Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Prepping for filming

Tonight, I focused on Zarah and our assessment into L4. We finished L3 ground over a year ago. We worked last summer on the L3 riding (bridleless) but didn't get the filming done. I lost focus, paying more attention to the young horses in my pasture for training. This Spring, I decided to get my act back together and finish L3 officially. I've been talking about it, but I never manage to find the time to film it. My sister yesterday told me we should do it tomorrow. YES!

So today was the day. I put my list together - I have 10 mins to show the assessors that we have what it takes. There's a good list of things I must show. I set up the arena with all the things we'll need - jump, tarp to drag, cones marking patterns, barrels... Then, I started to warm Z up. Her canter was fast at first and she was pulling to the herd (they were hanging around the arena). But then, she got with the program and we were doing well. I decided to go ahead with taking off the bridle while in the saddle to see what we'd get bridleless. I was using too much of my body and it was causing her to cave in to the markers too much. We dragged the tarp effortlessly, jumped the 2ft jump w/o issue, really all of the tasks were good to go. The canter circle fell apart without the reins, though. We practiced that for a while and when it seemed like she was getting it, we quit. We need to practice the gate bridleless too - she was pulling forward when I needed her to go sideways. My gate doesn't open easily, makes this one an extra challenge.

Anyway, I'm excited to get that far in the filming! I know what I need to focus on and in a few sessions, we'll be ready. Then we can film and be official L4. I think we could film L4 online quickly and probably even Liberty. L4 riding will be our challenge. I love a challenge!

We left the arena and I took her for a short ride and we stopped for her to eat grass. I wanted to reward the hard work with grazing, but away from the herd. She quietly and gently walked around with me, searching for the best morstles. I stayed bridleless - my first time bridleless off the property. That was just great!

Now, hitting the road for a few days. I'll have a great weekend ahead of more catch-up and progression, though.

1 comment:

Alice said...

The toughest part is always to get started. Congrats!!