A victory at Virginia Horse Trials

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Lindsay Berreth

I didn’t have huge expectations going into this weekend- I hadn’t had a jump or flat lesson in three weeks and had been in Spain for much of that time. I was kind of tired driving down on Friday and knew it was going to be a hot and sticky weekend. We had a decent flat ride once we got there, but Oh So definitely felt like he needed to be more laterally supple. I schooled some movements from the test since I hadn’t had a chance to have a decent flat school earlier in the week.

Our dressage time on Friday was early, so that helped conserve our energy. He got a little up once we started trotting around the ring, but started things off right with a square halt. He kind of blew off my right leg throughout the test, so it just felt a bit rough to me. Low and behold, we were in first after dressage in a big division with a 29.6!

The cross-country course was a bit different than last fall, but I’m so comfortable with the venue that I felt confident going out, even in the heat of the day. We only did about four jumps in the warm up and we hit ear spot perfectly. The theme of the course was definitely angling. The first question was at 4ab. It walked a good five strides, and we took the direct route in instead of bending the line. We got to the first part slightly short, landed, did two strides, and I saw an easy four out, so he lengthened and made it out fine. I’m glad we’ve spent so much time on our canter lengthenings!

I took a bit of a flyer to a roll top downhill and had to really get him back fast to a skinny chevron. The next question was a cabin, then a choice of a left or right line to a really wide triple bar type brush. We chose the right side and angled the cabin in. He was a bit fussy to the first part, but locked on just in time.

After a few good galloping fences, we had a smallish extremely angled set of cabin with one stride in between. It felt comfortable in the middle, but the photos look like he took off quite long. The water was the usual log in, then a sharp bending line to a big, square table out. I wasn’t loving that line, because it tends to get wet at the takeoff for the table and then horses slide and clobber the max table. He jumped up around it quite nicely, even if we were a bit short to it. We had an angled bank up, one stride to a cabin which he did easily. The last question was a coffin at the bottom of the hill. We got in ok, did the one stride to the ditch, then should have gotten a three, but we kind of flubbed the third stride. Next time I need to to sit up faster after the ditch so he really rocks back and jumps around the last part. We finished about 10 seconds over the time for 4.8 time penalties.

For show jumping, I took him up to an empty ring and just let him walk, trot and canter stretching, then I walked up and down a hill for a few minutes before heading over to warm up. We didn’t jump too many fences, but he was really jumping up and over some of them. I was nervous as usual, but we went in and only had one down that he barely touched with his hind toe. He was actually trying really hard, which I don’t always feel in show jumping. It was one of few rounds where I came out and actually felt good about on my part and his. As is normal for this event, we had time faults. Eight to be exact, but I was more concerned about the quality of the jumping, plus everyone else had time faults too, so we ended up winning!

After I saw the score board, I honestly thought I would cry. I never thought we’d win at prelim, let alone in only our fourth one together. My goal still is to finish on my dressage score, but how can I complain after he tried so hard this weekend for me?

Next up is Seneca in three weeks. I’ll post photos here as soon as I get my cd from Brant Gamma.

I’m also working on a blog about my trip to Spain, and I’m gradually uploading photos, so I’ll link to those as soon as possible. It’s a tedious process for sure!

MCTA Recap

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Lindsay Berreth

I’m resting up after an eventful day at MCTA. It was quite humid and it really caught up with me by the end of the day. Our dressage was decent I thought, but we only scored a 38, so that was disappointing. There was his usual bobble after the free walk and his let leg yield was a bit too shoulders-leading, but otherwise, I was surprised by the score.

Show jumping was on a grassy area, but there wasn’t too much of a slope. I think he was a bit flat because the course was really open. It wasn’t max height, which helped my nerves, but we had two rails. One was in the one stride, and the other was me getting him in a little short to the triple.

Cross-country had some decent questions, but it wasn’t as overwhelming as Morven Park. At fence 4, I almost fell off because I rode too backwards to an angled cabin. He jumped in awkwardly and I fell forward, but righted myself in time for a big drop down to two strides to a skinny. I felt a little inconsistent to some of the gallop fences, but I really rode the big trekhener well and sat in the backseat a bit.

There was a bounce bank up, which neither of us had ever done, but he handled it really well. I got a little lost after that and went through the wrong gap, so I had to stop and turn him around. Oops! It disrupted our rhythm a bit and added some unnecessary time faults, but whatever.

He did the coffin really well and the water sequence which was a drop in, four strides to a skinny out, four strides to a chevron. He got a little close to the B and C elements, but was quick with his feet and felt safe.

Overall, he was a bit fussy in the bridle in the jumping phases for some reason, but the cross-country was a good learning experience for both of us. We had 18 time faults, but without the detour, I think we would have been closer to 15 or 20 seconds, and that was what I was expecting for this first season at prelim. I’m not trying to be competitive, but it’s frustrating not coming home with a ribbon after all of our success last year. We ended up 11th this time out.

I decided this week that it was time to take Sam’s back shoes off. I’ve been riding him less and I figured we’d save some money. It’s a big step towards retirement, but once his soles toughen up, I think he’ll be happy.

Now I’m busy packing for Spain. We leave on Friday. I can’t believe it’s already here!

Back from Rolex

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Lindsay Berreth

I’m back from a beautiful weekend at Rolex. It was my first time back since 2005, besides WEG in 2010, and a lot has changed. The course was generally in the same direction and I was able to see most of it as the day went on.

The cross-country was pretty chaotic with only 30 horses completing. Some of the pairs I was rooting for like Becky and Comet and Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen didn’t make it around, but I was still able to see some top class riding from Boyd Martin, Andrew Nicholson, Andrew Hoy and of course, William Fox-Pitt.

I got back late Sunday and am now preparing for MCTA horse trials this weekend. Oh So felt good yesterday on the flat and we did some baby jumps and went for a hack today. Tomorrow I’m taking him up to Middleburg to hang out for the day and we’ll do a jump lesson in the evening.

Sam had the week off last week because I was pretty busy and he hadn’t been feeling good on the flat. I rode him yesterday and today and had two of the best rides in months. He was soft in his mouth and wanted to stretch, even in warmup. The canter was another story. He doesn’t really want to stay in left canter, so I didn’t push it.

Now it’s on to MCTA and Spain next Friday. I can’t believe it’s happening so soon!

Feeling Better

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Lindsay Berreth

Oh So’s been feeling better the past two weeks since he banged his stifles at Morven. He still has the scars, but he’s sound and happy to be back to work. We had a great jump lesson last weekend, just popping over training height fences. He cantered around very easily and it was a good first school back after his lameness.

I took him to Morningside the next day for a canter on the track and some hill work. He actually seemed a bit tired, but I think the hills did his hind end some good. It’s important that I strengthen his hind end so he’s physically fit enough to do combination after combination at the prelim level. He can gallop and jump all day long, but I want to make sure we have all of our bases covered, especially now that it’s going to start getting hot.

I’m settling in to my new job at COTH well and it looks like I’ll be doing a bit of traveling this summer, starting with the U.S. Dressage Team Selection Trials in Gladstone, N.J. in June.

Rolex is next week and I’m finally getting excited about it! I have my shopping list, I’m saving my money and it should be a lot of fun.

A big test

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Lindsay Berreth

So the last week has been kind of a blur. I took Oh So to a combined test at Loch Moy on Sunday with mixed results. His dressage was very good. We were able to warm up right near our ring so we worked our way over when it was time for our test. We did Prelim test A, which at first I didn’t like, but it actually rode really well. He had good leg yields and good canter work, but yet again had a bit of an explosion after the free walk. We got a 35, which was respectable.

The jumping was a bit rough, although we had a great warmup. I think I got in the ring and he was a little too quiet, which is unusual, and got a bit behind my leg. I wasn’t finding my distances and both rounds were just overall inconsistent.

This past weekend we competed at Morven Park prelim. My times were really close, so I barely had time to think! The warmup was a bit chaotic as it can be there, but we stayed pretty focused. I thought our test was average and the leg yields weren’t as strong as they can be. We ended up with a lot of 7′s and 8′s for a 30.0. And we were in first after dressage against a lot of professionals and fancy warmbloods! The judge actually said our test was consistent, which is not always the case.

I barely had time to walk my show jumping course before I had to ride it. It was in the smaller ring, but for whatever reason, I actually rode forward and most of the course was really good. As I came to the final triple combination, I thought to myself, “Wow, we’re clear so far, what will I do to mess this up?”. Well, we took a big spot in and paid the price by having the last rail down. That kind of rattled me, so I missed my turn to the final oxer and had to circle and jump it. Whoops! So we ended up with an unnecessary 4 faults plus 3 time faults.

The cross-country was really big and tough. It was combination after combination, including a lot of things he’s never seen before. Fence 4A was an angled, bending line of skinny cabins which we got a bit close to, but he was honest out. Fence 6 was a huge drop with a big chevron four strides later. It was definitely the biggest drop we’ve ever done and he hesitated, but landed and got the four strides easily.

There was a keyhole that he didn’t bat an eyelash at and plenty of square tables that would usually bother me, but there was so much else to think about on the course. The water jump was a big log, two strides to a log on top of a drop into water, then a skinny out. He jumped the first part well, but hesitated as he was dropping into the water. I was a bit in my knees as I tend to get, and he bumped me loose as he brought his stifles down too early. I righted myself though and we made it out over the skinny, but he did scrape his stifles enough to bleed a little. Grease next time I think!

There was a tough combination called The Canyon that was almost like a tunnel into the woods, surrounded by rocks, then up a steep bank and two strides over a log. He was really hesitant to the first part and I dropped my crop. The bank up was good, but he almost stopped dead on top and was a little awkward over the log out.

The corner was at a tough angle, but he jumped it honestly and he balked a bit at the trekehener. The last combination was The Quarry; a log, straight down to a ditch and the up to a skinny. He usually has no problem with ditches, but definitely was taken aback by the question. We finished with two really nice jumps over some tables. We were about 30 seconds over the time, but I wasn’t concerned with that.

We ended up 10th. Overall, I think he handled it well. I wish my position had been a little more solid to help him through some of the stickier combinations. He definitely felt green again and I think he had his ego knocked down a notch. Training level was easy, so he actually has to work a bit!

I got on him yesterday and did some walk and trot. When I tried to canter left, he was very lame from behind. I’m putting him back on bute and giving him a few more days off with some walking under saddle possibly. Luckily we have a break from competition until after I go to Rolex, so I hope he feels better soon. If he’s not better by the weekend, I might have to get x-rays.

New Horizons

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Lindsay Berreth

Things have been going quite well in the last two weeks since I’ve come back from Southern Pines. Oh So is feeling really good on the flat and I’ve had some nice really nice jump schools too. Today I went cross-country schooling at Locochee. We mostly went for the gallop/hill work, but put together a little course going in and out of the water a few times and over a trekehner. He locked on to everything and made it all seem really easy. I feel perfectly prepared for the cross-country at Morven Park, and this weekend we’re going to Loch Moy to do a combined test and extra jumping round as our final prep.

In other news, I got a job! The week after Southern Pines, The Chronicle of the Horse offered me a full-time job as a proofreader/writer/show results on the editorial staff. I’m not sure how much time I’ll be spending on each of those things, but it should prove interesting. I’m glad to be a part of the team again and maybe I’ll get to travel a bit too this year.

I’ll be sad to leave the NSLM, but I’ll be right next door and I’m excited to see how the museum grows this next year.

Optimum Time

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Lindsay Berreth

I’m back and recovered from a gorgeous weekend at Southern Pines I. We got to the Carolina Horse Park about 3pm on Friday and after unpacking, I took Oh So for a hack/flat school. He was a bit tense and settled a bit as we kept going, but I was hoping for a more “long and low” type ride, which I didn’t get.

On Saturday, he still seemed a bit tense, but I thought I had him going pretty well in the warmup. It was chaotic, with probably 25 horses in a huge warmup arena and six dressage rings going at once. Our test had some good moments I thought and was thinking it would score around a 35 because he did get tight after the free walk, which I still battle with every time I do this test. We ended up with a 39, which was not what I was expecting, to sit tied for 12th place. It was just a bit more competitive down there this time of year because I think a lot of people have been competing since January.

The cross-country course was fairly small, but the water was a good challenge. It was basically a miniature version of the prelim with a cabin, three strides to a bank into water and then a log out. When we had one minute to go in the box, they held the course to fix a footing problem there. That wasn’t fun to try to keep a handle on him! Apparently a lot of the horses weren’t reading the bank right because it didn’t really have a lip on the edge and there were a lot of falls and eliminations.

But Oh So tackled everything quite easily and most of the gallop fences felt more like speed bumps! We ended up staying tied with the same person after cross-country and I knew that since she was closer to the optimum time, if we stayed the same, she’d get the higher placing. Guess what? We both had a rail in show jumping and she ended up eighth with the last ribbon in the division, and I was ninth. Oh well, I needed to be moving along more across country anyways with eyes towards prelim, but it would have been nice to bring home a ribbon.

We had fence three down and I’m not quite sure why. He was really jumping over everything and just hit that one with his front foot. The course was quite hunter-y with long lines and no triple, but I was pleased with myself to get all of the strides in between and not add.

So overall a good pipe opener before prelim at the end of the month at Morven. We’re headed to a combined test at Loch Moy on the 25th where we’ll do some extra show jumping rounds to practice at that height.