With my attention focused solely on Enzo now I am going to work on journaling our journey on the blog! The first two years were a lot of partnership development and figuring out the basics, like how to pick up the canter. Seriously. If you’re new here I bought Enzo as a 3 year old with around 60 days of training.
Our first show solo (without big brother Ocelot there) was not the fairytale I wanted it to be. Tryon is a big environment. There’s not a lot of grass for grazing and no paddocks for turnout. It is a lot for any horse, especially a young one. I had been spoiled by Ocelot. He is a true professional and could always go from stall to ring with no prep. Enzo, being the very laid back young horse he is, hasn’t been lunged since he was 4 years old. It was at that time I felt confident enough to get on him without getting the yee-haws out. Everyone, even horses, have areas of improvement and Enzo’s would be his lunging etiquette at times. He is not malicious by any means, he just sometimes gets, well, carried away and can hang a right (or a left) and take a little tour of the ring. Shoutout to TrainLikeAthletes as I have so far been able to hold on and not let him become totally free. With that said, that is on his Summer 2024 homework assignment with my trainer.
Back to May Tryon. We did two weeks back to back, which is honestly great for both our brains. Despite all of the atmosphere to take in Enzo was fantastic. I was probably not in the best headspace both weeks as these were my first shows without Ocelot in tow, more on that to come. Did Enzo have some baby, green moments? Of course. Were they exacerbated by my amateur decisions or lack thereof? Probably. Actually, definitely. I’m working through when he is more forward than I’d like to ride the forward with supporting leg and he’ll settle back. Instead of my go-to of pulling. The wins are all personal and growth related with Enzo as we are still working on installing a lead change. It is a slow and steady process to keep him and me both happy – you guys know I do not like to go too fast. While I did not win a single ribbon both weeks of May Tryon 2024 we had some big personal wins! Let’s go over them.
- I rode my young, green, 5-year-old myself. No training rides, no lunges.
- I did the flat classes – even though those are a work in progress. They make me uncomfortable with Enzo. He sometimes gets a little excited and he’s a big horse. Ocelot is quite the opposite. I am learning to adjust and make decisions that set us both up for better success.
- We finished all of our courses!
- We got a few lead changes.
- We traveled with one other horse Week 2 and Enzo stayed totally professional.
- I kept riding even when it was difficult and less than perfect!
So with that said, Tryon was not a perfect horse show but we had a lot of growth.
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