Stable View Academy Pt. 2

On Sunday March 10th, WallE, Rachel, OB and I hit the road at 6am. We were headed to Stable View for their Academy Horse Trails. The two and a half hour drive was pretty easy due to few people on the road at that time. We arrived right around 8am with plenty of time to get our numbers, walk our cross country courses and take care of the horses. 

Walking the course on foot was new to me and somewhat exciting. The first jump was very straight forward, but the second jump was slightly spooky and down a hill. The third and fourth jump were separated by a hill (Jump, one stride to the hill, up the hill, down the hill, one stride to the jump). After jump four, there was a long inviting gallop up the hill before jump five.  Jump five through ten were relatively straight forward and on flat ground. Then the water for eleven to a bright blue whale jump for twelve. The two more straight forward fences for the finish. My over all thoughts were, the course is rideable, but I am going to wear my stickiest white pants for the down hill ride just in case. 

WallE and I waited through the day for our dressage test at 2pm. We hung out by the trailer, walked around, watched other riders and enjoyed the atmosphere. I did learn that if you are going to use your horse trailer for the horses to stand on, shavings are a must.  I will not trailer again without shavings. 

Finally it was 1pm and time to start getting ready/riding! I tacked WallE up and led him to the lunging area. After a short lunge, I got on and began warming up in the warm up arena. When I arrived there were only two people in the arena, by the time I made it one lap around there were ten. I hate a crowded arena and exited. Opting for the grass field beside cross country warm up. We began warming up and I tried to use a somewhat new approach to riding that I worked on during my Friday lesson. Warming up, I tried my best to not use hand aids for steering. I really tried to use the leg aid for steering and the hand aid only for a half halt or soften. WallE came out of the gate pretty forward, but not naughty. So at times I used the grab strap to make sure I was not cheating, but also to ensure if he did something silly, I would stay on. After about 45 minutes of riding, we felt okay. Not amazing, but not bad. I felt like WallE was responsive and straight in the body, though not as relaxed as I would like. However, it was our time to ride and we walked in. 

Through my dressage test I kept the same riding style. Leg aids for steering, hand aids only for half halt or soften. WallE responded relatively well. He felt straight, though it never felt like we completely relaxed. He knew what he was there to do and we did it. I came out thinking, it was not bad, but probably not our best. I was wrong, to date it is our best dressage score, a 28. 

We headed back to the trailer where WallE got half and apple and I discovered he threw a shoe in dressage. We were jumping the starter division (2'3'') so I opted to let him go without one shoe through the course. 

About twenty minutes before our show jump we headed into the warm up. Again, I worked on only using my leg aid to steer. It was hard in the crowd, but I managed to get it done.  We had a relatively uneventful warm up and then a VERY forward show jump round. Going to have to be a little more careful in the futurr. However, during the show jump round I once again tried not to use the hand aid to steer - the hand aid probably could have done a little more half halting. 

After show jump we headed out to Cross Country warm up where we were on our own. WallE was a superstar in the warm up. Just a pleasant wonderful horse to hack around. We headed to the start box where we watched two other horses leave, then it was our turn. We walked in and out of the box a few times and then stood and waited patiently. After the count down we headed on to the course, we jumped the first fence with no issue. The second fence (the down hill spooky fence) WallE slammed on the breaks, but I put the pressure on and over we went. After that, there was a long down hill canter. We cantered straight down the hill and I opted to trot the turn and change leads. We flew over the combination of jump, hill, jump and then really galloped (a four beat gallop) up the hill to jump five. There were a few spooky moment here and there at the next couple of jumps, but we really developed an understanding of 'we are going over.' At the water, WallE opted to trot and I said fine. We executed the whale jump and final two fences without problem and we completed the horse trial. Unfortunately, the fence judge counted the stop at fence two as a refusal so we did not end on our dressage score. 

When we got back to the trailer, WallE got the second half of his apple and got to relax as we packed up to hit the road. Very fun and rewarding day at Stable View. Excited about the next time!