We got there Thursday after an uneventful haul over and did our lessons over at Woodside. I think we kept it too short - the goal being to reward them for settling in nicely. Diva was a rockstar and didn't seem to think that there was anything worth worrying over.
Jimmy the eventing Arabian... needs a bit of work before we approach the eventing thing again. He was a total fruitcake.
It's hard to find any photos that really explain it - my rider rode her heart out and Jimmy just wasn't ready for the whole thing. But I'll get to that.
Friday we throw braids in Diva's mane and get about our warm up - the pair do really well. I'm excited.
Rider seems calm and not too terribly nervous. Excellent!
Until we checked in with the steward and realized we were in the wrong ring - whoops!
Rider went off-course twice, marvellously sat a somewhat surprising buck, and finished out the test with an excellent attitude despite how unsettled he was by the SPRINT across the woodside horse park to get to the correct arena.
Diva looks less-than-thrilled.
As for Jimmy the Eventing-Arabian? He was... a pill. He was tense, and refused to move forward, and decided to kick out a lot at leg aids. He was excused part-way through the first canter in BN-B for being dangerous, although I thought it was an unnecessary call as his rider was, in fact, piloting him through the test and he wasn't close to unseating her, just kicking at the aids. But - the judge felt it was unsafe and I have to respect that.
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| I don't know who this is but I love this photo that I took! Guys I'm learning how to camera!!! |
On Saturday we warmed Diva up for stadium and as we came into the first warm-up fence, there was a bit of a miscommunication between horse and rider and Diva dodged out and rider fell. He hurt his hand, and after getting checked out by the EMT decided to get back on - but it was painful and he was having a hard time focusing. We decided to scratch.
So... definitely a disappointing weekend, but we all learned a lot and we'll come back stronger and more prepared next time.
Also, eventing readers - what's easier for you to manage/wrap your head around: The full three-day craziness of a long weekend, or a one-day trial? Can you explain?
Sorry the weekend didn't go as planned! I much prefer 1 day shows. I have a hard enough time staying focused as it is, so spreading events over two to three days is no good for me. I'd rather just be done.
ReplyDeleteThat makes total sense to me!
Deletebummer about the dismissal and injured hand - hope everyone feels better and ready to get back at it soon!! i'm seriously rooting for Jimmy the eventing arabian too - he needs some redemption!
ReplyDeletere: shows, i've only ever done the one day stuff. not sure how my mare would handle getting stalled at a show since she lives outside 24/7 and kinda resents being pent up. going out for one day is just so much easier (and not to mention cheaper!)
Definitely cheaper! There's a disturbing lack of good one-days in the area... so the one we're looking at is a 2.5 hour drive, which feels like a long way for a days' outing.
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