Home - May 2006 News
Toowoomba Regional Championships and the Stallion Parade
We recently had the Regional Dressage Championships here in Toowoomba and...nah!!...no first ribbons or prizes, but what a great weekend we had. It was exhausting and exhilarating. We were running on adrenalin as we rushed from one deadline to the next. The highlights of the weekend for us were Mt Tawonga Natasha in her Novice Freestyle and RanchBoss Cortez's impact on the audience in the Stallion Parade.
Mt Tawonga Natasha and the Novice Freestyle to Music
On Friday night, I rode my very first Novice Dressage Freestyle to music. Mt. Tawonga Natasha (otherwise known in EFA circles as Wilga Park Elegance) was feeling high on the atmosphere of the lights and crowds in the big indoor arena. Her ears were pricked and she looked great. However, along with the atmosphere came more energy in Elegance, so it was sometimes difficult to look like we were in harmony with one another. I was trying to waltz and she definitely wanted to quick-step at times. However, we managed to stay in time with the music and she was so in tune to the whole sequence of events that she knew just when to power across the arena in lengthened canter strides. She was impressive down that centerline, as we did our lengthened trot all the way from one end to the other - to halt and salute the judge on the last note of the music!
"Imposing finish!" commented the judge at C.
All our supporters were very enthusiastic about it afterwards, so I was on a high for the rest of the evening. We didn't score anywhere near the top, but it was a first and it was fun!
Mind you, in our tests on Saturday I had to keep half-halting every step down that centerline and across the diagonal, as Elegance was still in 'Freestyle' mode. By Sunday afternoon, she was a little tired and prepared to listen to those half-halts and our best score of the weekend was our last Novice test.
RanchBoss Cortez and the Stallion Parade
The hype continued ... Even though I was competing all weekend, we had to have Cortez ready for the Stallion Parade on Saturday evening. Each stallion gets up to 5 minutes in the arena to do 'stuff' while the commentator gives the audience details about the stallion. It was organized to happen between the Inter I and the Grand Prix Kurs.
Linda Shore, who is our instructor, horse starter, mentor in all equine things and the organizer of the whole weekend - rode Cortez. She loves him, so...as it is five minutes of 'flash and impress', she desperately wanted to go out and show off his Western training prior to going into the Dressage moves.
She planned to gallop Cortez in and do a sliding stop, as his Western training has been in Reining. Then she planned to throw in some spins, rollbacks and then slip into his Dressage stuff. Greg and I were a tad concerned that he would look very amateurish, if it didn't come off properly. However, we knew that Linda was fully aware of Cortez's ability, so we just let her go for it. We knew she would not let us down...or the horse she had future plans for. She was proudly announcing to anyone who would listen that she was putting her best 17" warmblood mare to him this coming season. Yep! She really likes him...and she breeds Warmbloods!
As the other three stallions in the Stallion Presentation were all huge 17++hh, educated to high level Dressage, there was no way to compete against them at that level, so Linda determined to show just how good Cortez was in his own right. As we watched with excitement, we saw those magnificent warmblood stallions come into the arena one after the other. They did their half-pass and their pirouettes...and then piaffe...and passage...and it was impressive! Each one received their applause as they left the arena. And then...
To the music of Mustering the Colts from The Man From Snowy River...in gallops RanchBoss Cortez...to do a magnificent sliding stop! Cat calls, whistles and whoops from parts of the crowd followed. Rather more excitement than the other stallions had extracted from the crowd. Linda then proceeded to take Cortez through some moves. His 'spins' were not fast, but nothing to be embarrassed about and he showed his paces off to perfection. He has wonderful movement. Linda commented later that she found Dressage moves that she didn't know he had! She just felt he was right for it and did them. Linda, herself, is an FEI rider, so knows the moves inside and out.
The big crowd-stopper that made people suck in their breath was when she was cantering around the arena and then just let go of the reins. With the buckle of the rein sitting on his wither and reins swinging loose, one hand at her side and the other sorting out a stray hair from under her helmet, she cantered a 20 meter circle on him! No hands what-so-ever! He did not change frame or rhythm for even one stride. He was the highlight of the night.
He certainly showed his magnificent temperament and his great paces. One of my biggest fears was that Cortez would be dwarfed and fade into insignificance with the three magnificent Warmblood stallions there beside him. When they all came back into the arena together, he came out in the middle of them. To my very pleasant surprise...his movement was just as impressive as theirs! He had the same action and he did not look out of place at all! He did us proud.
It was a tiring, but fun and fabulous weekend!