Sunday, September 16, was our last “home” show of 2018. It was added late in the season, because we had left the month open expecting some of our riders would prefer riding at the Andalusian World Cup in Las Vegas. This year, the AWC was not a rated show, licensed with either of the national orgs. It’s a lot of time and travel for a non-rated show. Between that and our riders opting out of the travel, we added another B-Rated show.
Who would have guessed that the expected temps for the weekend were in the mid-90’s. It was hot. And it was hot early. Ashke had zero energy. We had only nine total competitors and I went last because I was the only one riding at L4. I got on about twenty five minutes prior to my expected ride and spent a lot of time walking him to loosen him up. Remember, he got his right hock injected two weeks ago. Our last ride had been very smooth and his canter was really awesome. That was not the case on Sunday. He was stiff and didn’t want to engage his left hind. For the first time in a long time, he cross cantered on the left lead, even after a long, slow warm up in the heat. I worked him through his stretches, trying to loosen him up and he began to move better, but then he would just stop and stand still whenever given the option.
That is so not Ashke.
He didn’t feel off, like not lame, but he also didn’t feel 100%. I thought about scratching, but he really didn’t give me enough of a reason to explain to all of the show workers why I wouldn’t be riding. He finally peed in a pile of sand about five minutes before we entered the dressage court and felt like he was moving better afterwards. So, when they called my number, we went in.
The judge was tough and scored on the lower side, in my opinion. She was consistent in her scoring and I have no complaints in how she scored me. It was fair. In watching the video, you can see he is struggling to push from behind and our transitions could be better. Unless he is willing to get his hind legs up underneath himself, those transitions will be abrupt and he will fall on his forehand. I did think our halts were better than they were scored, but I wasn’t sitting at C. I was proud of him for standing square and not resting his left hind leg. Those are huge improvements in my eyes, even if I am the only one that noticed.
I also liked my new shirt with the vest and pants. I about died in the heat, but it would have been so much worse if I had tried riding in the jacket.
Without further ado, here is the ride with scores and comments:
We scored half a percentage point lower than we did in our ride with Jill Barron, so although it wasn’t a better score, it was in the same ball park and for a tough judge, I was pleased. There was not enough time to really unsaddle (I thought) so I loosened the girth and waited for our turn to ride the Ease of Handling course.
A tough judge is hard but easier to take if she's consistent with everyone. Ashke doesn't look super comfortable to me. I am wondering about his SI? Ugh, internet vets are the worst so I'm okay if you disregard me. He does look like he's trying super hard. The heat is not helpful at all.
ReplyDeleteWe actually think it's his hock, which we had injected last Friday. If that doesn't resolve it, I will look at having the SI injected. He was adjusted the week prior to this show and was not really out, so, your guess is as good as mine.
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