My foray into the Eventing World has scrambled and restructured a bunch of my personal goals, changed the way I train myself and the horse I’m riding and reassured me that there are many, many ways to “win.” I think everyone defines winning differently. To some, it may be achieving a new personal record, coming in first place or even conquering a fear. After participating in mine and my OTTB mount’s very first schooling trial, I have some new definitions of winning.
At a Schooling Trial, Everybody Wins.
Where else can you completely screw up your very first dressage test and get to start over? Only at a schooling trial. Or maybe only at a schooling trial at Great Vista Farm in Fort Plain, NY. Either way, every horse and rider there was given instruction and many chances to learn new or improve on their eventing skills. And total biffs, off-courses and false starts were not only greeted but embraced with humor and a can-do-a-do-over attitude!
Judges Lend a Helping Hand.
How I came to interpret the Beginner Novice A test incorrectly is a story for another day (see my “Why Technical Writers Shouldn’t Read Dressage Tests” article for more info). Needless to say, I was relieved to find the judges were friendly, funny and caring. They rang the bell a record breaking three times to let me know I made a few harmless errors, and when I looked at them like they were crazy (because I thought I was doing it right!) they came over to talk to me. We figured out where I went wrong (let’s just say I am way too literal of a reader), and they let me start over, no penalties incurred. My horse, who had never done a dressage test either, loved the break and the pats the judges gave him. As far as he’s concerned, it should be part of the service.
Speaking of service, the judges also gave free lessons to some of the riders after their tests, helping them work on specific techniques to improve their scores. You don’t get that kind of perk at a sanctioned event!
Schooling the Cross Country Course BEFORE the Event…
This part of the deal totally rocks! My horse had never done a cross country course, and neither had I. He’s also recently become frightened of birds, convinced they are fierce predators, hell bent on his destruction. To say I was a bit skeptical about how it would go is a gross understatement. At Great Vista, though, the owner and trainer, Sarah Dalton-Morris, offers lessons on all phases the three to four days leading up to the schooling trial. You can also school on your own or with a group. We got to go out on the course three times over the course of three days before the event, and I was so proud of that horse! He was nervous, but totally game. He handled water, logs, hills and even a brief interlude in the woods with all the grace an OTTB possesses. That is to say, he did it, but he couldn’t help taking off like a rocket after some of the elements. It was like he was saying “I got over it, but it was just so SCARY!!!”
3rd out of 3 is First Place
I took a totally untried (and because of some knee swelling for the previous two weeks, unschooled) horse to an event and he handled it like a pro. Hats off to all the warhorse OTTBs out there! He put together his first 3-phase event, his first real jumping and cross country course, put up with a newbie cross country/dressage rider, getting saddled up and ridden three different times in one day and being stalled next to a horse that groans and moans all night long. He may not have made it around the cross country course during the actual event (apparently we peaked at the third schooling around the course, when he had buddies to reassure him), but he did do it, so it still counted with me. In my book, that’s a big win. In fact, that’s like five separate wins. Or maybe eight, I was never good at math. According to my judging policies, he and I are the Grandmasters of Trial by Errors, and I couldn’t be happier with that pretty yellow ribbon from Great Vista Farm’s schooling trial.