I Drove Pistachio!

 I haven't been doing much horse related activities this past month, though I lunged Lucky several times and rode Pistachio once.  Lucky has done really well the last few times I lunged her.  She stretched her neck down and become round consistently,  and even circled to the right without leaning and letting her shoulder drop into the circle, which is great news.   Pistachio has also been doing well.     Under saddle, he has been more accepting of contact, and even reached for the bit.  He stayed round for more than just a split second, a huge improvement.

 Recently, I went driving with Pistachio and his owner, Gretchen, at the same ranch where the Halloween Haunt event was held last year, and where the Spring Fling was held earlier this year.  Before we drove, I lunged Pistachio, then harnessed him with Gretchen.

 First, Gretchen drove to one of the new driving hazards obstacle.  Hazards are made up of sturdy wooden poles that the driver must weave through, and consist of several elements, all of which must be performed in order.  This particular one had an A, B, C, D, and E element.   Each element consists of two poles: a red pole and a white.  Like in eventing and jumping, the red is always on the right.  The hazard was tricky at first, but after driving Pistachio at a walk through it a few times to see where every element, Gretchen was able to drive it at a trot.

 In the dressage ring, Gretchen drove Pistachio in a serpentine loop.  A serpentine loop, unlike the serpentines consisting of three 20 meter circles, are straight lines that snake across the arena, making a U-turn at each arena wall.  Gretchen did this to slow Pistachio, who often rushes when being driven.

 We also drove in the cones course.  The cones course consisted of 20 pairs of cones, each labeled from 1 to 20, the order they are meant to be driven in.  He rushed quite a bit during the cones course as well.

 Later on, Gretchen surprised me by allowing me to drive Pistachio.  I had only driven twice before that time, and had only driven a miniature horse.  However,  driving is not terribly difficult for someone who knows how to ride, although there is one major difference that was hard to get used to: I couldn't use inside leg to help Pistachio bend.  To help me, Gretchen touched Pistachio's barrel with her whip, encouraging him to bend.  He was bit fast a few times, but wasn't uncontrollable.  I drove him in the dressage arena for a few minutes, playing around with the serpentine exercise I did with Lucky(the one with a few walk strides in between each change of direction).  He did it pretty well, and even came round a few times.

 Next, I tried the cones course.  It was challenging, but fun.  I didn't go through a few of them completely straight and bumped a few cones though, accidentally knocking down the white number eleven.   Just before gate six,  I asked him to slow down slightly.  Just after six was a short(only about a stride), steep, hill leading into an indent that was several strides long.  I wanted to slow him, because I knew the downhill, and the following uphill, would cause him to speed up.

 I really enjoyed driving Pistachio!  It was great.

Driving Show Recap

 This weekend, I was navigator at a local driving event with Pistachio the pony and Gretchen, his owner, who just moved up to Preliminary level. It was a small event, but was loads of fun. We brought Pistachio there the day before to allow him time to settle in and save time in the morning. We drove him for a few minutes, and he was very relaxed, which looked promising.

Dressage

 Like eventing, driving has three phases: dressage, cones(stadium), and marathon(cross country). Saturday morning was dressage. Unfortunately, things didn't go as well as the day before. He was rushing and wasn't quiet in the halt–he was fidgety. However, the judge did like his forward trot and his nice bend. After our go, a bay Hackney went, followed by a dark bay German Sport Horse(the driver said it was a German Riding Pony that got too big) with a white blaze and white socks. Both are driven by very good drivers, and the one with the German horse has competed in Intermediate and Advanced competitions overseas, though not with the same horse. The horses were very good movers, and the Hackney had the high stepping trot. It was neat to see.

Cones course

Pistachio didn't relax any more for the cones course in the afternoon. For cones, there are pairs of cones that you go between, forming gates, with 20  gates on the course. The course was a fun, windy course. Gate two was a serpentine with three cones to wind around. There was even a bridge and deep indent(a downhill followed immediately by an uphill) that is filled with water when it rains, which didn't happened this weekend. Unfortunately, we had a refusal at gate 10, which was heading into the indent.

 For marathon, the driving equivalent of cross country, he was fast and didn't want to relax. Marathon was a long windy, 3.81 kilometer course with 40 gates and two hazards, obstacles you wind around, placed in the course. The hazards had A, B, C, and D parts. They were tricky because had to make several rollbacks and turn around a few time to go through them in the correct direction with the red on the right. Those went pretty well. However, after the first hazard, the strap on his back came undone and the strap that goes behind him fell down to his hocks. He was good about not panicking while I fixed it. This caused us major time faults. We ended up driving the course in 21:19, and OT was 17:35.

Driving through hazard 1.

The blues are from dressage and marathon(each class was judged separately) and the yellow
is for the overall placing.

 The classes were judged separately at that event, and we earned two blue ribbons, one for dressage and one for marathon(we were actually the only large pony at Prelim). Overall, we placed third, behind the Hackney and German Sport Horse.

Schooling for Driving Show

 Saturday, I went with Pistachio and his owner, Gretchen to practice for the coming show, which is this coming weekend. Since the facility is nearby, we took Pistachio there to practice. I groomed and lunged him before we began driving.

 We started by driving through the cones course, a course of twenty pairs of cones that you drive between. It is the driving version of stadium jumping. The cones course went well; Pistachio was pretty relaxed throughout the day.

 Next we practiced hazards course, where we wind around wooden poles. Hazards have several "gates" in each one. You go through them in alphabetical order, making sure to keep the red and the right and not go through the wrong one. Sometimes you have to make a turn right after going through one or you will go through another obstacle by accident because one is right after it. The hazards practice also went well.

 After that, we rode on some of the trails that are part of the 4K marathon course. Pistachio was more relaxed this time than he was last time, which is really great. The course cannot be driven at the canter, so it is import an that the horse/pony is relaxed enough not to break into canter. I hope he is that relaxed at the show!

Sweaty after the drive

 We also drove through the dressage test. Driving tests are done in a 40 by 80 arena. The test contains several half circles that go from the wall to centerline or centerline to the wall(like the half ten meter circles in the 2011 dressage First Level), lengthenings
at walk and trot, and rein back. Besides the fact that Pistachio didn't keep his head still at the halt, it went well.

 We will be competing at Preliminary Level, the equivalent of eventing Preliminary. It is going to be Pistachio and Gretchen's first event at this level. It is going to be fun! I will also be wearing show clothes this time because this show is a driving trial and not a for fun event. I can't wait!

Driving on my Own and More Rides on Pistachio

 Last week I was able to drive a mini on my own! The woman who owns Pistachio, Gretchen, also owns a mini  named Shadow, who is really adorable, took me with her to drive with her driving group, who meets often to drive on the trails. I drove Shadow while she drove another mini names Sage.

He makes cute faces.

 Driving is not too different than riding in the sense that you use the reins to control the horse in the same way you do when riding. The main difference is that you are behind the horse(or mini in this case) and it is consequently more vocal and more based on the reins rather than seat. It was fun to be able to control the cart on my own this time, and although I had a bit trouble at first I got used to it.

 The whole group, which consisted of five mini and driver pairs, drove around a dressage arena a few times to stet out. Then we went down a path that led to a cones ours, which each of us drove one by one. I got lost going around it at first because I hadn't walked it before, and also knocked down a few cones, but made it through.

 After each of us had gone, we all drove all around the trails for quick a bit---at least an hour. One of the funnest parts was when we let the minis canter full speed up the steep hills. I enjoyed doing that, and it was pretty easy to get Shadow to slow down at the top since he is used to canter to the top, then slowing down once he reaches the top. It was an enjoyable experience.

 I have also been riding Pistachio several more times. He has been improving a lot since the first time I have first ridden him. While he had started out stiff and fast because he is mostly driven and not ridden, he is now much more relaxed, supple, and smooth. He doesn't try to take off and circles much more easily now. He even successful does leg-yields, though he us much better to right. Nevertheless I can see and feel an huge difference. Just being worked under saddle loosens up his muscles. It's a great feeling to ride a much more sideways leg yield with less resistance after only several rides. He even crosses his legs over very well, according to Gretchen and Mom. I could see him doing at least lower level dressage.

Halloween Haunt Driving Event

 This weekend I had the opportunity to navigate for a woman I know at a halloween driving event. It was fun! When we got there, we walked the Hazards course. Hazards are the driving version of cross country(called marathon usually). During this, the driver maneuvers around poles in the order marked, heading in the correct direction(red on the right), going as fast as they safely can since faster times are better There were three obstacles, each with a set of several poles, gates, and other things to weave between. They seemed to be tricky courses; if you went on the wrong side of a pole or stump, you would head through the wrong obstacle and thus get eliminated. After a long drive to get rid of Pistachio's extra energy, we began the hazards course. Other than a small rear, the course went fine. It was exciting driving and navigating. Yesterday I had even driven the mini Pistachio's owner has by myself!

Hazards.

Heading through obstacle B.

Exiting the hazards course.

After hazards was the costume pleasure class. Pistachio was dressed as poodle and looked very adorable! There was also a miniature horse dressed as a shark, another mini as a piñata, yet another mini as a hula dancer, and even a curly horse dressed with an Angry Birds theme! There was even a cute Belgian mule. All the costumes were cute. While showing off the costumes, everyone was participating in a pleasure class, which goes a lot like a flat class.  Everyone drives around  the arena at once, walking, trotting, and halting whenever they are told to. Pistachio did well and earned a third place ribbon! His owner let me keep the ribbon too for helping her out! Pistachio also won second place for the costume contest.

Watch out for the shark!

Pistachio, Myself(right) and my friend who is driving.

 Since it was a small show, people got ribbons for each individual event, not the whole thing, so ribbons were awarded for the Hazards that evening.We didn't get a ribbon for that, but received the pleasure class ribbon.

Piñata

Angry birds and a curly horse!

 The next day was the cones course and a poker run. We started with the poker run in the morning, driving along the trailers and collecting cards along the way. The trail was marked with signs telling us where to go, and along the way were five boxes with cards sealed in envelopes. Upon reaching each box, we would take one card out and move pin. Pistachio was frisky and full of go. It was very fun driving along the trails. We did miss one turn, but managed to find the correct after getting all the other cards. Unfortunately we did not win that, but it was fun anyways. It's a pretty neat idea to play poker by driving the trails and collecting the cards, then seeing who won afterwards.

Cones course.

 The final event was the cones course. The cones course is the driving version of stadium jumping and works much the same way. There are pairs of cones that you must go through, in this case 20, set up in a course that you must complete quickly. Knocking down a cone is worth 4 faults and is equivalent to knocking down a rail in stadium jumping. We had walked the course previously and the cones were number, so we knew the course. However since Pistachio is a small pony and was up against other ponies and a bigger horse, the curly, we had to speed through the course. It was a fun ours and we made pretty good time. It was going well until we passed the bridge(there is usually a water obstacle but not this time) and went through the third to last and second to last cones. As we headed to the last one, we weren't lined up to it correctly and ended up knocking down one of the cones. It was disappointing because our time was fast enough that we would have placed first, but it was just a small event and still fun. I can't wait to navigate again.

Pony Power!

Sorry for the lack of updates. I haven't been up to much horsey things lately since everything has been so hectic with the barns changing. By November I will probably be back to the regular schedule again. Since I haven't had lessons, a woman that I know let me ride her driving pony, a cute cremello/champagne gene gelding named Pistachio. He is adorable! I had ridden in their driving cart last month, but this week I rode him for the first time.

Cutie!

 It was my first time riding a pony, so I wasn't quite used to it at first, but by the second ride on him, I was more used to it. Pistachio isn't worked under saddle too often, but he was fairly good for the first ride besides being very energetic and stopping at one corner of the arena, near his friend, a mini horse. I had to push him forward each time I reached that area.

Cantering

 For my second ride on him, which was Friday, he was much better. There was no stopping at that one corner, and no incidents. I trotted him around the arena, across the diagonals for a bit in both directions, then decided to try cantering him. I made a small circle the right, just as I did with Moe, to ask for a right lead canter first as he doesn't bend well to the left. Once he slowed down and became calm, I vocally asked for the canter. It went well! No sudden bumps as I expected. His transition was very smooth, as was his canter. He only managed a few strides at first, but I worked up to riding a longer canter and even cantered around the entire arena. I was surprised at how fast his canter was. He is speedy, so I had to work on half halting him to slow him down.

 I tried cantering to the left a bit, but I could tell he had a hard time bending that way and only did it for a little bit. I also tried leg yielding him since his owner said that Pistachio needs to practice it. He did it a little bit, yet didn't cross his legs over and go as sideways as he should. I rewarded his efforts with a pat and after a few minutes rode him on a makeshift serpentine(the arena wasn't marked) to get him to bend more.

 I will be riding him more times after this, and next weekend I will ride in his driving cart again and be a navigator for his owner at the driving event. I'm looking forward to it!

 Also check out this giveaway from Equestrian Journey.

2014 World Equestrian Games

 For most people, big sport events of 2014 means the Winter Olympics, but for us equestrians, it means the World Equestrian Games, which will be held in Normandy, France this year. This year, 1000 competitors will be there, competing in the eight most popular disciplines: dressage, jumping, eventing, reining, endurance, vaulting, driving, and para-dressage. Unlike in Lexington in 2010, this year's World Equestrian Games will be held in multiple locations, rather than just one site. Most of the competition will take place in Caen, the regions capital. The dressage and cross-country phase of eventing will be Haras du Pin, one of the national stud farms, and the endurance competition will be over an hour away from Caen. I can't wait to watch it, but for now I'll leave you with the official trailer, by Alltech.