1st show of the season!

A great day all-round at Foxcroft CT today!

In the novice division we had Caelan and Olivia -- both riding Nick :)    In PE we had Chelsea on Lissy, Emily on Bella, and Rowan on Jack.

Chelsea and Lissy

The excitement level was super high and all the girls were at the barn and ready to go for our 6:30 load.  All the ponies loaded like superstars and we got there with lots of time to spare.  Perfect sunny weather.  All good!

Caelan and Nick

Caelan was first up with Nick -- we started in the indoor ring where Nick was totally relaxed and happy.  And then we went outside where he came to life :)  Very excited and a little concerned to be alone, he was bouncier than Caelan is used to but she did an *amazing* job dealing with it.  Bella and Jack came over to keep him company and he settled just in time for her to go into the ring.  The test was nice and quiet and Caelan did a great job remembering where to go and what to do even while very nervous!  Woohoo.

Next was Olivia's turn -- Nick was totally relaxed and just energetic enough to be about perfect for her :)  She rode a very accurate test -- yeah for March Break camp :)   Best corners of the day!

Olivia and Nick

Following that we had a chance to walk stadium while Chelsea and Emily were tacking up.  I started helping them warm-up for dressage but fairly quickly had to leave to go warm Caelan up over fences.  So she and I went to stadium w/u while Steph stayed to help the girls in dressage (yeah Stephy!!! :)   Got back in time to watch Chelsea do a super job in dressage while we waited for Caelan's first round.

Chelsea and Lissy

Nick stayed his normal relaxed self so she was good to go.  She rode her practice round really well.  It was a little overly quiet, so she picked up the pace in her official round to jump clear.  Woohoo!   Well done Caelan.

Caelan and Nick

While she was on course, Emily was in dressage doing an excellent job with Bella who had been super excited in warmup but behaved herself nicely in the ring.

Emily and Bella

So Stephy and I changed places -- Olivia knew what she needed to do to jump her round with Nick, so I left her in Steph's capable hands and went over to help Rowan warmup for dressage.  And of course as with Emily and Caelan, both Rowan and Olivia ended up in their respective rings at exactly the same time.  hahaha and while I was proud of myself for being able to *watch* both riders at once, Stephy showed me up in a big way managing to photograph both rings at once!  Very impressive :)

Olivia and Nick

So while Olivia was busy putting in an excellent stadium round with a nice steady canter to jump clear, Rowan was putting in a winning dressage test.  Absolutely brilliant.

Rowan and Jack

So, how long have you been reading this blog?  Those who aim for brilliance sometimes end with disaster...  In an attempt for a truly impressive corner at the canter, Jack thought she wanted to jump the little white fence.  Oops.  He very quietly jumped out of the ring, and just as calmly jumped back in.  Huge credit to Rowan for staying in the game and just quietly putting him back in the ring and continuing with her test.  If I hadn't known better I would've thought it was on purpose -- Jack certainly thought so :)   Sadly, despite the brilliance of the rest of the test, leaving the ring before the salute is technically illegal.  Oops.  She was, however, permitted to continue HC.

Emily and Bella

Next up were the girls jumping -- Lissy and Bella warmed up nicely, the only two of the day to actually have to share the warmup ring *g*   Chelsea went in and did her practice round beautifully.  Lissy looked at a couple but Chelsea rode like a pro and they jumped clear.  Then Emily and Bella went in and did both their practice and competition ring back to back.  Both rounds were excellent, although Bella wasn't sure she wanted to halt to salute the judge inbetween!   She jumped double clear with both horse and rider gaining confidence as they went.  Then Chelsea went back in for her second round -- also clear and much smoother on round two.  Awesome job girls!

Chelsea and Lissy

Rowan finally got her turn to jump -- a quick warmup indoors went well then she got to do her two rounds back to back.  Jack stopped to take a second look at one fence on the practice round and then jumped like a prostar in round two!  Woohoo!

Rowan and Jack

So in the end -- Rowan's interpretive dressage lead to a letter rather than a number; Emily did a great job but unfortunately wasn't *quite* competitive in dressage yet.  The other girls and their ponies all brought home colourful ribbons!  Olivia ended up in 4th with Nick - woohoo!   Chelsea came home with 6th and Caelan 7th.  Not bad for the first show of the season!  You girls are awesome!

Also awesome is Steph!  Makes it so much easier knowing that I can be in two places at once with her help :)   And thanks to all the parents, siblings, and friends who came out to support :)