First Show of the Season...Last Show of the Year

Our first show of the season and last show of the year was a perfect ending and beginning! Overall team Morning Light Farm finished in 2nd place only points behind the first place team. All team members finished in the top 10 individually with Connor and I finishing 4th. We debuted our musical freestyle which the judge loved! On Saturday we did our did our first First Level Test 4 test and received the necessary 60% to ride our freestyle next year during the show season. We missed a regional qualifying score by only .2% which is amazing since the test had some very very rough spots. Lot of 8s and 7s makes me hopeful as we move up to 1st level next year!

We will be taking a break and just doing some low key things this winter. A couple of schooling shows a few towns over and maybe a couple of little jumper shows to break up our normal routine!

And 2010 Show Year Begins...

We will be heading to Mystic Valley Hunt Club for our first show of the 2010 season next weekend. It will be our second time showing at First 4 and hopefully we will be able to receive our first qualifying score for Regionals. We will also be debuting our musical freestyle which I hope we will also be able to qualify for Regionals but to do that we will need at least 1 score of 60% or better at First 4. So fingers crossed. So Connor's goals are set for qualifying at first level and qualifying our first level freestyle.

Brennie will also head out in the spring in attempts to qualify her for Regionals at training level. I would love to show her in the 4 year old test but don't know if she had the movement to show with the big guys or if she will be ready for what is needed in the 4 year old test. But our goal is to qualify at training level.

I have decided to not back Sonny this winter. He isn't mature enough and he is still having some growth spurts so we will wait another year.

Looking to a exciting 2010 show year!

And the diets begin...

First the weight gain diet: Started to ween Connor off the Poulin 10:12 and onto the Blue Seal Vintage Performance LS. Started by replacing 1/4 of a pound to begin (he gets a total of 3 lbs of Poulin at each feeding and it will be the same for the Blue Seal so we will take our time a total of 9lbs a day). It was one of the first times I have seen him lick his bucket clean which is a good sign! We will probably do this slowly over a three to four week period since he is so finicky. I will give him a couple months and see how it does. Some people say they have seen changes in only a couple of weeks on this grain so keep my fingers crossed we can get those hips to fill out a little more!

The main reason fro the switch is the need for more fat in his diet due probably to genetics (those tricking skinny TB genes) and the amount of work he has been doing this summer. The Blue Seal has a minimum of 12% fat which is much higher then the Poulin grain. The ingredients are great lots of vege oils and dried beet pulp. He only needs a couple hundred pounds as he doesn't look skinny just not filled out as much as he could be. We don't want him to get fat as this could also cause health problems but he needs some more fat due to his heavy work schedule per vets orders.

I also will be having the tooth fairy out to check his teeth in a couple weeks as it's the only other thing we haven't checked yet that could be effecting his weight.

Second the weight loss diet: Our babies on the other hand are on diets. Between the wonderful grass paddocks we are fortunate enough to have, wonderful local hay from right down the road, and a diet of a handful of oats and complete pellets to cover up their supplements they have both put on a little weight this summer. Brennie will be starting back into work so I am hoping this will help her out with burning some extra calories. But both have been cut down to only a handful of oats since they don't need the extra calories from the pellets. Both seem to be doing great so far and we will continue to monitor them in case they loose too much weight.

Now if only I could get on the baby weight loss diet we would all be in business! :)

NEDA Fall Fest and Regionals

So the weekend is over and Connor and I are both tired and ready for a much needed break. Our first two days in the training level sweepstakes were disappointing to say the least and we only managed scores in the low 60s. While the competition was tough we did not put in the best tests we could the first two days which was disapointing. On Saturday we rode our championship class and ended up 7th in the adult amateur section of training level. This was very exciting because placing at all in the championship classes is excellent. We were awared a lovely purple ribbon and enjoyed a victory gallop around the grand prix ring.

Overall for this being our first championship I had a great time and know what to expect for next year when we move up. Connor was a star throughout the weekend. Can't wait till next years championships!

Next up Adult Championships at Mystic Valley Hunt Club in October were we will debut our musical freestyle!

Nearing the Years End

So being new to the dressage sport I have a thing or two to learn about year end awards. When I rode on the Hunter/Jumper circuit it seems like most everything is done for you when it comes to year end awards you just show up at the banquet and receive your award.  Well with the dressage while USDF keeps track of all scores you do need to send in paper work and keep track of your own scores for other associations such as New England Dressage Association (aka NEDA) which we are members of. It has been a good refresher for me to go back over some of my earlier tests this year and see how I have improved or to review things I still need to improve on.

So a couple weeks ago I started the process of filling out paper and organizing myself to send everything in for year end awards. Only one more show this season to acquire some good scores! 

So far Connor and I have had an amazing year. He has come such a long way from an unbalance jumper who could barely canter a 20 meter circle to a horse that can actually properly use his hind end and then some! He has helped me earn my Rider Performance Award through USDF at both Training and First Level. This award was an easy one to do and it was done via the USDF website (www.usdf.org). We needed 4 scores of 60% or better at the given level. Performance awards are given up till 2nd level then there are your USDF medals which are a cumulative award based on a couple of different levels depending on the medal (For example your USDF Bronze Medal is 2 scores from First Level, 2 from Second Level, and 2 from 3rd Level I am not sure what the percentages need to be or other criteria because we are not at that stage yet! Someday maybe!).

The next award Connor achieved this year is his Performance Certificate at Training Level. He did this all in one year! This award can be a cumulative over all the years the horse competes so most likely we will use our First Level test scores from this year and combine them with our First Level test scores from next year to hopefully achieve his Performance Certificate at First Level next year. We needed to achieve 10 scores of 60% better with four of those scores coming from the top test of the level (so in our case training 4).

Other awards through USDF include Horse of the Year (or HOY). Which we are currently in the top 25 for Training Level adult amateur section and 113th in the open section of the award. Remember all these awards are based out of all of the USDF regions so even though we may not official receive an award I am still impressed at how far we have come!

The American Hanoverian Society also gives out an All Breeds award and we are standing in the top 5 in the adult amateur section of Training Level and in the top 10 in the open section! If we do receive an award through the American Hanoverian Society I am planning on heading to the annual convention with some other Hanoverian Breeders and will be able to receive my award while we are there. Keeping fingers crossed!

NEDA also has year end awards but we will have to wait and see how our final show of the season goes because for NEDA year end awards you send in your five best scores with two scores coming from the top test of the level. The NEDA banquet is going to be right down the road from us in Northampton, MA so I look forward to attending even if we do not receive a year end award! Hubertus Schmidt will be giving a speech during the banquet as well as conducting the NEDA Fall Symposium that week so it will be an educational experience to go hear him speak and watch him give lessons.

Overall this year has been wonderful! We leave for NEDA Fall Fest and Regionals in 4 days! I can't wait to experience the show for the first time.

Final Lesson before GAIG Regionals and NEDA Fall Fest

Today was our last lesson before GAIG Regionals and NEDA Fall Fest. We will be entering into the training level sweepstakes and competing in the training level championship class for adult amateurs.

So today Connor and I traveled a little over an hour to my trainer Doris Carlson's Morning Light Farm in Brimfield, MA. We had a wonderful lesson and I am very confident we are ready for the show! Connor has been going the best he has ever gone and I am looking forward to moving up to first level next year.

One thing I need to figure out is how to put some more weight on Connor. He has never been a heavy horse but he could use some more weight (must be that 1/4 TB he has in him!). We've had the medical work ups done checking for worms and deficiencies but haven't found anything. We are currently trying Body Builder an all natural supplement to help put on those extra pounds and boost his muscle mass a little. It can take up to two month to see changes and he has only been on the Body Builder for 2 weeks so we will have to see how it goes. I also increased Connor's grain something I hate to do (as I don't like to feed too much and he is on almost 4 pounds at each feeding!) but it is my last resort since nothing else is working. He has been in heavy work now for the last couple months so he needs the extra calorie intake. I am also thinking about changing over to Blue Seal Vintage Performance LS as I have heard great things about it. I plan to contact Blue Seal and then compare and contrast our current Poulin grain with the Blue Seal. We will see how it goes!

The count down begins to Regionals 7 days!

Tom Noone Clinic

Connor and I spent the weekend in Lincoln, Rhodes Island at Prospect Hill Farm for a clinic with Tom Noone. The facility was amazing and everyone was very welcoming! It really was great prep for NEDA Fall Fest. We also were able to have a nice dinner with Tom and the other riders on Saturday night.

Tom focused on controlling Connor's shoulders and haunches independently from each other to really make him straight through his entire body. We really focused on the basics working on large and small circle and having him move his shoulders out and haunches in. Once he was straight I was better able to move him away from my legs as well as work on our upward and downward transitions. It really seems like this aspect of our riding is slowly coming together and is really going to help us out next year when we move up to 1st level.

Another important bit of information I picked up was the use of my legs; controlling my upper thigh and calf during transitions. My canter departs and downward transitions from canter to trot improved significantly with Tom suggestions about leg control. This is something I will have to continue to practice before the big show in a couple weeks.

We made some fabulous new friends this weekend who I look forward to seeing at Saugerties! A photographer from the local paper was at the clinic and Connor may possibly be a star in a couple days or so! Keep your eye out for him in the Valley Breeze and Observe if you get it!!!