstar about it. We even got a 9 on one of our 15 meter trot circles! We ended with a 30.9% which tied us for 1st in the dressage.
I was a little disappointed with our showjumping, because I thought it rode quite well for the two of us. We had been having consistent time penalties at Novice in the showjumping, so I was pushing a bit more to make the Training time. Unfortunately, the push caused her to become a bit flat and three rails were the casualty. I wasn't horribly upset, because three consecutive horses before me were eliminated. I was just glad there were no behavioral issues!
The cross country was an absolute BLAST. I asked her for a bit more of a gallop and tried to let her figure things out for the most part. Still being pro-active, I kept PD in my head who says, "set them up and let the jump back them off". Of course, PD is the xc guru! Wanda didn't look at ANYTHING, even the crazy irish bank, which consisted of a brush fence, 3 strides to a ditch & bank up, down a hill, up a hill, and off the bank on the other side! I just kept my leg on, and she was perfect! We made it clear with no jump or time penalties. Happy mother's day to me!
Overall the 3 rails are what knocked us down, but we still ended 5th. Next up: Fair Hill Training!
Helmet Camera of DRPC Training XC. Warning: It's a bit shaky...
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