So I have decided to move my blog to a new location, it is more user friendly and goes with the other blog I have been doing.

So check hear for more recent pictures, stories and adventures of Warren and Lisa.

http://warhorsezodiac.blogspot.com/

 I went to a recognized event today- not to ride just to volunteer as a jump judge. I realized I had never been to a recognized show and for some reason I have always thought of them as unobtainable for the Lisa and Warren team. Ya know after watching today, they aren't too far out of our expeariance level, maybe Warren and I will shoot for one next year; clearly he is ready; it's me that needs step up to the plate and not be so wishy washy!

So back to volunteering; I had a great time!!! It was the Lincoln Creek Event (where we competed at our last  schooling HT, so it was familiar venue) and I was (un)lucky(??) enough to be out at the water complex. I had anywhere from 1 to 3 fences to judge, at a time, depending on the level. I learned the technical rules very fast in terms of stops, circles and approaches. I have a even higher level of appreciation for the jump judges, for the time and the patience they commit to our beloved sport!!! I could not believe how many falls there were in the BN level! The course was the same as the schooling HT I attended last month. Same funny elevation changes on a few approaches that threw quite a few off balance over the jumps and ended with spills on the landing. I learned a lot at the event and I will put volunteering on my schedule every season after this. The events can't happen without those precious volunteers!   

Warren and I met up with some NWHTA members at the coast for a super fun camping trip on the beach! I took along firend of mine from the barn who is teatering on the edge of getting into eventing with her 3 y.o perch/arab mare (I am working really hard at getting her to dive in!) We had a balst playing at the beach! Warren really got a kick out of thundering down the beach at full tilt. Specail had to learn how to get her feet moving the right way to keep up! But she seemed to like it too. Both horses were a little leary of the surf coming up to meet their feet, but once they figured it out it was pretty fun to splash in!  Phoenix, my trusty little red dog had no hangups whatsoever about the water; she plunged right in in true Phoenix - wallowing fasion when she needed to cool off. I had a feeling Warren would want a good roll in the soft sand one morning after breakfast, I was't off on my instincts. As soon as I got him in the sand, he was rolling back and forth!! The post roll picture is pretty fuuny, he looks all handsome and dignifiedposeing for the picture until you see his the sand coverd nose! What a ham!

On a schooling note; I had a very AH-HA! moment in Dressage at a Jessica Wisdom clinic the week before the beach. It was two simple things; riding through my seat in the downward transitions and stretching tall and opening my upperboddy, well okay 3- asking for more canter.... Those 3 things we focused on this week and what a diffrence they have hade in our riding!! Warren is way more responsinve to my seat, our canter is already improving and Iseem to be able to feel him underneith me better all the way around!!  I like Ah-ha moments! 

I am going back to Inavale next weekend for a clinic on timing and rating speeds and then a little jumping derby the following day. I have been to so many schooling shows lately and not paid attention to time, I need to start practicing! (A recognized event might be a goal for us next year.. see next post on my inspiration!)

 We had another very successful outing at a schooling HT last weekend. This was another 3 phase that was a good 2.5 hours north of us. The climatic history of the event put on by the Chehalis Valley Pony Club is always very hot and humid for the first weekend in August. I was a little concerned for Warren and I. However the weekend blessed with cool over cast temperatures when we headed out Saturday morning and eventually gave way to partly cloudy warm but breezy afternoon.  We'll take it!!

 The Senior Beginner Novice Dressage rides did not even start till 2. Warren and I had a ride time of 2:30. I got to the site around 10:30 giving us plenty of time to get settled and walk around. I am glad I got there when I did! The cross country course was a LOOOOONG walk and had lots of questions I wanted to look over. There were a total of 15 fences running along a creek and up through a recently cut hay field.  Most of the fences were pretty honest and straight forward but there were a few that were put in odd places and many of the horses thought so too. There was scary water (a narrow approach and lots of plants growing in it) and a fun ditch and even a steep up and down hill. Again, I was worried about Warren's stamina, which I should know by now isn't a problem...  

 So after walking the course I met up with some friends, watched some jumping rounds, watched a little dressage and then got Warren ready. I am working really hard at staying long and tall, he seems more able t o move forward that way. I am also working on getting him to use more hind end through the turns and corners. He's always been a letter weaker on his right side and lately picking up his right lead canter has been more of an issue so I was a little nervous about blowing a lead, but in warm up he popped into it well.   So I was able to think about all of these things in warm up and focus on my riding. Which is good because in the past; all I used to do was get worked up and nervous and agonize over remembering the test. So I'm up and we ride into the ring very smartly and have a just a lovely test, he does all I ask him to do, exactly when I ask him, including riding across the diagonal at K when we should have gone down the long side. I made the turn and realized my mistake, durn that's 2 points. We got back on track and finished nicely. The judge was super impressed by him, she told me how lovely of a horse he is, I couldn't agree with her more. (as I was talking to the judge and not paying attention, Warren the goon tries to take a step over the dressage fence and out the arena -  I caught it at the last minuet and we made the proper exit -  but his antics are on video- eek!)

 Stadium was next, and they were way behind. We were to ride our stadium between 3:30 and 5:00. (My x-country time wasn't till 6:38 - yeah did I mention it was a LOOONG day!?)  So I get over to warm-up about 4:45, after finding out they were running late and also getting my dressage score of 34 and putting us in 6^th place. At this point folks had already gotten on the list to jump so I was 27 away. That's a long time to hang out! So I try to keep track of how many have gone and keep Warren awake and next thing I know I am 10 away and I figure I need to work on getting his attention and focus a little bit more so I canter him around and hop a few fences but, he's not really getting serious and coming together, but in the back of my mind, I don't want to get him too tired either cause we still have a long x-country course to run.  Anyway, we stood around a little bit more, thinking I'd turn him up a little bit right before we go in but suddenly we are in the hole. We make one more lazy fence and then it is time to get in the ring. Well at least there was a crowd of spectators and horses hanging around the fence. Warren likes a crowd. Once he got over the first fence his jumping brain clicked on and he was the jumping horse that always surprises me. There were some funky turns and a even a triple line, but he took them all very cleanly. He did run out of juice down the line but that was my fault I didn't send him into it with enough forwardness to get through the other end. It wasn't pretty but it was clean. He's always been so clever with his feet! So after a clean round of stadium we bump up to 4^th place and then hang out some more till x-country. I didn't do much warm- up at that point he got his jumping brain on pretty quick and pretty soon we were in the start box and then off on the go. Warren never likes going away from the herd. It was zig-zaggy to the first log but he got over it and cantered on and then fizzled out to the freshly painted roll top. That's a refusal, so much for our standing. I wake him up, send him forward and he is on again, we head off to the ditch, he cantered right over it, what a star, then it was that hard left turn to the awkwardly placed table above a sunken spot of ground. The grass was greener in this area and Warren was more worried about eh color change than the jump. He hopped over it at the last minuet. I am really pleased at the pace he had settled into at this point but I was catching up to the gal in front of me, her horse was having lots of water and everything else issues. I know I am entitled to pass if there are issues for the one ahead but we weren't being timed as it was a schooling show and I was trying to take it easy so I was half thinking about slowing him a bit to a trot but at the same time I wanted to push him some too, to see what he could do. And he had just a lovely pace so far! We hopped over another flowery table and then into the water, out again and over a log. All going well, the gal in front of us picked up steam again and was getting out of the way. Warren and I kept moving along, he was doing great, very forward very responsive and looking for the next fence. The next few were straight forward then to the ditch and another hard turn to the right and then to the hill. There were tons of folks spectating from the hill and the approach is nice cause it gives the horses a good look at all the commotion. Warren was quite intrigued and cantered almost all the way up to it then I asked him to slow down for the little climb up, a look around on top and a sit on the hunches to get back down. I haven't really ridden anything like that before that I can remember, but he did very well. (Of course I was coaching him through the entire thing! - I tend to talk to him a lot out there). We had a few more fences and we were headed to home and done. He took them all in stride but the last two I could tell he was running out of steam. We crossed the finish line with only one refusal and running around the longest course we have ever done at a fairly nice pace. I was quite pleased with the day all the way around.  I stuck around for scores to be posted, I really wanted to see where we ended up; it turns out only 2 people had clean rounds x-country out of the entire senior BN group. Warren and I actually moved up to 3^rd place - woo hoo. I'm pretty proud of our work. I've decided that was our last 3 phase for the season. There are a few more recognized events, we might try one next year, but I don't know, that's pretty high stakes and really, he's just a big ‘ol plow horse.

 Our adventures are not over for the season. We are going to camp on the beach for a few days with some of the NWHTA gang in late August and there is another schooling opportunity in September back at Inavale. It is a pace setting clinic and then a jumper derby the following day; I am all over that. It has been a long time since we have thought about our times and if I'm considering a recognized event we need to take it a little more seriously. In October there is an ODS Dressage show and that will wrap us up for the season. So there is plenty more to come!!

 Caber is about an 2 hours north. It was another little one day 3 - phase put on by the Chehalis Valley Pony Club. I invited a fellow boarder to come and bring her mare along too as she is new to eventing and has a 3 year old Perch-Arab mare who needs some exposure. So Special came along for the ride. She was actually really good for a youngster who hasn't been out too much.

So apparently in Area VII the higher levels go first. So Warren and I didn't ride til 2. That made a nice easy morning of hauling up there, but it sure does make for a long day. We pulled in about 11 and got settled. There were lots of trailers and horses, I was surprised at the size of the event! The dressage was in a grassy field near the trailers and the stadium and x-country were on the other side of the woods. I decided to check in and then go scope out the stadium and x-country before my dressage, as my rides were all very close together.

The stadium course had lots of twits and turns and it covered a large area. The x-country was on pretty flat terrain and again was quite spread out, I began to worry a bit about Warren's stamina.  (In retrospect, I should have thought about mine!)

Warren was pretty good in warm up, for dressage, once I got my self focused. I think he thought he was warming up for x-country as we were on grass and out in a field, I had a very forward horse!  When we were up for our test, we went to the other end of the field where the dressage arenas were set up. He got very worried about the horses warming up at the other end.  And I had a hard time getting him to come back to steady and compliant and round. So our dressage was interesting, there was no shortage of forward of impulsion. There were moments of somewhat niceness but lots of bad geometry and conterbentness in between. Ah well. 

It was a quick tack change and warm up for stadium, I was a little worried about memorizing my course as I am not very good at that, but after watching a few rides, I felt pretty confident. Warren warmed up great and was on for stadium! He moved around the arena with all kinds of speed and was very clever with his feet and placements. I was quite proud of the fella!  Though after the ride I was feeling a little queasy, I am not sure if I breathed through the ride or not. That got me a little worried about x-country and that long course but since it wasn't timed, as it was a schooling show, I could take my time a little bit.

Again it was time for another tack change and off to cross country.   I didn't warm up at all as I was a little worried about myself now and also had a feeling he was already on for cross country. That might have not been the best idea. As we came out of the start box heading away from home and approached a small log, which he was a little wormy on the approach but cleared it fine. However, he still didn't have his jumping brain on as I didn't either. (warm up fence would have been a good idea!) The up coming roll top I didn't keep my leg on and stay committed too so we sort of came at it wobbly again then he just stopped! That really surprised me. Warren isn's a stopper. But was probably a very smart decision on his part as he felt I wasn't committed to it and it would have been ugly for both of us if he popped over it. So we circled back and cleared it then it was to another large log stack after a hard left. Again, I wasn't committed, and he stopped again. It was another circle a growl to him and over we went. Then there was a long alleyway along the woods to a table top. Here I was worried about my stamina and his  too so we had a nice big trot all the way down the line and then opened him up for a canter a few strides out from the table. He took it nice then it was another long canter to another open field with a coop and a log stack then back down to the main field again, he was headed toward home and of course feeling good at that point. His jumping brain was on.  And I was feeling pretty good too. We had another large roll top that he cleared nicely then to some logs and into the water, he slowed a little to look but splashed in and marched though then it was out to the logs and then I couldn't find the next fence amongst all the others levels towards the end, but fortunately it was a long way off and after some quick scanning I found that yellow number 13 and we cantered towards it. The last fence was an easy log and we were done. No queasiness for me and Warren was still had some energy in him.

 Overall it was a really fun day even though I wasn't completely on my game. Warren did a wonderful job taking care of me and doing his job. I am looking forward to our next horse trials in a few weeks! In the mean time it is more conditioning for me....