Beginner Jumpers Reserve Champion!

Our show season ended at the end of October with the IEHJA Fall Festival Horse Show. I am so proud of how far she has come along since the begining of 2012. We showed in the jumper division for the first time! Here are our results from the show:

Green Rider Hunter over Fences - 7th
Pumpkin Patch Hunter Derby - 7th (out of 17 riders!)

Beginner Jumpers Table II Section B (first section) - 4th
Beginner Jumpers Table II Section B (second section) -4th
Beginner Jumpers Table II Section C - 1st

Reserve Champion Beginner Jumpers

Gigi has been showing potential as a jumper more so than a hunter. Next show season we will be showing more jumper classes!



Here is our winning round!!!

Bit Choices

So one important factor in transforming Gigi has been changing her bit. Finding the right bit for a horse can be extremely tricky, especially a sensitive horse like my mare! There are so many choices of mouthpiece, cheek piece, curb, curb chain, conventional, unconventional... it's a lot to take in. And each one does something slightly different, and trying to figure out what that something is has been a nightmare. I have looked at books on bits, I have read everything I can find on the internet, and I have even consulted a trainer. The majority of what I have read seems to indicate the simpler the bit the better. However, these people have not ridden my mare!

Loose Ring Snaffle

When I rode Gigi for the first time out in Cherry Valley her old owners had me ride in a loose ring smooth snaffle. This is a very mild bit. The mouth piece is smooth and jointed. The loose ring cheek pieces allow for a lot of movement of the reins, allowing for a soft contact. Mare was running away with me with her head in the air. She would brace against the bit, chomp, and canter around with her mouth open while I tugged on the reins.

French Link Eggbutt Snaffle

After riding in this bit for a long time and seeing that it was not working, we changed to the eggbutt French link. I got this bit after reading about how some horses find the single jointed bits uncomfortable. The joint causes a "nutcracker" effect which slams into their palate, causing pain. I had a feeling this may be happening to her. So we switched to the French link. She seemed to be more comfortable for a while, but we were riding in an extremely small arena at the time, so she couldn't really run away either.




Once we moved to our current show barn, I had the help of a trainer. She suggested I try riding in a bit with leverage. Leverage bits not only exert pressure on the bars and tongue of the horse, the also distribute pressure to the horse's pole. Since Gigi was running around with her head in the air, pole pressure was much needed. After speaking with my trainer, we decided to try a jointed kimberwick. Not only would it apply leverage, this bit also has a curb chain. So on top of the extra force from leverage, the curb action of this bit makes every 1 lbs of pressure on the reins feel like 10 lbs of pressure in the horses mouth. And the outcome of using a kimberwick on Gigi? Mare with breaks! The first day we put it on she slide stopped dead between two fences. After riding her in the kimberwick for about 6 months though she really started figuring things out. The kimberwick did wonders. I felt like I had control over my horse. However, over time Gigi has learned how to avoid the curb action by sucking back and over bridling. So it is once again time to change bits.

Jointed Kimberwick

Also, a kimberwick is not a long term solution to the problem. Kimberwicks are considered "unconventional" according to USEF/USHJA rules. For show hunters the bits allowed are snaffles and pelhams. That's it! Some websites I looked at said that it is possible for a judge to mark you down for using a kimberwick, others said its not an issue. I think it probably depends on what level you are competing at. At my teenie tiny local shows I go to, in the 2ft. green rider division, the judge probably doesn't care that much. But I don't want to risk this being a factor long term. Plus I don't like the way the kimberwicke looks on Gigi. The curb chain is ugly.

Enter the full cheek slow twist. I have ridden many horses in a slow twist. It is by no means a strong bit, but the twist makes it a little more powerful than say the loose ring smooth snaffle. I really like the look of the full cheek. Depending on who you talk to and what website you look at, the full cheek feature doesn't "do" anything very different from any other snaffle cheek piece. The main function of the full cheek is so that the bit cannot be pulled through the horses mouth. Some people believe that the smaller full cheek rings allow for a small amount of leverage you wouldn't get from any other snaffle cheek piece. I am not really concerned with leverage anymore since Gigi has learned to keep her head down, and I would really like to move back to "conventional" hunter bits. So I go with the full cheek slow twist.

Full Cheek Slow Twist

At first, Gigi responds really well to the slow twist. She seems just as manageable in it as the kimberwick which makes me really happy. After about a week of riding in the slow twist, she becomes sensitive in the mouth and jiggy (at the walk). I don't know if it is the harshness of the twisted mouth piece or just bad riding on my part but I decide to take the safe route and graduate her back down to the French link. So for now we are riding in the French link, but I think I may be switching back to the slow twist for shows. I am hoping to avoid using the kimberwick for now!

Before and After

So we have come a long way since our first show last year. Gigi has gained a lot of weight and muscle and filled out very nicely. Overall right now she is doing very well. She is still forward most of the time, but there are good days and bad days. Mostly what I am working on is exercises to build up her body. My theory with this is the more in shape she is the more comfortably she will move, and the better she will look! The stronger her body is, the easier it will be to get her mind to relax.

I have jumped her up to 2'9 now and we can course at 2ft to 2'3 (mostly verticals, not as comfortable with oxers yet). As you can see in the bottom photo she doesn't jump very evenly yet. This was about a 2'6 oxer and her knees aren't even. We have been doing some gymnastic exercises but she hasn't been very fond of them. Last week I tried doing a trot pole to a crossrail, no stride to a small vertical and two strides to a small vertical but she was having a very difficult time with it. She did it eventually, after I took out the trot pole and let her canter in. I know gymnastics are supposed to start from the trot. This is something we will work on.

She is much more relaxed going to the right than the left, which I think is really weird for an ex-racehorse. My trainer thinks she is just over going to the left because of her long race career. She still pulls at the bit, especially when I do a strong half halt at the canter. She has also started over bridling to avoid my hands and to avoid the bit. We may need to switch up her bit again soon to try to get her more comfortable. Right now she is in a jointed Uxter Kimberwick.

This is us jumping in June:

Gigi - Race horse to Show horse!

In Fall 2011 Gigi began her new career as my show horse. We are registered with the Inland Empire Hunter Jumper association and went to our first show in October 2011. The show was held at Industry Hills Equestrian Center in Industry, CA in a large indoor arena. Though still a little out of shape, Gigi was a trooper. We showed in four under saddle classes (no jumping for us at this show). We managed to get a fourth and a sixth in two equitation classes. Gigi was a little excited in the arena, she was going so fast we basically lapped all the other ponies. Hopefully with more show experience she will get a little more calm and comfortable in the arena.

Our first show

Our second show was early December 2011 at Pepperglen Farms in Norco, CA. Gigi was better behaved at this show than the first show. We competed in the Green Rider division which included two jumping rounds and two flat classes. Gigi was still a little excited to be in the ring and was very quick in the flat classes but over all she did a great job. We managed to take home four second place ribbons and we were reserve champion in our division.

Tired after a long day!

One thing we will be working on is entering and exiting the arena at shows. Gigi goes in the ring fine the first time but she figures out that going in the arena means work! She had to follow other horses into the ring or be lead in by hand for the remainder of the day, which is very inconvenient for me as a rider. I don't like having to force her to go into the arena but I also don't want to keep the judge waiting!!!

Since our last show, Gigi got a long break from training through the holidays. My new goal is to work her at least five days a week to gear up for the next show at the end of March. Also, we are beginning lessons with my trainer starting this week, which will hopefully help a lot with jumping! I purchased a new video camera to film practices and shows to study what we look like to the judge. Videos and pictures to be posted soon!

Copyright Benoit Photo

Speaking of pictures, I contacted the track photographer who shoots races at all the local race tracks. I ordered 8x10 photos of Gigi in the winner circle. It took awhile for the photographer to get back to me on the prices and availability of the photos but I just heard today that they are ready to be shipped! I will be getting those sometime this week!