So I had two main goals for Jess and Brennan today. Goal 1: Stay in the arena! And Goal 2: Score over 52% (their posted score on the first day). I am delighted to report that both goals were achieved, in fact, exceeded and I am a very happy and proud pony 'Mom' this evening.The arenas were all in the same small paddock today and the usual warm up area was padlocked and inaccessible so the warm-up for the first test was a little stressful as we had to find a wee space a little bit away from the other horses to warm Brennan up and then travel quite a distance from there to the test arena. Brennan was very 'up periscope' and not focusing so much on Jess. Riding into the paddock where the arenas are he had to negotiate a number of horses at close quarters and he was very, very good about passing them quietly and in a gentlemanly fashion. Good boy Brennan.
The first test was pleasing in it's forwardness. Brennan was moving freely and, whilst he was not really accepting the contact, he was also not fighting it or coming above the bit too much. He just poked his little nose out and went for it! For a moment he contemplated ducking out of the arena (cheeky toad!) but Jess was on to it and they stayed put. He ended up with a very respectable 68% and a placing of 7th in a class of 21.
The second test he was more settled in the lead-up and, as we were warming up over the lunch break and the gate had been lifted off its hinges into the warm-up area, we also had a lot more space plus could enter the arena paddock through another gate at the far end, avoiding having to pass other horses coming and going in the lane way. This definitely made for a more relaxed build up and consequently a more relaxed and flowing test. LOTS to work on but Brennan and Jess did a nice job for an eventual score of 64% and 3rd place. Thrilled!!!
I had my camera and took a few photos (of course) so, here they are:
Lookin' so cute in his yard!
Warm-up for 0.3
Warm-up for 0.3
Up periscope
0.2
0.3
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