Combined Test Recap

So yesterday Reffy and I went to our first combined test. It was a bit of an epic fail. Lol. He trailered like a champ, walked around the grounds like a brave boy, and turned into the king of ADD as soon as we started warming up for dressage. I think that our biggest downfall was that we just didn't plan enough time to warm up. For his first outing he really should have had an extra hour to settle and warm up, but that's hard to do when you have an 8:06 ride time and an hour drive.

The Dressage Test::

We actually completed our Intro B test without errors, but also without and semblance of submission or collection. He resisted all my downward transitions and anything that was supposed to be straight was more of a 'haunches in'. We had some really great sideways halts. They take that into consideration, right? Lol. Our score was a 50.625 with only 4s and 5s and a single 6 for rider. Go me! Comments included a whole lot of 'resisting' and 'bent the wrong way'. High points? The judge said he was an attractive horse with potential. Woohoo!

Fast forward to stadium warmup. From the second I got a leg up he was on high alert. Reffy was in racehorse mode! I feel so bad for all the little kids on ponies warming up for our division while we cantered sideways practically into people and other horses. Sadly, we ended up withdrawing and not completing the stadium course. He was just so hot I chose to avoid an E (elimination) or RF (rider fall) and just school him over the warm up cross rail when he was quiet and listening.

In the end, some goals were met (surviving) and others were not. So much for ending with a number instead of a letter!