First Level; Near, Far, Wherever You Are!
Did any of you just break into the Titanic theme song?
Bet you did.
Anyways, I'm feeling a little better about debuting at First Level in March. First of all, thanks to the wonder of YouTube, I have religiously watched First Level Test 1+2. I've seen great rides and good scores, I've seen bad rides and bad scores, and I've seen bad rides and good scores (which is interesting. Some of these were recognized shows in like lower California, where you would expect tougher judging, and they were getting high 60's when the horse wasn't even round. Go figure. I want a judge like that for my first test!!!) We are somewhere between the mediocre and decent riders, I think. :P
But, one of the judges came down for her lesson (she has to ride at 4th level for her next level in judging, because she ultimately wants to be a FEI judge) and saw us working, and said that based on what she saw (I didn't ride the test but was working on sitting trot, leg yielding and lengthening), she said that she would probably be scoring about a 63-65. Which would blow me out of the water if I actually get that, but its a nice thought!. She did suggest getting him to balance in the canter more though, especially as he tends to really fall out in the circles. So that was good to get a different perspective.
I was really flattered though, because she was like "Huhh...is that the horse that I judged last year at training level?" "Yup" "Wow, he looks SO much better. Like totally different horse. Muscling, way of going. Good job!" So that has made my week. She did see him at his first show, and we weren't great (obviously we did improve since we finished off Regional Reserve Champion) but I think she gave us a 58% on T2 or something like that, with comments of "good effort" (which you know is code for "uh, well that was...interesting. I don't really have anything else to say!")
So its given me a bit of hope. We still have a LOT of work to do. The leg yielding isn't there 100%, especially going to the left. The lengthenings are coming nicely, but aren't confirmed, and can be a little too hurried. My sitting trot is, at best, ok. Still LOTS of work to do there; I just don't feel comfortable with it at all, and I'm sure if I feel unbalanced, he's feeling it too. On the plus side though, these past couple of months, he's stretching much more for the contact (so our stretchy circle should be fantabulous), and our walk has improved. It'll be interesting to see what that's like in a show environment. Last year, his walk was AWFUL, especially at a show because it got tense and choppy, and we got nothing but 4s and 5s on it. Now, it's not great, but its a lot more relaxed and forward, without being too quick. Here's hoping for a 6 ;P
And that's pretty much the whole story :-)
Bet you did.
Anyways, I'm feeling a little better about debuting at First Level in March. First of all, thanks to the wonder of YouTube, I have religiously watched First Level Test 1+2. I've seen great rides and good scores, I've seen bad rides and bad scores, and I've seen bad rides and good scores (which is interesting. Some of these were recognized shows in like lower California, where you would expect tougher judging, and they were getting high 60's when the horse wasn't even round. Go figure. I want a judge like that for my first test!!!) We are somewhere between the mediocre and decent riders, I think. :P
But, one of the judges came down for her lesson (she has to ride at 4th level for her next level in judging, because she ultimately wants to be a FEI judge) and saw us working, and said that based on what she saw (I didn't ride the test but was working on sitting trot, leg yielding and lengthening), she said that she would probably be scoring about a 63-65. Which would blow me out of the water if I actually get that, but its a nice thought!. She did suggest getting him to balance in the canter more though, especially as he tends to really fall out in the circles. So that was good to get a different perspective.
I was really flattered though, because she was like "Huhh...is that the horse that I judged last year at training level?" "Yup" "Wow, he looks SO much better. Like totally different horse. Muscling, way of going. Good job!" So that has made my week. She did see him at his first show, and we weren't great (obviously we did improve since we finished off Regional Reserve Champion) but I think she gave us a 58% on T2 or something like that, with comments of "good effort" (which you know is code for "uh, well that was...interesting. I don't really have anything else to say!")
So its given me a bit of hope. We still have a LOT of work to do. The leg yielding isn't there 100%, especially going to the left. The lengthenings are coming nicely, but aren't confirmed, and can be a little too hurried. My sitting trot is, at best, ok. Still LOTS of work to do there; I just don't feel comfortable with it at all, and I'm sure if I feel unbalanced, he's feeling it too. On the plus side though, these past couple of months, he's stretching much more for the contact (so our stretchy circle should be fantabulous), and our walk has improved. It'll be interesting to see what that's like in a show environment. Last year, his walk was AWFUL, especially at a show because it got tense and choppy, and we got nothing but 4s and 5s on it. Now, it's not great, but its a lot more relaxed and forward, without being too quick. Here's hoping for a 6 ;P
And that's pretty much the whole story :-)