A Little Bit Yessage

On Saturday Bob got himself a make over. I was a bit torn about whether or not I went all in with a roached mane and forelock but with the hunter type he is and his pathetic forelock I went all in. I love the outcome and he was incredibly well behaved to clip. 

That's a wheelbarrow load of hair on the ground. And I left a lot on!! The dressage day is Bobs first ever competition and only his second ever outing so he was a bit of an unknown quantity. He has come back from his break a lot more settled. Apparently he spent most of the month off asleep, so he obviously got a lot of processing done. 

He came out in his first test and was actually a lot better than I thought he'd be. He started to get crooked in his body after the canters but even though he was hella confused he tried so hard. The judge commented how he was hurried and when I read that I was like oh yea that's true. Because he's so big and wants to get crooked I have been riding him too forward. I need to now get him a touch slower and more supple.

And he totally suits the blinged out sparkle browband. And well, being an extra full it fits him well. He scored a 58% but regardless of the score I was super proud of him.

China I was actually abit disappointed with. I've been working so hard at home and his work there has been so lovely, I was a bit gutted he didn't show it. And I missed the left lead again 😫. I never miss at home, what is happening here! Still it was a massive improvement from last month and we made our goal of breaking 60% with a score of 61%. He just was quite tense and head flingy. Such a spunk though!

In the second test which was a lot more complicated I didn't get the best out of Bob. He didn't really want to work again and got rattled by the Level 7 horses being uber fancy and clomping around. He was pretty determined to get it over with as quickly as possible and basically just marched through the bridle. I was coming down the diagonal just feeling like my arms were going to fall off. Still, again he gave me some lovely moments of softness and he's exciting to sit on, very powerful. 

He scored another 58% with a 54% from one judge and 62% from the other, though perhaps the latter judge was watching a different test. Still the comments were positive about how he's capable of doing a lovely test and just needs to dampen the enthusiasm. One of our canter transitions was very very powerful, borderline a buck. Still he handled the atmosphere, stood in the yard all day, coped when China was gone, and wasn't spooky at all.

Nailed the halt anyway! 

I gotta say after three tests I was getting a little exhausted which doesn't say much for my riding fitness. China too much preferred a cuddle.

He warmed up well like he mostly always does. I even only cantered on the left lead. As I came through the gate I looked at the judges car and was just like man this arena is long I am so tired. He took a lot of leg as well but finally gave me some of the work I know he can do.

He still is a bit tense and lacks bend at times but he didn't fling his head and finally we nailed the elusive left lead first time. His right canter felt beautiful and the judges comments both said how lovely he was. He scored a 64% and very nearly broke into the ribbons, but mostly he tried his little heart out. 

That trot though! I have to be really careful because I fall into this trap of expecting a lot of him. He's five. He last raced in November, I've only been riding him some February. He's done one dressage show before and he has progressed heaps in that three weeks for a ten percent improvement in score. He's trucking a long beautifully. And next weekend, we jump! Hurrah!