Welcome to Choteau, Montana, in 2018. What was once only a small city focused on fossils, has now started to turn into an equestrian mecca. Everyone still knows everyone, so the question remains, what will you become?
06/04 - Site opened 18/04 - Update log #01 including new features! 27/04 - A New skin has been released!
To enter please include this line in your post [b]Class Name[/b] - HORSE NAME HERE ridden by RIDER NAME And then your post describing your round below. It should only be one post, and no other posts should be in this thread.
[attr="class","ws-tempcredits"]CRAFTED BY ALISHA OF ADOXOGRAPHY
Admittedly, dressage was not her forte. It was something she did plenty of, in smal bits and pieces here and there. It was necessary, that she would not, could not dispute. It kept her horses fit and limber - farm rides and jumping could only be done so often, after all. She'd even ridden a couple of dressage tests back at home, mostly to advertise her horses or let herself be judged for her own riding skills and that of her horse(s). It was nice to have someone else judge you, someone impartial but to horse welfare and skill.
So yeah, she was mildly worried she'd gone crazy, dragging not just Ike and Bo to the local showground to compete in the local dressage show, but also Shiloh and Sassy to give Western Dressage a shot, later on the day. She had rented a truck for the occasion, missing her own more than ever before. It was marginally less stressful than starting off with a show jumping round, though, and she had faith in her horses. Mostly.
Though she had to admit, even if her Trakehner stallion didn't look too out of place (certainly not compared to her somewhat less snazzy chestnut mare, who showed her roots as a stationbred horse), her blue show coat did, but as far as she had been able to figure out it may be a bit of a snafu, it was still legal. And it wasn't like she really was going for gold, here. It'd be nice, true enough, but dressage wasn't her passion.
Though she was definitely going to give it her very best try. It was easy enough to make Bo look snazzy - the stallion was pretty clea, and he had quite a presence when he didn't try. Only once he was saddled and bridled did she strip off her protective hoodie and sweatpants, revealing her white breeches (miraculously still white) and white-blue competition shirt before she donned her coat and gloves. "Time to see if we've still got it, boy," she murmured, leading him towards the warm-up area.
Intermediate - Rae Carrigan on Zensure
She didn't waste long in the warm-up. Bo was young and fit and didn't need ages to be stretched out and ready to listen - all she wanted was to take the edge off, which a few stretches of canter and a handful of rapid transitions after regular warm-up walking & trotting did, before she circled towards the gate to the real rings. Luckily she'd timed it right; after her self-allotted twenty minutes of warm up she was let into the ring.
It was fair to say, the nerves were getting to her a little, causing Bo to show off just a tad bit more, and to look askance at things a bit more, but she had him well under control. It helped it was an indoor ring; far less distractions left and right, aside from the audience.
A wave from the judge, a deep breath, and they were started. A-X collected trot, halt, salute, collected trot she mentally ticked off, guiding Bo off the rail and down the centerline. His halt wasn't perfectly square, but she let it be as she saluted, glad he didn't take the chance to yank the reins out of her hands. She had practiced it a bit, but not enough, she thought. It felt almost dreamlike as they trotted out of the halt, silently blessing his dressage-oriented ancestors. At least her horse made it look effortless even if she didn't. C left turn, H-P changing reins medium trot she kept track of where they were, feeling Bo take off a bit more explosively than she had intended for the medium trot. Well, at least he was ready when they might ask for extended, aye? He did come back to a collected trot quite easily when she half-halted, which was a relief, and the shoulder-in barely seemed to ask of any effort, as he seemlessly shifted weight and legs around to do as asked, even after crossing straight over and doing the same exercise to the other side. Rae hoped the corner obscured the fact it took her a few steps to get him from that left shoulder-in, or that the fact he had a square halt at C would be enough to correct those missed points. She shifted her own weight back a little, silently counting off the four steps backwards that were required before she let him exit that exercise at a proper medium walk.
By now, she was already regretting her decision to try her hand at dressage. It really wasn't her thing. Not like she could back out now, though.
So she just gritted her teeth, kept her smile plastered on and asked Bo to shorten his strides before she asked for a right canter. His first stride was upwards more than forwards, but as she sat and waited, he reined himself in, continuing in a far more collected fashion even when she started the first of the serpentine loops. Lead changes were easy for them; it came almost like second nature, given how often they did them in a jumping course. Keeping him in the right frame was a bit more tricky, but she managed it. The medium canter after the serpentine had been what she had worried for, a little. She always tried to keep her horses as forward as possible, which worked quite well in a tricky take-off in a course, but less when you wanted a medium canter rather than a very extended one. Still, she was prepared and managed to prevent another minor explosion. Her smile turned a bit more genuine at that, her shoulders loosening some as she relaxed a little.
So far so good.
With her ass and weight deep in the saddle, she took him back to a collected canter, once more blessing her jumper roots as she turned a ten meter circle, finding it fairly easy even despiet Bo's size. The counter canter was a bit more of a problem, but this test didn't ask for a sharp corner, so even if it wasn't very supple and graceful, it technically was a correct counter canter before she could drop (a little abruptly, she figured) back to a walk before the duo accelerated into a left canter. For a moment she didn't resist temptation and wiggled her fingers a little, giving him a quick caress to reward him. Again the medium canter, where she felt him lengthen his strides and go a little flat instead of uphill, but a quick half halt seemed to correct that, before they had to collect the canter again for another ten meter circle, short diagonal and counter canter. Briefly Bo hesitated, relying on Rae's guidance to keep him in the counter canter, but it seemed to work, and at least it was only a few strides on the straight end before they dropped back to a collected trot. This time as they rode the diagonal in a medium trot, she managed to stick with medium, before taking him back to a collected trot, ignoring the angry flick of his tail as she turned down centerline, halted on the X and saluted with a smile that was perhaps a bit too big and relieved.
Reins swinging loosely she turned him towards the exit of the ring, proudly patting him on his shoulder. "Good job boy, good job," she murmured, quite proud altogether. It hadn't been effortless, and there were plenty of small mistakes, but she didn't think she had made a disgrace of herself.
Tag: ?? || Outfit & Tack || NOTES:I've determined she's probably Second Level with Zensure, and Intermediate seemed a decent fit? Used a real Second Level test for the post, at least.
Bo's test had been mildly nerve-wracking. It'd been the stallion's first real outing since he'd been brought over from New Zealand, and while he generally was an angel or a saint, he was also a stallion and relatively young and inexperienced. As was she, where it came to both dressage and the American show scene. Didn't matter though - his test had come and gone and she wasn't unhappy with it. No matter the score, she was thrilled with how he had behaved.
Her other horse was quite more likely to become a problem. Although she'd searched high and wide, as far as she could find bitless was not an option. She'd even have used a hackamore, if need be, but alas, she had to use a bit. Normally she would be alright with that, but Ike had a way of finding offense with that. She was an opinioted mare with a long history of trouble with bits, and though Rae had found the softest, gentlest version that was still legal, she could tell by the way Ike's ears twitched backwards when she put the bridle in place that the mare was Not Amused.
Fireworks and spectacle were looking more like a guarantee than a distant option. Joy. Frankly, the whole process of tacking up was already putting the both of tehm a little off balance. Because yes, this was a dressage show, and yes, that was a jumping saddle she put onto Ike's back. She didn't have a dressage saddle ready for her (not always quite so gentle) giant, and really, for this level she didn't quite need it either. Mostly, she was just curious how far she and Ike would come; she was wholly prepared to leave the ring early if the bit was too big of a problem for the mare. Maybe she should do western dressage test next time, once she figured out whether Aussie saddles were permitted or not. That was a concern for later, though. Once she'd given the girth a last tug to check whether it was tight enough, she left Bo to his full haynet in the float and led Ike towards the warm up. She may not have needed much time for Bo, she was planning for at least double on Ike.
And that turned out to be a pretty good bet altogether; the mare was reluctant to listen, shied and spooked away from every little thing and even threatened to kick one of the other horses. That wasn't the worst though - Rae was used to the mare being, well, mare-y. She had been a hopeless case when Rae had taken her on, and she still had quite a hefty manual. On the other hand, she also almost effortlessly navigated 1.50m courses with Rae, so really, Rae didn't much mind. Generally.
Admittedly being looked at askance and people keeping a wide berth and giggling not just because she looked like she'd gotten lost on her way to a show jumping show wasn't really Rae's favourite, and that was before dear ol' Ike remembered that rearing was her favourite trick. There was something cool about having a horse rear on command, especially when you weren't actually riding it. There was something decidedly terrifying about a horse doing it mostly unannounced, although it was never really a surprise with Ike. Once she'd gotten it all out of her system she'd be more amenable again, but the couple of minutes she was either on strike or rearing were uncomfortable at the very least, becaues the red mare did few things half-assed. And of course her careful timing didn't work quite so well with the chestnut as it had with her grey stallion - mid-rear someone called her name, and it took Rae a none too gently kick to Ike's sides to get the mare moving towards the person. "My time, eh?" she asked a little wryly. The steward looked as if he wanted to offer her more time, or something, but she shook her head. "We're as good as we're gonna get," she stated, still a little wry. She had faith the mare would be at least a bit better in there.
Novice - Rae Carrigan on Mahuika
Her body seemed quite relaxed, but her mind was all but. Part of it was listing the test she had to ride, another was carefully monitoring the obstinate mare and making sure her touch to the bit was as light as possible, just barely keeping contact. The swishing tail and ears pinned halfway back told a tale of their own, but at least they had found forward motion again, rather than upward. Her smile was just a tad bit forced as she applied a little outside leg, prompting Ike to turn down the centerline. Sitting heavy had the mare slow down, a lot of bareback and bridleless work paying off even when wearing a full complement of tack, courtesy to the rules. Rae's salute was a little swift; she wanted to stand still for as shortly as possible, and as soon as her mental count of one-thousand, two-thousand, three-thousand had reached its end she let Ike trot away again, aware of the slight wobble rather than a stright line, but well, she didn't have high expectations with Ike anyway. The left turn was easy enough, again a matter of weight and leg, touch on the rein still as soft as possible. She moved her left hand in a little when they reached the E, prompting the mare to fall away from the reins to make a ten meter circle barely touching upon the X before she turned Ike straight towards the H, making sure she kept smiling, or something resembling that expression, before she repeated the same exercise the other way. The twenty meter circle at C was Ike's favorite - as soon as Rae let the reins slip through her hands the chestnut dipped her head low, stretching her back and putting a bit more swing in her trot even as her ears pricked a bit more forward. Regrettably, it was just the twenty meter circle, soon prompting Rae to sit down again and collect her reins as gently as possible before turning onto the diagonal at S, pushing the mare into an extended trot that made her positively fly across the diagonal until she was made to fall back into a working trot and then, as soon as they were through the corner, go back to a walk. The short diagonal between V and R was nother moment to let her reins slip just a little, letting Ike lengthen her stride into a free walk, swinging gaily until they reached the other end of the ring.
Rae made sure to keep her calves tight against the mare's body as she shortened the reins again, but she still felt the mare falter in her strides, shift her weight back onto her hindquarters in preparation of a rear. Deciding to just throw caution to the wind, Rae pushed a little more, feeling the chestnut step into a trot with a swish of her tail and what might be a bit of a buck. It wasn't a full rear, though, so the win was for Rae this time. Besides, the trot was only for a single corner; as soon as they reached the C she let Ike transition to a smooth canter with long, free strides. With half an eye she kept her attention on the letters, H canter, and then at S she rocked her hips a little more, opened her hands, letting Ike lengthen her strides in what was probably more of an extended canter than a medium one, but at leaast it was more than the working canter before. Setting her back into a working canter went chaotically and was finished only halfway the fifteen meter circle, but still Rae wasn't overly unhappy yet. Even cantering onto the long diagonal went easily, Rae's barely there half-halt enough for both an angry toss of the head and a transition down to trot, before they rounded the corner and went back to a canter again. Again there was a small stretch to let Ike throw out her front legs a bit further, power down the long end before collecting herself again into a working canter on the fifteen meter circle. Now she didn't need a diagonal to transition back, trotting out of the corner with a bit more sass and swing to it than when Rae and Ike had entered the ring the first time around. Not bad, not bad, Rae figured as she let her reins sli a little for the extended trot down the long diagonal, getting another angry head toss and the threat of a buck as she half-halted back to a working trot, did the required half circle at E and halted at G. Well, when she said halted, she meant more like accidentally used the reins for the transition from trot to halt (she was good without it, but slowing down that much needed some force on the front, whether it was an insistent tug on Ike's manes, the neck ring, or indeed the reins) it was more of a trot to rear to halt. But she stood, and Rae still sat, looking unaffected as she saluted and then let Ike amble out of the arena, her shoulders finally relaxing again. "I'll skip you next time, right girl?" she promised the mare, patting her neck. Could've been much worse, really, she wasn't unhappy even if she was fairly certain that she wasn't going to win any prices with this. At all.
Tag: ?? || Outfit & Tack || NOTES:I've determined she's probably First Level with Mahuika, and Novice seemed a decent fit? Used a real First Level test for the post, at least.
Welcome to Choteau, Montana, in 2018. What was once only a small city focused on fossils, has now started to turn into an equestrian mecca. Everyone still knows everyone, so the question remains, what will you become? 
