Dewey at the Mini Trial

Dewey went to the mini trial at Sunrise this weekend, too.  He competed at beginner novice, which was lots of fun and very manageable for him.  Dewey has never done a full horse trial before, even a mini one, so we wanted to do something that would build his confidence.  Because it's late October, the show was strongly encouraging costumes for the horses and riders.  I was trying to fit a lot into one day with competing two horses in all three phases, so I just went with my full yellow gear.  When I looked at Kimberly Hale Photography's photos, I had to chuckle a little at how much I resembled a yellow crayon!

My yellow does make me inordinately happy, so I'm glad I went with it.  It was worth it, even just for the comments from spectators at how bright and cheerful we looked!

Dewey did well with his dressage warmup, after he loosened up he gave me some great stretches at the trot and had a very nice springy canter.  In his actual test he was a bit tense, but we got the whole thing done with correct leads and geometry.  I am partially to blame for his tension in the test itself - I always ride him with a dressage whip at home schooling because he can be such a lazy pony.  He had enough oomph at the show that I didn't need the whip, thought I was holding it anyway.  The whip kept tapping my stirrup, and making a slight noise that made him jump each time it happened.  So the little flinches in the test were all my doing by holding that whip instead of just tossing it aside before we went into the arena.  Oh well, now I know for next time I don't need to bother with it.

 

Dewey got good scores on his dressage test.  He got a 7 on his gaits and free walk with comments of "nice stretch" and "talented horse".  The judge also said that he had nice jump in his canter on the circles!  Of course we need to practice further relaxation so his back will swing and lengthen more, but for a first test at a horse trial I was very happy with his 40%!

Show jumping was next, and Dewey did really well there, too.  He was balanced and forward, and eager to get to the next fence.  The two stride line required him to actually use himself and have a long enough stride to make that distance, but he did it much better than I was expecting!

 

When Dewey is unsure of something he takes a good hard look and then takes off really close to the fence.  There were a couple looky moments, but mostly he tackled the course with confidence.  We've been working on his counter-canter at home to help his balance and shifting his weight back onto his haunches, so I chuckled a little when he did so much counter cantering in the jumping course.

I love my smile in the photos of Dewey and me going over the natural fence.

Here is the video from Dewey's showjumping round:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdoM4tXa9zk

Lastly Dewey and I did cross country.  He was very focused and we both enjoyed ourselves.  We had a stop at the water, which I expected because we just haven't had much time schooling water.  He's been in water a handful of times when trail riding, but that's not quite the same as galloping into a pool.  It took a little coaxing but I did get him in eventually and once in the water he was happy to trot on through.

Here is the video from Dewey's cross country round:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmFR7TtrL-s

 

This photo makes me laugh.  We were galloping merrily along, and I warned him that there was a shallow irrigation ditch coming up.  Dewey kind of ignored me, but I insisted he slow down so that he wouldn't trip in the ditch.  When we got to the ditch Dewey hit the brakes hard and gave it a stare, then kind of scrambled through it and resumed his gallop.  Kimberly caught the very moment when he exclaimed, "Wait, there really is a ditch!"

This fence that kind of looks like a cage (on the course map they call it the "tiger trap"!) gave Dewey slight pause, he ducked his head and took a good look at it before he hopped over.

By this point in the course Dewey had found his rhythm and was jumping well out of the canter.

I had such fun with my Super Dew at the mini trial.  I lost count of how many times I exclaimed, "Eventing is such fun with normal horses!"  Which made everyone giggle, as I was calling Dewey and Ferriana my Normal Horses.  Compared to the complicated hot ones like Raven, Note, and Highboy, those two ARE normal!  Sure they have their quirks, but their quirks are much easier to work with than Highboy's great disdain for small fences, or Raven's hotheadedness, or Note's occasional anger management issues.  

I was delighted when so many of the Bit of Honey Crew showed up to cheer for us!  Kimberly Hale Photography captured the images, Linda M was able to stop by for a bit before going in to work, Linda R, Sally and Sue came to cheer and offer moral support, Amy videoed and helped with grooming, and possibly my favorite part was my husband, Owen, coming to cheer and video for me, too!

Dewey ended up winning himself a second place ribbon for the beginner novice division.  It was a surprise for me when Kimberly returned to the trailer with dressage tests and ribbons.  I was so pleased with Dewey's first time doing all three phases in one day, and was really happy that he handled all the excitement of a show and still enjoyed himself.