Some of us are wrapping up our show season and may be asking, “Did I stick to my goals that I set for myself this past season? What are my goals for the off season”?  Curious minds may want to know…am I all talk and no action? I certainly have been chatting about my goals in many of my posts.

At the beginning of this season, my goal was to expose my very green horse, Sean, to many new environments and show situations so that he would become more comfortable and manageable and I wanted to do a horse trial at the end of the season. For those of you who also have very green horses,  you probably can relate to the issues and nervousness that often accompany both horse and rider in this situation.  Sean was so nutty at the end of last season that I wasn’t even sure if I would be able to ride him at a horse trial or if I would rather have my trainer to do his first one. I methodically stuck to my plan. I took regular lessons, entered schooling shows that included both jumping and dressage and went to horse camp.

The first show that I took Sean to this season was a schooling dressage show. I entered two Intro classes to make it easy on both of us, you know, walk trot. Hello… let’s just say that I couldn’t get on him until five minutes before my designated test time. He was so wild, rearing and bucking, that I had to dismount and spent the whole time longeing him, while my trainer looked on, (in the snow and wind)! We did make it into the show ring and he stayed in the ring, (a big accomplishment in itself), and we finished the test. (Did I fail to mention that I got lost in Walk Trot A), as my coat virtually blew back over my head going down the long side? An inauspicious start!  Our second test of the day was much better. I even remembered it and we received a good score in the 60’s. Okay, first goal met; showing him…in public.

We entered some jumper shows,  starting small and worked our way up, getting more and more relaxed, with adequate and controlled longeing often involved beforehand. A little chaotic at first, with some oohs and aahs from the spectators, not necessarily the good kind, but we went clean and picked up more ribbons.

More lessons, more places and another show at GMHA, this time a two phase, dressage and stadium. He was actually rideable in the dressage warm-up among a lot of horses and he did quite well in his dressage. However, the stadium warm-up was another story. There was a lot going on and to him it was something different.  We did make it in, with help, and had a clean round, winning our class! Of course, I was ribbed endlessly by my son who was competing at the same show, but doing three phases at a higher level.  Honestly, I did not feel Sean was ready for the next step of cross country. I had visions of winding up in another county.  Our whole approach has been slow and steady, which may seem like an oxymoron when talking about an off the track Thoroughbred!

Next, we were off to have a western experience with some desensitization work that included sorting cows; more information under his belt, and in his little brain, so to speak.  He coped fairly well and I could see some changes starting to take place. Yet, I still knew that there were two major things missing in his repertoire. Sean was very reactive on the trail and our first attempt at a cross country school resulted in me having to get off because, again, it was a new experience and he was extremely inattentive and nutty.

I worked with my trainer, Sue Berrill on the trail riding piece, believe it or not, because Sean was so exuberant, shall we say, on the trail and I gained more tools to deal with that kind of behavior. Completely against instinct, I have had to trail ride him with a long rein and that keeps him far more relaxed. I do, of course, have some little tricks up my sleeve, should the situation deteriorate.

Going to camp at Tamarack provided much needed exposure to more things and finally, some success at XC schooling, although I had to longe him forever beforehand, or so it seemed. However, after the camp experience, I was able to school him at GMHA over some XC jumps and he was fairly well behaved…progress.

Another two schooling dressage shows under our belt, winning one class that included canter and things were looking up.  With the deadline quickly approaching for the end of the year schooling horse trial at Hitching Post Farm, the time had come to make a decision. I felt we were ready, but how would he be at a new venue? The jumps weren’t the concern; between the jumps was my worry. To make matters worse, my trainer had a bad riding accident and wouldn’t be available for coaching. Nevertheless, I stuck to my plan and off we went to Hitching Post. Sean was a bit of a basket case in the beginning, but he calmed down enough to be obedient and dressage was tense but okay. We were second after dressage! He was a good listener on XC, but we had one stop, and he was great on stadium, going clean. Hooray…I achieved what I spent the whole year working towards. It may seem like a small achievement to some and a baby step, but there is some satisfaction in knowing that when things seem hopeless, or like the learning is taking forever, if one just keeps plugging away, success in one form or another is around the corner.

I keep coming back to a couple of things. One is what Denny Emerson said to us at camp, “Boldness comes from confidence, confidence comes from success”. That statement made me think about how I could make things successful for Sean and inspire his confidence. That influenced my plan a lot. Little by little, he has matured and has become bolder and quieter, relatively speaking, (Sean, that is. Denny is already mature, though not quiet)! The other thing I kept revisiting is something I learned in college, which is “shaping by successive approximation”, simply said, it means teaching with small building blocks and  achieving success at each stage before moving on. It certainly has given both Sean and me more confidence and trust in each other.

Now, I have to set goals for the winter. I know what our weaknesses are, I’ll consider what the judges have commented on at shows and with feedback from some available trainers, I will make a plan and stick to it. That is what will keep me motivated over the winter and I can’t wait until next season to venture even further.

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