Aly Cat cinches my final USDF Bronze Medal score.

Aly Cat was so good for my student Lynn Rzonca a few weeks ago at the Bucks County Horse Park's Tuesday Evening Dressage schooling series that I hatched a new idea.  I needed one more third level score above 60% to earn my USDF Bronze Medal*.  After consulting with Lynn, I decided to enter Aly in two third level classes on the July 5th recognized show at BCHP.  I opted for Third 2 and Third 3.  Aly is being leased by Lynn and another student, Sandra Stokes.  They are each able to ride two days a week, sometimes three.  I didn't want to disrupt their schedules, so this was a real test to see if Aly and I could pull third level back together in just a few rides.  

Two weeks before the show I did one practice ride and then I took him the next day to Jessica Ransehousen for a dressage lesson.  Jessica has helped me on and off for five years and she was my principal dressage trainer during the years that I was competing Cat in eventing.  She knows him well!  We did a short, to the point lesson, running Cat through each movement in Thrid 2.  Having done mainly training level and first level for two years, his collected work and his extended work were weak and he got tired, but he tried hard.  

The following week, the week before the show, I was away in Boston attending an Instructors Certification Seminar through the USEA.  My next ride on Cat was on Friday, July 3rd, two days before the show.  I knew exactly what I need to work on, however.  We worked for a little over an hour, taking frequent breaks.  I helped him hold himself rounder, and we did repetitive transitions forward and backward, especially in the canter where Cat likes to go into gallop mode (a vestige from his first career as a racehorse).  When we were done I put Sore No More all over his back and quarters.  His back was not at all hot, but his hindquarters and hamstrings were foaming!  On Saturday, the day before the show, I massaged him, took him on a hack, and let him jump a few cross rails to make him happy.    

Aly Cat has now been retired from upper level eventing for almost three years.  The Tuesday Evening Dressage schooling show was the first show he has been to since 2007.  This past Sunday, the day of the show, I had no idea what I was getting myself into!  I told Aly that I was going to work him very hard, but I also promised him that if he was good in his first test that we would go on a hack and go home.  That didn't happen!  As I trotted around the outside of the ring before my first test, the old Aly Cat came back.  I did one practice halt before we entered the ring and he threw his head up and tried to rear.  I remember that Cat!  In the test itself, he did obedient trot and walk work, but the canter came more and more unravelled, especially after the medium and extended canters.  As we cantered down center line at the end of the test Cat did unrequested flying lead changes.  We scored a 56.9%.  We were doing the second test!

In the second test, Cat was more relaxed.  He must have known that since we were going back into the ring there was only a minimal chance he was going to get to run cross country later (one of the key elements, I think, in his unruly behavior)  He didn't have as much power in his medium or extended work as he could have had, but I also knew he wasn't terribly fit for this level and in an effort to keep him "with me" I didn't push as hard as I could have.  His lateral work was obedient and he kept his head down in every halt.  He also didn't jig in the walk in either test, which I saw as a major triumph!  We had one bobble in the second canter half pass when he broke to trot for two steps and then did his flying lead change a letter early.  We continued on, however, and all in all the rest of the test was flowing and consistent.  Our score eeked in just over the mark.  It was a 60.4%.  All we needed was a 60%.  Aly pulled it off!

On the day of the show, I bathed Cat at home and my longtime groom Gina Johnson braided him.  It was just like the old days.  The whole show was a great experience for me.  Cat and I spent the day together and I marveled at him.  I've had Cat under my care for seven years now, and he has been a wonderful horse.  I was so appreciative to be able to ride him again and find more use for him.  Especially during his first year of retirement he would beg me with his eyes and his attitude to be out there working still.  Unfortunately for him, his legs were not going to hold up to the jumping.  He was not happy!  I laughed at the exhausted look on his face after our lesson with Jessica and I said, "See, Cat, maybe retirement isn't so bad after all!"  Although I may quietly do another few dressage shows with him over the next year or two (I think we have a better score in there if he knows he's not going to jump) I think he is now happy with his current life of leisure.  I know I am happy at how much he is teaching Lynn and Sandra!  Thank you Cat!

*For those of you who are not familiar, the USDF Bronze Medal is a performance award given to USDF members who have achieved a 60% or more at recognized shows in two first level tests, two second level tests, and two third level tests with two different judges at each level.  They also award a Silver Medal and a Gold Medal as the levels go up.