"The Game"

It is almost 11 o'clock at night. I should be getting ready for bed right now, but the lesson tonight was so late that I couldn't get to sleep if I wanted to. I'm just not tired, even after two hours of riding.

In today's lesson after warm-up we played "The Game". There are actually two games that we have at my barn; one is the game that I came up with before I rode in the advanced group, and it was a terrible game. The game that we played today was actually a game that I found on the second episode of "Along for the Ride". It's simple, really. There are three rounds, and for each round everyone does the same course, and they are judged by the others in the ring and given a score out of 10. If you have a refusal, go off course, or knock down a fence, it's an automatic 0 for that round. Loser has to put the jumps away. We did two rounds instead of three, but that was the only rule change.

Baby was a bit uppity today. She wasn't liking the downward transitions, and, while she wasn't rushing the jumps a lot, she wasn't entirely relaxed. She was more than just forward.

The first round was okay and only judged the horse. Unfortunately, she's starting to do the lead change on her own and will only switch in the front (agasfghkjlksd), so that's something to work on. I would like to mention that we were in the indoor arena, and we did not set the jumps up nicely (I was basically head jump placer person too). I could feel myself going in strange places over some of the fences, but it was good for the most part. I got a 27 out of a possible 50. Most of the points deducted were for missed leads and this one jump that I could not help but take at an angle and she hesitated at. 

The second round judged equitation, and it was way better. My rein length and hands felt a bit all over the place, but I was working on sitting inbetween fences rather than half-seating. Baby started doing the simple  changes by herself, and I was seeing the distances a lot better. It flowed so much better than the first round. Shelby even said I looked completely balanced going into the two stride. That's huge for me. I'm going to guess that my right stirrup feeling longer is actually do to me putting more equal weight in my stirrups. I got a 38.5 out of 50.

I ended up placing 3rd out of the five of us with a final score of 65.5 out of a total 100. That's a D, which is passing, but we're going to play again next week, and I plan on improving that percentage. After we played, we switched horses. I got on Duke, but we didn't change saddles at all, and I was too lazy to lengthen my stirrups, so I went around with an 11-year-old's stirrup length. Mind you, I'm short, but I had basically no leg, and Duke is a butt about the whole moving forward thing. I got him to trot and canter (with the help of the crop), and we did the two stride twice before I got bored and got back on Baby. God bless the horses with big strides. I did some sitting trot and cantering without stirrups, then I did the oxer twice avec stirrups, then we cooled out. All in all, a good ride.

I've already starting some prepping for the finals, which basically means that I'm learning how to braid. I want Baby's mane and tail braided, but I'm not too keen on paying, so I'm learning how to do it myself. The braiding kit was not available, so I was only able to practice her tail. I stopped when it started to look back, but it looks okay considering how I usually do it. Eh, I've got time to practice.

Miss S also said that I could do the Dom Schramm clinic, but I just need to find out the new date. If that date doesn't work out, we're trying to see if we can get him to come to our barn, so it's up in the air for right now.