WATERLOO DRESSAGE JUNE 2014

What a difference one week can make!  Damon went to his second horse show last weekend in Grass Lake Michigan. He was accompanied by his more seasoned friends, Boca and Royal Waltz. He already knows that the "fuzzy halter" means that we are taking a road trip, although one never knows if it is around the block or across the ocean......it is so hard to be a horse and not know where you are going, with whom and for how long!
We had the most beautiful weather ever, cool in the mornings and sunny and 72 in the afternoons.  This time we were there on Thursday and he didn't have to compete until Saturday and Sunday so he had more time to settle in.  The other big difference was that we got to school in the arena where he had to compete. Our first test came on arrival Thursday afternoon.  While I was schooling Royal, Mary Anne was hand walking Damon around the show rings.  The atmosphere was a lot more electric than his first show and after about 20 minutes of horses calling (including Royal), Damon had a whoopy attack, lept up in the air and kicked out, landing a blow right to Mary Anne's thigh.  All she could think of was that she was going to throw up but she couldn't let go of the lead line at any cost.  When someone ran to her assistance, she decided it was too embarrassing to throw up in front of everyone so she toughed it out.  Let's just say that you could even see the nail holes from his shoe on her breeches. Fortunately, nothing was broken and a couple of days later, she had forgiven him his indiscretion. After some lunging he schooled well the first day.

Friday and Saturday, Andrea and Boca rode in their first Intermediare 1 class and scored 65% and a first and second place.  Royal rode the Intermediare 2 again and had 65% and two second places. We had the chance to ride the 4 year old test on Saturday not to count for the qualification for the Young Horse Finals and I am happy to say that he was much more settled about being in the arena and the judges box.  He did a great job although there is still too much tension for him to show what he is really capable of.  The warm up on Sunday for the Qualifier class didn't do much for his tension factor since the Young Rider Freestyles were taking place with booming music during the entire warm up for us. He was like a sail fish on the end of the lunge line and I was wishing I had a few sandbags tied to my waist to help hold on to him.  About 4 minutes before my test, he slowed down enough for me to climb on and off we went. Once again, he did a wonderful job in the arena, huge improvement over just one week ago in a much more electric atmosphere.  He scored a 70% in the Qualifier with the remarks that he needs to stretch more to the bit and show a longer stride at the walk. Not easy for a horse that is built as uphill as he is but that is a quality that will serve him well at the upper levels, so we will take that comment with a smile and look forward to the higher levels! Off to our next Qualifier this weekend at the Dressage Derby at Lake Erie College.