Indiana Dressage Festival Photos

 I can't get over how far we've come together since May and how much Pyro has matured!

All photos by Abigail Grace Photography.

Lesson Recap - 8/13/2024: Everything, All At Once

 As per usual, this first lesson following the show was a debrief, and the talented Coach JT helped us fix the crux of our issues from both tests in 30 minutes flat. Transitions.

Hollowing from halt into trot

Dumping onto forehand in canter to trot

There were many comments through both tests regarding our transitions, saying Pyro hollowed or needed better preparation and balance. The judges wanted to see him softer over his topline and steadier in the contact. 

Hollowing trot to canter

Almost every transition between gaits had some sort of bobble. When I said I wanted to focus on improving this, JT asked me what I was doing to prepare him for transitions. Thinking it through, I responded I would give him a half halt, soften him a little with inside hand and leg, then ask for the transition itself.  I didn't really know what else I should be doing to better prepare him. 

Loss of balance in canter to trot 

She coached me to really think about riding every stride in a way that felt like any movement was available to us at any time. I needed to make sure every step of walk was active and balanced enough that we could halt, trot, canter, turn, etc. at any point. I often let Pyro (and myself) get sucked into a "trot daze", where he is surprised by my cues to change what he's doing. I need to cultivate anticipation in him in such a way that he's ready for everything, all at once, but waiting for me to tell him which direction we're choosing. 

Hollowing and bowing right shoulder in trot to canter

One of our biggest bobbles of the show was the transition up into right lead canter. He not only hollowed but dove in with his right shoulder. While we've had issues with him bowing his shoulder right, I was not ready for this response in the test. I immediately applied more inside leg and a little sponging of the inside rein, and he recovered quickly.

Quickly recovered

This pattern of movement became very clear during our lesson when we switched directions to tracking right. He not only bowed his shoulder in, but he also wanted to take charge of what we were doing, often trying to break into canter without me asking. I had to recalibrate my proprioception and really bend his rib cage around my right leg until the base of his neck pressed into my left rein. Once we got the proper bend, I could provide quieter cues and easily flow between gaits with smooth transitions. 

No photos from during the lesson, but here's my cutie after our cool down hack.

I feel so privileged to have access to JT's instruction, especially when she can make such a big change in my riding in such a short time. I left the lesson feeling well equipped with the tools we needed to ride a better test next time we stepped in the show ring.

He rode well in the Winderen semi-flexi bit.

As this is Pyro's 5-year-old year, I've been bracing myself for baby horse opinions. Yes, we've had a few discussions here and there, but all in all I'm been amazed at how he has matured mentally and physically. Of late, I've really felt like our partnership is blossoming, and I think our mutual trust and respect had a growth spurt. I'll admit, there was a time I considered selling him as I felt we weren't really "clicking". However, I'm thankful he's mine and we get to play and learn together. 

Famous Last Words

I'll be keeping this lesson in mind during every ride going forward, applying it to my jumping and western rides as well. We'll be flowing like a river through its bank together in no time. 

Happy Place

Indiana Dressage Festival 2024

 This weekend Pyro and I loaded up and headed the 30 minutes north to the Hoosier Horse Park for the Indiana Dressage Society (IDS) Indy Dressage Fest, a rated show. We typically only attend schooling shows, but they thankfully offered Opportunity classes so we could get the rated show experience without all the extra fees. In spite of being a rated show, this weekend was one of the most fun experiences showing Pyro I've ever had.

Good baby horse traveled very well

We lucked out with incredible weather (upper 70s and sunny) and early afternoon ride times both days. While having too much time on my hands can be bad for my anxiety, we weren't rushed, and I was able to enact the plans I had for preparing both of us. 

These plans included seltzers for me and lunging/hand walking/grazing for Pyro

On day 1, when I took Pyro to the warm-up to lunge, he was respectful and quiet, but he was holding his little mouth SO tight. I asked him to work through some transitions in an unhurried way, letting him soak in the atmosphere (looking, listening, sniffing...), until he relaxed and returned his attention to me. While ring 3 (where we would later show) was on break, I received permission to hand walk and graze him in the grassy area surrounding the ring. He settled in well and even laid down for a nap once we returned to his stall.

Do Not Disturb

Unfortunately, I had to commit a felony, asking him to get up from his nap to get ready to show. He obliged with only a little side eye and proceeded to happily enjoy his lick-it through being groomed and tacked. 

An excellent pacifier

I had some butterflies early in the day, but by the time we entered the warm-up, we were both pretty relaxed and focused. After a 10 minute hack around the show grounds, we worked through some transitions and headed down to the ring right on time. I made the conscious effort to keep him in work from the warm-up ring to the show ring after having him lose concentration last show when I let him mosey down on the buckle. I think this really kept him more mentally "with me", and we proceeded to put in a much more relaxed test than ever before. Our main bobbles happened when he hollowed during upward transitions and didn't keep his balance during downward transitions, but I surprised myself by smiling through the entire test and ENJOYING showing my young horse! 

A smile on my face and a swinging stride from Pyro

The judge provided a score of 64.615% and very actionable feedback that I'll definitely be taking back for my "homework". His overall comment was: "Attractive and kind horse. Well ridden. Work to supple the topline using more half halts for balance and roundness, especially during transitions." 

Very happy with my boy

In addition to this praise and very constructive criticism, he called Pyro "obedient"... TWICE.

Photo Evidence

All in all, day 1 went exactly as planned, and we smashed our goals of both being relaxed and prepared. I was so happy with him and excited to do it again the next day, with plans to implement some improvements in my riding of the test. I wanted to give Pyro the same relaxed ride while 1) keeping my shoulders back over my hips better, 2) setting him up for transitions better, and 3) asking him to stay more supple and balanced throughout.

It was a wonderful show experience for us both.

We headed back to the stable and hung out with my cheering squad. I was blessed to have my husband and parents there to enjoy the afternoon with me. Mom, Dad, and Malhon have always been 100% supportive of my riding goals, and we all got to unwind together as Pyro tucked into his hay. 

Dad and Malhon enjoying a meal at our stall

Chatting post ride with my Momma

Once we were left to our own devices again, Pyro and I spent some quality time hand walking around the ring we'd show in the next day and grazing where he could get a good look at everything. 

Pinto Mowing Services

I knew he was used to being turned out overnight, so I let him wander and graze for a good long while, then tucked him in with plenty of hay, deep bedding, and fresh water. He drank well overnight and managed to not get any green spots from lying down in his stall!

Still clean and shiny! No purple shampoo required!

The morning of day 2 arrived, and Pyro was ready to PARTY after being stalled all night. He entered full Baby Gelding Mode and insisted that if he wasn't touching me he would die. I quickly got him fed, then marched him down to the warm-up to lunge and get the shenanigans out of his system. Much to my dismay, as soon as I asked him to start going out on a circle, my "obedient son" became an overly playful kite and I FUMBLED THE LUNGE LINE. Starting a chorus of "loose hoooooorse!!", I followed as quickly as I could while Pyro gleefully galloped to the other end of the ring. Thankfully, that's all that happened. He stopped at the other end, didn't approach any other horses or riders, and was quickly caught by a ring steward. 

Of course there are no photos of this, so enjoy this photo of what got me through the mortification.

As I did my walk of shame to retrieve Pyro, I caught a snide remark outside the warm-up about how only horses under saddle should be allowed there. While this ramped up my embarrassment, if there had been a separate area available to lunge in (rather than the designated end of the warm-up) where we would've been less of a disturbance, I would have used it. After the fact, one of the very kind show organizers came and offered me the option of lunging in ring 3, which wasn't in use that day. Pyro had settled considerably, but I took the strong suggestion anyway, removing us from the possibility of distracting the other teams. I took a moment to let him hand graze while I regulated my anxiety, then walked a very quiet baby horse down to ring 3. He lunged with zero shenanigans, and we returned to our stall with no further drama. Regardless, lesson learned. Next time I have to stable him overnight at a show, I'll give him the chance to hand walk and graze well away from everyone else before sending him out on the lunge line, especially if there's no separate lunging area. Plus, I'll be more organized with my lunge line to handle my playful boy. 

Throwback to a prior party/alien abduction

My ride time day 2 was a little later in the day, so I started going through my routine to settle my nerves, which includes visualizing riding through my test and doing stretching and breathing exercises.

Letting go of tension

 When the time came, we saddled up and headed to the warm-up... only to return due to a rider fall halting the show. Thankfully they walked it off, and once the show restarted, we heading back to the ring... only for ANOTHER rider to fall. Unfortunately this one took a trip in the ambulance for x-rays, but it sounded like they were going to be okay as well. Again, the show started back up, and we started warming up for the THIRD time. He offered me some quiet, steady work, but unfortunately started falling behind my leg a bit. After so many starts and stops, I'm pretty sure he felt he was done for the day, but I did my best to ask him to be responsive and in front of my leg considering I didn't have spurs on. (We haven't been having that discussion recently at home, so I've left them off lately.) 

Pyro: "Are we really doing this again? If you say so..."

Once we entered the ring (in front of TWO judges for the first time!), he allowed me to ride him to the best of our current ability, only getting a little sluggish in the walk work. He was quiet and focused, and I really enjoyed the horse I was on. We earned a 63.750% (less than a percent difference from the day prior), and I was once again smiling the whole time. 

Having FUN doing dressage!

The judge at E was the same judge from C on day 1, and it was interesting to get his comments from the different perspective. His comments were overall in agreement with what he had said the day before, and the judge at C also had some lovely constructive criticism, including "good effort, some nice moments, keep working on developing some feel for correct connection to hind legs". Considering last show most of our comments included remarks on how fussy and lacking in freedom of movement he was, it's clear that we've made some huge progress since then. (Additionally, our scores for the same test improved 2-4%.)

I don't care that we were the only ones in our class, he's a winner in my eyes. (And blue is certainly his color.)

My husband (who arrived at my original warm up time) commented that in spite of many things not going to plan (Pyro getting loose, warm-up getting pushed back repeatedly), I was resilient and took it in stride, rather than getting anxious and upset like I probably would have done before. I hadn't thought about it yet, but it was a huge improvement in my mindset at a show. I think it's safe to say my plan for tackling show anxiety was a huge success. 

What a hunk

Additionally, while I definitely learned the hard way about what Pyro needs from me at a show, he was much more relaxed and confident. Having a quiet, willing partner makes showing so much fun! 

I enjoyed just hanging out with him.

As I reflect and unpack the weekend, something that struck me is I'm finally appreciating Pyro for who he is. I didn't realize how much my relationship with Missy was coloring my expectations of him. He has a very different personality, and it's unfair of me to expect him to learn, react, and interact the way Missy does. While I still consider myself a "mare person", this young gelding is blossoming into the partner I hoped for when I bred Miss. I'm proud of my homebred, spicy pinto, and I appreciate the lessons in horsemanship he has taught me. Party on!

Bonus: Glow up from two years ago to this weekend.

Lesson Recap - 8/8/2024: Pre-show Prep

 Pyro and I are entered in a dressage show this weekend, so all of my focus has been on making sure we're both prepared. We're entered in the Training Level Test 1 Opportunity both days of the Indiana Dressage Society (IDS) Indy Dressage Fest. We've done this test A LOT, but I feel there's value in polishing it before adding more skills. 

Our last attempt was at the IDS schooling show in May

Last show, I didn't set Pyro up for success as well as he needed, and I battled a lot of show anxiety. He was unsettled in the buggy, isolated ring 3 of the Hoosier Horse Park, and I locked down on his back, blocking him from moving. 

Making a great first impression on the judge

In the past 3 months, I've made a better plan for preparing him and myself for the next time we enter the ring. He travels so well that I kind of took it for granted that he would just go out and ride like he does at home. I need to give him more time to take in the show grounds and become bored with it, so he can bring his focus back on me. He IS only 5 and in his second show season after all.

At least the judge said we were well turned out 😅

The panic attacks I had leading up to the show also spurred me to talk to my doc and make some changes to my anxiety medication. I'm happy to report what we tried has made a HUGE difference in my mental health and ability to cope with stress. Hooray for better living through chemistry!

Baby horse was good in spite of me

While every adult ammy wants to bring home a pretty ribbon, my goals going into this show are to execute my plan for preparing Pyro to do his best in the ring and managing my show anxiety. I want to add another layer of experience to our partnership, with a focus on building a horse I'll enjoy for many years to come. 

Starting to look like a dressage horse

Side note that I played musical bits with Pyro this week, trying to decipher if he'd be happier with something other than the HS KK Ultra we've been using since he's be so fussy with his mouth. (Gotta love changing critical pieces of tack a couple days prior to showing.) After the initial introduction, the Happy Mouth straight mullen loose ring seemed to be a winner. He was less fussy, reached to the bit more, and was more accepting of my aids. This really improved his focus too and made for some nice work. 

The winner, along with a couple other options

Focused and more steady

This improvement had me feeling really positive going into my lesson. To start out, I ran through my test for Coach JT. She had a couple tips to improve my riding of some movements, such as bending him into gathering up the reins after the free walk. I was concerned that the bouncing around in the contact he was doing was a problem, but she assured me that at this level, the judge is looking for acceptance of the bit (which we had) rather than being on the bit 100% of the time (which leads to the steadiness I noticed we sometimes lacked). 

The bit made a huge (positive) difference in our contact

The biggest improvement she wanted us to implement was slowing down our tempo, both in trot and canter. I've always tended to rush a bit, feeling like my horse gets behind my leg when I start trying to slow down. She had me work through the posting trot, standing for multiple beats before sitting for multiple beats, feeling out what my body had to do to make Pyro think about breaking to the walk. He found a lovely, relaxed trot on his own while I wasn't setting the tempo for us. 

Similar to the relaxed trot he found during lunging

It turns out I was unknowingly bracing with every post, keeping my legs internally rotated and knees pinched every time I sat, which didn't allow me to sit deeply. If I externally rotated my legs enough to remove the pressure of my lower thigh and knees, I was able to really sit and wrap my calves around his barrel. This was the feeling that made him think walk. When I applied that opening of my hips through externally rotating my legs every time I sat while posting, also making sure not to leg him on when I rose to the top of my post, we slowed our tempo to a trot where he was relaxed throughout his body and steady in the contact. Hooray!

No pictures from during the lesson, but he was able to step under himself with more relaxation

This lightbulb moment for my proprioception was huge, and I'm sure it'll take some practice and awareness to override my old muscle memory. With all of these tools and plans in my pocket, I'm actually feeling relaxed and excited (in a good way) about showing Pyro this weekend. This is a very new feeling, but one I'm sure I could get used to. 

Shiny boy after his bath and trim

I look forward to bringing the party to the horse park and providing a show recap after this weekend!

Stay clean-ish please!

Lunging Homework

 In my last lesson with Coach JT, Pyro and I were assigned some homework on the lunge line. Specifically, I was to give him a chance to figure out how to shape his body to the boundaries of where I put the bit... without the inconsistencies of my hands. He makes it hard for me to work on this when in the saddle because he pushes my hands forward suddenly rather than softening. 

Like so, dragging me forward.

I'm still working on my core strength (which has improved immensely since I started Crossfit 7 months ago!), so I have difficulty maintaining those consistent boundaries when he does this maneuver. By replacing my hands with side reins, the hope is that he'll learn to not pull on himself and find a way to carry himself without dragging the bit (and me) forward. Learning new biomechanics like this is Hard Work (tm), so my plan is to introduce this lunging weekly, asking for transitions while he sorts it all out, and keep the work short and positive. My goal is NOT to wear him out or wear him down. 

Spoiler: he still had a lot of feelings about it.

For my lunging setup, I tacked him up in his bridle (sans reins), a leather lunging connector clipped to either side of his bit, a lunge rope clipped to that, a surcingle with baby pad (read cob-sized dressage pad), and leather side reins that were adjusted to mimic the typical length of my reins while riding. After giving him a chance to warm up at the walk without the side reins on, I clipped them to his bit and sent him off. 

The setup, with a lovely open throatlatch

Initially, he was convinced there was NO WAY he could walk forward while wearing side reins. One turn of the Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance (SDAA) wheel later, he successfully walked around me on about a 20m circle. As I started asking for walk/trot/walk transitions, it became clear that Pyro has a super-power I was unaware of until then: getting his tongue over the bit. 

The gears are turning... "how do I relieve this pressure?... surely putting my tongue over the bit will help??"

While not all that surprising of a reaction, the associated discomfort was not going to help me in my goal of making this a positive learning opportunity. I ended up having to make several small adjustments to the fit of his bridle, both raising the bit higher in his mouth and snugging up his noseband just a little to encourage him to find a different answer. 

The final fit of the bridle, with the bit raised...

...and the noseband snug, but with plenty of room for 2 fingers an the bridge of the nose...

...as well as at the side of the jaw.

These were probably bridle adjustments I needed to make anyway, but after several stops to fiddle with tack, we were back in business. He stopped getting his tongue over the bit, and I sent him on his way through some transitions again. 

One great thing about how Pyro learns is that he responds really well to verbal praise. This makes indicating to him what I'm looking for very simple, especially when I'm only connected to him via a lunge line and my body language from a distance. Concentrating on when he softened to the bit with a quiet mouth, I praised him at the appropriate moments, and he responded first by cycling through various evasions (gaping his mouth open, pulling back his tongue, flipping his nose out, tucking his chin to his chest, etc.). However, he pretty quickly found a way to carry himself with quiet acceptance in the walk. 

Finding this answer was a big ask for him

I leapt on the opportunity to stop on a good note since we had already been at it longer than I wanted with all the stops for tack adjustments. He quietly walked into a (fairly) square halt when I asked, and I made an absolute fuss over him, verbally praising, unclipping the side reins, and scratching a few of his favorite spots. 

Polishing that baby dressage horse

I hand walked him for our cool down, and it was clear the physical and mental work had tired him out. He stayed quietly beside and slightly behind me, respectful of my space, happily enjoying my invitation to stretch over his topline as we walked together. 

He's been enjoying his post-work electrolytes too

It'll definitely take more repetitions for him to find that softness consistently and through all gaits, but I think this is a solid tool to circumvent my own inconsistencies and lay a foundation for the skill I'm looking for. It will require me to maintain focus on keeping him happy in his work as I ask for more difficult skills, while simultaneously continuing to improve my physical ability to give him consistent cues. 

The Pinto Party is, after all, play driven