Contessa - Tryon 4 Star L - Nov ‘22

This is a video for the Club Contessa. Well, girls, we did it. What a year it's been. Contessa has been an absolute legend this year and we finished it off in a great result at the Tryon International three day event. This was her second four star long. Her first one was in the pouring rain at Breaumont and this one was in the pouring rain and try on. All in all, Contessa was a star. She was very, very good in all three phases. And the best news for me is that she sort of got through, looks to have got through it unscathed, which is a huge accomplishment because as I've said all the time, a big goal is to get her to some five stars next year, most likely Kentucky five star. And this was a huge stepping stone event to achieve that dream. So this is the dressage test. We, we arrived there on Tuesday afternoon. I gave her a nice hack and, and then worked her a couple times Wednesday. And then Silver flew down Wednesday night, trained me on Thursday, and then this is the dressage test in the, the pouring rain on Friday morning. Now, I was really, really pleased with her test. Honestly, 90% of it was the best work we've got out of her. Silver's been working really, really hard on her flat dressage work and we actually got two clean flying changes. They weren't great, great changes, but they were at least heading in the right direction, which is obviously her, her hard point. That's her biggest challenge. But to me, all of this trot work was beautiful and smooth and level and sadly we didn't get the scores that I was thinking, like she's, she's been in the high 20s or the very low 30s all year round, you know, with all the shows that she's done. And after I did, you know, this, I felt like this is one of our best tests. So I was, I was heartbroken when I looked at the score. We scored a 35, which is not too bad, but it's. I don't know, I was a little bit grumpy just because I, I watched a lot of the other horses compete and I really felt like Contessa outdid them. Had a little bit of a discrepancy with the flying changes. You know, I've watched this test over and over and over again and she actually does two clean flying changes and sadly the, the three judges, I believe, made a mistake and scored them as late behind changes. To me, that was a good change and we got a three and a half and two four. So I so grumpy. I, I met up with the dressage judges after this and discussed it and they sort of admitted a little bit of wrong. They were actually very, very gracious and it was good, actually, sitting down with them and I went through the test and they, you know, they did make remarks if we've got to get her a little bit more soft and supple through her neck. And obviously this, this is the next change there. They're there, but they're not perfect, sort of. She's a little bit crooked and twisty in it. My wife Silver, though, assures me by April of next year they're going to be automatic. So let's just say I've got it. I've got to keep the bride sweet at the moment because I do think this is one area that if we can, we can improve with Contessa that she. I mean, look at this trot here. It's, it's beautiful. Nice extended trot. Anyway, with these four star longs, it's, it's such the cross country and the, the cross country and the length and the degree of difficulty on the course and the, the speed which you have to go that all of a sudden the dressage score doesn't matter so much. So it was the first time I decided to go quite fast on Contessa, and I have to say, the first third of the course, she was brilliant. You can see here I didn't go crazy chasing her, but like all the jumps were, I was catching them out of stride and unfortunately, you don't see it. You'll see it on the next video that about a third of the way around the course, there was this big open Oxa and she saw it and I don't know what happened, but she just ran at it. And, you know, the cross country control's been a bit of an issue. Like I've. I think if I go a little bit slow and careful, she's quite easy to handle and balance and slow down, but as soon as you go far, there's a. Something that triggers in her mind where she just sort of grabs the bit and rushes at the jump. And, you know, I admire her bravery and her enthusiasm, but it's a, it's, it's a tricky thing when a horse sees a jump and just runs at it. So I, I've got to keep training her to stay settled and I think next year maybe practicing one event where we go a bit faster. And honestly, I do believe we're gonna, I'm gonna have to put a sharper bit in her mouth because I mean she looks nice and easy and soft here but sometimes I'm a bit nervous that I can't get her back so I don't go quite as fast as she can go. Just with the worry that I'd have trouble balancing her and slowing her down as we come to the jump. She is an incredible galloper though. I suppose that the best thing about this year, two guys. Up until now, her soundness has been a chink in her armor and this year I've made her, you know, her health and her soundness and her muscling and her feet and everything about her trotting up sound and healthy a priority. And she has stayed very, very healthy and bless her like this and Bromont's very, very tough, grueling events and she stayed good and healthy and sound. So I think it's a. She's getting fitter and getting sort of this base fitness on her where the, you know, staying in consistent work helps. And then I do feel like we've got more weight on her, more muscle. We've put her on some ulcer medication and along with some other muscle building products so she is stronger. And then we've been relentless about her feet. We got a top, top blacksmith shoeing her and her, her feet look really, really good compared to last year. So hats off to my, my groom, Steph. She's. We're paid particular. You can see here, she's starting to get a bit strong and wild here and I'm at the end of the reins going, whoa. And she, she. That was definitely a life. That was definitely. I saw my life flash before my eyes there. She, at this part of the course just grips the bit and runs at the jump. And that was supposed to be six strides to three strides and she did five to two. And silly me, I had no gloves on, don't ask me why and my reins were slipping and I was sort of a little bit on survival mode here where in the back of my mind I knew we were. We couldn't win because we had the frangible pin early on. So I just wanted to get her home but still try and jump all these jumps fast and out of stride and she's still got plenty of fire left. As you can see, we're in the last minute here and she's still raring to go. And then the last fence. Oh my gosh, I thought it was the end of us. It was a bit like those squirrels back there where on top of her I can see a good Takeoff stride to the jump. And she sees. Not this jump, couple jumps time. She sees the last jump and just takes over and geez, we nearly. We nearly tipped over. But in true Contessa style, she stayed on her feet and finish. Finished really, really well. We had a ton of rain there, so the ground was actually very favorable for us. It was a little bit soft underfoot. And you can see here, I'm sure I see a good stride. Whoa. Whoa. Would have been very disappointing if I fell off just before the finishing line there. That would have been a. That would have been a disaster. Anyway, guys, we got actually the team that helps me with our social media put a helmet cam on me. So you're actually seeing contest. There's a Contessa's ears and they're going around the course here from the helmet cam. So like I said before, you know, I really wanted to actually be. Try and be fast on this course. So you can see all these early jumps. I'm seeing good forward distances, too, like seeing good galloping jumps. And then this next fence, this is the one she clambered through. She. And we were very lucky. That was a frangible pin, actually, because I think if that was a fixed jump, we might have fallen. But you can see how brave and accurate she is all through these skinnies and narrows. Like, you really need a horse that's game. And again, there's a couple jumps where she sort of rushes and she forgets about staying patient, but she still knows that she has to get between the flags. She's a phenomenal animal like that. She really knows her job. And, yeah, trying to go fast at the jumps is hard because in the back of my mind, I worry if I go too fast and then she won't slow down at the end, it might. Might not be so good. And I mean, look at these narrow fences. She is a pricked. And she just knows that she's got to get between that red and white flag. She's a. She's a great horse. Like this. Like, for this next jump, I had to slow right down because I knew this was five strides and she sort of charged down there. And I worry I got to somehow try and get her to settle and slow down between the jumps. It's a good problem to have in a weird kind of way, if you think about it like she. Most horses you're encouraging and trying to get them to be brave. And with Contessa, we're just trying to steady up and slow her. So I think we've got a lot to look forward to next season. My plan is to give her a couple weeks off here, try and get some more weight on her. Have a look at this here. She rushes down this squirrel and I thought, oh, and she just somehow gets inside that flag. What a good girl. I do think we've got a horse for Kentucky next year. She is going to be on the greener side of things, saying that she's done two very, very hard four star longs this year at Bromont and try on. So I, you know, we've got the runs on the board, this is the last jump. Good girl and we've got a healthy. I do think that Contessa's. She's a horse that it's hard to keep the muscle on, it's hard to keep her feet looking good and you know, we can't run her too much just because she's got skinny little legs. But she's experienced now, she's seasoned now and, and she's healthy. So I think next year we'll run three or four events along with some show jumping shows and dressage shows and see if we can't line her up to the Kentucky five star. Obviously nothing set in stone, but we've come this far, guys, and she's a, she's a great jumper. She was actually. This is obviously the show jumping. She was the best round of show jumping. The class saying that she didn't jump that well. If you can see her here, she's still a bit panicked from the cross country course the day before. She's ultra careful but she sort of puts her head up in the air and rushes a bit and I do think crashing through the frangible pinox of the day before upset her a bit. If you can think back to some of our other shows leading up to this, we've sort of had her a little bit softer and a little bit more supple and relaxed and even though she's jumping careful, she's a little bit on cross country mode here. She's sort of got the head in the air and she's a bit too keen to the jump. So it wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. But saying that we finished in fourth place, which is a great accomplishment to finish at third place at Bromont, then fourth place here at Tryon are two big, big results and she's proved that she's got the heart and the ability to compete at this top level. So we're going to give her a bit of a break and then ready to charge into next season. I think it's going to be a big year next year for Contessa. Thanks, guys.