TAURANGA DRESSAGE - Day Two Of Three Day Series

11th July 2010, second day of the dressage at Tauranga.

The morning did not start well at all, flat battery in ute, got float stuck, horse hooning around paddock, sisters horse escapes and can't catch it, terrible accident on back road to Tauranga involving the girl that is currently leading the series, everyone ok thankfully but their ute written off, slipped on ice, late for class..............................so yeah, not a good start to the day.

1st test I thought was actually ok, judge did not think so and I got slammed 52.31%, second test I thought was not flash at all, had some really nice comments and a score of 58% for fourth so pleased.

Had 9 in our class this time so was an ok effort. I am still struggling with Dev being in front of the leg but are doing a few things to hopefully get more out of him and more on the aids. Fingers xd.

Final day is on the 8th August, we are currently coming second for the series along with two others so need to really make this day count and hopefully we can come home with either Champion or Reserve :)

Crew Update:
Well Luigi sold a couple of months ago, he has gone down to the SI and his new owner Louise (SJer) is stoked with him. She has had him all over the farm, at the sea, road riding with no probs at all. Can't wait to see some pics. He will be campaigned lightly over the next season.

Viva, Lucy and Boxer are hanging out together over the 40acres. They roam at their leisure and think this is great especially for Boxer who has lots of hills to play on.

Annie is at Lindas, Linda said she is looking very big so really excited to see her foal!! Hopefully there are no complications like last time, so far things are looking good though.

TAURANGA DRESSAGE 13th JUNE 2010

What a weekend to be out and about, cold, wet and windy!!

Dev had his first registered start in Tauranga on the weekend, he was well behaved given the weather and upset horses around him. Second test was a little untidy as I think we were both over it by then but still came away with a good score.

So we now have 8 level 1 points!! 1.2 - 65% = 2nd and 1.3 - 62.30% = 3rd. Was super easy placings as there were only 3 riders in my class!

This was the first day of a 3 day series so am looking forward to improving our scores at the following days.

Dressage Rotorua - Held at Taupo 9th May 2010

Headed to Taupo on Sunday for dressage, unfortunately our grounds are closed at the moment so this day was held at the NEC.

It was a lovely day down there, a tad cold but generally is this time of the year.

There were 22 starters in my classes and I placed 7th and 11th. 1.2 - 63.75% & 1.4 - 65.20%.

There were some super little ponies there that cleaned up, actually there was a truck load of them, all show ponies by the looks of things. The young girls were wrapped they had placed and I was happy for them too, encourages the younger riders when they can get a ribbon!

Dev went awesome, a huge improvement on Te Aroha, guess that's what happens when you don't ride like a muppet. He is starting to work in a better outline now, just have to work at keeping him together. We have struggled with the lefthand canter for a while but have been working on it for the last month. Was wrapped to see he got an 8 for his canter on this lead, must be doing something right ;)

Not alot happening again for a while so will keep him ticking over, we went down to the x-country course the other day and I had a wee jump, obviously nothing too big as it must be the first time in years I have jumped out. Enjoyed it immensely and look forward to doing that again!

Update Time

Well it has been a while but have been doing a bit with Dev so this is a good way to track our progress.

I took Boxer to the Rotorua A&P show back in January 2010 and was thrilled that he was such a gentleman to take out. We had an awesome day and he looked amazing. There were about 25 horses in the inhand and he was placed in most of his classes. The judge Sue McKenna had some wonderful things to say about him and said he had paces to go all the way, a very cool comment.

So placings:

1st Suitable Dressage
1st Suitable Eventer
1st Warmblood
2nd Grey
2nd 3yrs and under

I have done two more dressage days on Dev, one in Rotorua where we got a 68% and 60% and we went to Te Aroha the other day and unfortunately placed very low as neither I nor him really had it happening. He had a bit of a runny nose a couple of days beforehand and felt very flat and less energy than usual, I rode like a muppet and the results reflected it.

We have Te Aroha coming up again in April and May and also dressage in Taupo in May so we have a bit to work on. I have been having lessons with Christine Weal, she is a great instructor and we are on the right track.

Annie is with Linda and is in foal to Airthrey Highlander so can't wait to see the result of that mating!

Luigi is still with his starters, he is not really ready for any serious work so is just chilling out in the paddock watching the going ons.

I have been lucky enough this year to get a good supply of red clover hay so am set for winter feed, will be about time soon to don the winter covers and see what this years winter brings.

Dressage Rotorua Competition Day 15th November 09.

Training 0.1 = 1st 77%

Training 0.3 = 2nd 74%
Comment on test sheet "Must keep horse moving at all times regardless" as he decided to take a dump in this test and I just couldn't get him to move, seriously!!! Mr Whippy couldn't even persuade him! Sometime to work on :)

Once again awesome comments by the judges.

Not a lot happening now in regards to dressage so will spend some time over x-mas and up his work load and training so we can register prelim and head out in the new season.
Will do some treks and stuff on him in the meantime also.

Crew Update:

Luigi - Is still away being started. The weather has just been crap and his work has been erratic so things are taking a little longer. Can only be a good thing though:)


Boxer - Hope to do the All Breeds In Hand Show with Boxer in January in Hamilton. He is looking fab and would be good for him to have a little life experience. Unfortunately I was going to do inhand with him at Rotorua A&P but they have canned all their inhand classes due to non-support. Bugger.


Viva - Is hanging out with Lucy - Lucy is hanging out with Viva.

Update on the crew....................

Well need to start blogging more so I can keep an eye on my own progress.

Annie: Has gone out on lease this season and will be back next year.

Sonic: Has gone to her new home. I just happened to be talking to a friend one night and we were discussing what Sonics future would be. Pretty sure she is going to be a pony so really no use to me. She has gone to a wonderful family with two young girls to eventually be their pony star. She settled in well and is running with 2 other yearlings so has some company of her own size.

Luigi: Is currently away being started. Have had excellent reports back so far so I am very excited to see how he is under saddle. I have someone very interested in him once and if he comes back, would love to see him eventing but this would be purely a dressage home. There seem to be quite a few professional dressage riders with Littorio's in their stables so fingers xd that I can sell him to someone that will do well with him.

Boxer: Is chilling out getting bigger by the day. He is officially 2 now (26 Dec 07 foaling date) and would be close to 16.1hh at the rear and 15.3hh in the front. Hopefully he will not get any bigger than 17hh. I wish he was 4 now but then that would make me 2 years older so will just have to wait and be patient;)

Tara: Has gone to the SI to be bred to Corofino II. At this stage she is on lease so may come back. They are extremely happy with her so will wait and see.

Lucy: Is hanging out with Viva.

Viva: Is hanging out with Lucy. She is 4 this year and may look at starting her very soon. Can only but try and see if she stands up to the work or not. Her full brother is doing extremely well in both S/J and was placed in the YEH in Taupo earlier this year.

Devon: Well Dev!! Has recovered from his shoulder injury and is back under saddle. He has come back very fresh and full of life, sometimes too much life! He had some work done on him last week including acupuncture as he is not using his back end very well (except for the bucking) so hopefully we are on the right path and we can get him stretching over his back better and using those muscles. He works really well when he is not getting distracted, something we are working on, no point in taking him out if he can't walk, trot and canter around a dressage arena.
Next show here isn't until November so will take him down to some club days in the meantime for some outings.

So down to 4 ponies in the paddocks, makes life a hell of a lot easier actually and better on the pocket. I was thinking of joining an addiction group but think I can do it alone and just have to say NO when I am tempted:)

Boxer pictures from friends & fun photos on webshots

Boxer pictures from friends & fun photos on webshots