Waredaca Recognized Event 8/18/12

Saturday was a very exciting and educational day for me. It was my first rated event that I actually felt prepared for and it was my first event since moving to Waredaca. My ride times were LATE in the afternoon which is very unusual for me. Normally I'm waking up at 4am and done by 2pm where as Saturday I didn't even leave for the barn until 12:30pm. The best part though was no trailering was needed. Man, it's nice to have shows at my own barn!

Upon arrival I noticed the not-so-great braids I asked my friend, Karen, to do for me were 1/2 undone. I started to panic a little since I had only anticipated a few braids to come out - not 1/2 of them! Then I panicked a little more when I struggled to get them into any form of passable braid quality. Smash's mane is thick - thicker than normal because she won't tolerate a traditional mane pulling comb and I have to use the one with a razor in it. On top of that, I must've been mane pulling happy and I pulled it too short. Short and thick hair is not conducive to braiding! Oddly enough I managed to make them passable (still VERY poor though!) and got ready for dressage on time.

My warm-up was going well until I found out the dressage rings were about 20min behind schedule. UGH! So I took a break from schooling Smash until 10min before they were actually ready for me and schooled the crap out of her. I struggled at first for her attention/focus but I finally got it upon entering the ring. I rode hard and it paid off! I only had 1 mishap - an incorrect lead in my right canter circle which got me a very ugly score of 4 - but generally speaking I did well! So well, in fact, that I redeemed my score from Full Moon's show of 38 to a respectable 34.5! Booya! The only things I would've done differently is 1. Not braid (I saw tons of people not braided and I know Smash would've looked much better not braided than braided) 2. Get a better right bend (duh!)and 3. Get a better belt that won't come undone while riding and make me look even more hillbilly than necessary. Here is the video of my dressage test and below are a few pictures my Mom took:

The picture above sums up my dressage...belt undone, Smash poo-pooing dressage in general, her braids looking a hott mess, and me looking DONE!

Next phase was Stadium! I had walked the course a few times and thought it had a few good challenging elements. There was a 2 strided line I needed to ride forward to and a bunch of boxes decorating the fences that had been causing other riders some issues. I made sure in my warm up to trot over my fences before cantering a few and to make sure I was riding assertively and being proactive vs. reactive. I thought all in all I did a great job! Jump number 3 was not our best because Smash started to stare at it but I got us over it and  going into the 2 strided line I made sure to give a tap of the crop behind my leg since I could feel a hair of hesitation from Smash and I was having NONE of it in a short line like that! We only knocked 1 rail though on jump 9 (drat!) with no time faults so I was happy! :) Here's the Helmet Cam video and the Camcorder view with a few pics from my Mom below.

The second photo is of the last jump when her back foot knocked the rail. Drat!

I was half elated and half nervous I was qualified to continue on to XC! There were a couple of elements in the xc course I was nervous about. Jump 4 was on top of a hill and while it was an easy fence I knew it was a total mind game since I could not see the other side of the fence upon the approach. I had to believe in my ability and continue to ride confidently since in reality there was plenty of flat landing area on the other side. Jump 5 was a little nerving because it had intimidated me in the past but I knew I could get over it. Jump 7 was a jump I've done before but going the opposite direction and it was located between bushes and a fence surrounding a house (a real one not some weird fake house in the middle of the field) so I knew it had potential to be spooky. Jump 8 was my arch nemesis the Produce Stand. I have never been confident to them and I knew if I wanted to get over it I had to believe it was just funny shaped and no harder than any of the other fences out there. The rest of the course I knew I could do!

Off I went! I was over jump 1 and 2 with no problem. Had to collect Smash up for jump 3 since she was on a roll and actually moving too fast. Jump 4 I pretended didn't exist and we were clear! Jump 5 wasn't very graceful but we got over it! Clear! Jump 6 was water and Smash almost leaped in! Jump 7 she looked at but got over! Jump 8 I rode up to feeling good and I actually thought 'OMG! I'm doing it!' until eeerrrrrrppppp (sound of screeching tires) I had a last minute "huh?" when Smash hesitated and I ended up looking down to see what was going on and that's all Smash needed to stop and I rolled off. *sigh* I was eliminated. Had I at least stayed on I could've attempted to get over it! But no, I was one with physics and gravity at that moment and kept going (what is in motion, stays in motion, right?). I was really frustrated and bummed out but there was nothing I could do. Here's the Helmet Cam video and the beginning of my xc from camcorder view with a few really nice pics from my Mom:

I hate knowing I could've gotten over that produce stand had I just ridden Smash to the other side of the fence. I hate that I couldn't get back on and try again. But I love that I'm chomping at the bit for redemption and not totally defeated. I love that what I did accomplish on Saturday was some of my best show work. I love that I didn't let nerves take over at all. I love that I had a plan of attack for each warm up and ride and executed it well! I love that I kept my head in the game and had positive thoughts to guide me. And I love that I already have a lesson tonight to get over that produce stand and through the rest of my xc course!

It's SO frustrating getting over old habits. They take over sometimes without me even realizing it and take even more mental effort to make sure I'm doing my *new* habits. I literally have to tell myself a mantra and BELIEVE it to every fence ("Hips open, Leg on, Eyes up, through to the next fence"). I literally say it to myself to every fence. But obviously when I get nervous about something and the mantra fades out or I don't believe in myself 100% I get into trouble. I know it will just take time and mileage. I know I will eventually get there. I just wish I had been able to take it through that Produce stand on Saturday because I KNOW deep down I could've done it the first time. Slowly but surely Smash and I will get there... one produce stand at a time...

P.S. I was in 5th place after dressage... oh what  pretty pink ribbon that would've been...

Waredaca Practice Show 8/15/12

Tonight was the last of the Wednesday night schooling shows at Waredaca. It's been a GREAT opportunity to get in some dressage and stadium practice without the pressure of a formal show (or the price!). I've participated in each one this summer (recap of show 1 and show 2) and each have coincidentally landed the week of a show I'm signed up for and really helped get me mentally prepared for my stadium round.

Tonight was no different. My Mom started the night off with dressage. She got there before I did and rode her Intro B test with Smash. Sadly I missed it but I saw the judge's score and comments and they were GREAT! She got an 8 and mostly 7s! She said she felt like it was one of her best rides with Smash, too! Hoping it's not because no one was there to witness it ;) Even though I missed it, I'm really proud of her great ride and I know she'll just continue to get better as she practices. PVDA watch out, my Mom's on a roll!

About an hour later I tacked up and got Smash warmed up for my stadium rounds. My plan of attack was to make Smash really work/pay attention to me in warm up. None of this ADD 'ooo a butterfly!' or calling to her buddies in the nearby field business! It was work time! So I put her through her paces as if I was prepping for a dressage test and then made her trot all of the warm up fences - even the oxer that was set up.

My first round was done almost entirely at the trot to get and keep Smash's attention and to continue to get her to jump properly instead of thinking she needs to whiz around and fly over everything - in turn ignoring me. I didn't use the helmet cam because trotting makes the video much choppier and harder to watch. But the camcorder captured the gist. I thought it was a great idea to trot a 2'3" course because it made me sit back and wait a tad longer and concentrate on what I was doing vs letting my nerves ride for me.

My second round was done at 2'6" and at a canter. You can see the helmet cam view here. In this round I worked on consistency of pace since the course had a few long approaches and my tendency is to get quick. I definitely implied the 1-2 counting from jump 5b to 6 (the 1stride to the purple and yellow diagonal/vertical) and I think it worked well for me! But the best part is I noticed Smash was listening to me and I could feel her jumping with a smidge more ease than normal and cantering with impulsion from behind vs on the forehand/pulling herself more. She had a couple of wiggly approaches still but nothing as wiggly as normal or as speedy as in the past. I felt very proud that I was one of the few riders to get a straight approach to jump 3, the wave, and not knock it down! I also noticed as I rode around the course whenever I felt myself start to get nervous about certain jumps or start to look down I caught myself in time/sooner and told myself to look up. I also consciously caught myself at times saying "open your hips and put leg on now" instead of progressively getting into the fetal position/slouching and chancing a refusal. It was just a much more proactive and lucid ride than normal. I think I am finally finding the middle ground to dealing with my nerves and not letting them take over.

I'm sure Saturday's stadium course will be nothing like the course I jumped tonight (for one a 1 stride combination is not allowed in BN) but it was still a great practice for the show and my confidence is very high!

Speaking of Saturday here are my ride times:
Dressage: 3:11pm
Stadium: 4:52pm
XC: right after stadium but my official time is 5:10pm

I keep peeping over at the xc field whenever I go get Smash to see if I can see any new jumps and attempt to see the course yet but so far I haven't seen much.  I have noticed a lattice and produce stand is out but that's about it. Guess I'll have to wait until Friday/Saturday to walk the course...dundundun!