Poplar: BN #2

 Well... not exactly how I wanted this weekend to go but a good learning experience and still fun!

First... I'm still a bit bummed it wasn't Dan that I was showing this weekend. :( But, alas... such is life. It was definitely too hot to do a full three phase and a 2nd level test, that's for sure, so there is that. 

I got up early (but luckily not too early) and fed ponies and then gave Funny a quick bath before we hauled to Poplar. We made good time and got there with enough time to check in, pee, and then give her a few minutes before I tacked up. We headed down to the arena and we were both already hot and sweaty. Luckily warm up wasn't too crowded and she was pretty good. Jacel had texted me that she couldn't coach me so we started off with some walk work. I made her do her microwalk and then we did some shoulder in. And then I hear "Let's see some trot Holly". Um... me?? Ha! Oh.. it's Jacel! She said she had a few minutes so she snuck over to coach me. Sweet! I picked up the trot and Funny was quick and braced, so Jacel had me move her barrel. She told me to bend her right and left, change direction, and not let her counterbend against me. She was using it against me. So I had to break up the resistance by getting her barrel moving and the base of her neck moving. We did lots of leg yields and shoulder ins even if it was only a few steps here and there to "break her up". And it worked. She got MUCH nicer and softer and more ridable. But then she would get quick, so then I had to slow her back down. But then she would get shuffly... so I had to encourage her to move forward but not run. Ha ha!! Easy, right? But actually... it worked. I was able to feel when she was too quick, not balanced, or braced and mostly... I was able to get her to settle back into a nice trot. Good girl!!! She became much more ridable. So then I asked to canter and... holy cow... it was a LOVELY canter... so soft and uphill and balanced feeling! OOOOHHHH!! And then our trot after wasn't bad either. Okay baby girl... way to show up! We took a breather and then Jacel had to leave so after a bit, I picked the trot back up again. And she got quick again but I was able to do the things and get her dialed back in to a nice trot again. We played with another canter or two and then a halt and then it was our turn. 

We headed over and did some leg yielding down the rail to help her balance. We got into the arena for our test and.... it got tight. She stayed small but it was too small. Well.. ha, maybe not. I'm used to turbo trot, so maybe it wasn't too small/tight, but.. it felt too conservative. She felt... a little behind my leg. I wanted to push her forward but... when I asked even so slightly she felt like she wanted to go up in the air. And there was one moment where she started slinging that hind end around and I thought we were going to have a "disobedience" but she held it together. She did all the things... and it was a better test that the last time. I thought. But it was definitely too tight and small. We scored a 36.2... with most of the comments about our inconsistent connection. Fair enough. She was chompy and fussy. But that's okay. That's been our issue. At least she was ridable and not running while she was chompy and fussy. We'll eventually get it. I think, and maybe I'm wrong, but I think that once I can get her a bit more balanced and carrying herself vs running, she can get more consistent in the contact and then I can push her into a nice connection vs having to hold her or have her bounce around so much. But we'll see. Maybe I'm doing it all wrong and she'll never learn connection because I'm not asking for enough contact, but... I just.. really want to keep her soft and reaching... although my way isn't exactly making her soft either, so... ??? 

We headed back to the trailer and untacked. I gave her cookies and a rinse and then let her snack for a few on the tall grass. Then she loaded back up and I turned on the fans and hung her big fan and told her to behave while I took the bike and went to go "walk" cross country. And holy cow... the footing SUCKED! My back is so jacked up from riding the bike. It was like riding the scream machine. I think it's been so wet and so many horses schooled yesterday and then the ground got hard and "froze" all divoted up. I also rode the course twice because I wanted to make sure I didn't get lost becuase it took me forever to find fence 4 initially. It was in the woods in a sneaky little hole that was hard to see! Thank goodness for the bike but jeepers.. my back is gonna pay for that! The course was not soft... but not terrible. Fence 1 was easy but shared with novice. Fence 2 was after a steep downhill to a steep uphill and slightly offset. Then fence 3 was a fairly decent sized cabin on a downhill and... while it should have been a gallop fence, that was where you then had to go into the woods, so.. you couldn't really gallop it. Then you went in the woods and as you were exiting the woods into the daylight, there was a cabin. There was only a slight out to the right and the footing was pretty mucky before it. So that one was going to be a bit tricky to navigate. Then a sharp right turn to avoid a training cabin and straight down the hill, then back up the hill, then right turn to a cabin, then down a diagonal hill with a roll back to the left uphill to the brush fence. Which... I'm pretty sure has been flagged novice before! And that turn was rude! Then straight ahead to a tiny little drop, but the drop had a log on top. But honestly, it looked like just a log on the ground until you were on top of it and only then did you realize it was a drop. But it was tiny. Then a bendy line to a small bench. Then a cabin and then a ditch, but not really a half coffin. Then another big table, then right turn into the water and out over the canoe. Then a bendy line to a corner!! Okay, maybe it was a wedge... but still! Then along the tree line to a cabin, then downhill to a hanging log on a platform thing... then uphill to the train station. So... a fun course.. nothing huge... but plenty of decent sized tables and some really tricky lines. 

Funny and I hung out and I let her graze a bit and then we got tacked back up for stadium. I had watched the course a few times but didn't walk it. We headed down to warm up and she was balky going down there again. (She did that going to dressage too). We went sideways a good bit, but luckily never up in the air. We walked a bit and then picked up the trot and she was very ridable! Then we picked up a lovely canter. YAY! I could get used to this canter! We popped over a few fences with Jacel coaching us. The first one was great. The second one I lifted my hands and ended up hollowing her out over it. So then I was reminded to keep my hands low and it helped a lot. We had about 4 good jumps and decided that was plenty. We headed over to the ring and waited our turn. The course was nice. It was smallish... Or normal. Not massive. And it was a lot of bent lines with some square turns but nothing tricky. Basically inside, inside, inside, inside, outside. So off we went. And she was lovely! It was one of our smoother rounds. There was two jumps were I thought we just got bad distances too but the rest she jumped out of stride and nicely. Jacel said that it would have been a good distance but I tipped/rolled my shoulders at her and tipped forward just ever so slightly, which was just enough to drop her on her forehand and mess up our distance. Oh... But she pointed out that I kept my leg on and didn't fall too far forward and I kept my hands low and it was only two jumps. So yay!! We ended up going clean although we had one hard rub.

It was so hot and she was sweaty and panty so we headed back up and I pulled her bridle off. I was hoping that I could just give her some water (not that she'd drink) and go back and jump XC and be done. BUT... I had an hour and a half and they weren't running that far ahead. But it worked out. I untacked her, hosed her off, and let her graze some. She really doesn't like to drink from her bucket, even with the handimash. BUT... she did drink straight from the hose a little bit. Just like her brother! So funny how similar they are. I'm not sure she's seen him do that either necessarily. Weirdos! 

So then we chilled by the fan. And I started feeling odd. I knew I needed to eat and drink since I had only had one water since 5:45 am! I drank a Dr. Pepper but... just felt like maybe I would pass out. It was so hot and humid. There was some cloud cover here and there which helped but it was just... miserable. Real feel of 100 degrees. So I just sat in the shade... then sat in front of Funnys' fan some. And drank another water. And that helped. But dangit.. I didn't spend this money, drive 2 hours, and tough it out for dressage and stadium to NOT run XC!! So.. I tacked up and started to feel a little better. I figured I'd warm up and see. And by the time I got down there I was okay. We didn't really do any warm up because... she'd already warmed up and it was so hot. So we cantered 3 XC fences to warm up and she was perfect to them all! So... then we waited our turn in the shade. 

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, have a great ride! And we were off. She jumped the first two like a rock star! Then I balanced her and we jumped the big table off a slight chip but it was fine. We got into the woods and she totally backed off and trotted. I knew I should have cantered her at the bench, but I was afraid that she would have a weak canter or a stupid runny trot/tranter, so I just pushed for a strong trot. Of course she stopped. It was looky. It was dark to light... the footing sucked... I don't blame her. She just didn't quite understand it. We circled and came again and she wasn't thrilled but she managed to get over it. Good girl! Then we headed down the hill at a power trot which was jarring, so I asked her to canter. And she did.. but then she jumped the gravel spot and then bucked. No ma'am! We galloped up the hill and then settled for the cabin. However, then she went careening down the hill, and basically threw that right shoulder out, and... I knew there was NO WAY we were going to make that jump...but there was the tree line so there wasn't really any good way to collect ourselves short of slamming on the brakes, which... probably wasn't an option at this point because... I didn't have brakes! I tried but we ended up overshooting it and then coming back at an angle, almost parallel to it. So of course she didn't jump it! So we reapproached and she did it the second time. Good girl. She jumped the little bank just fine, and then the bench. The cabin was great and then she flew over the ditch. I was like "Um... there's a ditch baby girl!". Then she jumped the big table great and then trotted into the water. She didn't squirt sideways, just came to the trot, so yay! Progress. The canoe was no big deal and she didn't even flinch at the "corner". Then she jumped the next jump and then went FLYING down the hill. I did manage to do a massive half halt and back her off so that we could balance to the second to last fence and then we had a nice canter up the hill to finish over the train jump. She cantered through the finish line and kept cantering for a moment. So... I made her walk me most of the way home. Ha! 

I'm a little disappointed that we had two stops but I had to remind myself... this is her second BN ever. Only her 4th show (I think). She's only 5. She was brave and bold and jumped the stew out of most of the course. The first stop was legitimate. It was a hard question and a fairly sizable bench/staircase. The second stop was my fault for not giving her a better ride/approach. And quite frankly, she didn't get to school the course yesterday like many others did. So... two stops is not too shabby at all!! 

She got another rinse off, drank some more from the hose, and then a little snack. Then I packed up and then Julia brought Player over for me to haul home. It was easier for me than Jacel to take him home so we did. Thank goodness I tied Funny and tied her fairly short. She tried to chew on him the whole way home! Doh! Feral beasty!!

She drank a big long drink when we got home and after a bit I gave her dinner. She only ate half, but... long day. Hopefully she'll eat her whole meal tomorrow morning at breakfast. I bet she'll sleep tonight too! Oh, and we did end up with a pretty green ribbon. Hee hee. Doh! We'll get there... she's gonna be amazing soon! And not just in reality.. but also amazing on paper!