Zippy and I had our first show of the season on May 23rd at the Ancaster Saddle Club. It was a very good day overall, but we ran into a little issue.
Zippy was good, but she was just too darn fast! I gave her a good long warm-up and she was still super hyper. In the flat classes her stride was just huge- down the long side she was literally doing an extended trot and during our sitting trot the entire time I was holding her back from trying to canter. Both flat classes we were constantly passing everyone at the trot and canter- her stride was just so much bigger and she was so much faster than everyone else. Coming back to the walk we were one of the last pairs to actually stop. I was stuck in a position of trying to hold her back without hauling on her face and trying to get her to just relax without fighting with her.
Now over fences, she was much better. In our hunter over fences class she was PERFECT- great pace, got all her leads, made all the striding nice and even. In equitation over fences, she was a little fast, but that was my fault, I got excited myself and let her go too much, then had to hold her back to some of the fences second in the lines- we still got our striding, but sometimes the last stride was tight cause her entrance into the line was too big- my fault though.
Anyway....all in all, we did well, a 5th (HUS), 2nd (EQUS), 1st (HOF), 2nd (EQOF), and when we did our jog in for the HOF ribbons, the judge actually came down to talk to me personally (which I think was very nice of her) and she told me that we should have been first in every class, and we would have, because the judge thought Zippy was beautiful and has great flashy movement, but we were just way too fast (which I agreed with, and I knew the whole time she was too fast...but what was I supposed to do? Fight the entire time? Comes to the issue- which would have been better for me to do in the show ring?), and the judge said Zippy needed to soften more (agree too- she was a bit tense in her head and neck).
So, that leaves me with what to do now. Clearly, this needs to be schooled. But the problem is, Zippy isn't hyper that like at home most of the time. Yes at home, she does get fast over fences (however, it's not like I CAN'T control her, she jumps great, it's just she gets FAST- looks/sounds(makes that snorty noise) like a grandprix jumper in the jump off at spruce- except we're trying to do a 2'9'' hunter course
), she always has, but at the show, our HOF class was the best we've ever done and the EQOF was the second best we've ever done...so I really can't complain there. It's was the flat that is the issue. At home, half the time she is dead lazy on the flat and I can easily bring her down, and only about 10% of the time does she ever get hyper on the flat (usually only when we're doing alot of transitions). So how to do you train a horse to calm down when she's not hyper?
I think one thing I can do, is that I know she gets hyper doing lots of transitions, so I should just do more of them until she gets to the point where they don't make her hyper. What do you think? The thing with her is that she is big on anticipating, so once she knows (or once she THINKS she knows- which is worse) what we're doing, she tries to do it on her own. Clearly she is intelligent, which is good, but at the same time, when she does this, it's without me asking, which is a no-no and she starts to rushing into things when anticipating. So I've always done the opposite with her- ie, I've never stressed teaching her things like canter from walk, because I've always taught her "we are not going to canter until you trot calmly"...because she would start to rush otherwise. But maybe this needs to change now?
So here we are kind of at a crossroads where I have always had the issue of teaching her that being forward/engaged/flashy doesn't mean fast. Sometimes it works out great, but the issue seems to be her level of relaxation and softness. So at a show- she has great movement, but is just too darn fast and I can't get her to come back to me and mostly, just RELAX!
So, does anyone have any thoughts, same experiences, training ideas I could try? Or, I'm wondering, if it's time to change the bit. For years she's been in a single-jointed loose ring snaffle and I just changed her over to a french-link loose ring (I tried her in one for a week a few months ago and she seemed to like it, so I went out and got one for her right before the show...but I don't think that would have anything to do with her being too fast- infact, the Wed before the show, she was fast in her old bit, and now in the new bit at home she's her same pokey self- so no correlation there).
Anyway, she was actually originally in a D-ring copper roller, then we tried her in the loose ring and she was MUCH better, so that's what I've kept her in all these past years...like 6 years, at home and at shows and figured the issue of her being fast was something that was due to training and my being able to make her listen to me, not a bit issue (I'm really against just biting up a horse...I think all horses should be able to go in a simple snaffle- not saying other bits don't have their purpose- but I'm not showing grandprix show jumpers or dressage- we're doing 2'9'' hunters and flat classes...I feel I should be able to control her in something simple).
And, she has improved at home. Over the past 6 months I've really been working on getting her to do downward transitions off my seat and leg and using my rein as little as possible...but over fences and at shows it just seems to not happen. So I'm thinking maybe I should up the bit anty- even if just for shows and maybe(?) jumping at home, or if I find something that she likes and softens to, maybe I should change the bit for full-time? Or is this something I can fix with training? (part of the reason why I tried the RR at the last show, which I made another post on in the health section- hoping if I could just get her to relax that she would do what we've schooled to do). What do you think?
One of the reasons I'm thinking about the bit change is when jumping, even at home, I feel like I'm having to do too much to keep her slow- like maybe the bit just isn't enough for her. What happens alot is going around the corners I can get her to be even and steady but as soon as we turn to the line (regardless where it is), as soon as Zippy sees the fence her stride starts getting bigger and she gets faster so I end up holding her with my inside rein when we approach the line to keep her to her take off spot and then with the outside rein I'm constantly half-halting to keep her pace. I WANT to be able to let her go more, but I feel it's just not happening right now without her running around the course- so maybe the bit just isn't right for her?
Then, what bit would I even change her to? I've always thought that a loose ring was pretty low on the "harshness" scale of bits- but I do know they are meant for horse that like to grab the bit and run, as that is why the bit spins on the ring (and why I've thought this was a good bit for her), but one of my horse buddies (whom I consider quite knowledgable) said that no, there are higher up there in "harshness" and she said well what would you move her to from a loose ring? Her suggestion was the next step would be a kimberwick. I dunno about that...I know they were all the rage in the hunter ring the other year, but I have a nagging in the back of my head that says "*I* don't need a CURB bit to control my horse" (I guess I'm kind of a bit prude like that
). I also don't want to put something too harsh on her. So then I was thinking what about something like an egg-butt/D ring slow twist? What's the difference between a regular D ring and a Hunter D ring? Someone suggested a full cheek- but what is the exact purpose of the full cheek? I always thought it was to help with lateral suppleness of the head/throat latch with the bars that stick out against the cheek. I know those come in twists too..but what is it that would help me, the actual full cheek or the twist? Thanks for reading, sorry for the novel!
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