Ohio CDE, July 23-25

[Dream]

Just wondering if anyone from here is heading to Peninsula OH for the CDE? We are making the trip from Ontario. Hope to see lots of VSEs there.

 

[cathyjo76]

Hi Michele,

I think there are quite a few VSE's this year. Don't know how many but Sue Burrows said there was a good group.

I plan on being there...this is my first and I have the dressage pattern down but not sure how to figure out times during the marathon. Last year I volunteered at the dressage ring.

I met you at the Ashland show...helped out at the gate on Friday, Sat and Sun.

Looking forward to this!!!!

Cathy

 

[Dream]

Hi Michele,

I think there are quite a few VSE's this year. Don't know how many but Sue Burrows said there was a good group.

I plan on being there...this is my first and I have the dressage pattern down but not sure how to figure out times during the marathon. Last year I volunteered at the dressage ring.

I met you at the Ashland show...helped out at the gate on Friday, Sat and Sun.

Looking forward to this!!!!

Cathy

Oh that is great! We are coming with 3 entries. 2 for training and 1 for prelim. Be sure to introduce yourself again! Are you bringing the "flashy" gelding

 

[cathyjo76]

No the steady one. I'll do better in dressage with him...the other one - did the winter ADTs which is where I found his strengths and weakness. See you in a couple weeks.

 

[foxlanefarm]

I am bringing my pair of Shetland/Miniatures to compete in the pony pair training division.

Cathy Rhoades will be navigating for me.

We will enjoy visiting with everyone on the board who is also coming

 

[Dream]

Oh this will be fun! Is anyone doing prelim (single)? I hate being the only one in a division.

 

[cathyjo76]

Oh this will be fun! Is anyone doing prelim (single)? I hate being the only one in a division.

 

[cathyjo76]

ok it is a litte late since the CDE is in 2-3 days, but any tips since this is my first one? I'm not concerned about the dressage or cones. Got a lot of practice with the winter ADT's. But I really am worried about the marathon. I have 2 stop watches but not sure what to do with them! Tonight I used the GPS and his walk was right on at 3.5 and trot was averaging 8 KPH with a push that would keep him over 9kph.-not fast enough if I remember correctly.

 

[Peggy Porter]

Cathy- I f you are competing at training level, one stopwatch should be sufficient. Use the second one for a backup. Since the time in each obstacle is included in your overall time, it is not neccessary to keep a watch for each obstacle. You should have a chart in easy sight on your dash or seat with the times per K allowed (I bought mine from Camptown, but you could make one easily). Start your watch as you start section E, then as you pass the 1K marker, check your watch against the chart. It will give you an idea whether you are going at a good pace or need to slow down a bit or speed up. I like to "bank" a few minutes early on; that way if my horse gets a little tired towards the end, I don't have to push as hard. Keep checking your watch against your chart as you pass each K marker. One suggestion: practice using your watch several times before the competition. I found out that after 30 minutes, my watch changed from minutes/seconds/100ths to just minutes/seconds. This totally confused me at my first CDE, and I came in over time because I had NO idea what my time actually was. I thought I had bumped it and restarted it, but it was just the way it worked. If you are too fast, you can always walk the last 500m, which will be marked on course. Remember you have a two minute window on your optimum time before penalties are incurred. If you have a mentor, have them go over your obstacles routes and times with you. It actually was pretty easy (at least for me) and the time just flew by at my first CDE. TONS of FUN! I really miss competing this year!

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Good advice, Peggy! I know what you mean about missing competition.

Remember you have a two minute window on your optimum time before penalties are incurred.

This is true in Section A. Section E, where the obstacles are, has a three minute window. The walk section only has a maximum time you must come in under, there is no minimum. (3.5kph is pretty slow for most minis so if yours can easily walk faster, let him. That gets you in to the vet check /wait box earlier which gives you more time to rest your horse and prepare for the next phase.)

Keep the second stopwatch in case you run into any holds on course. You need to keep track of how long you had to wait as they'll ask you that at the end when they sign your green card. Otherwise, yes, just use the one watch. I got tired of mine resetting itself on my neck as we bounced along so I bought a big flat model I attach to my cart which is easy to read while rattling down the trail and never resets itself. I love that thing!

Good luck to all who are competing.

Leia

 

[RhineStone]

We bought two Optimum Time watches from England. (They were the only things that we have purchased overseas so far, and were MUCH cheaper than getting them here in the states.

) We have one set to count up and the other set to count down. The count down watch is mounted on the vehicle, and the count up watch is on my wrist. Then I keep one on my neck for holds. We ended up with two holds totalling 1:30 when I was navigating for my husband with our big horse this weekend. The first one, I hit the wrong button and turned it to "clock" instead of "start", and I also forgot to stop my count up watch on my wrist. My husband could hit the other one with his toe, and turn it off. The second hold I got right. The third time we caught up with the turnout in front of us, they let us go ahead and they held the other one!

The other driver and her gator are friends of ours, so I told them we owed them dinner for letting us go. Spider wasn't in the "mood" to stop so much!

Practice with the watches! The Optimum Time watches are MUCH easier to use than the neck one we got from Wal-Mart. The Start/Stop button is tons easier than "guessing" which button to hit on the neck watch when you are stressed and in a hurry.

Myrna

 

[Peggy Porter]

Peggy P, on 21 July 2010 - 11:17 PM, said:
Remember you have a two minute window on your optimum time before penalties are incurred.

This is true in Section A. Section E, where the obstacles are, has a three minute window.

And that is exactly why I have the preprinted chart from Camptown!! Thanks Leia!

At the CDES I have entered here in the midwest, VSEs go directly from section A to section E with no walk section.

I have never been held on course, but I guess having the second watch for that is a good idea. I actually mounted my watch on my thigh at my last CDE. No worries about twisting my wrist or reaching down to the dash to start/stop it. I also bought a new one with really BIG numbers, since I need reading glasses over my contact lenses for anything smaller.

Gosh I really miss competing this year!!