Pink

Apparently pink is our color! It kind of makes me laugh to say that, because when I first got Misty, someone commented that she was a pink horse!

Misty did very, very well at the show this weekend and I couldn't be happier with her.

We ended up getting really late (to me) ride times so I miraculously got to sleep in, go to the barn and wash Misty, leave to get lunch, then return, load Misty up and head to the show with plenty of time to let her graze, braid, get dressed/tacked up and warm-up. I could get used to ride times like that!

Cruising around the grounds... with our new sparkly whip!

I tied Misty up and immediately thought that I might have an energetic little horse on my hands. I had lunged her before her bath and she seemed fine, but she was pawing and swinging her butt back and forth obnoxiously, trying to get a look at everything at once. I let her graze for about 20 minutes while I memorized my test. I had First level test 1 and after reading through the test... I didn't remember it at all. In fact I used my phone to double check several different versions online... yep they were all the same. It didn't seem like the one that I had ridden a couple months ago, but I finally got it memorized. Or so I thought.

After grazing Misty seemed much more settled down and in warm up she was very good. I was worried she was going to be really spooky since she has been that way a lot recently but after giving the little pasture at the end of the arena a good hard stare, she was fine. She wasn't feeling hot at all, so after a short warm-up we went and watched people go for a while.

When it was our turn, I was very proud of Misty. I thought our ride was SO improved from our last outing. She wasn't tense at all, she didn't spook at a single thing (despite scary puddles, hose reels and water tanks). She listened to everything I asked her, I thought we were very accurate in everything... except when we were supposed to be trotting, preparing for our lengthened trot across the diagonal after the stretchy trot circle aaaaand I thought it was time to walk and do a free walk. As I asked Misty to walk I was like "Huh, that was a really weird transition to go from stretchy trot to walk right there... oh wait. This looks backwards... And we should be trotting". Oops.

Overall, the only thing I could say for that test was that by the end I was thinking that I was using way too much leg to get her going, but I should have recognized that earlier and given her a little tap with the whip. But other than my little memory loss blip, I was thrilled with my roany paint pony!

After our last ride

Sadly, I didn't think our score reflected how well Misty did. Especially after watching a couple other horses go and both had lots of issues with accuracy. We scored a 58.15% landing us in 5th. I was pretty bummed with that as my goal was to get a 60% in both classes.  And while I do like the color pink, I'm tired of getting pink ribbons!

Most notable scores: a 6 for our stretchy trot with a "could stretch more" comment. Stretchy trot and free walk I think will always be difficult for us. We got a 5 when I accidentally walked, "slightly quick" was the comment I got for the lengthened trot. Boo, she really didn't like any of our lengthenings... we got a 5.5 on free walk, a 6 on our first canter lengthening, a 5.5 on the second canter lengthening and a 5 on our second trot lengthening. The comments consisted of "quick" and "some length shown". I was pretty bummed about that because I thought they felt good and the lengthen trot was even better than our last show. We did get a 7 for our medium walk (surprising since Misty has a hard time swinging her back in the walk), a 7 for our right 10 m circle (yay! hard work pays off) and a 7 for our final halt.

Our collective marks weren't very encouraging either. 5.5 for impulsion, which I guess was slightly warranted, and a 5.5 for submission. I hate to be that person that complains "the judge didn't like my horse" but I definitely got that feeling... every single comment on our sheet was negative. Abrupt, quick, overbent, against hand, not much length, slightly hollow. Literally nothing positive.

Take away from that - need to get her more engaged, I shouldn't be afraid to give her a little brush with the whip to get her a little more in front of my leg (a tap would be too much, but I think she could handle a light touch!).

The second class went much better. I actually remembered my test! I like the flow of the First level test 2 much better. And I gave her a little tap right before we entered which is all she needed to communicate that she needed to be in front of my leg for the duration of the test. Overall, I felt like this test rode really well, I was bummed that Misty broke to a canter in our first trot lengthen, especially because we have schooled that so much that knows not to canter in the lengthen trot, so there must have been a bit of a communication fail there. Also, she lengthened her canter beautifully but then I didn't bring her back enough to show the difference between the lengthened canter and working canter. But I was over the moon with her.

And it showed! We finally broke into 61%! Landing us a second place. I was so happy with ourselves.

Notable scores: 4.5 in the lengthened trot where we broke to a canter, bummer. 5 in our free walk "diving, not stretching", sigh. Stretchy trot 5.5 :( But! We got a 7 on our right leg yield (our harder direction!), a 7 on our right 10 m half circle, a 7.5 on our left leg yield!!, a 7 on our right lead canter upward transition, and a 7 on our final halt. Again with the negative comments, even on our 7 leg yield (overbent), all our lengthens got 6's which I was disappointed about, especially our last lengthen because I was smiling when we were doing it she felt so uphill and rolling along with a long stride, just like they tell you it's supposed to feel and the comment we got: "some length but on forehand". I don't think Misty could canter on her forehand if she tried. Hmph.

But all complainy-ness aside, I was extremely happy with Misty. Extremely happy we pulled off at least one 60+% and I had a really good time at the show.

Random thoughts on our show outfit, but I finally rode in my navy Pikeur coat! I actually got this coat a couple years ago off ebay for cheap but it was a little bit too big and I always meant to get it tailored. Fast forward to gaining weight... I guess the plus side is that it fits perfectly now? I think the navy looks really great with Misty. The downside of our outfit... my show boots no longer fit :( I absolutely love my DeNiro Leuca boots. I saved up for them forever and they are the most expensive thing I have ever worn, but my calves are now too big for them. It was really embarrassing to have to ride with them halfway zipped up. I don't think they'd even be able to stretch as much as I need them to. I've come to the extremely sad conclusion that they need to find a new home. Anyone in the market for a lightly used size pair of 39 size foot, medium height, medium calf boots?

I wish I had gotten some media of us riding, but unfortunately there is none :( No one that was supposed to come help me showed up but I was lucky enough that one of my classmates made it in time to see our last ride and take some cute ribbon pictures of Misty!

How cute is she?!

I love this horse