April 27, 2009

Waikanae ODE: Dani

Dani is really making progress in his flatwork. He's not all the way there yet, but has a lot more pep and is starting to work harder. It's showing in his results too, after the dressage yesterday he was sitting in the top 6 which is a great start.
I still would like to get him a bit softer in his canter, but I really can't complain at all - he's coming along so well and really is getting a lot more fun to ride. He's pretty laid back and doesn't require any 'special treatment' which is nice (just a few kicks to get going!).
Showjumping was good. He had a spook at the planks, but he's just got so much more motivation now, and getting around the course seemed pretty easy for him.
Cross country he was awesome. Did the straight-through options in everything and never once pulled or made things difficult. He never even felt like running out or running out of impulsion through the trakhener, corner, chevrons etc.
He is really getting the confidence in himself to be able to go out there and have fun. I think another run at PreTraining will really cement that for him, then he'll be ready to tackle a Training course.
Dani came home with a pretty rosette for his placing, and for those of you who waited around for the prizegiving, you will notice that I've cropped the piccy so you can't see that I'm just wearing socks and sneakers with my jods! haha.

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