Amazing show!

So. Much. Fun today :)   Haven't laughed that much in ages.

Sadly a few riders who usually join in the entertainment weren't able to attend today due to exams, work, or transportation, but those who were here had lots of fun and a few personal bests.

Olivia and Louis

So let’s see. Dressage was more entertaining than it’s technically supposed to be. Hahaha Nicole and Athena interpreted “halt” as “dance around from side to side” – which resulted in her giggling too much to actually resolve the situation. Ah well – it’s supposed to be fun, right? :) Similarly entertaining was Amy on Nick who was determined to get a forward trot, which Nick continually interpreted as canter. I didn’t see their test sheet, but I suspect the word “broke” is probably on it a *few* times... The highlight of dressage was definitely Kennedy on Jack – they put in a fabulous test! Totally boring – circles were round and the size they were supposed to be; no interpretive movements at all. Gaits were distinct, forward and rhythmic. Horse was bent the direction he was supposed to and obedient. No drama at all really. Hahaha - Awesome job! Olivia and Louis won the award for fastest test ever. Clearly trying to get it over with so we could jump. To the best of my knowledge nobody got lost or went off-course this time and there were fewer “use of voice” faults. So things are definitely progressing!

Nicole and Athena

Nicole’s giggling set the tone for the day as Amy followed it up in equitation – laughing so hard by the end of the course she couldn’t even see where she was going! Fortunately, Nick doesn’t really need a pilot and they jumped clear. He even *over* jumped a fence or two. Really! Nick’s other pilot Eve took it a little slower and trotted a first place finish in the novice division. Rowan was on Bella again and their eq round went quite nicely – fences at that level are a reasonable size for a pony. Even one who does jump as enthusiastically as Bella does. Nicole redeemed her less than spectacular dressage conclusion by putting in a really civilized round with Athena. Kennedy and Jack had one of the best rounds going ever until Jack unfortunately objected to one fence. Rebecca who rode him next learned from what she’d seen and *really* rode that jump. It worked though – she convinced him to jump clear! Woohoo. Emily and Lissy were having a challenge getting their timing together. Lissy helped her over the first several but eventually had enough and let Emily jump the scary fence alone. Fortunately nothing bruised but pride and she gamely hopped on and continued the day. Olivia and Louis put in a good round – he was landing from most fences cantering, but not nearly as speedy as his dressage had been! Good to see :)

Rowan and Bella on their way to first place in Eq!

And then onto the mystery round... ohhhh, ahhhhh.... hahaha the jumper class of the day was the 6-Bar Challenge. Which, being indoors and having a couple horses who’d have to go more than once, we changed to a 3-Bar Challenge :) Rules are simple – jump three fences in a straight line, in any gait you like, without stopping or knocking any of them down. Easy right? The thing is – the fences grow each round till there’s only one player left. Riders also have the choice to stop at any point – particularly for novice riders, the horses can often jump way higher than their comfort zone, so we always install an escape clause :) Both our judge and I also have override authority if we feel for sake of horse or rider they should not go any higher, they’d be excused. We started with the novice and intermediate riders with the poles on the ground. We had two lines set – one on pony striding and one on horse striding so the riders could pick which line they preferred. They all chose well and the world was good :) Eve and Nick got to her current height record of 2’6” – where they jumped the big fence beautifully but unfortunately pulled one of the little ones on the way. Olivia and Louis got slightly higher to a new height record for her. They were awesome to watch! Louis was all for this game. Emily chose to stop at about the 3’ mark. Totally fair given their earlier challenges and, I thought, a great way to end the day. Rebecca and Jack as well as Nicole and Athena were both having good days – but then Athena did as Nick had earlier and pulled one of the speedbumps on the way to the big one, ending the competition with Rebecca in first. Woohoo!

Eve and Nick

Then we moved on to the last group. Bella, who’s usually the superstar of this game, wasn’t as interested in playing today. She stopped at about the 3’ mark – well below her usual end point. But then, Rowan can probably count on one hand the number of times she’s ridden that pony so it’s not as though they know each other all that well. But then the other two – Kennedy on Jack and Amy on Nick. That was fun to watch. Nick, my lovely walk-trot beginner horse, came to life. He’d turn the corner, rock himself back on his haunches, and you could just see the “I’ve got this” in his expression. And with perfect hunter form, he’d hop through it. And then always toss his head around and play after the fence. “Did you see? See what I can do???” hahaha soooo cute. And the *grin* on Amy’s face. That’s was pretty cool to see. Whereas Jack was not nearly as confident, but Kennedy told him he could do it and he did! “If you say so....” Very impressive horsemanship. Jack and Kennedy got a little over 3’6” – a height record for both of them! At that point though he was struggling so even though Kennedy was willing to keep going and riding beautifully, I stopped them there. And she’s enough of a horsewoman that she understood. Amy and Nick tried the 3’9” fence (I think a height record for her :) but unfortunately he just tapped it ever-so-lightly with a hind foot resulting in a tie.

Amy and Nick

What a great end :) It was so much fun today. Excellent to see so much good riding, and even better to see how much fun the riders were having. Woohoo. And I haven’t laughed that much in a while :)  Thanks to all who helped make everything flow so smoothly!  My dad for harrowing the ring and helping with stalls.  Rebecca, Emily, Steph, and Amy for helping with afternoon chores.  Bryn and Steph for being ring crew.  My mum for taking over secretary duties and helping me get organized this am.  And of course our amazing judge, Amy, and scribe, Steph.   Hmmmm anybody notice how often Steph is mentioned here?  hahaha thanks soooo much!  What a great day!

Rebecca and Jack