Wairarapa A&P - Saturday AM

After a good sleep Alicia and I got up and scoped out the showers and started getting ready for a very busy Saturday. By the time we had given Violet and Kody a morning pick of grass Mum turned up in her truck with Sam and Gem.

Violet was in the Saddle Hunter classes and went really nicely for me. We came 4th in a conformation class, but unfortunately didn't even get pulled in for the paced and mannered (I thought she was going lovely and soft and was being super easy to ride - but looking at the lineup I think the judge was looking for a bit more pizzaz in the movement, with a slightly shorter stride - with clyde and arab types filling most of the placings).

More pictures of Violet being her sweetheart self in the saddle hunters. It was awful weather - disgustingly windy and she didn't seem impacted by that at all which was neat:

Mum was also riding Sam in the saddle hunters (heavyweight) and he just got better as the classes went on, really working well and listening. Mum and Sam got stacks of ribbons and Sam was certainly holding his own (not bad for a horse only barely back into work after a long break):

Sam won the Open Heavyweight saddle hunter (with a trophy too!) and went forward for the Championship - and they brought home a lovely light blue sash for Reserve Champion Open Saddle Hunter! Not bad for less than half-a-dozen shows under Mum's belt since her 18 year break from riding!:

There was also an in-hand class in the saddle hunter ring for mares (suitability for breeding a hunter). Nick & Helen turned up in time to watch that class and provide extra hands for toting rugs and brushes around while we continued to deal with the uninspiring weather. I whipped Vi's saddle off, threw on a makeshift in-hand outfit (pants over jods - we're all class here) and popped her in the class:

Meanwhile Mum grabbed Gem who had just been hanging out at the truck. Poor Violet with her sweaty saddle marks.. I did try to brush and dry them off before the class! Gem was very full of herself and quite excited to be out and about:

But it certainly caught the judges eye and Gem won that class, taking home the Sincerity Salver for the mare most suitable to breed hunters.

Wairarapa A&P - Friday

Another early start - so my friend Alicia (Kody's rider) came over Thursday evening, and we were on the road before 5am on Friday with Violet and Kody to head over to Wairarapa A&P in Clareville. The drive over was easy with good weather for the Rimutaka Hill, so we made it there in great time.

Settled ourselves in and eventually had my first class. Friday was only dressage for us, so a very laid-back day. We were doing Novice 2.3 first off, and Violet warmed up so nicely! Then there was a bit of a fu-fu with the official timing and we were put back 50 minutes (argh) then pulled forward about 35 minutes after that (double argh). So we went in a little overcooked, but a few transitions outside the arena seemed to get Vi nice and focused before we started up the centreline. A warmup pic, and trotting in the arena:

I was very happy with the test. Our walk needs a bit of work, I seem to switch off my riding when we transition to walk, which leads Violet to become inattentive. So our walk marks weren't fantastic, but the rest of the sheet was pretty good with mostly 7's and 8's:

Our final mark was just over 62% (64% from the judge at C, and 60% from the other judge). One judge wanted to see us going forward a little more, but overall the comments were really positive - even "some really lovely moments" which I thought was nice. Those results put us a few tenths of a mark off 4th place, but I was just really happy with the outcome overall - especially for my first ever registered dressage test:

During our lunchbreak between tests Miss Vi found herself a new favourite snack - mini donuts. She would do absolutely anything for them. So cute. I think she stole half a packet off Alicia, then another half packet off me! The next test was 2.5 which I had trouble memorizing - there is a long trot in it which I kept thinking didn't 'fit' - so oops... once in the arena I just missed it completely! What a twit!:

Violet and I were both a bit off-focus after the course error, but then got back on track for another really nice test. I was super stoked to pick up a '9' for one of the circle movements, and nothing less than an '8' for any of the other circlework. Our final score was 61.48 after my silly course error. One of the sheet comments down the bottom was "such a good partnership" which put a real big smile on my face for the rest of the day. We picked up 4th place in that test:

After all the dressage was finished we took Kody for a quick ride to let him have a look at the sights - he was really spooked to begin with but only took 10 minutes to calm down and be the dude that he is. A mob of sheep moved in beside the truck at bedtime, they seemed to be enjoying the cross country fences:

So it was a very successful (I think!) first attempt at registered dressage. I'm very grateful for Violet (and all of Rackil's great schooling) for showing me the ropes, so to speak.

Violet at the Arena

Violet came to the arena mainly to have a bit of a stretch of her legs, pop over a few bigger fences, and for me to practise getting my eye in for her stride. She was a real sweetheart, and just cantering along on the buckle and listening to me all the time.

We did some work over small fences, just half-barrel and the like. It was good to just practise counting down to myself and picking the spot we both wanted to jump from. Violet was really adjustable today as well, happy to come back to me and jump from my spots even though sometimes they weren't the most perfect. She's so calm about everything too.

I didn't want to jump her too many times, but couldn't resist popping the double up a little and having a play. This fence measured at just over 1.40m, and she made very light work of it:

As Nick was taking photos, Swifty was videoing, so we got some video of us pottering around and popping through the double at the end:

Kody at the Arena

Kody came down to Grays Road today to meet Alicia. I'm going to have Alicia ride him in the pleasure horse classes at Wairarapa A&P show for me, so I wanted to see how they went together and if they 'clicked'. We got there and the weather wasn't looking too flash, a bit cloudy and threatening to rain:



Then I had a quick warmup on Kody to make sure he'd seen anything and wasn't going to have a spook at any of the scary things around the arena:



Then Alicia got on and just had a potter, getting the feel for Kody:



Followed by doing some suppleness work on him and trying to figure out what works for him and what doesn't. They went really nicely together. And Alicia's lovely thin legs look great on little babyhorse Kody:



Swifty also took a short video, which shows some of the canter work:









I also had Violet at the arena, and will upload her photos/video very shortly. I was really pleased with both horses today. I think poor Neo was a bit miffed at having to stay home (I only had a short booking at the arena). I'll have to make it up to him with apples!

Fini-Shed

The shed is finally finished, and the truck tucked up nice and warm and dry inside it! Fantastic!

Waikanae ODT

Sunday it was back in the truck again, not as far this time though (thankfully!). Neo & Violet were both entered in the Training class. We got there nice and early, and nabbed a great spot in the shade under a tree (it was such a hot day).

Dressage went great on both. Violet's test marks were not as good as the test felt, but after reading my sheet and talking to some people who were watching, I think I was not letting her go forward enough. But I was really pleased with how calm and accurate she was throughout the test. Neo's marks were awful as usual, but I'm noticing big changes in him, he didn't rush at all - and a friend who was watching said he was actually starting to look like his trot stride is swinging more these days - yay! Progress is being made. He did great halts again too, so I think that particular nut is cracked.

Showjumping would have been better if I didn't turf off in the warmup! I didn't get Neo warmed up enough and he just sort of stopped in front of a jump and I feel off like a right idiot. He was fine after a few more trot circles to get him a bit better warmed up, poor fella, he probably had no idea what was going on. Collected faults on both of them at the planks, stupid planks! But lovely calm rounds from both, so no complaints from me!

XC was really great. Violet gave me a fantastically easy ride (in her mullen mouth rubber bit!), spooked at the ditch, but then popped over it no worries - and no hesitation at all over the later ditch (palisade). She was great with the corner, water, bank and all those 'crosscountry' type fences. I am really happy with how she went and will aim her for an Open start at the next ODT in a few weeks.

Neo's XC was just supercool. He went clear (timefaults though, but hey, he always gets timefaults). Never even looked at anything the wrong way. I just can't believe this is the same horse that came down to me 11 months ago. I am going to have so much fun on him this season!

Overall Neo came 4th, and Violet 5th! Rosettes for both, yay! And prizemoney, more yay! The ponies with their rosettes at the end of the day, and a pic of me sitting around waiting (this is proof that I need more horses to ride - anyone who has time to sit around doing nothing needs more horses!):

Palmerston North Mini Show

Up at 3am on Saturday to load up Alfie, Neo & Violet and head on up to Feilding. It was a great drive (including the service station attendant giving me heaps of free chocolate, yay) and only took a little while to find the correct entrance to the showgrounds. A few minutes after I'd parked Mum turned up in her truck with Sam. Flat classes were a bit of a non-event, both Sam & Violet went really nicely once worked in, but weren't really in the eye of the judges. Good to get the mileage into them though, and good for me to practise plaiting up, and Mum to practise fitting the false tail! After the flat classes I saddled up Alfie and took him for a wander, he was still quite on edge but overall a far happier horse than when I rode him at Waikanae. At the end of the day Alfie went home with Mum, and he'll have some adult riding club type outings - just really low key stuff - to build his confidence in a show environment.


After all the boring flat classes were out of the way it was time for the fun stuff! Mum had decided that I should take Sam in a jumping class (he hasn't been jumped since Feb!), but I hopped on him and went for a walk around while she headed off to enter me. I popped over a few practise fences and as Mum came back we realised with much horror that the class that was finishing was the one we'd entered! We did a mad rush to learn the course (thanks very much to the people ringside to pointed out the course for me before I headed in), and I went straight in. Sam was a super easy ride and seemed to enjoy a bit of a hoon! We did a clear round then had an instant jumpoff. I hadn't had a chance to try Sam for angles or corners but her performend like a little star. The jumps weren't big, but it was a fantastic effort for a horse who has had a long rest and very little work since then! He ended up coming 2nd place! Me & Sam getting to know each other:

Sam with his pretty blue ribbon in the showjumping, and with Mum before heading into the flat classes (excuse his lack of butt muscle, he has only just come back into work!):

Video of Sam's showjumping round:

Neo & Violet showjumped, and had some really good moments on both of them - but was having one of those days where the horses and I were just consistently seeing different strides which was totally frustrating! On the plus side, they both got me out of some very ugly spots! Neo being a super cute dude, and Violet making light work of the double:

Then there were the truck dramas! Oh man. Mum's truck (the white one) got stuck in the mud at the end of the day, so I had to tow her out with my truck, which took several attempts and broken tow ropes. In the process I got my truck stuck in a different patch of mud... and well... the result.. photos:

and the video too (how shameful!):

Shed update

So the builders have been out a few more times, slowly working away at the shed when the weather behaves. We now pretty much have 3 sides! It's starting to really look like a shed. Thanks to Nick for posing so we could have a shed-size-reference!

Western Hills - video

Here is the video of Violet from yesterday in the first jumping class - we're both a little out of practise, but you can see how kind and honest Vi was. It's a 2-phase, so after fence 8 we go straight into the jumpoff (though not much in the way of tight corners due to not having studholes drilled!):