WEC Dressage Day

So, the Warragul Show wasn't enough for me - today I headed off to the Warragul Equestrian Centre (WEC) Dressage Day.

Honestly, I discussed it with my husband - the horse is already washed and plaited, the float attached, the car packed.  Surely it will be half the effort.  At least to get away.  And indeed, I was correct.  As an added bonus a friend from adult riding club offered to come along as a strapper.  I even had adult company.  (Sabina stayed at home).

We arrived at WEC nice and early.  I warmed Dingo up, then came back to the float for a coffee.  Except that, no one was serving coffee.  I had brought hot water, but not coffee.  This is a mistake I will not make again in a hurry.  Our lack of coffee, and desire for, became the running joke of the day.

Coffeeless, we headed for the dressage rings.  My test was at 9:28am, but it looked like the dressage judge was running late.  We waited, and chatted, and waited.  Finally I rode up to the judge's car - "oh, you were supposed to be on at 9:28, in the other ring".  Oh!  Oh no!  Oh dear!

Luckily, the other ring was still running the test, and I was allowed to go out of order.  So all good there.  My only hesitation was that I had been running over test Prep 3 in my head, and now I was required to do test Prelim 2.  I knew the test, but it just wasn't fresh in my mind.  So feeling slightly nervous I proceeded to ride into the arena.

The arenas were fenced with grey ropes, and at the entrance Dingo stopped dead.  So much for the "enter at trot".   I coaxed him through, but in his mind the ropes were electric and they were going to eat him.  So best to stear well clear of them and watch them the entire time.  There go my corners, straightness, and calmness.  Other than that, the test went well.  (To those not familiar with dressage tests, corners, straightness and calmness pretty much form the foundation of these tests.  Accuracy is the only other thing left.  We had that.  Most of the time.)

But we had a brilliant dressage judge.  As I did my last halt, she got out of the car and approached me.  Now, generally, this is the most humiliating thing that can happen.  It means that you have just totally stuffed up.  However, she very calmly said to me "He appears to be very freaked out by these ropes.  If you ride out of the arena now, it will just teach him all the wrong things.  Please stay in here for a few minutes, and just ride him around on a loose rein, so he can relax."  Allelujah!

Due to my misunderstanding about the test order, it was out of one arena, and pretty much straight into the next.  Dingo was still worried about the ropes, but much less so and it was a more relaxed test.  Straightness and corners were still pretty much missing.  However, that's not the purpose of the exercise.  The purpose of the exercise was to gain experience, and identify holes in my training.  (Training?  What training?  A mere 3 weeks ago I could barely trot a circle.  I'd push it to two trot circles, then I'd be totally out of breath, and needed to rest my muscles.  Canter was a forgotten gait altogether).

At the end of it all, we all got our coffee (hay and water for Dingo) and we were still home (more or less) by lunchtime.

I would really like to thank my friend from adult riding.  It was such a pleasure to have her along, we had a few laughs and best of all, I've ended up with some fantastic photos!

(I find that when you go eventing, you can sing out "hello" to the people in the float next to you, and they will generally respond in a friendly manner.  Do the same at a show, or a dressage competition, and you're lucky if the person cocks an ear.  This sort of attitude can be very unsettling for the inexperienced competitor.  So having your own team along, can really boost your confidence.)

Warragul Show

The massive toothache wakes me up at 4am. I drink some water and go back to bed. On the one hand I realise that I should get up at 5am and plait up Dingo. On the other hand, I cannot fathom how I will plait him up in the dark.

I compromise and get up at 5:30. It's dark. I pack the rest of the car. Then I get the ponies and plait up Dingo. It's just light enough. I put the ponies back in the paddock, have breakfast, then run out again with Sabina.

We're on the road. The day looks beautiful. Windstill and not a cloud in the sky. By the time we get to Warragul it's not windstill any more.

The experiences of yesterday leave Sabina more focussed, and today when I say "get dressed", she does. Yay! I saddle up Tornado, and we run over to ring 2, just in time for smartest on parade. Sabina rides into her class. Is she paying attention to the judge? Ummm ... no. She comes third (out of three), and looks at me. "Mama, I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing." I smile. "Well, you need to listen to the judge. She will tell you what to do. And if you don't understand, then you need to ask", I say patiently.

We run back to the float, where hastily, in the wind, I finish Dingo's preparation. That includes sawing the plaits into rosettes. I busy myself with the needle, while Dingo keeps getting distracted by floats and horses. Do I prick myself? Yes. And there are bits of blood running down my fingers. Lucky that Dingo is a chestnut and it doesn't show.

Once Dingo is ready we rush back to the ring. I ride into my class with Sabina running behind me. I stop and gently say "hey, why don't you go and sit down on one of those chairs?", as I point to the chair next to the penciller. Luckily, the penciller is kind. Phew! It's not like that at all shows.

Finally, I can relax though, and enjoy my class. In fact, from here on, I enjoy the rest of the day. Sabina and I even find the time to ride around the outside of all the show rings, and take in the atmosphere. On our well groomed, clean ponies, in our jackets, we cut quite a picture.

It's all worth it.

Show prep

Sometimes I think that I've got it all. Horses, float and a daughter to enjoy it all with. Shows, bush riding, pony club. But the reality is closer to this.

Today I spent the entire day getting ready to go. Packing clothes, esky and the beloved guinea pigs. By the time I pick up my daughter from school the car is ready to go. Well she (my daughter) isn't. Sheesh. Gently, I encourage her to stop playing, get changed, eat her snack, and we're finally on the road with her still asking why we have to go now.

Then, of course, we get peak hour traffic, and the 1 hour trip takes us 1.5 hours. Charming. We eat dinner - no complaints here. Then we're outside getting our ponies. "Now, Sabina, it's simple", I say. "We tie them up to the hitching rail, we wash them, we rug them, we put them away."

Do you think she follows instructions? NO! Off she goes with her pony to graze on the grass. That upsets Dingo, and the minute I turn my back he breaks free and runs over to Tornado. Now the big horses have come over to the fence to investigate. Great. Do you think I can catch Dingo? No, of course not. Off he goes, trotting up to Princess Lil.

I gaze at the front gate. "Sabina, just stay here, I really don't want him galloping out the gate". As if on cue, Princess Lil takes off towards the gate. Dingo follows on the other side of the fence ... and yes, he gallops out the gate and onto the road. Lovely. Half way up the paddock, Princess Lil changes her mind and gallops back. Dingo, lead rope dangling, gallops back at full speed. I quietly close the gate behind him, praying that he doesn't somehow catch on the lead rope and break his neck.

As I wander back to the hitching rail, I see the two ponies trotting off towards the house, and I hear Sabina crying. My first thought is that she's been run over by Dingo, but of course she's just upset that Tornado pulled away. So I decide that we need a break and I invite her to sit down in the shed. Well, she refuses to sit down because there are a couple of cob webs on the chair! Am I at the end of my tether by now or what? I stay calm. I don't feel calm. I take a few deep breaths and stay calm. By now of course, the sun is starting to set.

So, we go and get our ponies, again. This time, we successfully tie them up to the hitching rail, and at least I manage to wash mine. But Sabina is still off in la la land, doing everything, but washing. "Mama, can you wash him?", she asks. In the interest of time "yes". So we've got two washed ponies, standing in mud, it's dark outside and we need to put rugs on.
 
Luckily the float is out, so we can rug the ponies in the shed. But in the process, Dingo steps on my foot. Ouch! Anyway, finally we're done. "Mama, it's dark outside, I'm scared". "Well that's why we needed to get on with it." "Mama, I didn't realise it would get dark." Like it doesn't get dark every day? So there I am walking back to the paddock in pitch blackness, scared daughter in one hand, two scared ponies in the other.
 
With no further incidents, the ponies are back in their paddock, and Sabina is in the bath. Husband has managed to arrive too. Thank goodness for that, because I need his help to unpack the cupboards off the float. On the upside, he helps to pack the car for tomorrow.
 
By about 11pm I hit the pillow, only to realise that I have a pretty massive toothache. Not massive enough to get the panadol, though. After some time, I fall asleep.

Farewell Gally

Almost a month ago we had a terrible storm. In our area it was quoted as a one in 500 year event. Wind, lightening and rain, rain and more rain. Sometime in that storm, somehow, Gally broke a leg and had to be put down. My more personal recollection of this event is recorded here and here.

Since the incident, friends have asked me how it happened? Well, the short answer is, I don't know. What I do know, is that it is not uncommon. Soon after I started riding, I got to know a girl who was into equestrian competition. She already had a mare for showing, and she had just bought a horse for jumping. It was a lovely horse in every way. Not flighty, nice to handle, nice to ride. The girl's property had good fencing, and was fairly flat. Three weeks later, the horse broke a leg and had to be put down.

I was very sad to hear this, and asked why it happened. The answer from the general equestrian community around me at the time, was that it was freak accident. No one saw it happen, so they don't know what happened. But, "it does happen", I was told.

A few years later I heard of another similar story. Quiet horse, flattish, safe paddock.

So, ever since I have owned horses, I have lived with the reality that one day it might happen to me. But I have also lived with the stories of how other riders, lost their horses and moved on. Got new horses, and rode on to bigger and better things.

Life, and "the show", goes on.