I think I confused the judge
Because when you ride recklessly and flop around over jumps, he is bound to question whether or not he is judging an equitation class. I mean . . .
Every fault I have was just magnified 10x when I got in the ring. Even during my warm-up I looked better than this. I was so much more focused and thought clearly about what I needed to do, but, once I got to the actual class, I blanked on pretty much everything I shouldn't have blanked on. I remembered my course, but everything else just went out the window.
If only I had been judged while schooling on Saturday morning. Baby went over everything nice and was picking up her leads nice, just still not so happy about picking up the left lead — she actually didn't feel quite right on her left lead, and I have asked Miss S to have the chiropractor out sometime this week. Otherwise, she was great.
I hung around for a while since Jr. Eq. is still and always will be towards the end of the day (gahh!!). Cas convinced me to do the Hunter Derby (because rollbacks), but I was waiting until after I finished all of my other classes. My first two courses were okay. I got one refusal in each, which isn't bad, but my riding wasn't quite where it should have been. I didn't place at all in Jr. Eq., neither the jumping nor the flat. I can't remember my medal course, but I ended up placing third out of four. Another girl and I almost couldn't do our Derby trip since the judge accidentally turned in the scores early. They were able to get the cards back quickly, and I was the last ride of the day. Baby jumped everything the first time, even the option which we hadn't gone over at all that day. She looked for a moment then took it from the perfect spot. They called the placings about five minutes later, as I was untacking and getting ready to walk Baby out a bit. She got a third. The judge may not have liked me, but he certainly liked her (as do a lot of people, apparently).
Sunday was not as good. We schooled a little bit, and Baby was fine, jumping everything nicely. Miss S wanted me to do my Derby trip early in the day just to get it over with. We go in, get to the first fence, she stops. I turn her around and go for it again, she jumps it fine. We do the second, third, and fourth jumps fine, she picks up the correct lead to the fifth jump, and stops. I took her back around again, but she stopped again, and we were excused. The judge said that she needed a more forward pace and gave me credit for staying on, and as much as I appreciated the comments, I couldn't give myself any credit. She stopped at least once in every single on of our courses. I didn't place again in Jr. Eq., and I placed last in the medal. The best part of the day was the four flying changes that I spontaneously asked for and Baby spontaneously complied with.
Contrary to what most seemed to think, I was not upset with the placings. A ribbon is just a bonus to me. I'm upset about the fact that I wasn't riding up to my usual par and that I couldn't, at any point during my classes, pull myself together and ride correctly. I basically went in and got out as fast as I could. I think the only thing that I did okay with was striding, which I usually suck at. It's likely that the pictures make it seem like I'm exaggerating, but what looks bad feels a lot worse when you're on the horse. That's just how I am.
On the bright side, while we were driving back home, we all got to talking and convinced Miss S to ask a local trainer if she would do a clinic for some students at Miss S's place. Well, Miss S made the call, and now I'm doing a clinic next Tuesday (and yes, I already have an outfit picked out ☺). I'm also planning on riding this Thursday, but, since today is my last day of school and I'll have an hour long lunch break everyday, I think I'll catch up on some reading.
Every fault I have was just magnified 10x when I got in the ring. Even during my warm-up I looked better than this. I was so much more focused and thought clearly about what I needed to do, but, once I got to the actual class, I blanked on pretty much everything I shouldn't have blanked on. I remembered my course, but everything else just went out the window.
If only I had been judged while schooling on Saturday morning. Baby went over everything nice and was picking up her leads nice, just still not so happy about picking up the left lead — she actually didn't feel quite right on her left lead, and I have asked Miss S to have the chiropractor out sometime this week. Otherwise, she was great.
I hung around for a while since Jr. Eq. is still and always will be towards the end of the day (gahh!!). Cas convinced me to do the Hunter Derby (because rollbacks), but I was waiting until after I finished all of my other classes. My first two courses were okay. I got one refusal in each, which isn't bad, but my riding wasn't quite where it should have been. I didn't place at all in Jr. Eq., neither the jumping nor the flat. I can't remember my medal course, but I ended up placing third out of four. Another girl and I almost couldn't do our Derby trip since the judge accidentally turned in the scores early. They were able to get the cards back quickly, and I was the last ride of the day. Baby jumped everything the first time, even the option which we hadn't gone over at all that day. She looked for a moment then took it from the perfect spot. They called the placings about five minutes later, as I was untacking and getting ready to walk Baby out a bit. She got a third. The judge may not have liked me, but he certainly liked her (as do a lot of people, apparently).
Sunday was not as good. We schooled a little bit, and Baby was fine, jumping everything nicely. Miss S wanted me to do my Derby trip early in the day just to get it over with. We go in, get to the first fence, she stops. I turn her around and go for it again, she jumps it fine. We do the second, third, and fourth jumps fine, she picks up the correct lead to the fifth jump, and stops. I took her back around again, but she stopped again, and we were excused. The judge said that she needed a more forward pace and gave me credit for staying on, and as much as I appreciated the comments, I couldn't give myself any credit. She stopped at least once in every single on of our courses. I didn't place again in Jr. Eq., and I placed last in the medal. The best part of the day was the four flying changes that I spontaneously asked for and Baby spontaneously complied with.
Contrary to what most seemed to think, I was not upset with the placings. A ribbon is just a bonus to me. I'm upset about the fact that I wasn't riding up to my usual par and that I couldn't, at any point during my classes, pull myself together and ride correctly. I basically went in and got out as fast as I could. I think the only thing that I did okay with was striding, which I usually suck at. It's likely that the pictures make it seem like I'm exaggerating, but what looks bad feels a lot worse when you're on the horse. That's just how I am.
On the bright side, while we were driving back home, we all got to talking and convinced Miss S to ask a local trainer if she would do a clinic for some students at Miss S's place. Well, Miss S made the call, and now I'm doing a clinic next Tuesday (and yes, I already have an outfit picked out ☺). I'm also planning on riding this Thursday, but, since today is my last day of school and I'll have an hour long lunch break everyday, I think I'll catch up on some reading.
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| Like it can even be explained . . . |
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