Red has done a ton since our first event. I have been working on his transitions and control and keep trying to expose him to more and more every day, jump new fences, etc. Red was in his second event on August 15 at the Colorado Horse Park and he was great. He is getting much better about being calm when we go somewhere new. Horse trailer does not = run, though we are having some trailer loading issues due to the mental reminder they give him of a starting gate. We'll keep working on that.
Here is a video synopsis of his second event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU04pUFOkN4
Here is one my mom made for us that is very special, it's to music and very cute!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpO0c7rKxoE
We also have a few fun photos from the day...
More can be seen here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2453573&id=9614331&l=6960a8b20a
This past weekend, August 21-22, the infamous Phillip Dutton was in town teaching an eventing clinic. This was something I planned on attending with Red months ago, so I was glad it worked out.
The first day, he was a little hyper. Phillip said he was "lovely looking" but referred to him the rest of the day as "the nervous one". He calmed down a bit when it came time to jump and I was very happy with Red's performance. Phillip challenged Red and I, and considering how green Red is, I thought he did great. He really started to settle down and relax as the day went on.
There is a video of the first day of the clinic here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA6dGUKJlbM
The second day of the clinic, Phillip advised I ride Red in the morning too since our ride time for cross country wasn't until the afternoon. I did, and when we got out on the XC course, Phillip said he was much more calm. He actually stood around like the other horses and wasn't nervous at all. We had a blast jumping all kinds of things: logs, coops, ditches, barrels, down banks, up banks, through water, and even got to jump an up bank out of the water. Red only hesitated over the barrels and going in to the water.
The most memorable part of the day was the ditch. Red was starting to resist and was cantering in place and not going forward as we try to approach this ditch. Phillip told me to loosen my reins, so I did. He said to loosen them more, so I did. And once again, loosen them more, and I did. Finally, he said, "Drop your reins!" and for some odd reason with out question, I did, and Red went forward and jumped the ditch. It was awesome.
The clinic was great, Red and I both got to experience some new things and I think this really helped give me the tools we need to keep moving on and moving up.
Red Avenue and I with Phillip Dutton, Aug 21 2010.
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