Show Tweets: Pro Am 2015
I know my mom reads my show tweets (waves hi!). Therefore, I thought this would be a nice way to signal the start of a tweet series. A bookend to the “Home safe” message.
#horse. I kept forgetting to add the hashtag.
Show Report: Pro Am 2015, On Being Muddled
Pro-Am Benefit Classic Horse Show of Georgia
April 1-4, 2015
Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter
Perry, GA, USA
Saturday, April 4
111. Academy Equitation WTC Adult, Trump, 2nd of 4
112. Academy Showmanship WTC Adult, Trump, 1st of 4
120D. Academy WTC Championship, Roberto, 6th of 11
Thank you to Ashlyn Seagle and Reagan Huguley for the awesome horses.
Show Photographer Doug Shiflet. My photo download rant, including a message from Mr. Shiflet. Intellectual property, it’s a thing. WIPO
After the performance classes, Sam decided he was done showing for the weekend. I would ride Trump in the regular classes and Roberto in the championship. I had to jettison all the preshow visualizations of the clever maneuvers I was planning to execute [Show Today: Pro Am]. Instead, I began to worry about the show when I failed to get my canter leads with Trump [Report: SSF] and about the pressure of riding my coach’s horse.
The show was not my finest hour:
Me: Was my first class as bad as I think it was?
Coach: Yes.
In hindsight, I blame the leg lessons [Repercussions]. For the last three Wednesdays, I had joined the group equitation lesson. We did no-stirrup work, sitting trot, two-point, and so on. It worked. At the show, I felt balanced over my feet. My upper legs were tighter on the horse. I was able to dig my knees in and swing my lower legs away as required in saddle seat.
Unfortunately, these improvements came at the expense of every ounce of saddle seat from the waist up. We had thought we might be able to mitigate the damage. I didn’t look too bad in lessons. Even in warm-up, I had moments. However, once I went in the ring, the small changes opened the door to allow decades of showing in other styles to swamp my tenuous grasp of saddle seat showing.
The trot wasn’t immediately awful. In Mr. Shiflet’s photo 112-008-PA15, you can see I am trying to lift my hands & look up. However, the saddle seat window dressing is having no influence on my core forward seat position. I’m not unhappy with the body position. It looks balanced. It looks strong. It just doesn’t look saddle seat.
At the canter, my bad habits came roaring back. Suddenly, I was leaning forward to get the canter and thundering around once I’d gotten it. Pitching one’s weight onto the horse’s front end is not a useful signal in any discipline. It is particularly unuseful in saddle seat. The rider is expected to stay back, out of the way, so that the horse can be light and fluffy in the shoulder. In addition, saddle seat judges expect a horse to execute a contained, dynamic canter, not to gallop flat out as if making up time during the run-in after the last jump on cross-country.
Furthermore, I was out-of-proportion upset by the switch in horses. Why? Trump is a sweetheart. Roberto is a blast to ride. I posit that being physically muddled led to being mentally muddled. Therefore, by extension, physical confidence influences mental confidence. Score one for mind/body unity versus mind/body dichotomy.
No more leg lessons. This is not an excuse. A few exercises should not have caused me to fall so completely apart. However, it is an action item. I had a bad show. I have identified an avenue to get back on track.
I think (I hope? I wonder? We shall see.) that I will be able to continue with saddle seat if (when!) I start riding my own horses. The Thoroughbreds will be ridden in suitably Thoroughbred styles in suitably Thoroughbred hunter/jumper or dressage saddles. Saddle seat time will be reserved for saddle seat riding. The problem comes when I execute alien maneuvers, i.e. two-point or sitting trot, in saddle seat.
Don’t cross the streams.
Update: Coach’s Comments
While my Coach does not disagree with the theories above, she thinks my problems at the show stemmed mainly from not adjusting to the last-minute horse swap and to stressing about getting my canter leads with Trump. She says it’s all in my head. She’s not wrong.
New Equipment: Trailer Gear
Water jug, trailer tie, tote, second set of brushes & tape to mark it all.
The reverse of the water jug. I crack myself up.
Why I Am Pinkie Pie
Have you ever wondered which My Little Pony you are? No? I have.
I’m not gentle enough to be Fluttershy.
I’m not practical enough to be Applejack.
I’m not enough of a fashion maven to be Rarity. I’m not enough of a party animal to be Pinky Pie. That leaves the tomboyish Rainbow Dash or the heroic Twilight Sparkle.
Or so I thought.
One day at the children’s zoo, I was tasked with cleaning the pasture water trough. It was a mess. I emptied it, dragged it into the barn, and brought out the bleach. My boss came by while I was scrubbing the inside corners. He said he wished he could clone me. Tickled, I told my husband. To which my life-long soulmate replied that, as much as he loved me, one of me was enough.
One Saturday morning a few years later, we were watching MLP. I was watching; husband was stuck in the same room. It was Episode 55: Too Many Pinkie Pies, wherein Pinkie Pie gets cloned and drives everyone nuts. Husband didn’t say a word. He just gave me a look.
I am Pinkie Pie.
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My Little Pony on Rodney’s Saga
Labels: A Gender Rant
A Plea for Hobby Tolerance
Feliz Cinco de Mayo linking to Mexican Ponies 101
Text Art: $5 Silhouette Graphic
Tina Collins (waves hi!) over at With A Stroke Of The Horse: Writing about Horses & Equine (book) Reviews sent me a coupon for Fiverr®. Folks post ads wherein they offer a variety of Gigs®, priced at, you guessed it, five dollars each. I chose “I will make a typography silhouette graphic for $5” from hellobman.
Thank you Tina Collins! Thank you hellobman!
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I don’t know where it might lead, but this definitely counts as an unexpected door! [State of the Blog]
Show Today: Kids & Counting at ProAm
Went last year. Won loot.
Unfortunately I had to stomp a juvenile competitor to do so [Report Pro Am 2014]. I feel bad about this. Not bad enough to return the saddlepad, but bad nonetheless. I even announced that I wasn’t going this year. However, Academy WTC now has an Adult division. Happy dance.
So, no kids. So far, three adults. My goal for this show is to practice the traffic management that was lacking at the last show [Report ASAC 2015: The Diamond is a Tool]. Ride my pass along the long side of the arena. At the beginning of each curve, turn my head to check the location of the other riders. Ideally, I would then plan and perform maneuvers that would allow me to sparkle in solitary splendor. Ideally. For now, I’ll be happy if I can just keep track of the others riders for the duration of the class. This should be a good number to work with. I should be able to count to two. You would think.
Virtual Brush Box 