LOCK ME PLEASE C:

[Hime]

Okay, 'super long post ahead'-warning!
Gaited riding(Icelandic horse riding) shows The crash course:
So as we know Icelandics normally have 4 or 5 gaits, the extra gaits being tolt and pace. All these gaits are shown in the shows especially made for Icelandics, in fact they are the only horse that is allowed to enter these shows.
The basics:
-Icelandic horses compete on a oval shaped track either 200m or 250m long with slightly tilted curves to make the turns easier in high speeds, and the pace classes are on straight track at least 200m long, but preferably a lot longer for speeding up and slowing down as the 200m is only the amount needed for the judged part. Usually a good place is the race(harness or galloping) tracks long side if there's no other place especially made.
-Scoring goes from 0-10.
-On oval track the transition happens always on the middle of the short side. Tempo changes and pace transitions have to be started/slowed before the curve starts which is marked on the track fence.
-In prelimary rounds there's usually only one rider on the track, though there are variations of classes where there are 3-5 riders on teh track at the time, and in finals there's 5-6 riders on the track and the gait changes are called out.
-General judging points are: the beat of the gait, is the tempo right, how the horse moves(ie. is it using it's body right and carry itself well, does it have long strides and high moves which are prefered), the rider(now days they can give extra points for good riding and reduce points incase of bad riding), transitions, with pace speed also counts.
-In big shows there's usually two finals; A and B. Top 5 after preliminary round will go to the A-final. 6th-10th will go to B-final. The winner from B-final has the opportunity to ride in A-final, thus an opportunity to win the whole show(I've seen one make it to top 3 from B-final). The final placings are competed over in the finals, the preliminary result doesn't count for the rider's final score if they made it to the final.
-There are rules concerning hoof lenght, shoing(shoe weight and pad thickness are strick) and boots' weight, forbidden bits and nosebands when using certain bit.
You can see the white weight boots here as well as a Icelandic curb bit, which in sort of common bit on higher level shows, like maybe half of the riders use it. The boots used in shows are white to enchant the front legs action, even if they don't have much weight.

The classes are dividend into two different types: Sport and Gaedingakeppni.
Gaedingakeppni is a more traditional Icelandic form of showing and it has slightly different judging points compaired to Sport. But now days it's not very common outside Iceland, where it's still very popular, maybe even more than Sport. Sport is the 'new' way of showing and all the champion ships outside Iceland are in that form as well as most of the shows. I will focus more on Sport classes as I have more experience about them. The basics of each style, so to say, are same however, who has the best moving horse or fastest horse when it comes to pace. But it's not as simple as it sounds.

Which leads us to the classes; F1, V1, T1, T2 for the oval track and PP1, P1, P2. V1 and T1 have easier versions of them. In V1 and T1 you are required to enter these easy classes first and get over certain point limit to be able to enter the normal classes. There's also easier versions of pace classes(PP2 and P3). I start with the oval track classes.
-V1 stands for four-gait. In four gait you ride 4½ rounds on the track. You have to show one round of slow tempo tolt, medium trot, medium canter and extended tolt, then half round of walk. The rein and order of the gaits is free on normal classes. The difference in easy classes it that the order of the gaits is set and you don't need to show extended tolt and the tolt shown can be up to medium tempo.
-F1 is five-gait, and it's only for five gaited horses that have pace. In it you show tolt, trot, walk and canter, but no extended tolt and you can show slow to medium tempo tolt instead of slow tempo like in V1. The extra gait you show in F1 is pace, which is shown on the long sides. The points for pace and tolt in F1 are doubled.
-T1 is Tölt1. This class focuses only on tölt. You do three rounds. First on round of slow tempo tolt, then slow down to walk and change of rein, then slow tolt and tempo changes for the long sides(meaning slow on the short sides and faster on the long sides). The last round is extended tolt.
In the easy T1 there is no extended tolt.
-T2 is also a tölt class, Tölt2. First tölt, you can choose the speed, for one round, then slow calm tolt for round, slow down to walk and change rein. The last round is tolt with reins on one hand and no contact to the horse's mouth and the tempo can't go over medium. For the no reins part the score is once again doubled.
That's oval classes, they also have variations, but I won't go there as there's a lot of them(like there's total of 8 variations of tolt classes).

In pace track classes the only judged gait is pace and it's transitions.
-PP1, Pace test. On the track there are markers every 25m. Rider is given a sign by a judge, they move into walk, trot or tolt. Just before the 25m mark they move to canter, then by the 50m mark the horse needs to be in pace. That's where the timer starts. The horse must stay in pace until 150m mark where it should slow down to tolt, trot or walk by the 200m mark. Slowing down to walk gives the rider higher score. You have two tries, so if you fail on the first one you get a second chance.
There are 6 judges according the offical rules, though this can be done with less. The areas judged are: transtion to pace, the pace itself(X2) and downward transtions. Then one jugde to show when to start the timer, also noting if the horse is not in pace by the 50m mark. Then there's a judge at the 150m to tell if the horse still in pace when crossing that line.
-P1, Pace race 250m(P3 is the easier version with only 150m to race). This is really a race. There are two riders on the track and the start happens from start boxes, like racing horses, or from a line. The riders get 2-4 tries, or heats as they are called. Only max. two heats can be done on one day by one rider and horse combination. They will be given a signal by flag and sound to start. First 50m is free choice of gait, usually gallop, then transition to pace and go as fast as they can until the 250m mark where they should start slowing down. The many judges at the track side will show with flags(white or red) if the horse was in pace the whole time. The time is made into points with a certain formula.
-P2, SpeedPass(means SpeedPace). One horse at a time on the track, two chances. From the signal free choice of gait until 50m mark, where transition to pace. Finish line is by the 150m mark. In this class only time matters, meaning the fastest wins.
That's the basic classes.
Couple pace pictures: Link and Click

Now that's about it I think... I probably forgot something major. XP Please ask if you guys want to know more about something or want me to explain something better that you don't understand. ^_^

[DraftHorseLover]

@Hime ~ Thats cool

[Hanoverian]

@Hano, don't worry, I'm not quitting, not really. I can't 'quit', not really, not until I find Bronson. But it's just so hard- I have to call her place of work, only I don't get home until about a half hour before they close- maybe even later, and they're not open on weekends. I then sound like an idiot asking for her by her first name only because I don't have any further information even though I've talked to her twice. The last time I tried, She wasn't there, and I left my number with the receptionist, and she never called back. Or maybe she did- I wasn't home for most of July, so if she called, I wouldn't have been able to answer, which would have left my mom to answer, and she would NOT have answered. Probably wouldn't have even told me that she'd called. It tried asking her last night if we could stop back in at the office on our way into town, and she just blew me off, saying no, that he's probably nothing special and 'just a horse', and that Darla had probably already told them horrible things about me. (which I wouldn't put past her, but if that's true, I could probably KILL her reputation in revenge. Not like I'd actually do that, but if the reason that Bronson's owner isn't calling me back is because of Darla lying about me... I might have a few things to say.)
But I will try, even though it probably won't work. I know I won't be able to do much with Rez until I find him.

And I guess I had to put up with Darla- if I hadn't, how else would I have found Bronson? I wouldn't have. Maybe... maybe that would have been better.

The creepiest part of the dream is that when they have real people in them, they come true in some way. I've foreseen most of the things that happened at my old barn, including the auction, breaking my arm, and just generally things falling apart. So I may not find Bronson out by Rez, but he probably won't be the same horse when I do find him.

We don't have a roundpen either, so I actually did join up in the smaller corral, which was maybe... 100 by 80? Or smaller. I'm not sure. I used one of the ponies for it. He got a bit confused in the corners, but it worked. So if you have a smaller area like that, you could try it. And it's funny- all the times I played with Henry- and the others, like when I rode Charlotte (Darla's mare, bit of a Spaz) bareback and bridleless out in the pasture, no one else was home, since she'd had to leave and left me there on my own. I never got to do anything fun while they were there- too busy working.

And it's not that I feel ignored, it's just... a lot of things, really. Stuff that happens way to often to me, like being passed over in conversation. I should be used to it. I'm okay with being ignored, actually. I just don't know when to announce that it seems like I am.

-cut for a tiny bit of space-

Good. I don't want you to quit.
I don't know how your school works, but at mine, we're allowed to use our phones during passing periods and lunch. Maybe you could call her then? Probably at lunch, especially if you could go outside or something so it wouldn't be super loud. Or just call her EVERY DAY after school. Every day. Hopefully someone will eventually answer, and even if she isn't available, you could ask for her email.
Or does your school get early dismissal days? You could call her on one of those because you'd get home early.

I hope Darla didn't say anything. o.o ...whenever I see that name, I think of the Darla from Finding Nemo, lol. Their personalities sound similar. xD

I think that it's a great thing that you found Bronson. If his owners really are that bad, you might have the chance to rescue a horse and give him a better life than he's seen before, if you'll call his owner.
Hopefully the dream doesn't come true, though (the abuse part, not the "reunited" part)

Hm. We don't have any corrals, just an outdoor, indoor, and some turnout. Our indoor is 60 by 120, maybe that would work?
I'm glad that you got the chance to have fun with some awesome horses. C: Yeah, I've been saving playing with Kat for a day when I'm on my own partly because the arena is always too busy to take up all on your own, and because I don't really want a million people watching me. No one at my barn really does things like join-up or bonding things (we're a competitive Hunter/Jumper/eq show barn ><) so I'd feel awkward with everyone watching. So I'm excited. I want to have a really strong bond with him... we already kinda do, since I spend a lot of time brushing him, talking to him, grazing him, and spending time with him in his stall. He even follows me around. C:
Sorry I rambled a bit there xD

I'm sorry that you feel that way. <3


@Rain:
Wow, it sounds like you had an interesting lesson! The first part anyway. xD
Haha, I used to do the same thing with polos. I've practiced SO much, though, that I can wrap all four legs in 3 minutes flat, and wrap 'em well. I always polo wrap Kat, he looks so cute. <3 I have a few tips for starting them, if you wanna know, coz I used to do the same thing that you do. It took me a bit to get the hang of wrapping.
And the rest of your lesson sounded amazing! You and Riley are figuring each other out. C: I bet that you'll be jumping him 3' in no time.

[OneRowdyNight]

Hano... I just wanted to tell you that Kat is so cute. <3

[classi]

@ Hano; Haha, someone didn't finish their sentence. xD
Edit: Thanks! It was interesting but awesome too. And this may sound odd, but him spooking was really fun and I didn't start shaking until after he started walking!
I only have to wrap the back legs, thank goodness. I need practice, of course, but I'd love to hear your tips.
I wish that my bridle, martingale, bit and boots would just get here already! I don't like borrowing other people's stuff, because I don't want to do something wrong with it and have them get mad at me... although Riley's owner is really happy that I'm using her tack because I clean it for her. xD

La Video
Judge if you'd like. (: But keep in mind that I have so many excuses... *cough* Here they are!
- I've only been riding for about two and a half years
- This was my second time riding this horse
- This was my first time cantering this horse, excluding out first out-of-control-crazy-fast canter
Yup. (:

[Hanoverian]

@Rowdy
Eek! Thanks! 8D I love my little Ponybug. I have about 300 more photos on my photobucket if you want to see... o3o

Rowdy is super cute too <3 I love that picture in your signature.

@Rain:
Yeah, I pressed submit too early. I edited the post though xD Will watch that video asap

[.:HunterJumper:.]

Well it's official I can't ride deacon until October <\3 He is lame,I went to see him today,I walked him out to the arena and took the lead line off and he followed me around at walk.We did a little weaving,I feel I haven't spent much bonding time anymore and just riding <\3 I will bond with him more within the next month.

[Hanoverian]

I'm sorry pawprints. D: Hoping for a speedy recovery <3


________________________________________
Stalking BigEq (as usual) and found my friend's horse's twin. No joke. Look. They look exactly the same except that her horse has a bit less white and he's a Clyde TB cross, not Shire TB.
I found a bunch of horses that I really like, though. Most of them are gray, but that's a coincidence. I think that grays are gorgeous, but I think I would try to avoid getting one because they are so prone to melanomas.

[*Kayla*]

I'm sorry pawprints. D: Hoping for a speedy recovery <3


________________________________________
Stalking BigEq (as usual) and found my friend's horse's twin. No joke. Look. They look exactly the same except that her horse has a bit less white and he's a Clyde TB cross, not Shire TB.
I found a bunch of horses that I really like, though. Most of them are gray, but that's a coincidence. I think that grays are gorgeous, but I think I would try to avoid getting one because they are so prone to melanomas.

Huuu!!! Oh my gosh he is adorable!!!I love Kat! especially the picture of him in his white bonnett that you have in your siggy! (:

[Mr.Milo]

@Hime:Oh that is really cool and those horses look beautiful!! Though icelandic horse competitions have alot of stuff, but i guess thats the same with all competitions.

@Hano: OMG i knew that name sounded familar..Darla i just wans't sure what movie it was from! XD Its cool you have an indoor barn, i wish my barn had one but then again its a rescue not a lesson place and i dont mind too much!^^ Also that horse is beautiful!

@Rain: WOW you look awesome on Riley! Riley is such a beautiful horse and you fit perfectly with him!^^

@Paw:Im sorry that you can'r ride deacon, i couldnt hand waiting so long to ride. Though its cute that he follows you around the donkey at our barn does that too but you have to have food! XD

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I have a lesson this saturday, i havent been riding since last last saturday im so ready to get back on a horse, i think ill ride Bert again or perhaps Astoria.....though the only thing about going on saturday is that it is the day when 2 others are doing their lesson who have been going there longer so i kinda have to wait till they are finished, so i hope i can still do my lesson i have been waiting for awhile....on a happier not if i finish all my homework by tomrrow ill see if i can beg my mom if i can go to the barn on sunday as well!^^