Show Day

Firstly, I need to apologize for not posting anything for a few days. We haven't had great access to internet on the show grounds and we have been super busy with the three horses, especially since Oslo has been very difficult..... =(

On Tuesday I took Oslo out to the fancy covered show arena. We did one walk around and he felt so relaxed and calm! I even mentioned to mom as I walked by that he felt so relaxed..... if only I had known what was to come. The second time around the ring, he planted his feet into the ground and threw his head up to look at the highway in the background. From that point on, he would walk, stand still, or even trot. All he wanted to do was piaffe. He got himself so worked up and his whole body began to shake. He was all sweaty in a matter of minutes just from him shaking and piaffing. All I wanted him to do was walk! We took him out and tried to get him settled in the outdoor rings but he was just a ball of nerves. We put him away in the stall for the night and took him out three more times on Wednesday (only short stretchy rides each time - the goal was to get him relaxed, not tired). We tried to start out in the walk each time, but he just wouldn't walk. Therefore, I tried to stretch him over his back as much as possible in the working trot and by the third time I could stretch him in the canter. When he gets so nervous and tense he just tightens his back and it is nearly impossible to get him to stretch down and just let go. By Thursday he was getting more relaxed outside and I only stretched him once during the day just because I was worried about him getting tired from all the stress and work he had been through the past couple of days. I was feeling better about things since he was starting to settle, but he was still very scared of that covered show ring.

Today was show day and I will start with the positive:
Skippy was pretty good in his Intermediaire I test. He fell behind my leg in the trot work, but the judge commented on how good his changes were at the end of the test! He won a big green ribbon and we were happy with that since he had 9 or 10 entries in his class and that was his more difficult test.
Second positive: Oslo passed the jog with flying colours! Dad had to jog him since the jog was at the same time as my ride on Skippy. I rode Skippy at 7:39am and the jog started at 7:00am and he was the fifth on to go in. Oslo and I were then scheduled to ride at 9:21am. It was a crazy morning, but it helped prevent me from getting too nervous!

Now, Oslo had a fantastic warm-up, but that was outside. Lientje, mom, and I thought we were so ready and he was feeling great. The second I walked underneath the roof of the covered ring, Oslo lost it. His head went up (into the perfect frame, but that also meant his back dropped!) and his muscles tensed up. We proceeded down the centreline and halted for about half a second and proceeded into a beautiful exuberant trot that was extremely difficult to sit since he was not over his back anymore. The trot work went alright and we had good half-passes. He was very excited to go in the extended trots, which was good, but he wasn't very supple and we had some rythym errors since we couldn't balance all the energy. Then came the walk.... well that was what was supposed to be next. Oslo did about 2 steps of walk the entire test and for those of you who know, there is a lot of walk in the Prix St. George. He was just soooooooooo nervous and wanted to piaffe/jog. Then just before the canter transition he did the typical Oslo move: plant his feet and throw his head up to stare at something scary in the distance. When he does this his he just braces on one rein and I cannot move his head or kick him forward. Eventually I coerced him forward and we some how managed to pick up the canter. Our canter tour was decent and we only had one mistake in the three tempis. We got through it but he was so tight and braced. Our final score was a very disappointing 59.8% but for not walking at all, the tension, and the disobedience (stopping and staring!) I guess I couldn't have asked for much better. I was happy to hear Lientje say that I probably couldn't have ridden it any better and unfortunately that is just what you had to deal with. We have a plan for tomorrow to keep him more flexed and I need to think as if I was turning him on a circle each step of the walk. We can only do so much though and the bottom line is that Oslo needs to relax for the walk to be any good at all. Fingers and toes crossed that tomorrow is a new day for Oslo.

Skippy does the Freestyle tomorrow under the lights in the covered arena!!! I am excited, I just hope he isn't that spooky and that we can hold everything together in front of the crowd - no pressure!!! Hopefully it will be fun though. Skippy's music is just so awesome =)

Cashew is doing fantastic and I have ridden her a few times in the schooling areas. She is so brave and I am thinking she is going to have such a good temperament for showing! I cannot wait to get her to the barn after the show and really starting working on some stuff! She is just handling all the distractions so well here - better actually than some other horse I know of!