Archive for the ‘shows’ Category
Nature Coast HDT
Just a short note, little dude and Paul did extremely well at the nature coast HDT. Paul got 1st place in the preliminary VSE division. Now, it is my turn to drive him.
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Driving Bliss
Well, I did it. I had LD all to my self for one entire weekend. Last weekend to specific. We drove cones down at wind chase on Saturday and then went over to the Little everglades ranch and drove in the continuous fun drive on Sunday. We didn’t get mad at each other. Plus, we had fun.
I learned some stuff at wind chase. LD had never given me any type of speed at a competition before, so I excepted him to be slow. Quite the opposite, we had speed. I screwed up the pattern by the way I had walked the course before we went. I had walked the course WAY too tight for any type of speed, but LD didn’t get mad at me at all. He went about his business and cantered most of the cones. He was wonderful.
On Sunday, we went over to the Little everglades Continuous Fun Drive. What a blast! First I need to say that the facility is BEAUTIFUL! The hazards (games) were both fun & interesting. I even got LD + carriage + harness + Me weighed. He weighs a lot less then I thought he did. Overall, the “NO CANTERING” rule was the hardest thing for us to follow.
For one thing, LD HATES the color white. I don’t know why. He doesn’t like to be near new things that are white. One hazard was all white + very low to the ground. We got eliminated in that hazard because we cantered the entire thing. He was very drivable but it was funny to drive. We had to spell words by using the dressage ring letter. That one was the best one for us. I couldn’t stop laughing because how LD was acting regarding the painted white circles around each letter.
I am hoping to find out if there will be any pictures available from the Little everglades event. There were plenty of people taking pictures. For our first weekend driving together in competition, I think we did very well. We didn’t win anything but I got the confidence. I think I needed it in order for me to go ahead and fill out the Black Prong HDT Paperwork with me as his driver. Paul is his driver for the Nature Coast HDT at Black Prong in 2 weeks. After the january BP event, LD and I will start working together on getting our act together for BP in March.
Little Dude’s Show
Little dude was wonderful over at Port Mayaka. I can’t say enough good things about him. He performed just like he was supposed to and he did what he was asked + I think he actually liked all the attention he got while he was over there . He was even calm in the stall while over there.
Paul did wonderfully over there as well. He showed just how gifted he is with horses in general as well. He drove Miss Bunny (Anna’s pony) over there to a 2nd place finish. What is amazing is that he did it without any driving practice before hand. Miss Anna got sick the day of the show and Paul literally had only 30 mins to learn the Training Level Dressage test and go warm-up & drive bunny. He had not driven bunny in months and only once in the puddle jumper that miss anna uses with bunny. I thought that task was not going to have a the good outcome that it did. He has a gift for horses that I just can’t explain. I just wish I had that type of talent.
He has a gift. I don’t know if there is any more to be said than that.
Pictures are available of Paul driving both miss bunny & Little Dude. Just follow the links below for the pictures.
Paul Driving Miss Bunny (Jan Navigating in Hazards) & Paul Driving Little Dude
He is going to make a wonderful driving pony for me one day (if I can get my act together). I have started to drive him again, but only about once a week. I need to learn to trust him and he needs to learn to trust me too. Paul is making sure that we are learning together in a safe manner that both of us can handle and not try to harm each other. But, it looks like Paul will be driving Little Dude for the January’s Black Prong Event. The closing date is just too close for me to say that Little Dude and I will be on the same page by then.
A Big Move…
I did do the cones challenge with LD, but my nerves were shot even before we got into the ring. Before the challenge, I had someone come and stick their thumbs into my shoulders and tell me to breathe. I started to and Paul worked on calming LD down. By the time we were called, we were both pretty calm. We weren’t fast (in fact we were the slowest) but we were at least one of the few runs that kept all the cones up.
After that weekend, Little dude continued to be a stinker with me. I ended up one day before we moved him, turning over the reins to Paul and stating that “I’m not brave enough for this!”. I didn’t know what else to do. I can’t be calm when LD decides he scared and runs off. I like to have brakes!!!! I need to have some confidence that he is not going to run off. I like to think that I can handle just about anything except running off at top speed. So, Paul has been driving him ever since. It is also the reason that I decided to move him.
So, I am horseless again, for the time being. I still am Little Dude’s Groom, But he fired me as his driver. Paul and him have been training together everyday & he isn’t bothered by any of his antics. We did change is his bit to a french link snaffle and then wrapped it in latex (LD likes to chew on his bits), but my hands are not able to use this type of bit and be nice about it. I have no feel, as they call it. It has been helping LD and Paul have better communication with each other. Between the bit, the change of environment, and the change of driver, Little Dude has been doing much better in the driving area of his life. I can’t be happier for that.
As far as the show season is concerned. Paul will be his driver. There first show together will be at the Port Mayaka Harvest Day HDT this weekend. I am hoping that they do well. They are going in Prelim VSE division. LD likes to canter thru cones and hazards and Paul is brave enough to let him do it.
Maybe after the show season is over, he’ll let me be his driver again, but I think I need to find something that can give me my confidence back for the time being. I had been driving teddy, but he is easy to deal with. He doesn’t run off or do anything crazy. He is just there. I have confidence that I can drive teddy. I need to drive a horse with a bit more fire, so I don’t know what I am going to do. Maybe, I am destined just to watch my horses compete with someone else. I can at least say that they are mine.