Selena's first CT

It was hot but mercifully not raining for Selena's first show at Equus CT today.  She and Willow had super-civilized ride times that resulted in us being able to leave at a fully civilized hour :)

Dressage warm-up was great.  Willow was totally relaxed and calm.  Selena was a *little* nervous but focusing that into super-attentive riding.   This lead to a pretty awesome test -- possibly one of the most accurate first tests I've seen anybody do.  Very impressive.  And the grin on Selena's face after the fact...  hahaha well, we've all been there :)

Willow got a break between phases (thanks to supergroom Olivia for taking care of her) while Selena and I walked stadium.  As stadium was currently set for training, it was a *touch* intimidating.  But such is life for an event rider :)   Stadium warmup went really well without too much chaos.  Willow stayed super calm and was jumping everything quietly and confidently.

Selena and Willow in Stadium

Soon it was time to go in.  They did a fabulous job, trotting their course quietly and under control.  And, of course, clear.  Woohoo!

Selena's first XC school

Then the fun part - XC!  Selena was a little bit intimidated at first -- the jumps out there are a lot bigger than they were in stadium and they don't fall down.  But as she learned she could trust Willow to take her from one side to the other safely she started to have some fun with it.  And playing in the water is always good.

Water's tons of fun on a hot day!

And in the end - their awesome dressage and clear show jumping led to a 2nd place finish!  Woohoo!  What a great way to start!

Down the bank

Also want to say a HUGE thanks to Kennedy who babysat Lexi all day -- Lex came along to learn about horse shows and spend time hanging out.  We learned that ponies are definitely evil as are dirt bikes and bunny rabbits.  What those things have in common, I have no idea -- but definitely evil.  hahaha

All photos credit to Olivia :)