August 19, 2019

Rated Second Debut

Our first two rated Second Level shows are in the books!  Don't let the blue ribbons fool you, they're basically participation ribbons because I was the only pro ("pro") showing 2-1 this weekend.

Thank you Karen for all the pictures in this post!

The important thing is that I came away with one Bronze Medal score, and came tantalizingly close to getting two.  And I think even more importantly, I no longer have that "are we or aren't we a Second Level pair" haze hanging over my head. 

Saturday we scored a 59.73%, 0.27% short of a Bronze score.  This was one of those judges that gave straight 6's as a baseline score unless you impressed her for better or for worse.  Besides all the 6's and a couple of 5.5's, we got one 7 for this halt:

and most annoyingly, a FIVE for submission. 

Okay, maybe there was some bit evasion going on

Saturday's test was just average in every way, nothing bad happened but I didn't really have a lot of horse either, and I was okay with the score.  It would have been nice to find another point and get the 60%, but at least we didn't embarrass ourselves.

I went into Sunday knowing I was riding for the other judge, who on Saturday had scored everyone so low across the board, people who weren't there were texting people who were there to ask WTF was going on after seeing the online results.  Mid-50's won classes, accomplished riders had scores in the 40's, and most worrying, some of the judge's comments were downright mean.

I had a split-second thought of scratching - if I'd scored a 59% for the easy judge, what was the hard judge going to do to me?  But I decided if all I got for this entry fee was the chance to ride 2-1 two days in a row and try to put in a better ride, I'd do it, scores be damned.

His favorite part, standing still
It wasn't perfect, but it was a lot better.  I was able to focus a lot more on myself and be a more active pilot.  He did break twice in the canter, both times my fault.  I was trying to half halt him and was just too aggressive, but hey, at least I was actually riding!

Progress. Also those braids are 30 hours old in this picture!

Given the bobbles and the tough judge, the idea that that test could be a 60, even though it was better than my previous attempt, didn't cross my mind.  I was just hoping for mid 50's.  So I was genuinely gobsmacked when I saw the results:

62.432!   If they'd combined the divisions, we would have been third out of five.  I took this picture because even after staring at the paper for a few minutes, I still didn't believe it.

So that's the story of how I got my first Second Level Bronze score.  In a jump saddle, because I mean why not?


  1. That's fantastic! Probably knowing the judge might be unreasonable helped take some of the pressure off so you could just ride your pony. You look great in the photos!

  2. haha congratulations! Jump tack FTW! literally.

  3. So excited for you, congrads!!! YOU GO GIRL!!!

  4. He is developing so nicely!! You guys are so awesome!

  5. Congrats!!! You guys have worked so hard and it's amazing to see it pay off like this!

  6. Woo Hoo!!! Great job Jen and Connor! Way to get that Second Level score!

  7. this is awesome!! congratulations ;)