Saturday, November 16, 2013

Videos!

Firstly, check out Forging Fiction's Giving Thanks contest - all you have to do is share what you are grateful for! What a wonderful idea.


Videos from our last show are now up!  Here's the links to watch them on RideOn Video's website. They're not yet live on YouTube so I'll update this post to embed them later. **Updated, now click to watch**

Dressage
http://www.rideonvideo.net/watch.php?vid=479f39963


Stadium Jumping
http://www.rideonvideo.net/watch.php?vid=1b65f30a0



Cross Country
http://www.rideonvideo.net/watch.php?vid=173736c73



The start box.
Doggie in one arm. Me and Hemie in the other.
My trainer is awesome.
In case you missed it, click here to read our super-long show recap, and here for a few more thoughts and photos.

It really is eye-opening to watch your rides. Sometimes they are spot on to how they feel...other times, completely not.

Dressage looked pretty good to me (well, for the first minute and 15 seconds, then it went downhill fast). For that first minute, I thought we looked like our typical show selves. That is to say, not nearly as good work as we do at home, but with some good moments and a clear indication that we were both *trying.*  Getting the performance at shows to be more consistent with our work at home is an ongoing issue that only more shows will solve.

Stadium doesn't look as good as it felt, possibly because I was so stressed going into it that I was elated simply because we didn't have any shenanigans. However, we could have been more forward, and I could have actually cared about our leads. Things to improve on for the next show.

Cross country looks pretty right-on to how it felt, except for one thing: the speed. I felt like we were galloping. We weren't. This doesn't actually surprise me, since I always think we're going faster at shows than we actually are.

Time to give thanks...

Day 15 - I'm thankful for kind friends willing to horse-sit.

Day 16 - I'm grateful for show videographers and the lessons learned from watching rides!

Well I'm off on my trip! Radio silence for a week but then I'll be back and ready to finish No-stirrup November strong!

14 comments:

  1. I LOVE the cross country ride. You guys just look so confident in yourselves this time around. He'll only go up from here!

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    1. Thank you! At least we show solid improvement in one phase, haha!

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  2. You guys look great. I love watching cross country videos. :D Videos definitely are a great resource to have for our riding. That's why I don't want any videos of me riding Chrome right now, because you know what they say about green horses and crappy eq LOL! I probably really do need to take some though. :)

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    1. Videos are such a useful tool - take them even if you don't share them. Watching them is painful, but I do get a lot out of them.

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  3. He is such a beautiful horse! Your dressage reminded me of my first test with Fiction but don't worry - it can only go up from here! The more he gets used to the atmosphere, the better he will be :) And you handled yourself wonderfully!

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    1. Thank you so much! The dressage judge had some negative remarks about how I handled him, though I know from experience I dealt with him more effectively than I had in the past. So I appreciate you saying that. And glad for the reassurance that we're not the only ones with ugly dressage tests from zee early days!

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  4. Oh my gosh I cracked up at your dressage video! Probably because I relate so much. We have all had those moments! You handled them well, and he's got some great dance moves! I loved that in your second canter he was doing perfectly rhythmical tempi changes in the back! Then he looked like such a pro out there on cross country, looks like he loves the water. Fresno can be a tough place with the trains and gunfire!

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    1. Hehehe thanks! If only I had asked for those tempi changes, eh? =)

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  5. I think overall y'all are looking much more confident!

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    1. Thank you very much. Interestingly I was more nervous beforehand, but more confident during my actual rides, which is good.

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  6. What a lovely canter around that course. I can't believe the hydro station behind you guys there...intense! Do you prefer to ride with your stirrups quite long for cross country?

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    1. Thank you! Ah, no, that is just my loose lower leg (something I'm working on). At least, I don't think my stirrups are any longer than normal for XC...

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