For the Champagne Classic I only took Falcon as Neo and Claudius were showing at Devonwood the weekend after.
We thought that Falcon had a break through show at Beaujolais but that show seemed like nothing in comparison to this show.
The big thing with Falcon is to get him relaxed and then have him be able to mentally handle going forward with smooth long gaits. At this show, he started to show even better gaits. At Training Level he does quite well but at 1st Level with the smaller movements and change within the gaits he does struggle a little bit. Overall, Falcon is showing great promise and really with this horse the expectations continue to grow.
On Saturday we rode Training 4 for our first test. Falcon just put in a solid test from start to finish with the only hiccups being in the canter transitions. We won the class handily with a 74.8%. This was a legit score and not a "fluff" score.
Our second ride of the day, at 1st 4, also went solid. Falcon put his best 1-4 test to date and was rewarded with a 68.6%. This turned out to be a competitive class where we ended up 7th. However the winning score was only a 72% so with some cleaning up in the canter work we can easily be up there in the standings.
On Sunday, we just rode the 1-4 test. We did a better job in this test in many regards, mostly our canter transitions were better-but still room for improvement. Coincidentally, we scored the same score as the day before (68.6%). This time we won the class. A couple of the horses that beat us the day before were not in the class, while the others did not do as well.
Coming out of this show my objectives for Falcon changed dramatically. Now I knew I could start asking him a little bit more to show off his gaits better. I'll do this in small steps but I know we have a super horse.
For Championships Falcon has a reasonable chance to be in the top 3 or top 5 at Training Level and Top 8 or Top 10 at First Level. Both of these thoughts would be unthinkable at the start of the season.
This horse continues to be a rewarding partner to work with. Much thanks to his owner Alanna Danna for the opportunity to work and show him!
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