Have you been "that" person? [Archive]

enjoytheride

Jun. 27, 2008, 05:29 PM

You know, the one zooming around slightly out of control on a horse a wee bit too green/hot/crazy? Were you pretty sure that nobody watching thought you should be jumping anything above groundpoles? Did you school then show up and get Ed at something easy? Fence 1? The water? Did people show up to take bets on if you'd survive? Did anyone gasp at your round?

I think there's a big difference between being the one that made people gasp and having no clue and realizing you looked like a fool and being a bit embarased!

I'd schooled a few feet above the height I was entered in at a Spring show. Showed up and the horse went ballistic with the atmosphere so I scratched my higher class, spent most of the day circling or walking between tiny fences. Felt like a fool and rode horribly because I was being super defensive. Next show bopped around and horse napped between courses.

RAyers

Jun. 27, 2008, 05:38 PM

What do you mean, "have been?"

I still are.

Reed

frugalannie

Jun. 27, 2008, 05:42 PM

Me too.

mjrtango93

Jun. 27, 2008, 05:51 PM

My advanced horse caused a few :eek: moments at times when he was coming up. For some reason he just didn't get the concept of neatly dinking off things and felt the need to take a flying leap off anything with a drop. Seeing how he was already going prelim/intermediate then, it had some entertainment factor there. He also had an issue with related distances, like he would leave at least 1 if not 2 out (yes I am the one that bounced the prelim 1 stride at Trojan I, and followed that the following weekend by bouncing the intermediate 2 stride at Trojan II). In my defense though I was never fast and out of control (I'm a chicken and hate going fast!) and we did it well, I was tight and his knees were in his eyeballs :D Finally got him to quit doing it for the most part at advanced (thank god!!!!), the drops took all the way through his first *** then he figured it out on course at the World Cup and never did it again (stange Irish horses).

My new guy is just......errrrr.......exuberant! I can attest to the fact that getting your horse going forward does not mean he can't still buck, actually just makes them a bit more dramatic at speed.

RoeVee

Jun. 27, 2008, 05:52 PM

Me three. I have been the one that gets the comment 'nice job staying on'. My older horse is either a rockstar or eliminated. Never know which one I am going to get.:eek:

ugh.

FLeckenAwesome

Jun. 27, 2008, 06:07 PM

yeah......i'm sure people were terrified of us at the ark in feb....it went like this.....spook at the ducks and never made it to fence one at an approach that allowed jumping..circle and jump, jump fence two, jump fence three, jump fence four at a big angle...i land in a head, think i have it back together...even tell the jump judges "we've got it now" and then proceed to have a refusal at the next jump...circle jump it fine...cross the street, jump the ditch, land in a heap and don't continue onto the log two strides out...circle, jump it fine, jump the next jump fine, then refuse the ditch and wall , which should have eliminated us but they told me to keep going... jump the double combo and then stop at the trakenher......then i decided for sure... we were done!

and... of course... i ride the big loud app so it's not like you can't NOT SEE me. so yeah... then i convince john williams to let me jump stadium and my stupid self has a stop at fence two.... yeah! good stuff..... doh!!

so then.... it happens again!! the second big E!! doh, but atleast this time it was just an issue getting in the water and i did NOT feel that we were the crazy scary people THIS time.....

sometimes it's nice to have a obvious horse and sometimes... you just want to crawl into a hole and claim "not mine"!

4Martini

Jun. 27, 2008, 06:20 PM

I had a warm up two weeks ago where I wouldn't make eye contact as I was certain someone was going to come talk to me as part of their new repsonsibility to call scary people out.

We decided to trot the BN cross country until my horse grew a brain- it actually went really well and we had a blast. At least at 19 my horse still knows how to have a good time.

Amchara

Jun. 27, 2008, 06:33 PM

I got E'd at fence four.

For four stops, I got her over all the second times :rolleyes:

Caroline Weber

Jun. 27, 2008, 07:26 PM

The new guy I've been given to ride (free lease! :D) did a lot of prelim and some intermediate a few years ago before his owner went to vet school in Edinburgh. Since he was in serious need of a job and the mare I'd been eventing could've moved up to prelim only if liverpools were made illegal, I get to play with him now.

He needs a pretty experienced ride...with him, it's like toeing a very fine line. He gets exteremly strong, especially with anything under 3'9", but he hates pressure on his mouth (picture flinging his head up and down even with a mild bit - I'm ordering a martingale so he can actually SEE the jumps he's approaching), so you have to be as sparing as possible with the half halts. You can half halt every few strides until about 2 or 3 out, then you just have to ride him forward to the base and let him do his thing - if you half-halt too close to the fence, he decides you don't really want him to go. He goes best when you are super relaxed, which admittedly can be pretty difficult out on XC.

Luckily, he's a LOT better at events or jumper shows where all of the fences and the course are new. Repetition gets him very riled up, since he is under the impression that if he's seen it before, he doesn't really think and can thus just go flying around.

I've been working with him for about 4 months now and have only just entered an event with him - we could've easily gotten around earlier in the game, but it would've been ugly. At one of our jumping lessons I informed my trainer that "I refuse to be that person who makes everyone gasp during their round because it looks like they're going to crash and burn". Her response: "Yes, dear, I know."

It's entirely possible that when I get him to an event in a few weeks he'll revert to being a fire-breathing dragon (ah, those chestnut TBs!) who is totally deaf to my aids, but I have absolutely no problem retiring him if I don't feel like I have enough control to be safe. He is one who needs to be held facing backwards in the box, but he's much better once he's actually going. I am excited to see how he does in a few weeks!

TBKate

Jun. 27, 2008, 07:29 PM

I had people clearing the warmup arena at one show, surreptitiously asking my friend "Does she need more room?" to which my friend cheerfully replied, "Oh no, she's fine!" as we flew by. Thankfully we settled down (mostly) after that.

However, I still feel like "that" person on many days, lol! And FleckenAwesome, I feel your pain, since many of my "moments" lately have been on a bright golden Fabio-maned Haflinger capable of amazing spin-and-bolt maneuvers. Hard for people to miss the golden pony with 18 feet of mane flying across XC. ;)

Tuckertoo

Jun. 27, 2008, 07:36 PM

Ya, that's me. At my second event ever (and my OTTBs, lol, probably not the smartest decision but, it's all we had money for) at Greater Dayton, we put in an awesome dressage test to place in first with a 27.9 in BN, but then in stadium put in a horrific round:eek:. We over-jumped every jump, and it doesn't help that he sticks his tail straight up in the air over every fence. In the tape you can hear people going "Whee!!! Woah!" haha. The worst part was though, the last fence was a 2-stride, where he jumped in big, went waaaaayyyy to the right on the second fence, threw in a huge chip for a second stride, and just LAUNCHED over the second fence. I got way behind, then landed in front of the saddle with my leg parallel to the ground, he scooted away because I'm not in the right place in the tack, I somehow stayed on to make it past the finish line, stopped him, got myself repositioned and left the ring. It was a clear round, but definitely one I was not proud of. Ya, people told me "Good job staying on" but I was not pleased. It even put us in first place. Next day, went out and had an awesome x-c run and won.

Then last year at Lost Hounds I was in our first Novice, again won the dressage with a 21.0, then went to stadium and proceeded to ride the crappiest I've ever ridden. We got way too close to every jumped and launched over them, until my horse finally got sick of my crap and put on the brakes, it wasn't really even dirty, but I went off over his head. It was a pretty soft landing considering I landed sitting on the jump facing him. :lol: He just stood there looking at me like "What are you doing there?". Of course, with the new rule I got the big E, which, I ashamedly admit was sort of a relief for me because XC was scaring the $h!t out of me. Although I was kinda disappointed, because most of the time the show photographer takes a sequence of the fall, but not for me. I sort of wanted to see those pics, but alas, they are all of me ON the horse:lol:. Here's some proof of how bad it was.http://brantgamma.exposuremanager.com/g/borderbeckylh

We haven't had a chance to redeem ourselves yet since he hurt his suspensory before out next go, but I'm excited to have another go at it. It'll be this fall or maybe next spring before we try again, because I want to be sure I'm ready this time, so we don't have anymore scary rounds. :D

ETA: Yes, TBKate and FleckenAwesome, I, too feel your pain. Although not quite as stand out as your horses, my gray guy attracts some attention and has a unique style anyway, so sometimes it's cute attention when we're just standing, but when I go to stadium, I just wish there was no one there.

three_dayer

Jun. 27, 2008, 07:39 PM

yes ive cleared the dressage warm up with my advanced horse...one time i was just being a spectator, since all my horses were either retired or someone else was riding them, i was watching someone on x-c and they kept leaving strides out and i kept on gasping, while one of my freinds that was standing next to me turned and said what are you gasping at? thats what you looked like all the time on x-c...(thats on the horse that i cleared the dressage warmup with) oh well he was safe(sort of) and he always took care of me...i really don't like being oh your that crazy girl on that crazy horse...not a good rep:) oh well what can ya do?.

Duramax

Jun. 27, 2008, 07:40 PM

Enough said:

http://pets.webshots.com/photo/1220726118059512712ZKFajK

Caroline Weber

Jun. 27, 2008, 07:58 PM

Here's some proof of how bad it was.http://brantgamma.exposuremanager.com/g/borderbeckylh

It may have been bad, but that is a NICE looking horse you've got under you!

BarbB

Jun. 27, 2008, 08:05 PM

:yes:

KBG Eventer

Jun. 27, 2008, 08:17 PM

I have definitely felt like I have been "that" person. My horses have had various degress of sainthood. What annoys me is that some people seem to think that people like me take their horse's for granted. I shove treats in my horse's face and thank him all the time for putting up with some of my riding. I try really hard, but what can I say?...definitely not pro material right here folks :lol:. Sonny only goes as good as I ride him so I am not going to go clear if I am completely and utterly riding like crap, but he makes up for some of mistakes for sure!

Tuckertoo

Jun. 27, 2008, 08:21 PM

It may have been bad, but that is a NICE looking horse you've got under you!

Aww, thanks! Ya, he's a pretty special guy. He tries to put up with my crap, and most of the time he does, but at Lost Hounds he'd had it, since I had been doing the same thing in warm-up. I don't blame him for stopping. Alas, if only I could give him as good a ride as he deserves.

TheHunterKid90

Jun. 27, 2008, 10:16 PM

Yeppp.
Took a horse that was a month u/s to his first BN horse trial.
Dressage....very brave as the letters on the outside of the ring were falling over and flying off.
Then we went out XC....b4 he even came out of the start box he had his eye on the first fence (12 strides out) I proceeded to beat him to the first fence where he climbed it and I got left wayyy behind but we kept going. Had a few fences like that including the water (his 2nd time seeing water).....I clucked, kissed, and "Good Boyed" the whole way. (It was a very amusing scene for the jump judges who all smiled and chuckled when they heard "GITTTT, GRRRR<, GIITTTT, oh sh!t...GOOD BOYYYY" haha
Came back the next day for stadium where he went with 2 rails to finish 4th at his first HT in an open division.
If I remember correctly, witnesses to my coach quote her covering her eyes, cursing loudly whenever she saw us approaching a fence...but then wopping and hollaring when he didn't refuse and I was still in the tack after the fence.
Oh the joys of riding green beans. =]

Eventrgrl

Jun. 27, 2008, 10:39 PM

Kcisawesome

Jun. 27, 2008, 10:41 PM

yup. And I am not proud of it.

At Spring Run...I did not relize it until after the fact, but I was that person who went to fast and fell off because of it...

This weekend at midsouth..I am that person with a 49% dressage score and in dead last...

sigh...

shea'smom

Jun. 27, 2008, 10:44 PM

Duramax, that is purty! Looks like me trying to jump a grid while hoping none of the 60 pony clubbers on the grounds are anywhere within eye sight.

ThirdCharm

Jun. 27, 2008, 11:31 PM

Um, definitely. It took a long time for my Prelim horse to settle down at shows in general. Then to settle down for dressage. Then for me to get a handle on her jumping style. And most recently my Novice horse, who thought approaching horses were a good reason to rear/spin/bolt, and stadium jumps were pickup sticks, but is finally starting to catch a clue.... *sigh*

Jennifer

nirvana002

Jun. 28, 2008, 12:47 AM

What do you mean, "have been?"

I still are.

Reed

Then maybe you shoudn't be judge and jury for anyone else. It's all about safe riding..right?

RAyers

Jun. 28, 2008, 12:58 AM

Then maybe you shoudn't be judge and jury for anyone else. It's all about safe riding..right?

Pot, may introduce you to a kettle. I suggest you spend some time reading up on me here and know your audience before you judge me. You might find there is a term called sarcasm. I use it quite a bit. It is a common literary and conversational method used to elicit a humorous response. I guess my response here might also be termed irony to show that all riders at some point have been that person, such as yourself at some point, I am sure.

Reed

nirvana002

Jun. 28, 2008, 01:18 AM

Pot, may introduce you to a kettle. I suggest you spend some time reading up on me here and know your audience before you judge me. You might find there is a term called sarcasm. I use it quite a bit. It is a common literary and conversational method used to elicit a humorous response. I guess my response here might also be termed irony to show that all riders at some point have been that person, such as yourself at some point, I am sure.

Reed

NO DOUBT...I have been a disaster and have offered the USEA all of my videos from the time I was 13 on my mare..I have nothing to hide. Trust me I know sarcasm...I tend to use it with friends in a funny haha way, not in a nature that is this serious. I also have not put people down the way you have. I understand mistakes are made and so should you if you are willing to admit you are a rider that people look at in horror. Imagine if you were in the limelight with that look of horror. I can totally admit I was a nightmare in some of the younger years of my life...but I learned and I am safe and so are my students...I am not afraid to admit anything. It is not a big deal, when you can look forward to tomorrow.

piaffeprincess98

Jun. 28, 2008, 06:50 AM

I was "that" person once in stadium. A few years ago at MCTA, my guy had like 8 rails down. He even drifted so far to the right of the triple combination (at prelim), that he knocked the standards over. I think it was a combination of riding backwards, and me thinking I was ready for prelim just because I had the horse that had done advanced. We then dropped back down to training, got a coach/trainer to help me at events, and then we kicked butt at training and have had reasonable (read: safe) success at prelim.

BarbB

Jun. 28, 2008, 08:37 AM

Then maybe you shoudn't be judge and jury for anyone else. It's all about safe riding..right?

oh for cryin out loud.
If you had ever seen Reed ride you wouldn't be making an a$$ of yourself with comments like that.
And yes, I have seen you ride too.

frugalannie

Jun. 28, 2008, 08:53 AM

Hmmm...I thought this was one of our "time for some humor" threads...

Yes, there are gasps of horror when I ride. Usually along the lines of "what is that old hag doing on that nice horse?".

LR1976

Jun. 28, 2008, 09:48 AM

:yes:

Me too. :lol:

LR1976

Jun. 28, 2008, 10:07 AM

KBG Eventer

Jun. 28, 2008, 10:36 AM

And looking at the videos from Poplar Place...why oh why do they ALWAYS RUN away after the rider comes off. At Otter Creek this spring I watched a girl come off clear in the back on XC. Her horse got a bite to eat, put his head up and looked around like he was trying to get his bearings, realized where his stall must be and bolted as fast as he could back to it. :lol:

My old pony would always run after a nasty spin and dump. A couple of times though in the beginning his antics were a little milder...the spook and prop. If I came off with one of those he would stick around to graze. So if it was more his fault (how are you supposed to stay on a pony at speed when the neck and one shoulder disappears?)=run away fast, I could have stayed on=stick close by.

Sonny and Tyler both graze when anyone falls off them.

melodiousaphony

Jun. 28, 2008, 10:41 AM

::sigh::
My stadium rounds can be a bit off, particularly if stadium is before cross country. We get balled up in warm up, me because I am on the verge of loosing it trying to not run over trainers that stand in front of jumps, etc., etc., and my poor horse because he is the super-sensitive type that tries to hold it together for me but figures if I'm upset, he should be too.
On two different occasions I have has people congratulate me for staying on my horse after stadium. It's not something I'm proud of, as it's partially my fault that he does what he does (buries to the base and SPRINGS over things). Staying on, while my base goal, is not the end goal; smooth and enjoyable is the end goal.
Once, I walked by the EMTs, grinned, and asked if they thought they might actually get to do something during my round. They said yes, but seemed to be happy I (1) acknowledged the issue and (2) could joke about it.
For the record, I am working REALLY hard on not to *be that girl*. Never thought I'd have to work so hard smoothing out stadium with Spot, as it always was my strongest phase with my mare.
It's sort of a shock, but the first stemp in not being that guy is admitting you are ;)

foxhavenfarm

Jun. 28, 2008, 11:35 AM

Enough said:

http://pets.webshots.com/photo/1220726118059512712ZKFajK

He he...I know what THAT feels like!:lol:

Nipntuck

Jun. 28, 2008, 11:45 AM

Yea, in the warm up. My mare can't handle having horses coming at her, so as we are approached she does the "spin and bolt". That usually gains us a wide space. :)

joliemom, again

Jun. 28, 2008, 12:33 PM

If scattering ponies in the warm up and making their little riders cry counts, then yes, I've been "that" person.

bornfreenowexpensive

Jun. 28, 2008, 01:55 PM

I've scattered people leading a horse.....

But really, at some point, most riders have had their hands full at a competition. I don't really get concerned by someone who is having a difficult ride, if they look competent....I guess I assume that they will make the right decision as to when to say when. What I HATE seeing, is some kid (or adult) dealing with a nut case of a horse who is obviously scared by what they are having to deal with. Or some rider completely out of control and going too fast, who obviously has NO clue that they are in danger. It isn't an issue to me if you actually have to RIDE at an event, if someone is obviously working through and issue. But it is very troubling to see a rider's confidence being shattered or someone who is clueless and going to get hurt.

three_dayer

Jun. 28, 2008, 10:36 PM

people used to come and watch me ride dressage just for the enertainment value..airs above the ground and such...just to see what happened next...same on x-c...but we never had a problem...i would say never try this at home:)

DeLovely

Jun. 29, 2008, 02:37 AM

haha, yes ofcourse I have been "that" person: gotten the "E" and have had some interesting situations resulting from usually a lack in concentration (momentary day-dreaming on XC) that have gotten me 20 penalites. ;) AND, I have almost gone offcourse in stadium, I think 3 times? Once, I actually succeeded in getting the E from skipping a fence. ;) But honestly, I consider myself a basically *safe* rider, although people may sometimes what the hell is going on in my mind :lol:

Oh, and if you think you are that bad of a rider, check out these videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw_jAd6X1LY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_cNgdG-SVY
Mixed in with the dressage footage shown, these videos are inadvertantly very strong propoganda against competing in eventing and instead taking up dressage :lol:

I'm not an event rider but I've got to admit that all your bad moments are the most fun for us spectators... as long as no one gets hurt. My favorites from those Poplar Place videos: the pony that jumped straight into every jump, the horse that is scared of the water, manages to put both front feet in and then pulls them out again, and all the buckers. Pretty funny to watch. Makes me realize that although I might like to pop over some cross country jumps now and then there is no way I could compete in this sport! My hats off to you guys for mustering up the courage! Even if it ain't pretty, I've got to admire the determination.

Bobthehorse

Jun. 29, 2008, 07:38 AM

I dont know if anyone thought I wasnt capable, or that I was a dangerous rider....but my baby's first event (also my friend was taking her little sisters new OTTB out for the first time) was kind of like MXC. DO. NOT. GET. ELIMINATED!

Stadium prompted the question: is that a horse or a rabbit? As AJ trotted in, spooked at the judges tent and almost reared across the start line....rocket launched over everything, forgetting the "over" part and landed in a heap every time. People were laughing. Someone said on my way out: "at least you know he can jump high".

My friend's horse just plowed through everything. I think she had every rail down.

XC was...an experience. Stop at fence 2, over it second try. Stop at fence 3, over it second time. To be fair, that was the jump judges. He had never seen those before and was so taken aback. Then he started to get it, and the last 3 jumps felt like a normal horse. At the finish, my friend who finished right before me said "how many did YOU have?"....she had 3....we were last and second last....what a joke! No one was broken or anything though, the horses were good for their first time out, and no one won MOST PAINFUL ELIMINATION OF THE DAY, but there were several pictures that showed up afterwards....MXC IMPACT REPLAYS!

yellowbritches

Jun. 29, 2008, 08:14 AM

Oh, I'm pretty sure I've embarrassed myself and all my connections more than a few times. There was the time Ralph bucked me off in dressage warm up (classy, Ralph), and I KNOW he and I had to have had some stadium rounds that made everyone go :eek:, wonder on on earth we could jump around xc, and usually ended up dropping ourselves out of contention of anything because of all the rails. Part of all that was, especially once I got MY act together, was that Ralph just didn't care about poles. He was very good on xc...usually.

Watching the Poplar videos reminded me of the time little mare dumped me in the ditch at VA, took off, and jumped the galloping lane ropes...not once, but twice, much to the horror of her owner!

And yesterday I was kinda hoping no one but the jump judges saw when, after fence 4, the 4 yr. old landed with his head between his knees, not bucking, because he doesn't buck, but just between his knees with the bit between his teeth and going very, very fast downhill. I stuck my feet out in front of me, sat WAY back and just started hauling on him to GET HIM TO LISTEN. Thankfully, I only had to do that once or twice and he was always very good to the fences...in between was a bit of a free for all, though.

Jazzy Lady

Jun. 29, 2008, 10:37 AM

I think people feared for my safety at Midsouth CCI* last year a bit...

Starting at the first jog: People in costume on hill... horse does 2 jog steps, jumps sideways AT me, rears and spins me around by the end of the reins OFF the ground to the other side of the jog track, and had to get chased down the jog track by td... (Yes, I have it on video too!)

Walking down to dressage in top hat and tails... overly fit dingbat decides that airs above the ground and bucking fits would be the appropriate way to GET to the warm up ring... Ground jury, meet idiot in his second attempt...

Phase A had to go RIGHT BESIDE B. My horse gets a little "wound" when horses gallop fast beside him... Phase A and C were a bit in the air. My coach and friends had a bet going that if I was going to get eliminated anywhere, it would be for falling off on Roads and tracks... lol. Ground Jury, meet idiot in his 3rd attempt

Made it through the 2nd jog with a bit more composure... no costumes on hill, but one eye on TD who chased him the first time...

Stadium... can you say spooky? It's a sign of good things to come when you have to xc ride a prelim show jump course... yup. No finesse. He's a good one.

He's lucky he's cute! ;)

Lose That

Jun. 29, 2008, 11:15 AM

Got bucked off a four year old yesterday in warm-up at a local hunter/jumper show. Horse had never bucked before. I was that person I hate, who gets canned and their horse tears around the show grounds running up people's butts. Actually, Scamper one-uped everyoe and ran INTO another horse, which I had never seen. It was amazing. The other horse was fine, btw. And then Scamper and I finished our day by beasting our way to Adult Walk-Trot Reserve Champion status. I vacillated between feelings of fulfillment and guilt over beating actual beginners... but as Third Charm pointed out, no one else was on a horse that had been under saddle two months.:lol:

Gry2Yng

Jun. 29, 2008, 05:07 PM

MOST DEFINITELY! If it wasn't one phase it was another - and still can be. Loved the end of Poplar Place Part II with the two riderless ponies.

I am the proud owner of the horse Nirvana so affectionately called Igor, aka Sir Edgar. At 16 years old he can still find things to take exception to. His favorite place to be a nut is at the start box.

Denny may recall trying to help me into the box at The Fork a few years ago. Edgar gave him rope burn (for this I am eternally sorry and embarrassed) and managed to get away from him as the started counted down from 10. Finally got the horse going forward by galloping toward the woods, then came back toward the start box at a gallop, hoping I could get him IN. I heard Denny shout "Don't jump the box." and thought "Yeah, I'll try not to." Ed jumped around clean but with over a minute in time penalties. My watched beeped the first minute just before we jumped the first fence.

I have also backed up all the way from the start box to the first fence on this same horse. Caused the jump judges at Fence 1 to scatter. Again, clean round, probably 2 minutes in time penalties.

I believe this is one of the many reasons the previous owner put a big old FOR SALE sign on him. His is, however, my horse of a life time.

CentreEquestre

Jun. 29, 2008, 06:47 PM

GotSpots

Jun. 29, 2008, 08:13 PM

Um, yeah. Raise hand. Today, as a matter of fact, as I re-demonstrated that time off has not dulled my fine skill at taking a nothing canter to a good sized oxer in warm-up. At least I can bear witness to the fact that there are multiple folks who will look over at me and yell some variation of "Kick, damnit" when I do that one. The safety patrol is keeping an eye on things . . .

And Gry, you weren't really that guy. Ed - Ed, was that guy. You were just trying to find his brain somewhere.

octavian_jazz

Jun. 29, 2008, 09:12 PM

Yes. Early on in my horse's career, I was most definitely "that" person.

1) At a schooling show in a beginner novice dressage test. The dressage ring was right in front of trailer parking. It was a one day event, so everyone was at their trailers. We had two horses with us, the other being a mare that my horse was attached to. At the beginning of my test, my sister was riding the mare in the warm up area (which happened to be torward 'A'), however, doing my free walk, they moved torward the other end of the ring. So, I was doing my free walk when suddenly my horse became sticky, I kept kicking, but we stopped. I kept kicking. We didn't move. I kept kicking. We backed up. We backed up until we were conveniently placed right in front of the judge. The judge, I will never forget her, was Lucy Eddins. I was 12 at the time, and she explained that I would normally be eleminated (what is it 20 seconds of resistance that eleminates you?) but because it was a schooling show I could continue. She then lectured me on not having a whip if my horse did things like that (but that was just the problem, I didn't expect him to do it!), but as a 12 year old I was terrified, mortified, and literally wanted to crawl away. Lucy Eddins handed me a crop, but Octavian still would not move after being swatted about 10 times. So, the scribe came out and led me to where I needed to be. :no: I laugh now but not then!

2) Another schooling show. Other then the fact that on this same day, I had forgotten my bridle, couldn't get it on the horse, missed my dressage time and also managed to memorize the wrong test, you would think it couldn't get much worse. In the start box, upon hearing "go!", we go, but in the wrong direction. Instead of cantering torward the inviting cross country fences, we back all the way up into the warm up area and once again have to be led on course. :o

3) There was also the time we almost accidentally killed a few small kids and their ponies. We were at a schooling show (this is a couple of years later, Octavian has figured out new tricks to pull), and we were going through a horrible rearing stage (the things I've put up with for this horse). We had been standing around (there was no room to keep moving), and it was our turn to go in the ring, but Octavian said he would rather not, and let me know. He reared up, barely missing the 6 year olds and their ponies. They were all of course ":eek:", I felt horrible!

Those are the top three worst that I can remember. Of course, we've been through so many issues I think I may have blocked them out of my memory. Believe it or not, he's a perfect gentleman at this point in time and loves his job, he would never even consider not leaving the start box!

Oh, one last one, at Southern Pines this year I fell off at the sunken road. I rode horribly to it and completely deserved my fall. The thing was, I never actually let go of the reins. Instead of walking around the bank like any normal person my do (because when I fell off, I took the drop by myself), I climb right up! On video it looks absolutely ridiculous. :lol: Looking back at the video, not nescessarily because of my riding or the fall, but because of how silly I was afterwards, I feel like "that" person.

Catalina

Jun. 30, 2008, 12:18 PM

Years ago I was at an A rated H/J show at Swan Lake. My horse, who was an EXTREMELY well seasoned A/A jumper and had been to a ton of shows, decided to essentially lose his mind the second we got there. Mind you, he hadn't been to a show in something like two and a half years, but it wasn't like he had never been to one ;). Anyway, he, who had always tied to the trailer nicely, decided to pull back and break his lead rope and gallop madly around the show grounds and towards the show rings. I had to tromp down to get him and then back to the trailer with him imitating a kite the entire time. We get back to the trailer, I turn to grab my saddle and 'bam' he breaks away again and bolts off.
"Loose horse. Loose horse. It's the same one." was blared over the loudspeaker as I went to collect my @#$@^ beast again; from the show organizer/stable owner; who shot daggers at me from her eyes and informed me that I would be kicked off the property if he got away again. :o :o :o :o
Unfortunately, there is no happy ending. We got in the ring, proceeded to jump around like a couple of monkeys on crack and got eliminated in all of our classes at the triple. This was a horse that NEVER stopped. EVER. It just wasn't our day.
To the day I still cringe in embarassment when I think about that outing. That was my last H/J show before I switched to eventing. Hmmm... :lol:

toeknee

Jun. 30, 2008, 01:31 PM

"Loose horse. Loose horse. It's the same one." was blared over the loudspeaker as I went to collect my @#$@^ beast again

Oh my, that is too funny! :lol: I think, after the second time, I would have been tempted to get in the truck and trailer and just leave...he will find his way home!:)

Here Comes Luther

Jun. 30, 2008, 02:02 PM

Umm. I think I was that person yesterday. Greenie OTTB thought that all the open space between the xc jumps was meant for galloping...never mind that it was the 6" intro division and the jumps weren't very far apart. He felt really strong, but I didn't think he was out of control. However, the TD said that he was "a bit out of control, but nice riding". Oops...insert blush here.

However, he was clean and clear over everything in xc as well as in stadium...though in stadium, I was the idiot who went through the finish flags instead of the start flags, and was E'd...oops again.

catmchorse

Jun. 30, 2008, 02:53 PM

Well, I took my mare to a schooling eventing derby. You did a dressage test, then had a jumping course of both stadium fences and XC fences out in a (really, REALLY big) field. We've schooled XC at this place twice before.

We won't even mention how dressage went. All required movements were completed at their required places, but I seemed to be riding a giraffe for about half the test. Hmm.

If I wasn't so frustrated by the jumping, it would have been hilarious.

Got out to the field and ready to start my jumping round, and my mare wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew that those bright stadium fences did not belong in the cross-country field. Hoo boy. So darling little catlike mare stops once each at the first two fences. At the third fence, she felt like she was going forward, until she planted her forelegs, hunkered down, and SLID to a stop before the fence. The grass was a bit long there, I suppose. I tumbled off over her shoulder and landed on my butt.

Hopped back on, checked to make sure I could keep going (it was a schooling thing, after all!), got over the fence, had one more refusal at the next stadium fence, then had no more refusals.

Oh, and I couldn't find fence 6. There was a fence six in OTHER colors, but not in MY colors. After standing in the field really really frustrated at this point looking for a fence where I knew it should be but wasn't (I think they just didn't put the number up, or it fell down, or something), I just skipped it and went on my way.

Of course, for the XC fences and the water (you know, the stuff that she is actually inexperienced with), she was fine. Rock star.

But man, for those stadium fences, I sure felt like the people up near the judge person were rolling their eyes and asking what I was doing there :lol:

scubed

Jun. 30, 2008, 02:58 PM

More than once (often on the young spooky OTTBS), but most recently at Red Hills (after 4 normal looking events on the great borrowed horse):

hacked over to warm up for dressage. We were in Arena D, over by the stadium jumping area. We did the first twenty minutes, which went well, then as I was picking him up from a free walk, he spooked, then bucked, then bucked again with a little spin and I landed on the ground. Feet first, then rear end. As I stood up, horse went galloping around the warm-up arena, at first in circles, so we thought we would be able to catch him. Werner Geven altertly headed over to stand by the opening at A (extra embarassment to have ULR witness fall), but after a few laps, horse jumped out and pounded off an impressive gallop toward stabling. I took off after him at a run, asking a friend to let the Steward know I would be back as soon as possible. I caught up with him at bit check, where someone had grabbed him. Cindy had seen him from her post and come down to help, so she gave me a leg up. I later heard that he quite impressively jumped over the roping on his way there. Once up, I trotted back over to the ring, immediately trotted around and after asking me if I had planned the escapade to use up extra energy, the judge blew the duck call and in we went. Then Saturday, in xc warm up horse felt both a little edgy and a little sticky and I managed to fall off (again!) when he stuck a little before jumping a table and I just got jumped loose.

mosmom

Jun. 30, 2008, 03:17 PM

At Fair Hill 2 years ago. Warm up went well then went into the Dressage arena. If anyone has been to FH during their starter trails they have 2 or 3 Dressage rings going on at the same time in one big arena. Started to trot around and out of nowhere my horse takes off - I could not stop him :eek:. We started heading over to the other ring where someone was about to start their test - luckily I stopped him just in time. I was so embarrassed. After that we went up to do stadium, again warm-up was great. Go in the ring, pick up a nice trot, then a canter, go over first jump, and out the ring we went. Everyone there was very nice and let me go xc to school. Let's just say I should have packed up and went home after stadium. Going xc - first couple jumps were okay, then we started getting into it and that's when he pulls another fast one on me. Heading to the jump before the water he stopped - I fell off, took me forever (it seemed) to get back on. Finally get back on, then turned him to approach the jump again. Again he tried to take over and in the mean time almost runs over the Equiview camera guy. Finally, I got him under control and the rest of the course was great. Before we went up my husband ordered a video from Equiview so every now and again I watch it to see how bad we looked that day :D:lol:. A day I will never forget and never let happen again ;).