It went really well!!
I haven't shown Jet at all since the 2016 season so he had some tension to overcome. But in our favor was the chilly temps in the morning, just a few degrees above zero which is perfect riding weather for my big black boy. I worked on relaxation in the warm-up for Third-2, and that helped. Then when I asked him for the first flying change in our warm-up, boom, HUGE buck! It launched me right out of the tack! Ok, ahem, I tried again with a much more conservative ask and he was a good boy about it, somewhat exuberant but the orbit stayed in this solar system. LOL.
Once we got in the competition ring, he went to work. Our first change (canter HP right from D to R, then change before M) was late behind but he changed on my aid so that's fine. The second change he was getting tense so I worked on relaxation as much as possible during the canter HP left, which was from D to S, then change before H). He relaxed very nicely, but then I lost engagement so we botched the right change (mostly my fault for not improving the quickness of the hind leg before asking him).
After our final halt/salute, the judge said "lovely test" and was very complimentary! When I told her it was our Third level debut, she said it didn't look like it and that I rode a really precise, well thought out test (despite the botched change). That was music to my ears!
Then we had an hour until Third-3. Jet warmed up much more relaxed for this one, and I felt that it went quite a bit better than Third-3 but my mark was only a percent higher. When I read the judge's comments after, I understood why. Anyway, the changes in that test (both on the shorter diagonal at center line) were totally clean and on cue, so I was over the moon about that!
Our marks: Third-2 was 64.74%, good for 1st place (out of 3 horses). And Third-3 was 65. 13%, good for 2nd place. Just to be in the 60s at our first try at Third Level is super! I'm really glad I chose to do this at the last show of the season. Now I'll work on my homework over the winter and I can't wait to show Third Level in 2018!
Here's the big boy warming up (photo by my groom extraordinaire, my daughter):
- 2017Oct01 OakhurstSilver_Jet_3Ldebut.jpg (123.7 KiB) Viewed 12694 times
