Desert Dressage 1 & 2
Desert dressage was exactly what the GEI crowd needed after a season of lost show experiences, Thermal, CA, November 12-22, 2020
So what do we think of this return of World Cup Qualifying dressage to California? It was exactly what we had hoped! Two weekends of well organized showing, at a beautiful facility, with all the technology one can hope for to make showing easier. 11 days at a show is exhausting, even if we weren’t showing the entire time. It’s a long time to be away from the comforts of home and family however, the show grounds at DHIP are amazing and they certainly did their part to make us feel comfortable. We were proud to sponsor this event and look forward to sponsoring it in the future. Let’s talk details!
First, the show grounds are gorgeous. We’ve been here with a jumper we bred years ago, but the recent changes have really perked it up. The new owners have done a great job giving the place a little facelift. They have improved the facilities, the footing in the arenas, and put up new stalls. Willi promptly went to work helping, doing his part to remodel his stall. He had removed half a wall when security discovered him and called us with an emergency (photo below). Despite Willi’s criticism, we thought the stalls were very nice, with good light, thanks to the choice of roofing. DHIP also offers paddocks for rent, which we used as much as we could. We feel like that little detail increased horse happiness by 100%. For the humans, there’s a nice area to eat and a bar, for those bad rides.
Our ultimate goal was to get our horses out to a larger venue, with more action. Desert Dressager was exactly what the GEI group needed after a year of not being able to show and then only being able to squeeze in a few little shows. Small shows are great, and an inexpensive way to get experience but there is not substitute for the demands of a big show. Most of our horses haven’t had much show experience, even though some came out at Prix St. George. Just teaching them to navigate the warm-up arena is worth the price of admission but of course we got so much more from it. So how did everyone do at the show?
Foxy is a hot ticket, which is part of what makes him so brilliant and part of what makes him such a great candidate for the international arena. The challenge with him has been helping him to manage his stress and channel it into a positive. He has not had show experience prior to his import, so this year has been his first show season. At previous shows, he has been a bundle of nerves. This show started out the same. The first PSG class started out with him having a melt down right before he entered the arena and getting his tongue over the bit. Allida rode as best she could but there was not much to be done to salvage it. He still managed to score 62% with some amusing comments fromĀ judge Axel Steiner.
After that, he turned a corner. The next ride, which is the video above, was the first time he felt relaxed and was really connecting with Allida, in the show arena. Allida says she has never felt so present and in the moment as she did during that ride. She was a little surprised with the score but it was such a huge step for Foxy that the score almost doesn’t matter.
The final ride of the show was their best score, even though Allida felt it was their weakest test (the first wild ride not withstanding.) Allida’s Coach Jan (Ebeling) was able to watch that ride in person, so she got a lot of useful feedback. She knows where she needs to go and is excited about her future with Foxy.
Stefanie asked if she could show Luke at this show so she can continue to work on her Prix St. George. We were happy to let Luke get some show scores with such a talented amateur rider. This was only the second time that Stef has shown at the FEI levels. The first time was also with Luke. Stef does not regularly ride Luke but she’s a brave and talented rider. She spent the two weeks leading up to the show schooling and felt more confident about the Prix St. George than the first time. Luke also had no show experience prior to coming to the US but he has the attitude of an old pro, and attitude counts for a lot.
She chose to do fourth level the first weekend, as a warm up, and PSG the second weekend. She marked her highest score of the show at PSG on Saturday, with just shy of a 66%. They still have a lot of things to work on but they are getting better every time. We are proud of Stef for her bravery in showing a horse a that’s not her regular horse, at the FEI levels, at a huge show, with some of the best riders in the country!
Stefanie also showed her young horse Willi first level on the first weekend. He’s still a punk kid but they made it through the classes, then he went to Auntie Allida for schooling the second weekend. He marked a 68% at training level the second weekend.
Eyreka showed Starboy again (who, as much as we tried to make the name stick seems to be determined that we call him Armani.) Their fist class wasn’t great, with too much tension. There was a spooky corner of the arena that he got fixated on. The next day was much better, and you can watch the video above. They ended up coming in first place on this ride.
Eyreka had weird video karma at this show and somehow, the video people only filmed one of her rides and in that single ride, she is mislabeled as a different Arika. We laughed at the chances that two “Ericas,” with weird name spelling, would go back to back.
Starboy is a horse who has only ever been shown by Eyreka, an amateur rider. We are so proud of the work that she has done with him. He has improved so much in the short time he has been with us. Every time we post a new video of him, it’s like we are looking at a different horse. He has good things in store for his future!
Last and littlest, but not least, is Tennley and Emily. What can be said about this pair other than they are the cutest things on six legs. Tennley is suddenly 9, going on 29 (see photo below.) Seriously, who is this kid? She’s awesome. Ten and Em showed intro level and won all their classes. Ten marked her best score at 67%.
Emily, who is well into her 20’s has been getting a higher powered joint supplement and after a low grade founder scare earlier this year, has been put on an IR diet. Since then, she has come back stronger and moving better than ever. She never, ever takes a wrong step. There’s no naughty pony behavior. She’s really the best pony ever and we will make sure that she remains in the GEI family for the rest of her life but she says she still has it in her to teach a couple more kids, at least.
