After a little under a month from Stuart H.T. Ryker ROCKED Millbrook!  Again the test was the atmosphere -- In dressage he was amazing, still tense, but much more forward than at Stuart.  He scored a rocking 32.9, it would have been at 30.9, but I made an error! I was so focused on getting the best work out of him that I forgot a trot circle (just ignore that part of the video!!).  The Cross Country was again a big, bold, but fair course.  Lots of space to get a rhythm and many good questions, he did his first in-and-out, which we hadn't practiced yet, but he did it like a pro! He went double clear like he'd been doing it for years! The stadium again was all about the atmosphere, there was lots of noise, people, and banners.  Even with all that, he was very, very good.  For the most part he was very rideable, and was jumping out of his skin. Thanks to tons of gymnastic work he has become much more confident with where he needs to place his feet, this made a huge difference!  He did however knock two rails, the first being similar to the one at Stuart, he just wasn't quick enough with his feet and not quite balanced enough for the closer distance.  The second was due to a spook at a banner just to the left of the fence, he simply wasn't paying attention, BUT jumped it once he realized it was there, only taking down just the top rail. He finished 8th and ended up finishing 3rd in the Carrer2 Class! Go Ryker! Go OTTBs! 

Note: All photos purchased and used with permission from Brant Gamma Photography. 


Ryker ROCKED Stuart!  Simple as that.  He was very tight in his shoulders leading up to the event, so we were worried about the effects of the length of the trailer drive out on his dressage.  No worries!  Thanks to the chiropractic work of Matt Rose of Balanced Rhythms and Cavalor Free-Bute he was able to perform very well at his first sanctioned event! We got a modest 43.8 in dressage, he was tense but very obedient!  He tried oh so very hard, but there is still much to improve on.  
The Cross Country course was gorgeous!  Many good BN questions, but not too crazy for a first sanctioned event! There were many people who's jaws dropped to the floor when they heard that I had chosen Stuart as his first sanctioned event, and at 8 months off the track no less. But he proved at the schooling events that he was more than ready, the only change from those events was the atmosphere.  I don't think he cared until stadium!  The only tricky part of the cross country course for him was #4+5, the "half coffin" (AT BEGINNER NOVICE?!), it was a small log followed, about 4-5 strides later, by a small ditch.  They were numbered separately, but it was still a very difficult question to ask.  We trotted into the log, jumped exuberantly over it, and then broke back down to the trot, he was very good but propped at the ditch.  It wasn't that he didn't want to go, merely that he just had to look at it for a second.  He then jumped right over it and continued, it was called a stop (boo!) but, the reality is that at this point it's the training that matters and from a training perspective he was golden.  From that point he got bolder and bolder over every jump, trotting through the water eyeing the 2* question and attacking everything in front of him.  I couldn't have been prouder! 
 The stadium again was another huge test for Ryker.  It was ungodly hot (it was put your jacket on at the very last second, over your polo you had planned to wear, hot!), but he rose to the occasion. He questioningly went into the ring, and jumped around not really seeing the jumps until about 3 strides away, there was a lot to look at.  He knocked one rail, which was simply a greeny balance mistake, but got more confident throughout the course.  Again, although we didn't ribbon, I couldn't have been prouder of the little fruitcake! 

Sorry I've been slacking in the blog department... from here out I'll try to get one posted each week!

The little red rocket, Ryker, has been awesome... as usual!   We've done a couple jump schools, some serious dressage work, and two XC schools (at different locations) since my last post.  This week starts what looks like a super fun competition season with the little race horse.  Sunday we will be making out debut at the Charlotte Pony Club's Champlain Valley Derbycross.  It will be a good judge of how Ryker acts when he's trailered in to an event (hoping for no excitement, but we're going tacked). From there we will compete at the GMHA starter trials at Beginner Novice (on the 1st) the following weekend Hitching Post Farm's schooling trials (at Novice), and then we head to Stuart H.T. on the 10-11th (at Beginner Novice)!  We're also entered at Millbrook H.T. in August, and we'll figure out what we need to focus on inbetween.   

So, how did we get to this exciting competition packed schedule?  
  As you know, Ryker is just plain awesome... which is a vast understatement. Words cannot describe how blessed I feel to be working with this horse, and to be able to say that I "own" him [who really owns who anyways? ;)].  I'll let the pictures do the talking for his athletic prowess, but lets just say, scope will never be the issue. While any OTTB can be turned into a wonderful horse with a consistent program, good eyes on the ground, and patients.  The true athletic ability, soundness, and an unflappable work ethic of the top OTTBs in the country is found few and far between. Either they have it like Courageous Comet, or they don't.  I don't want to be as bold as to say Ryker is the next Comet or that he's even destined for Rolex, but he has the attitude and natural ability to really BE something. 

Back to the original question -- so many events, so soon?! 
 Yup! He is ready, he is forward, responsive, and willing.  He is figuring out the game -- I fear that when he fully figures it out I will in fact be riding a lit bottle rocket, but hey, that's why we love OTTBs right!?

In the ring we've been working on our dressage, really trying to encourage him to bring his back up and bend, as well as maintaining a constant rhythm and contact --- the usual (in addition to getting the movements in the BN + and N tests down pat). Jumping wise, more foot work and a little bit of course work. 

Our first XC school was beyond anything I could have ever asked for.  He jumped around like a pro, coops, drops, banks, ditches, logs, water (we had a brief moment of confusion because the water was MOVING - thank you tadpoles! But he then went right in and didn't bat an eyelash), etc., etc., etc.  We were waiting for SOMETHING to give him trouble -- but no, just the tadpoles... (I beileve the question was asked "does he have a pulse?!") 

Our second XC school went just as well, we had a slight hesitation at the first log - not a "I'm not jumping THAT!" hesitation but a "Wait, what?.. hold on, I though we were jumping stadium jumps... no? ok!"  since we warmed up over stadium jumps. We pushed him a little, not in height really but in the footwork department.  We went up the double bank (whoohoo!), but down was just too much with a down hill slope making the first drop THAT much bigger.  We simply gave it a couple tries, tried a lead - and called that question a day, and went and jumped the slightly (not by a lot) smaller one a bunch of times (with no hesitation). From there we jumped around with the only "what the heck jump" being the big tires (see photos).  We also attempted a small half coffin, since ditches are EASY we thought we'd give it a try.  The jump on the other side was just a little too close for him to work out, so we glanced off it.  Tried some wings, jumped the wings, and again call that question a day.  We just stuck with the ditch and other jumps farther out, with no problems.  The prognosis, MORE FOOTWORK!  

All in all, he has been a rock star! -- he's also done gallop sets, with no crazy run away OTTB, he was super adjustable, and can go from 400mpm to walk in about 2-3 strides. As well as just hacking around, with and without a saddle (its been so HOT!), as well as some spooking at round bales (hah! the things OTTBs think are scary!). 

More to come, make sure to "LIKE" our Facebook page -- Info and photos go up much faster there, than here -- But I will do my best to keep you updated by the week! 

Enjoy the photos!