Working Equitation Debut

This past weekend, WallE and I went to Tryon International for a Working Equitation camp. It was so much fun and I learned so much! I felt like WallE and I improved some details in our dressage and transitions that should help us in our next show.

Day One: We arrived and checked in. I got WallE's stall ready while he waited patiently on the trailer. Then he settled into his stall while I checked into a cabin. Upon returning to the stable, we went out for a short hack. WallE was great. 

Day Two: At 6:30am I arrived at the barn to clean WallE's stall and give him breakfast. At 7:30am I took him out, lunged and warmed up. At 8:00am we had our first dressage lesson. Our take away from this lesson was to soften my elbows and how to breakdown a turn on the forehand...turns out the front feet should have some march. At 1:00pm, we returned to the arena for ease of handling. We worked through obstacles and got dressage instruction for each obstacle. Suppleness is HUGE in this sport. 

Day Three: At 6:30am I arrived at the barn to clean WallE's stall and give him breakfast. At 7:30am I took him out, lunged and warmed up. At 8:00am we had our first dressage lesson. Our take away from this lesson was to soften my elbows and leg yield to prevent resistance. The instructor also mentioned leg yielding in the corner and going forward on the straight away. The breakdown was very beneficial to my understanding. At 1:00pm, we returned to the arena for ease of handling. The instructor expected more promptness in our delivery and I wore spurs. These two things made WallE a bit irritated, but he did eventually work out of it. 

Day Four: At 6:30am I arrived at the barn to clean WallE's stall and give him breakfast. At 7:30am I took him out, lunged and warmed up. At 8:00am we went into the dressage arena as if it was a horse show and rode our test. At the time, I did not think it was that great, but looking at the video- it looks pretty good. Right after the dressage, we did the ease of handling course. We completed all the obstacles, though we trotted a few times when we were supposed to canter AND we did not take the most direct route a few times. However, WallE completed the gate obstacle and was a willing partner. 

Very grateful for such a wonderful horse and the opportunity to have such a great weekend!