Katie Murphy and Esccord RGS — the 2012 YEH 4-year-old East Coast Champion and EN’s Got Talent superstar — competed in the second training level event of his career this past weekend at Full Gallop Farm. The pair tied Doug Payne and Lansdownne for first, with the tie being broken in Doug’s favor due to optimum time. Katie also sent in the helmet cam from her cross-country ride. Many thanks to Katie for writing.
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A well-deserved 2nd place for Garth’s second Training level competition.
From Katie:
It is hard to believe that our time in Aiken is coming to an end. Less then two weeks left, and I am already reminiscing on the many wonderful memories and experiences I have had here.
This past weekend, Esccord RGS competed in his second Training level competition at Full Gallop Farm. Those who are familiar with Full Gallop will understand what folks mean when they call it the “Olympics” for the many levels they offer. It is a wonderful facility where many snowbirds board. Each time I have been to the property, either for schooling or competition, I have been very impressed to see many new fences and obstacles being built throughout their rolling fields. They never stop improving their courses. With this comes continuous change in the questions, elements and design of their tracks, and they have been an excellent test at each level for the experienced pair.
With this knowledge at hand, Garth and I went schooling at Full Gallop Farm a few weeks prior to the competition with a friend. We schooled all the obstacles that were on the prior Training level course with great success. It was wonderful to feel Garth grow in confidence and ability as he worked through the elements and a thrill to know that our partnership was growing in strength.
One of several combinations on the Training course – a drop to a bending line to the bench.
Our dressage test was one of the first rides of the day at 8 a.m. I arrived to the grounds in darkness, and slowly the facility came to life. Most of our warm-up was spent moving forward off the leg, stretching into the contact and raising his top line — all without tension. In the last month, this has become a surprisingly difficult feat to accomplish. Garth has amped out; compared to his 4-year-old self last fall, he is far stronger this spring. He grew over the winter and now stands at 16.2. His neck and top line are well muscled, and paired with his budding confidence, Baby G has become a bit of a (albeit, respectable) brute.
Our test was forward, though I should have slowed my mind and focused more on the balance of each buoyant stride. I could blame the issue on the grass ring, though that is not where accountability lies. We have been working on the quality of our canter-walk and walk-canter transitions, and in the test Garth was very pleased to offer a canter-walk transition at X instead of a transition to the trot. He landed with one hoof at the walk and we quickly moved off into the trot — the judge did not make note of our mistake. All in all, it was a nice test. We were tied for 3rd with Doug Payne on Shannon Baker’s horse Lansdownne, who is experienced at Training level with some Preliminary attempts. First place was also tied, just one-half point from us.
Stadium came first, followed by cross country. Because I was a late entry, the stewards did not realize that I should have ridden earlier instead of in numerical order. In dressage, I followed number 33; I was number 56. Although the program had my time scheduled to follow rider #33, the stewards insisted that we follow numerical order. However, the steward very kindly slipped us in at the mid-40 range.
We had already warmed-up a bit, enjoyed a relaxed break, and then finished our warm-up. The course was beautiful, with elaborate fences, brightly painted rails and unique themes for each fence set at a substantial height and width for the level. Garth was lovely and actively worked through the course despite spooking at the fences. The butterfly standards were particularly concerning, and the caution signs leading to the elaborately designed train two-stride combination helped to straighten you to the line, but caused Garth to balk and back off from the leg. Regardless, he jumped clean and continues to hold a clean record in show jumping. Our tie for 3rd place quickly advanced to a tie for 1st place.
The finish line: a jump for each level decorated for spring with many flowers.
The cross-country course was lovely — big, open and plenty of space to develop a gallop with time to adjust for each fence. It was a long course, with an optimum time of 6 minutes and 11 seconds. You may recall that last fall the judges at the YEH Championships critiqued Garth’s gallop; however, I had only galloped him twice since owning him. It was my plan then to develop his gallop this season, with the expectation that the horse he becomes this season will be a better representation of his ability at the the YEH Championships this fall (provided we qualify). This course offered the ideal opportunity to move him out and allow him to gallop between fences. There were several fences that due to combination efforts and terrain required a more compact, active canter, to which he was brilliant. Last year, we struggled with having the strength to maintain his balance at an active, more compact canter down hills.
On Saturday, he cantered beautifully over a coop, landed downhill and carried himself in a lovely balance down a long hill to a table, then a few strides later down the hill to a drop followed immediately by another fence. Along course, we worked through the occasional spook at a bush, stone in the ground or spectator — a reminder that despite his eager attitude, Garth is still a youngster. I have forgotten to shorten my stirrups from show jumping, which was in my favor given his awareness to all things spooky out on course. He jumped around confidently and clean. I was so pleased to see his ears pricked forward on our helmet cam — a happy fellow!
The tie was broken in Doug Payne’s favor. He rode to a time of 6 minutes and 10 seconds. I rode to a time of 5 minutes and 23 seconds. Although winning Garth’s second Training level event, particularly at a competition like Full Gallop, would have been great fun, we had other objectives to achieve. We drove home with a lovely red ribbon.
With each ride, I learn more about Garth and more about myself. With each competition, I learn more about the horse I have that day and how my riding must adjust to fit his state of being. Now that he is moving out in front of my leg, I will focus more on our adjustability to fences on cross country. Our dynamic is evolving and in time will hopefully become a partnership that will excel not just in competition, but in our work together as a team.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aLZNZVsG6o
Katie’s helmet cam from Full Gallop
