All posts in category Mounted Games

2013 MGAA Mid-Atlantic #1 Mounted Games Competition

May 1, 2013

The MGAA – Mounted Games Across America – Mid-Atlantic Mounted Games Series started up this weekend with the first edition held at the PG Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

I arrived Friday afternoon and set up camp. Shortly after my teammates and other fellow MGAAers also arrived and set up for the weekend. A couple of us got in a nice hack Friday evening, before grabbing a bite to eat and turning in at a reasonable hour.

My team, Old School, competes in the adult “fossil” division, which usually starts off the day as the first division. This weekend my usual team of Linda, Carol Ann and Kim was joined by longtime friend, Jon and his newish pony Jeeter. Kim was also on a new pony, Milli, who has been blogged about a few times, starting back in December. We all met up in the ring, bright and early Saturday for our first session of 12 games.

We started off pretty decently, with some hand off situations to clear up and some other new pony circumstances to accommodate for. But all in all it was a good session. Simon and I rode clean, with no mistakes, as did most of the team. And we reworked some things before we went back in the afternoon for our second session of 12 games. We must have sorted something adequately because we finished the session in second. Simon and I managed to run clean again, as did most of the team, although Simon was starting to slow down even more than his usual slow pace.

It is never surprising in this division how a single simple mistake can kill the whole race for a team. For the most part riders in the adult “fossils” division complete races cleanly, and at a pretty good clip. With vaulting not being a predominate skill among all riders in the division, teams that have even a few vaulters can annihilate in races that require dismounting and remounting. Our team does not have any vaulters, and it is pretty evident in a few particular races.

After the second session we got together and discussed the orders for Sunday. Taking into account the changes the ponies were making and how the new ponies were developing.

Saturday after the final session I had a meeting with the MGAA International Team. This is a really exciting topic that I have not mentioned yet on this blog and I am not going to elaborate on at this time. So grab that suspense and enjoy the wait until I do start blogging about it in the months to come. Be excited! I am!

After the meeting I spent the evening socializing with my teammates and friends, laughing, eating, roasting marshmallows and playing with Puppies. It was a lot of fun, and Ill talk about ‘pony shock training’ in another post.

Sunday we were back to the ring for our 15 race final session. We hit the field hard with a terrible warm up race through bending, fearing that we were showing our worst side for the day. But luckily we were just working out some bugs and got our tails in gear for the start of the real first races. We cruised through the session, with Kim and Jon both borrowing Simon for a race a piece, and a total bumble on my part in ball and cone race. I pulled up too soon for my placement and was not quite close enough to reach the cone, and Simon was being a pig about moving up to it, so I placed it lefty, which sometimes seems to trick the pony on protest. I think Simon decided to get me back though, because he flicked his tail out as far as it could go, and popped the ball back off the cone. I am always aware of his backend, and had made a point of keeping it clear, so he had to have stretched his tail to its maximum to reach the ball. Stinking pony. I officially killed that race for our team, because, as previously mentioned, a single screw up in a race can cost it all for you.

Also by the final session Simon was totally carousel-ing out on me too. Plodding along at his happy merry-go-round pace, with no urge to race what so ever. He knew what he was doing and I am giving him the virtual stink eye as I type this. Smart evil pony.

I started the final race, flag fliers, and I was rockin on through it, and actually getting a decent simon-pace out of him, and somehow, my flag pull went to pot. As in, it didn’t leave the pot! I felt it slide between my two middle fingers but I wasn’t able to grip at that angle enough to keep hold of it and it slid back into the holder. BOO. Luckily it didn’t come out and I just needed to circle back for it, but wow, does it suck to mess up in the last race of the weekend. Genevieve of EquiStar Photography (who so awesomely allows me to use so many of her fantastic photos on this blog) just happened to get a great shot of me “pulling” the flag and you can totally see it popping up but not in my hand. I wonder if she can photoshop a flag into my hand?

In the end our points from all three sessions added up to a third place finish. I suppose a yellow ribbon does match our team gear. SO pa-za! But Blue matches our gear too.

I already posted about how I locked my keys in the back of my truck in the cap in a previous blog post, which sort of capped off the packing up on Sunday. Otherwise it was a wonderfully uneventful drive home and a great start to the 2013 MGAA Mounted Games Season!

me placing the bottle in the bottle shuttle race
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Placing a flag
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Simon and Jeeter
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Linda and I
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Adding to the stack in association. I believe we were moving faster than we appear in the photo.
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Team Old School: Kim and Millie, Linda and Blue, Krista and Simon, Jon and Jeeter, Carol Ann and Zeke
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

We just busted a balloon in the balloon race
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

This is my oops pick in flag fliers. You can see the yellow flag is bouncing back into the holder.
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Daisy testing out our bed after I made it up on Friday.

Kim and Daisy in the campsite.

Daisy watching the intermediate division while I assistant Reffed.

Nancy and Marley, kicking butt
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Joy and Chloe in hug a mug
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Carol Ann and Zeke in mug shuffle
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Averi and Schwagger in Balloon
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Jon and Jeeter in association, topping off the stack
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Linda and Blue rockin the two flag race!
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Kim, always smiling, and Milli, lovin her new job.
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

2 Comments

by riderofchaos on May 1, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Mounted Games

Tagged horse, mgaa, mounted games, pony

Posted by riderofchaos on May 1, 2013

https://blueridgepony.com/2013/05/01/2013-mgaa-mid-atlantic-1-mounted-games-competition/

My Keys!

April 30, 2013

At the end of the MGAA Mid-Atlantic #1 competition weekend full of ponies, friends and fun, it was time to pack up camp and hook the trailers back up. I got all of Simon’s stuff packed into the trailer and all of my stuff packed in my truck and then accidentally locked my keys into the cap of the truck. whoops. I do not normally lock the cap at competitions but I must have hit the locking mechanism when I was packing or something and it locked when I closed it.

I took it in surprisingly good order and called my insurance company. And yea, I have road side assistance. So they sent out a locksmith guy. Sadly, he was not able to get the cap open. He did not even seem to know how the lock on it worked. sad.

My insurance called back to inform me it would require making a new set of keys which would cost me $300 out of pocket. ouch. Of course I denied that.

My next course of action involved trying to pry the side window open. The keys were sitting just on the ledge by this window. But There was no way a hand was going to fit into that tiny gap. Luckily my friend and fellow games rider, Dave, had a streak of genius. He bent up a marshmallow roasting stick and hooked my keys out of the truck in about 30 seconds. SCORE!

Dave won the “favorite person” award for the day. THANKS DAVE!!!!

Whoops, the keys are in the locked cap.

This is the tiny side window Dave fished my keys through.

Yea, and I am driving again!

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by riderofchaos on April 30, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Mounted Games

Tagged ma1, mgaa, mounted games, pony, road side, truck

Posted by riderofchaos on April 30, 2013

https://blueridgepony.com/2013/04/30/my-keys/

MGAA Mid-Atlantic Mounted Games #1 – VIDEO

April 29, 2013

This weekend was fantastic. I have a couple posts in the works detailing the awesomeness, but for now, here is a special treat.

Teammate, Linda, wore a Gopro video camera on her helmet. Her fantastic daughter, Genevieve of EquiStar Photography, edited into a this great video!

Team Old School – MA1 April 28, 2013 – Upper Marlboro, Maryland, PG Equestrian Center

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by riderofchaos on April 29, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Mounted Games

Tagged gymkhana, horse, mgaa, mounted games, pony

Posted by riderofchaos on April 29, 2013

https://blueridgepony.com/2013/04/29/mgaa-mid-atlantic-mounted-games-1-video/

Bitting the Nose

April 28, 2013

When I got Simon a little over two years ago, he still needed quite a bit of work on his turning and his stopping, although I quickly discovered he did not like tongue pressure. So bitting him was quite a challenge.

When I say he needed work on turning, lets just say at his first competition we “bounced” off the fence to make some of our turns. Yeah, a games pony needs to have good turns.

I assumed he would eventually move into a hackamore, since he was very responsive to nose pressure, but his turning was not up to par at that point. I tried about a dozen bits, all with a mixed array of poor results. He would stick his tongue out of his mouth, he would grab the bit and run, he stomped his feet and shook his head. Typical unhappy behavior.

Eventually a friend suggested I try her Myler combination bit. Those bits run in the $150 range, so it was not one I was just going to give a try, but since she had one I could pop in his mouth for a quick spin, I did. And it was like magic. He was instantly a new pony. So I spent the cash and got one.

Since then Simon has come a long way. He turns great, and he stops expertly. So I decided to try the hackamore direction again. I borrowed a basic round stiff leather side pull and an English jumping hackamore from a friend. First I tried the side pull. Simon loved it. He stopped great, and was very happy to move out and pull up sharp again. His turns were still good, but not as crisp as I have become accustomed to. The next day I tried the English jumping hack. It was even better. Simon stopped so short I almost pitched over his head. And his turns were spot on.

My thinking is that Simon likes nose pressure, but not tongue pressure. I have been training him in the Myler, which works on both the nose and the tongue. But there is a stopper on the bit to prevent it from giving a large amount of pressure. So with the hackamore, I am able to give him a lot more pressure on his nose, which he likes, and none on his tongue, which he also likes.

I would also like to try the little S hack, which I think will work well on him as well. The jumping hack is good, but tends to be a bit bulky, and “flaps”. It also flips on occasion, when extreme use is used. Also, with a pony like Simon, that likes to grab his reins in his mouth, he was a bit distracted trying to grab the metal sides of the hack. This would not happen with the little S.

I may try him this weekend at our competition in the jumping hack. Riding at home is one thing, but a competition will put it to the real test. Ill see how wild I am feeling!

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by riderofchaos on April 28, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Mounted Games, Pony Stuff

Tagged bit, hackamore, horse, mounted games, pony

Posted by riderofchaos on April 28, 2013

https://blueridgepony.com/2013/04/28/bitting-the-nose/

The Saddle Doctor Intro to Games Clinic

April 27, 2013

The other week Carol Ann and I gave an intro to games clinic at the Saddle Doctor in Timberville, Virginia. It was a really fun day. We had 9 adults in our clinic, and they all had a great time. We went for a good full 2 hours, and accomplished quite a few races.

I was really impressed by the enthusiasm and fun everyone had. Excellent attitudes. Riders were laughing and smiling while going through races, and cheering each other on while waiting for their turn.