Well the final day of the Autumn series dawned cold and wet! Yuck! The stable has really come into its own with the arrival of winter and keeping the boy in work/having him out competing. It really was a Godsend to be able to put him in there last night and pull him out this morning dry and, aside from the shavings liberally through his mane and tail, clean!
Today Brennan spent some time in one of the stallion boxes at the grounds. They are small, dark and fairly run down and the door is too high for a 14HH pony to see over the top of. He wasn't particularly thrilled about being in there but it was a good lesson for him. At one point the other stallion in the competition was put in the box right next to him so, rather than upset him or the other stud, we elected to move him to a box further away. This one he could just see over the top of on his tippy toes - Too cute!
Before each test Karen stopped and had a quick chat to the judges to let them know that she would be circling/repeating transitions/movements if he did not get them right the first time. We were aware that this would lose us marks but the point of the exercise is to teach Brennan that he is to do what he is asked when he is asked and if he does not, he repeats until he gets it right. Pleasingly he did not have to repeat any movements in either test and, aside from losing his forwardness in his first walk (which was firmly corrected, resulting in a bit of lost balance) and attempting to exit the arena at A again (cheeky little bugger), the test flowed really nicely and they came away with 76% and 2nd place (2% behind the winning test). Thrilled!
The second test was also very pleasing and Brennan was obedient and obliging and got all his transitions. The walk was better this time so he had clearly learned his lesson from the first test. Final result was a First placing with a score of 70% - Way to go Brennan and Karen!
Karen rode Brennan beautifully and very tactfully and the outing was a great learning experience for him. We're both absolutely thrilled with him. So, now we work on stepping things up a notch to come out in First Level at the next series starting in October. Bring it on I say!!
Today Brennan spent some time in one of the stallion boxes at the grounds. They are small, dark and fairly run down and the door is too high for a 14HH pony to see over the top of. He wasn't particularly thrilled about being in there but it was a good lesson for him. At one point the other stallion in the competition was put in the box right next to him so, rather than upset him or the other stud, we elected to move him to a box further away. This one he could just see over the top of on his tippy toes - Too cute!
Before each test Karen stopped and had a quick chat to the judges to let them know that she would be circling/repeating transitions/movements if he did not get them right the first time. We were aware that this would lose us marks but the point of the exercise is to teach Brennan that he is to do what he is asked when he is asked and if he does not, he repeats until he gets it right. Pleasingly he did not have to repeat any movements in either test and, aside from losing his forwardness in his first walk (which was firmly corrected, resulting in a bit of lost balance) and attempting to exit the arena at A again (cheeky little bugger), the test flowed really nicely and they came away with 76% and 2nd place (2% behind the winning test). Thrilled!
The second test was also very pleasing and Brennan was obedient and obliging and got all his transitions. The walk was better this time so he had clearly learned his lesson from the first test. Final result was a First placing with a score of 70% - Way to go Brennan and Karen!
Karen rode Brennan beautifully and very tactfully and the outing was a great learning experience for him. We're both absolutely thrilled with him. So, now we work on stepping things up a notch to come out in First Level at the next series starting in October. Bring it on I say!!
