To ride dressage is to dance with your horse, equal partners in the delicate and sometimes difficult work of creating harmony and beauty.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Horton hears a WOOhoo!

Horton handled his first show superbly. He took in the new surroundings with calm interest, and warmed up politely and obediently. The highly decorated judge's stand (including a headless horseman/scarecrow; oy!) gave him pause in our first test, but after a little more exposure to it he was much braver in the second test.

Our scores surprised both Horton's owner and me. I have never before, in 20 years of showing dressage, scored above 70%, and today, with a green horse at his first show, we got two scores above 70%! (The one on the left would have been 72.8% if Horton's rider hadn't made an error.) I saw a Training Level Test 1 with a score of 41.5% in the show office when I picked up our tests, so I don't think it was because of an overly generous judge, either.

I haven't watched the rides yet (Sylvia had them recorded) and I'm sure I'll see plenty to critique when I do, but still . . . WOOHOO!

Here's Horton with his proud owner just before we loaded him into my trailer to come home:



14 comments:

Alanna M said...

Congratulations. Those are fantastic scores! What a transformation he has made.

Gorges Smythe said...

I don't know a thing about dressage, but congratulations.

Anonymous said...

Well done, both of you!

Sonya said...

Awesome! So rewarding when hard work pays off!

thecrazysheeplady said...

Yay :-D You've done a great job with him!

Mary said...

Those are amazing scores-congratulations to the "team" for a well deserved score:-) My work with Nick is progressing well-yesterday I got good bending and more attention paid to me while riding in the indoor. On the advice of the cowboy who is the barn manager, I moved away from classical cues and am leaning heavily on the inside stirrup for a turn. That allowed a lightbulb moment for him. Enjoy your week!!

Mary Ann said...

Congratulations, and my.... Horton is looking GREAT!

Michelle said...

Thank-you, everyone! He really was a good boy. Hopefully the weather will cooperate occasionally so we can continue his progress; his owner wants to start coming out occasionally to ride him here before moving him home. Was able to ride this morning....

Unknown said...

Big grin and thumbs up!

Theresa said...

Way to go! Another big WOOT! to you and Horton!!

sylkan said...

Hi, all commenters! It's great to have so much applause for Michelle and Horton. I can vouch for the fact that she is getting inside of his snotty little brain and derailing his "you're not the boss of ME" ideas. And his mouth is just what I like on a horse.. good contact but no pulling. I knew Michelle would be good with him. Now I have to learn how to do that with him, too.

Michelle said...

And I have faith that you WILL!

A :-) said...

Michelle - congratulations!! Somehow, I knew you guys would do really well, and you did!

Vicki Boster said...

Sandra- I'm responding to your comment that was left on Sandra's blog- Thistle Cove Farm re my Grow Your Blog party. I'm so glad you are participating!!! Please do share the badge and news of the event with your friends!!!

The post the night before the party is to talk about yourself and let folks who visit you know what your blog is about. That's when all the visitors will arrive!! If you have any questions at all- just email me!!
Vicki