All posts tagged mounted games across america

MGAA Mid-Atlantic #1 ~ 2012

Team Old School
Zoe, Carol Ann, Linda, Krista, Kim
Photo: Genevieve Arens

 This past weekend was the big season opener for the east coast mounted games season. We kicked it off with the first edition of the MGAA Mid-Atlantic Series held at the Price George’s Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Simon and I rode with our team, Old School, including usual team members; Linda, Kim and Carol Ann. We also asked our friend Zoe to join us for the weekend with her pony Cheyenne.

I started off the weekend with a lengthy hack around the grounds and then joined up with teammates and friends for a a nice little practice on Friday afternoon to help work out some of the silliness.

Photo: Genevieve Arens

Apparently it wasn’t enough because the first session on Saturday started out with Simon a little full of himself. This is typical of Simon, and something I just need to expect and work through until he grows out of it. He did a few little rears (I suspect his hooves are only going one or two feet off the ground) and some leaping starts and a few slow take offs when receiving hand offs. We also took out the end barrel in bottle shuttle, which I am blaming on Simon’s silliness and lack of focus. I managed to reset it relatively quickly without needing to dismount, and proceeded on. The rest of the session was pretty clean with very few mistakes team wide.

Photo: Genevieve Arens

Simon took a little lunch time nap in his portable corral while I took my turn as an assistant referee for the intermediate division.

Nap Time
Photo: Me

Photo: Genevieve Arens

We returned for the afternoon session with Simon in full effect. He moved out, he stopped, he turned, and I felt like we were a well matched pair with great communication and a worthy member of our team. I did miss a flag put in the 3 Pot Flag race. It was totally my fault and Simon was right there, ready to help me pull off a quick correction. Otherwise the session was pretty clean for Simon and I, with just a few other mistakes throughout the team.

Zoe lookin good in Navy and Yellow
Photo: Genevieve Arens

That night we had a fun potluck and social affair at our camp site. We got in lots of laughs and took down some good eats. We also took the moment to invite Zoe to be an official member of the team and she accepted! Yea!

Simon first off the Line
Photo: Ashley Desjardins

Zoe fits right in with the four of us and is such an upbeat, easy going person. She is fun and a real joy to have around. She is also a good rider and an asset to have in races. I am thrilled she accepted and is going to be sporting navy and yellow with us. So yea, Old School is now a 5 man team!

Hand off to Kim
Photo: Genevieve Arens

Sunday we woke up from a night of rain to a warm sunny morning. We hit the field feeling good and the team rode very well. Simon and I had a snafu in the Ball and Cone race, which is generally a pretty strong race for us. He is a true fossil pony, and will stand nicely for me to complete technical tasks like balancing tennis balls on the tops of cones. But Sunday, although he was stopping and standing, he kept turning to face the cone when I would lean over to place the ball, thereby putting it out of my reach. We were eventually successful, but it took a few attempts to reach the cone and ate up too much time. I was rather disappointed in this race, but overall, we had a very clean session with just a few mistakes team wide.

Simon waiting for the call to the start line
Photo: Ashley Desjardins

The 15 race session blew past in no time and we found ourselves in a solid second place at the end. The other teams were fantastic. Particularly our friendly favorites, Time Flies, who rock the pink and black gear. They are a fantastic well practiced team, who have a few members that can pull off vaults and reach items floating in buckets of water without dismounting. Two important skills our team very much lacks. Time Flies gives us a real challenge. They push us to try harder, practice more, and push for additional speed and accuracy. And the best part, they are fun and friendly and nothing but enjoyable to ride with. Which is common in the adult division where teams cheer each other on, compliment well pulled off skills and give occasional high fives amongst each other.

Team Time Flies
Photo: Ashley Desjardins

An excellent weekend, with lots of friends, fun, ponies and games. Old School grew in members, and together we have a real challenge to push for this season.

Simon and I got home late Sunday, but I decided not to take our customary Monday off, and we had a nice hack and got in a little technique practice for myself.

Moving into the changeover box for the start
Photo: Ashley Desjardins

In general I am seeing improvement in Simon.  After the first session I was very pleased with his starts, and noticed in some photos that he was out front of the other ponies quite often.  He also has picked up the pace since last year and made the end of the lane in line with the other ponies, and even ahead on some occasions.  His end turns have improved and he has not lost any of his excellent stopping or standing skills.  He has also improved slightly in bending poles, which is one of his worst races.  This weekend he did not drop his shoulder into any of the poles and he even had a lead change around one of them.

The next two weeks I will be going heavy practicing Ball and Cone, flag puts and turning around barrels.

With the first installment of the series behind us, we have four more to up our game and catch Time Flies.

Photo: Me

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by riderofchaos on May 1, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by riderofchaos on May 1, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/05/01/mgaa-mid-atlantic-1-2012/

2 Lanes of Bending Poles

I posted a few weeks ago about getting bending pole bases for our local Blue Ridge Games.  https://blueridgepony.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/games-equipment-for-the-not-for-profit-group/ 

Since then I have been working on getting the poles that go into the bases, painting them, and then assembling the poles into the bases. 

I already had a bucket of blue paint I picked up last summer to paint the balloon boards.  I figure it will be the unoffical, official, Blue Ridge Games equipment color. 

I got the poles painted in blue two weekends ago.  Which took a lot more time than one would think. 

Next I added some yellow electric tape to the poles, in a candy cane like fashion.  I think this really made the poles look a lot fancier.  Side note, the electric tape did not stick to the painted poles nearly as well as I expected.  I wonder how well it will hold up over time and in weather.  I suppose we will see! 

Once the tape was applied the poles were ready for the final step, screwing into the bases. 

Yesterday, Rich helped me finish the process by screwing two screws per base into the poles.   It only took a few minutes, and then they were done! 

Now we have two lanes of five poles, assembled, loaded into my trailer, and ready to go to the first practice of the year this coming Sunday!  Wooo! 

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by riderofchaos on March 13, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by riderofchaos on March 13, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/03/13/2-lanes-of-bending-poles/

Packing for Next Weekend – Already

Last night I started to pack the games equipment up for our Blue Ridge Games Clinic and Open Practice Session next weekend.

Yep, it’s over a week in advance, but I tend to plan ahead like that.

I loaded the smaller stuff into a giant tote and piled most of what was left into the stacked barrels.  I still have a few items I need to pull out of the field but the majority is loaded into the passenger side pony stall in my trailer now.  Ill have to rearrange a little to fit in the bending poles, which still need to be screwed into their bases, but that shouldn’t be too hard.

I am getting pretty excited about next weekend.  It should be a lot of fun!

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by riderofchaos on March 8, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by riderofchaos on March 8, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/03/08/packing-for-next-weekend-already/

Litter Training Meets the Draft Brain – 2012

Simon is a slightly slower learner than previous ponies I have had. He tries his best, but things just don’t sink in as quickly. With most of the previous ponies I have trained for games, they seemed to pick up a skill or pattern immediately. With them I would start their first time through bending poles at a trot and by the time we turned around the end pole to bend back, they were already cantering through them.

Not Simon. Granted he is built more like an 18 wheeler and weaving is harder, my previous ponies were more like Moseratis so it was a tad easier for them, it’s been a year now and he still seems a bit confused going through the poles. After we complete a run through them I imagine his brain, “so you want me to change which side of the pole I am running on? Are you sure about that?”

Simon's first competition last April - Bending poles end turn, not pretty

Last night we were doing a little practice and went through the poles at a steady, slow, almost plodding canter, and before we made it to the 5th pole we had already knocked down two. I employ all of my bending skills with him. I neck rein, I direct rein, I throw my weight, I kick with my heels (I even had spurs on last night) and he does move over, just not nearly enough. The second pole he took out was almost smack in the middle of his chest.

I righted the poles and tried going through them again and we did a bit better, managing to leave all the pole standing, although I don’t know if it was physically possible for Simon to go any slower and still maintain the three beat canter. He often trots faster.

His end turn has really improved over the past year though. I give him that. He is developing a nice turn on the haunches. I even had to grab the pole to keep it upright when we turned around it the second time. Go Simon!

Next we worked through litter race some. This is another race that has been a particular challenge for Simon. In litter, the rider starts at the A line and rides up the field to a neatly lined up “pile” of cartons. For MGAA we use water bottle like containers with the end cut off. The open end is facing away from the A line. So the rider must ride behind the containers, turning to face the A line, and using a little stick (4 foot dowel rod), scoop up one carton. The rider then rides back to the A line, dropping the litter from the stick into a trash can that is sitting in the middle of the field. (up and back).

Simon's first competition last April - walking his turn to face the litter

All of my previous ponies quickly learned to gallop up, canter a tight turn around the cartons, leaving me enough space to lean and scoop up one littler on the turn, and gallop back with me depositing the litter on the run.

May 2011 - Pick and Run

Not so easy for Simon. Last year we cantered up, trotted a turn, stopped, I scooped the litter, and then he galloped home. Although Simon seems to have really grasped how to complete this task, breaking down to a trot and then stopping even for a second, really eats up time. So I have been making an effort to teach him to continue moving through his turn.

We have been working on this pretty rigorously for the past month and are getting mixed results. Most days, the first four or five times through the race Simon does not quite understand that I am asking him to turn completely and he turns half way. Eventually he gets it and continues through the turn although then we are still left trying to get the size of his turn perfected, which is disconcertingly inconsistent.

Spring 2011 - Stand and pick

Sometimes I ask him to turn and he drops his butt and turns nice and tight on his haunches. Other times he makes a big sweeping arch of a turn and we wind up three lanes over. Sometimes he gets distracted by a bird or a tree branch and makes the turn but with his head in the wrong direction and his body bowed awkwardly. This inconsistency makes it frustrating for me to determine just when and how much force to use to ask for the turn. Too much and he runs over the litter, too little and they are out of reach.

I am told that this is a draft brain. That drafts are generally known for their willingness and interest in pleasing their rider, but are a little slow on the uptake.

April 2011 - He knows to gallop home at least!

We are going to keep working on this particular skill and eventually we are going to get it right. Hopefully before the competition season gets going!

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by riderofchaos on March 2, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by riderofchaos on March 2, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/03/02/litter-training-meets-the-draft-brain/

Mounted Games at the PA Horse World Expo

I mentioned in my previous post that MGAA, Mounted Games Across America, was going to have a booth and be performing a demo at the PA Horse World Expo this weekend and that Simon and I were taking part.

It was a really fun time, and it was a really cool experience.  Ill be sure to post about the Booth and demo in detail, but for now, Ill leave you with a video that one our our amazing members, Annie Seymour put together of the demo.

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by riderofchaos on February 26, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by riderofchaos on February 26, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/02/26/mounted-games-at-the-pa-horse-world-expo/

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