Step 1 for Preparing for the Championship Season: Vacation

The BHB's current mental state

The last thing I expected to do six weeks out from Regional championships was give the BHB an entire week's vacation. Why did I feel it was necessary? Instead of his usual dragging me down centerline, the last two shows (two consecutive weekends) he's balked when I point him to go down centerline, even going so far as to spin around and try bolting once we made it to C. His freestyles this weekend were sluggish and I worked way harder than I should have. Why such a big change?! I went through all the possibilities and came up with 3 possible reasons why this was happening:

1. It was HOT at both shows! The temperatures during our rides ranged from around 85-103 degrees, with most ranging in the mid-upper 90s! Yet, I still couldn't rule out any other reasons on such a short timeline to Regionals.
2. Our cross-training routine has been overhauled since we moved to work with Heather. Instead of the 1-2 days of jumping and 1-2 days of hacking in a field weekly, the BHB has been doing 5 days of straight dressage in an arena. So maybe he's a bit bored getting drilled with dressage work. He's bred to be a cart-pulling, foxhunting, farming, jumping horse-- so I could see him getting bored with just one job to do! I'm planning on getting him out foxhunting some this winter after Nationals since I think we both miss it. We're working with Heather to implement more jumping and out of arena work into his regular schedule. I'm glad he's so solid in the dressage levels we're at, so drilling is not necessary. We just need to keep his fitness levels at least on par to his current state. Jumping should even benefit us in some of our weaker areas!
3. The BHB has been going 5+ days a week of dressage since March. He probably wants to spend some time focusing on ruling his jobless pony friends in the pasture ;). Everyone needs mental and physical vacations sometimes so they don't get burnt out on work. Heck, I need to go spend some time in the tropics this winter with the way my work schedule is looking! But that's not happening unless the BHB's budget is cut way down :(. 

So that's why the BHB has been on vacation since September 1st. I'm planning to jump and hack him outside the ring this weekend if it doesn't rain as much as predicted. Next week we'll add a couple intense dressage rides back in, interspersed with jumping and hacking sessions. After that, we'll do 3-4 days a week of dressage before Regionals, being careful to keep the BHB fresh and eager to show off his dressage skills. We've declared for Nationals in all 4 classes classes we're competing at Regionals, so hopefully that will be on our schedule too!