I'm sure everyone has had the same concerns as I regarding when to move a young horse up. But the truth is, every horse is different. Every horse matures differently than the next both mentally and physically. In the past, I have taken my time as well as pushed a little. It all depends on the horse that you have.
The horse that I currently compete, B'Ambitious (Boots), has taken a while to grow up and mature. When I got her, I had a feeling that she would be that way. She was a very baby-looking three year old off the track. Most of the first year that I had her, she was turned out and lightly ridden. The second year, after growing up, we focused on clinics and schooling shows. Finally, I felt as though she was ready for her first show. We ran Beginner Novice at a show here in Arizona and she was amazing; confident, poised, and even a little mature.
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| Boots at her first show, 2012 |
Moving up to Novice the following year came with some struggles. A little drifting of the shoulder here, and a little spook there caused a couple of 20's added to our scores. Therefore, my trainer and I decided to finish the year at Novice to solidify our confidence and training. We ended up finishing the year with a Novice-Three-Day and the Novice Championship, which we won in 2013!! The following year Training level was a piece of cake. I felt as though taking our time was paying off. We competed almost a whole year at Training, finishing with a Training-Three-Day. The last few shows, we finished on our dressage scores. The big move up to Prelim was a bit frightening yet exhilarating at the same time.
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| Boots and I at our first Prelim, 2014 |
Our first few Prelims went really well, only adding a few time and maybe a rail to our scores. The next year, the difficulty of Prelim became more apparent. We went to some bigger shows with questions like one stride banks and corners out of water. It was clear that our technical aspects needed to be refined. The last few years due to the demand of school, I have been trying to better my horse and I at the Prelim level without thinking much about trying to move up. I know that with this horse, pushing it is not a good idea.
Now, I have also experienced the other end of the spectrum. I rode a horse named My Mercedes (Sadie) who was 10 years old at the time I bought her. Because she was a little older and more mature, I only competed in one Beginner Novice and one Novice before moving up to Training. Because she was older and more mature, she handled everything in stride. I was able to get my first few Trainings under my belt with Sadie in 2012!
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| Sadie and I JR Training, 2012 |
I have recently realized that its not just moving young horses up the levels that you have to keep an eye on. I recently started working with a pure dressage trainer, Tracey Krajenke from Equus Dressage, in order to further my skills in the sandbox. Working with Tracey, I have realized that dressage uses many different muscles, many different ways, both within the horse and within myself. Boots is now 9 years old, and maturing before my eyes. I believe that there is a right time to start working those different muscles and working on those harder movements. Boots and I would not have been ready a couple years ago when she was still finding her feet and we were getting to know each other. I think that it is important to plan when move up, whether in level or difficulty, depending on the horse that you have. I always like to take a step back, assess where Boots and I are as a team, realize where we need improvements and work on those first before moving to the next big thing.
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| Boots and I Tucson in August, 2017 scoring a 25.9 in Prelim |
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