A Return to Competition

 

I tend to keep a general eye on what competitions are on and where they are on, so when I saw the Midlands and Western dressage were going to be in Ballinasloe for their Winter final, I started thinking.

Would I? Could I? Should I? Screw it, when will I get such easy access to dressage again. Just Fred though. Dressage is his thing. Cu Chulainn isn't ready yet for a return to the white boards.  We had about three weeks to work on our fitness and general flatwork.

Luckily the mornings had started to get brighter so I could ride in the mornings again and they were dry for the main part. We had our audience of hens and cattle to critique us.

As much as I could I rode the two boys in the morning, this meant an early alarm (and actually acknowledging said alarm!). I never regret the riding, it's the getting out of the warm, cosy bed that is so hard.

I could really do with filming myself as some days I realise that simple things are not correct, such as transitions, but how long I haven't been riding them correctly is anyone's guess......I dip in and out of things I need to do correctly. Last summer I was really good at working on small simple things, so I need to return to that. To be fair, up until this point, it's been mostly just getting out on them and not necessarily them working properly.

I realised (eventually) that both my transitions up and down needed work. So to work on them, I went back to an exercise I used to do with Vida, riding a box, or rectangle. Two short sides and two long sides. I rode the two short sides in a nice forward walk and then trot on the long sides. I didn't make it round and used the corners to help prepare my transition. I found this exercise really great, and not for Fred, but for me, as it forced me to prepare properly and in time, which he responded to really well. Not alone do you never stop learning with horses, but you never stop relearning the same things (or is that just me??)!! 

As the competition drew closer, I knew we weren't at our best. I guess with having a competition coming up I upped the ante and then realised how long it had been since we properly worked with a goal in mind. For this reason, I entered the preliminary class.  The purpose of the competition was just to have a goal to work towards.

Even though all through the winter I have been in the pool or the gym, I must not have been pushing myself hard enough, because my fitness levels certainly weren't anywhere near as good as they should be. You forget the amount of cardio that goes into riding. Note to self, up the ante at the gym too!!

On the Saturday it was get Fred and myself ready day, trying to find my competition gear and hope it fits....I went to the Showgrounds in the evening with Rusty to help set up the arenas. It's so important to help out and volunteer when you can with competitions, many hands make half the work. It also means more competitions happen as there are people to help out. It was early to bed that night as I was wrecked from all the goings of the day. I was going over the tests in my head before nodding off, praying I'd remember them! 

Thankfully Fred is a bay horse and the cleaning didn't require much time. He wasn't sparkling, as he still has his winter coat,  but there were dark clouds overhead so I wasn't keen on spending too much time grooming. I was right too, because every sort of weather hit that day! Sunshine, cold, rain, heavy rain! Putting on the white jods and getting the show shirt out felt special. Trying to button up my show jacket felt less special! That was a tight squeeze without breathing!! Nevertheless, I managed to wear it in both tests and not bust out (I had visions of buttons going flying). Gauging how long to wait until tacking up and getting on board felt foreign, it had been so long! With showjumping I don't have to warm up for as long. During my warmup I was constantly going over the tests in my head and double checking that I was right. I was so afraid of forgetting them, but then I took a deep breath and said to myself so what if I do? It'll only be one movement, worst case is it's a minus two. That really eased my mind and I focused back on enjoying myself and smiling. Nearly all the pictures of myself and Fred from the day I'm smiling from ear to ear. I'm not going to lie though, it was a tough and tiring day on the body for both of us, both totally worth it. Neither of us had the fitness required, but both of us had the drive. He shone from the inside out and I had a smile plastered across my face for both tests. Some mistakes from both of us, but overall I was super happy with how we both went. It was so nice to be 'dressaging' again and having Fred out at a competition. 

I think Cu Chulainn had a ball by himself, rolling and running around. I let Fred out with his rug off when we got home and he celebrated by rolling over at least ten times! I celebrated by taking up residence on the couch for the evening.