This past weekend I debuted my Intermediare 1 Freestyle. If you follow this blog you will know that my coach Belinda Trussell and I have been working on it for a few months now: choosing music and choreography with the help of Karen Robinson of Applause Dressage. And finally the time arrived to actually go out and do it.
Saturday was our first time. At the lunch break during the show, the show organizer did a sound check with me. I stood out in the ring and let her know what volume was best. Biasini was already groomed and braided. I tacked up , warmed up with Belinda’s guidance and went into the ring. I went round the outside of the arena and said hello to the judge. Then after she rang the bell for me to start I took up my starting position. I waved to the Steward who waved to the announcer in the booth to start the music. Silence. ……Silence. The Steward waved again. Still silence. Belinda ran up to the announcer’s window yelling that we could not hear any music. Then suddenly BAM… it started but it was not at the beginning. So more signals and arms waving. The music stopped. Then it started again and I picked up the trot. As I turned into the ring I realized the music had been started a few bars into the introduction. This meant I would have to catch up so it was the fastest halt salute I have ever done. I cut a corner and managed to catch up to the music.
Long story short we got through it and had some very good moments but it was not the best. But I had another chance on the Sunday.
This time the show organizer went into the announcers booth to make sure the music would be working. But before I get to that let me tell you about the fun we had in the warm up!
As soon as I started my warm up I knew Biasini was on the hot tamale train. He was all fired up and ready to go. Belinda helped with our warm up and all was going well. Then… a black and white paint horse with a Western rider came in to the warm up ring to get ready for the Western Dressage class. Well….when Biasini saw this horse his head went up like a giraffe and then BAM…he spun 180 degrees and bolted. At this moment a muscle memory from more than 50 years ago took over. When I was a teenager I had ridden as an Eventer at Pebble Beach California. The coach there taught me the Pulley Rein Stop. At that moment in the warm up it came back to me without even thinking about it. And it stopped Biasini in his tracks. And that was the end of that bit of excitement. On we went into the ring.
I went round the arena, said good afternoon to the judge, she rang the bell, I took up my position to start and the music began. YAY! I halted to salute the judge and waited for the music to start again for my test. Silence…… silence…. After an interminable pause I turned around and left the arena. As I passed Belinda I joked that maybe I could ask the judge it I could just ride the test, for the miles, without the music. Then the show organizers voice came over the speakers that she would be doing a test. She did. It worked and I took up my position again. This time the music started and kept on going. Here is a video of the test.
My husband David took the video from the side which is good for seeing the whole test but hard to see the lateral movements. In the half pass Biasini was going sideways very well. Here is a photo taken by my friend Connie Gee that shows the sideways movement of the trot half pass to the right.
Biasini’s extended trot was a highlight both days. Here is another photo taken by Connie Gee.
I was so proud of my horse. He was so excited and yet he listened to me and responded to everything I asked him for. We danced and we put on that Ritz!
Belinda told me it was the best she has seen me ride in the ring especially considering how pumped up he was. That meant a lot to me as Belinda has put so much work into getting us to where we are now with the Freestyle.
I scored a 67.25 which I was more than happy with. This is just the beginning with this Freestyle. On May 28 I was in the Critical Care section of the ER with an intestinal blockage due to adhesions from a previous surgery. Sept 28 I was riding down the centerline. Much to be grateful for. I am going to write a separate post to thank all those who have pushed, prodded and supported me to get me to this point.
I’ve found that there’s often a lot of warm-up ring “excitement”, as different horses interact and their riders’ emotions run high.
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Yes there can be interesting moments. Biasini is usually pretty chilled about it but something about the paint horse set him off. But he recovered quickly.
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That’s good.
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That is an impressive performance, Anne! Thank you for sharing with us! 🙂
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You are most welcome Amy. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
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I don’t care how you place Anne, you are a true champion in my book! You are the master of overcoming obstacles in life so what’s a bit of a music screw-up to you 😊. Congrats on a great performance
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Thank you Tina. I had anticipated that there might be a music kerfuffle so I knew I just had to carry on. I was very happy with our ride on the Sunday. It was a good score and a good ride. We were the only ones in the class so we got red first place ribbons😁.
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Congratulations!!! Love the music too!
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Thank you. Both Biasini and me like the music!
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Congratulations to both of you! 🙂
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Even as I was watching the video I was thinking, great half pass! Great extended trot! Nice to read a few seconds later that the rider agreed with me LOL! And I think your videographer did an excellent job, always in focus and always following the horse. Yes, it could be a better view from C or A, but still, if you know what you’re looking for you can certainly see it in this video. Super congrats on your recovery and your ride!
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Thank you Alli. My coach stood to one side behind A but David, my husband , prefers to be at the side and out of the way. to take the video.I’m so glad you enjoyed the test on the video. And thank you for the compliments! Much appreciated!
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Well done! All your hard work really shows! Great job!
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Thanks so much!
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I love seeing you and Biasini.
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Congratulations Anne and Biasini, this looks like so much fun! 🤗💖🐎🎶👏
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Apart from the technical glitches with the music it was great fun. Biasini likes the music too!
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Wow, you two were amazing! It’s good to hear that you had so much fun.
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Thanks you for this comment. We did have fun once we got the music playing!
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Great work Ma!
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Many thanks for reading and leaving a comment Peregrine.
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Congratulations, Anne and Biasini. Kudos to “the husband” for video.
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Yes he is a good video person. It is not easy doing it on a phone at the ringside. I will pass on your compliment to him. Thanks!
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Well done!!!! What trials, eh? Glad you know how to stop a bolting horse! Bit like an emergency stop in a car!
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Yes it is like an emergency brake! The warm up was a huge open space so it was not a good place to have a bolting horse. But Biasini stopped and then carried on like it had never happened. Thanks for commenting Emma.
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Smashingly well done! I particularly like the pat on his neck at the end. Very nice
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Thank you for noticing that! He deserved a pat.He had tried his best to listen to what he was being asked to do and any mistakes we mostly my fault.
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Congratulations to both of you! What a great job!
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Thank you !
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So awesome – congratulations!!! Great photos and I loved the video!!! Wonderful job!!!
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Thanks Robyn. And thank you for taking the time to also watch the video.
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Well done, congrats on the pull-up from the bolt. And congrats on pulling through from May.
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Thank you. The bolt was not characteristic of him and the pulley rein brought him back and he went right back to work.
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Well done. Nice to have a replay of the ride. Thanks for sharing.
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You are most welcome.
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CONGRATULATIONS!! What a beautiful test and you are an amazing woman. Holy smokes, you are in good shape and yes, so much to be grateful for, I totally agree! You can see Biasini on the muscle, bless your heart, you rode so well. “Applause” 👏 great job! ♥️🥰🐴
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Thank you Diana. I really appreciate this comment from a fellow horse person.
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I love hearing the pride!!! 🙂
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Thank you James. It has been hard work to get here but well worth it!
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