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.

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.

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.

40 Questions

I saw Kalin at Cash's Steppin' Up do one of these, as well L. Williams at Viva Carlos, so I decided to do one to. Achieve1Dream modified it a little as there were some repeats.

1. Favorite thing about riding? Horses. I fell in love with horses when I was younger and decided I wanted to learn how to ride them.
2. Draft horse of pony? I prefer average sized horses over drafts and ponies, but if I had to decide I would want a draft because of their calm, kind temperaments.
3. English or western? English!
4. Dressage or hunter/equitation? I like hunter better than dressage because I love the excitement of jumping.
5. Green or trained horse? I would want a horse taught at least the very basics–riding, groundwork, and manners, and I would want to train it in a discipline of my choice. 
6. Worst fall? I haven't fallen yet, thankfully, and hopefully I get to keep it that way for the time being!
7. First fall, what happened?(see question 6)
8. Have you ever wanted to quite riding? No, I just started and have no plans of quitting. 
9. Favorite thing about your horse? I don't have one yet but my favorite thing about Reno, the horse I currently ride, is that he's the type of horse that you can ride and be focused on good equitation and learning how to ride without worrying about what he would do if you are not focused 100% on him. In short, he's a good lesson horse.
10. Least favorite thing about riding? Two things, the cost and snobs who always have to have the best, fancy warmblood and the nicest, new tack and pick on those who don't.
    
11. For trail riding, do you prefer a horse that likes to lead or a horse that likes to follow? I don't really do trail rides, but I would prefer to have a horse that follows because I don't like be in front much.
12. Do your prefer to ride inside or outside? I ride outside,  but if it's pouring down rain I'll prefer an indoor.
13. Do you show? No, but I plan to once I get a horse of my own.
14. How long have you been riding? Since November 2,  2013. 
15. Why did you start riding? I started because I love horses and Mom and Dad finally got some for me after more than a year of mercilessly begging.
16. How many times a week do you ride? I'm trying to do at once a week, but most of the time I'll probably just do 3 times a month.
17. Have you ever fallen at a show? How? I don't show and I haven't fallen off yet. 
18. Ever fallen at a jump? I haven't started jumping.
19. Ever been bucked off? No, Reno does not buck.
20. Do you have a privet or group lesson? I do a group lesson since it is better for a beginning rider to have one-on-one time the first few rides.
21. In your opinion, does it make less of a rider if you don't own a horse? No, some people do not have the privilege to own a horse, which is really not there fault. it doesn't make them any less of a rider than someone who does have a horse.
22. Trick riding or eventing? Eventing. 
23. What discipline do you want to try? Why? I have always wanted to do show jumping. It seems exciting to be soaring over jumps, even 2 foot ones.
24. Ever had barn drama? No, and I hope not to. Fortunately, the girls at my lesson barn seem nice and I don't think I'll have any drama from them. 
25. How many barns have you been to, as in visited or boarded at? I haven't been to barns many times. As far as I can remember, only Silver Rose Ranch, where I take lessons. I have, however, been to several ranches, though one kept their horses in a covered paddock and I haven't seen where the other one keeps it's horses.
26. Do you plan on having horses in your life, for the rest of your life? Yes! I want to own a rescue for ex-rachorses if I can, as well as have me own personal horse.
27. Favorite Tumblr equestrian? I'm not on Tumblr, but I follow lots of blogs with awesome people! There are all awesome in there own way.
28. Favorite Tumblr horse?(see above) All their horses are awesome as well.
29. If you could ride any famous horse, dead or alive, who would it be? Why? I would want to ride Snowman, the great show jumper from the '50s and '60s. He was an amazing jumper and a just as amazing lesson horse. 
30. Does winning ribbons matter to you? Having fun and doing the sport I love matters more to me than taking home the blue.

    

    I love this quote!

31. Favorite color, breed, and gender of horse? I love Thoroughbreds and I love geldings. Color isn't a big deal to me, though I do think chestnuts, bays, and palominos are cute. 
32. Worst riding experience? I haven't had any bad riding experiences yet.
33. Ever been on a trail ride? I do go on a short loop around the barn after every ride to cool down Reno. It's technically a trail, so yes. 
34. Hunter or jumper? Jumper!
35. Is there a horse that you knew and loved but didn't own and really wish you could have owned? Nope, there aren't really any horses that I know/knew, but LOPE in Texas had a horse Witt's Midway, that looked sweet. He always got up close to the photographer and started grazing within ten minutes of arriving at the ranch for the first time.
36. Ever wanted to buy a school horse? No, although there are other  horses I have wanted and will never have.
37. Have you been knocked unconscious by a horse? No, I have never had any accidents around horses.
38. Ever ridden a horse 17hh+. No. Reno is only about 15hh, and he is the only horse I have ridden.
39. Ever ridden a horse 13hh or lower? Nope, only a horse 15hh.
40. What is your favorite season to ride? Fall is nice here in California. the temperatures are cool, and the rain doesn't come until winter. Perfect riding weather!