Dressage- Mol did good! :)

[Cinders]

Today began at an ungodly hour as i wanted to see if riding her before we left would chill her and make her better focused at the comp. So due to early times and the venue being a good hour away i was out hacking her at 6:30am :eek: it was surprisingly peaceful and mol felt fab!

Not sure how beneficial the hack was as her eyes were still out on stalks when we arrived. A good warm up soon calmed her down and she was much more focused in the test. First test (intro A) was certainly the best test she's done since all our problems, everything was accurate and there was no silliness or bouncing, my only critiscm was she was behind the leg and i could have done with more impulsion but i can't really complain! Ended up in 2nd with 64%, only 1% off winning it so very pleased!

Next was P10 which i thought would just be a learning curve as i knew the cantering across the diagonal would be quite hard for her. She didn't disaspoint though and did what i thought was her best ever prelim! Another test with absolutely no messing around and for once stayed in the pace she was told to until asked, she also nailed both canter transitions and tried her best in the canter work. Even with a mistake from her in the canter and a mistake from me in the free walk we got 60% :D I know that's not overly high but considering the last 3 outings we scored between 48% and 53% this was a massive improvement! We ended up 2nd again which i m thrilled about as this was her first ever prelim placing! So overall a lovely positive day and i dare to hope that we might have put our dressage demons behind us...for now anyway!

pics, a mixture of both tests...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/horseygal007/General/juhsd.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/horseygal007/General/jhhfd.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/horseygal007/General/rjfjc.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/horseygal007/General/jkda.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/horseygal007/General/uoda.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/horseygal007/General/hwgw.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/horseygal007/General/uhfs.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/horseygal007/General/jogjda.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/horseygal007/General/SDC12238.jpg

looking proud of her achievements!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/horseygal007/General/SDC12241.jpg

[jodee]

great result!

do you think you rode the warm up and test differently? or does it just completly depend on how molly is feeling?

[I love my Haffy]

What a good girlie! She looks fab!

[munchkin65]

Well Done to you and Mol!!!!! I love her ears

[Kelza]

Congrats, keep up the good work! It's obviously working!!

[Smurf]

Well done, what a fab last pic!

[Ussiarella]

Well done!
The pics are really great!
It was really an ungodly time!

[My Crazy Clan]

well done, lovely photos!

[Cinders]

thanks :)

jodee- i thought the same thing to myself! really not sure why today was so different to the last few outings, i just woke up and had that feeling that it would be a good day lol maybe it was the extra practice or i was more relaxed, who knows, but i felt she'd been going better at home this week anyway.

[Teej]

Brilliant result and she is lovely :) .

[Evening Star]

Thats really great to hear!
Love that second to last photo-pretty pone!

[flambards]

Yay, glad she did so well! She's so lovely.

[eeek]

Well done, your little nutcase looks amazing!

All this dressage will really pay off when it comes to jumping :)

[Spockky boy]

Ceryainly more 'together' isn't she? Shes comming on so much! Well done!

[Cinders]

thank you!

eeek- that's what i'm hoping! x

[Chloe05]

congrats, its nice to see you both working well together,you've done so well with her since you got her...also when you warm up and actually ride the test do you feel more tense and worked up thinking that things might go pear shaped...if indeed you do its not a bad thing but she might be picking up on your nerves and its going through her and making her tense/nervous. she seems the type of horse that feeds off there rider,so needs someone who's not nervous..maybe taking some rescue remedies or just trying to calm yourself before your test...i know easier said than done.i found that deep relaxing breaths or sucking on a sweet during a test made me relax more..at the end of the day getting placed is a bonus not something you have to have,there's always next time...sorry this is a long reply but i dont want you thinking im saying something bad against you im not i think your a talented rider with a talented horse, so please see this as being a positive..if none of it applies then ignore it, lol.

[ness]

Fab result! well done you two!

[Savvy]

well done! she looks so pretty in the one tied to the trailer!

[gem]

Woop well done!! She's looking gorgeous. You're doing so well with her.

[Loony]

Good to hear that you may have cracked it! :D You deserve to do well after all the hard work you've put into her!

[Cinders]

thanks guys!

Chloe- Of course i won't take your reply as a bad thing, i'm flattered you took the time to write such a long reply :) Your completely right, molly is the sort to mirror your feelings, if you get stressy with her she'll just throw it all back at you! I never really get nervous doing dressage but i sometimes get tense purely because i try too hard and want to do well every time out, i'm not talk rosettes but performance wise. I was definitely calmer this time out and it clearly helped but she's so different to ride at a comp compared to at home so that can cause a bit of tension but we're slowly improving all the time. Hopefully a winter full of training and practice will make us a more polished combination next year :)

[Chloe05]

i fullly understand what you mean,i do hope to continue to see the progress you two are clearly making, you two have seriously come so far with each other. huge well done as i can see she's not an easy ride although in most of her pic's you make her look so easy to ride.. in the pictures you can tell she's more relaxed than last time...good luck for your next comp...i cant wait to see the pic's..