Thoughts on the USEA Levels

I have held onto this since this summer but since the USEA convention last week I feel I need to address something that has been bothering me. It has to do with questions being asked of riders at the lower levels.  At the lowest levels, Beginner Novice and Novice- eventing is supposed to be an introduction to the sport. It is meant to teach horses and riders what it is like to do this sport we all so love. It is meant to be encouraging and fun. What it is meant to be and what it has become, to me, have strayed far from eachother.

Let me lay the grounds for this. I have a student who regularly competes Novice. She has ambition to go farther, but at this point Novice is her “Olympics” as it is with a lot of amateurs that compete at that level. Her goal from last year was to do a novice three-day. It was goal that was easily attainable but she was both excited and nervous. She worked very hard for that event. She had her horse beyond ready. She was even in 3^rd after dressage in a huge division. When we walked her cross-country course we came upon a question that I felt should have and normally would have been reserved for Training Level. There was a trakehner on the Novice course! It wasn’t just a “fake” trakehner where the ditch was either very small or fake, it was a true trakehner. It was even one that this particular venue usually uses on their Training courses. We had never schooled a trakehner because it wasn’t supposed to be on those courses. There are hardy any venues that offer schooling that also have trakehners that are appropriate for the lower levels to school. In the end, she didn’t make me aware that the particular fence was scaring her badly, and she was eliminated. When we went back to school the fence it went moderately well, but her fear still lingered.

In the end it was her decision to take the summer to school her horse properly and try again in the fall. She chose an event in the fall that usually is moderately difficult, but is fair. This year however we were wrong. They had included a Weldon’s Wall (ditch and wall) on the Novice course! In the end because of my students already bad spring run, and since she hadn’t run since that time, she was eliminated before that fence. WHO SCHOOLS WELDON’S WALLS at NOVICE??????

Weldon's Wall at NOVICE!!!

 

So my problem is this... The USEA feels we need to add another level between Training and Preliminary. I think we need to spend that money to help educate the amateurs and people who don’t compete at the upper levels. I don’t expect for my students to encounter either of those questions until they compete at Training Level and above. If they have no ambition or desire to compete at that level then I don’t feel they are required to learn those questions. If I had known they were going to start building mini-Rolex courses at all events then I would start demanding more and schooling my students over these questions. The reality is though, majority of your low level amateur riders have a healthy respect for those questions and have no desire to ever have to do them. And to me trakehners and weldon's walls do not represent a "good introduction to the sport."

So all in all before we go creating new levels that will require more courses, more volunteers, more officials, and more money which will incur greater costs for those of us competing, why not put some money and resources into better education, better officials training,  and better course design for the lower levels. Then, when people do try to compete at Preliminary and above they will be better educated and it will create safer sport?

signing off~
Mandy

The Importance of Clinics

It's been awhile since I blogged, but I really feel it is important to be reminded how much a different eye can help each and every one of us in our riding. This is why I think clinics are so important. I know some of us have trouble justifying spending the money for a clinic because horse shows are so expensive and what about regular lessons? Then we think about wanting another opinion at times and wouldn’t it be nice to ride with a person who we have seen do well in the top shows in the country? What about learning new training techniques or seeing if someone else has some new way of saying something that helps you? These are some of the reasons I decided to go to a clinic with Leslie Law this weekend.

               I was put in one of two upper level groups and even though we had a wide range of competition experience I quickly found Leslie had no problem helping each of us. I’ll admit I was a bit apprehensive about what I would take away from this experience, but was reminded that being open-minded and adaptive can prove helpful in many situations. The first day was about holding your line and staying quiet through some rather difficult cross-country questions. In warm-up Leslie gave us a great exercise to help get the horse to soften and use their back. He asked us to use one hand and hold both the rein and the breastplate. This keeps us thinking about where our hands are as well as naturally making us softer as well as steadier with our contact. It allowed the horse to come forward from behind and push while stretching out to the rein. Back to front people!

 After warm- up we transferred over to Cross-country where we did have a blow by at the difficult coffin question due to a spooky jump over a big ditch. Leslie reminded us that carrying your eye on through the combination will help you have a better ride. Too often people end up looking down into the ditch and then the third part of the element is a bit hairy. While we all had trouble to start, by the end all of the horses were successful at jumping through the combination. The other thing we worked on was riding an offset (bending) line both with a bend and straight. We all know I have a lingering fear of corners (thankfully Mira doesn’t share this) but with Leslie’s helpful reminder to “stay quiet” and “look at the next fence”, not only were we successful, but the ride was fun!

Chatt Hills scary corner!

 

Sunday was show jump work. This is where Mira and I have yet to mesh appropriately. Bless him, but Cameron was never really a good showjumper. Mira however is excellent. I just need to learn to ride her better. And let me tell you, when you don’t ride enough and you hardly ever go without stirrups and then the clinician asks you to go without stirrups for about 10 min, you won’t be walking well for a couple of days. The theme of the day was “staying quiet” and “keeping the horse straight”, two things I do not do well. At the end of the lesson there was a triple combination with a bending 5-stride to a vertical over a Liverpool. We biffed it a couple of times, enough that Leslie had to come to the beginning of the line and remind me to quiet my hands and stop trying to life Mira over the fence. He reminded me that holding her up was actually making her dive down more.

Leslie also mentioned that while Mira is good with her front end that she isn’t so tidy behind. He mentioned trying some Doda or Veredus Pro boots to see if it has any effect on her jumping. I’ll admit I am excited to try them seeing as any little edge that will help us is worth it. We all know how cantankerous I can be about gimmicks, but if someone makes a good argument I’ll usually try them at least once….ok….some of them. If you try to get me to try a horse psychic/natural herbal mare fixer/shoeless Joe the “horse spine specialist” person I am probably going to laugh at you. But if it is a tool that has some good science backing it, and it won’t harm my horse I will at least do some research it.
                                                                              Doda Boots Below

                                                                        

Clinics are an important part of our training regimen. They get us another set of eyes who we don’t see weekly. It’s another opinion, a way of seeing if someone can tell you something you haven’t heard a million times. Or even better it may be the clinician says something that is similar to what you have heard, but the way they phrase it is different enough that it clicks with you. At the very least it’s a chance to say you have had a lesson with an Olympian… and who doesn’t want to be able to say that?

I'd like to say a specails thank you to Tracey Corey for arranging the clinic, Leslie Law for coming to Kentucky in the cold to teach, Martha Lambert for allowing her facility for be the clinic site, and to Don (Tracey's husband) for being such a big help in fence setting and the like. It means a lot to those of us who attend!

So now that I am trying to get back into this blog thing I’ll let you know that I do have some fun stories that I haven’t shared in quite some time and am excited to share these rare gems. I will be posting my plan A-F for the competition season too, to see if there is anyone who wants to ride-share out there. You know, me and my delusions of grandeur and all……

Signing off~
Mandy

A Fall Update

I feel like I haven't updated our season in forever. I am just going to go back and fill in the spots. We have been to many events this summer and early fall and are about to culminate our year at the biggest one for us, the CCI 1* at Midsouth Team Challenge Horse Trials. The year started out a bit rough but has shown me again why I do what I do.

Lets go back to Cobblestone HT. What an amazing venue. Its in Michigan, about 5 hours from Midway and it could not be a more ideal place to have a run. The course was amazing. The organizers and owners had gone to great lengths to water the course (in a drought) using help from the people who neighbor their property and tons of volunteers. They aerated and groomed the course so much that the footing could not have been more ideal. I was SO glad I had skipped Champagne Run where the going was hard as a rock. Mira had an OK dressage test (more blonde moments..and NO not bc of the rider). Her xc was foot perfect over a course that ate a lot of people, including the top people in our division and despite my less than stellar riding a clear show jump. We ended up third and had another qualifying ride under our belt. Catherine also competed that weekend in the Beg Nov championships and while Ransom was once again foot perfect the dressage judge had a "dislike pony with adult rider" bias which kept them out of the ribbons, however she did win the Cobblestone Breast Cancer Awareness "Pink Out" award for xc day. Needless to say I was tired and kinda went a bit crazy in decorating her pony....

Next was the Area 8 Prelim Championships at Ky Classic HT. Mira was back to her old self in dressage and decided to put in a nice test earning us a 35 score. She was clean and had the second fastest xc time on a course that ended up riding tougher than anything I had seen in a while..including double corners..the bane of my existence. In show jump I had a stupid rider error to cause us to drop one rail, but in the end we finished 2nd at the Area 8 Prelim Champs so I was ecstatic! And to top it all off my family was there and got to see most of it which meant the world to me.

Mira at the Area 8 Champs!

After Classic it was a run down to the American Eventing Championship's for Catherine and the wonder pony to compete in the Beginner Novice Amateur Division. The pony could not have been more perfect and while they both did their best they ended up in the upper third of a huge division and had a great run. We were both kind of disappointed in the xc for BN. It wasn't the much of a championship course, but that meant Catherine didn't get too nervous and ended up winning a tie she was in for being closer to the optimum time.

And finally a couple of weeks ago was Flying Cross HT. I have never competed at the venue, just schooled, but it was a good run. We had our best dressage to date, scoring us a 31 and putting us in 2nd place. I had an ugly rider error in show jump (i.e. Mandy quit riding and hoped for the best) which caused us to obliterate one fence (wish I could stop flubbing up in SJ) and then because I didn't need the run to qualify we just hoped around the xc with some time penalties to finish 6th. It was a good last run before the 1*.

So now that I've updated the world on our goings on we have to do our final preparations for the big weekend. I have a TON going on this month. Let's see...

October 6th Horse Cleanup day at the College for the riding teams
October 13th The Missouri Tough Mudder! Woohoo finally!!!
October18-21 is the CCI1*!!!!
October 26/27 IHSA Hunt Seat Show in Louisville
November 3/4 IDA Dressage Show at Otterbein
November 10 IDA Dressage Show at Findlay
November 17/18 IHSA show at Morehead

So as you can see I don't have a weekend off for a while. It doesn't bother me because it'll keep me busy, but if anyone needs me, don't try to check in until Thanksgiving...literally.

More updates to come in the days up to the 1*!

signing off
~Mandy

RIP Old Friend

Yesterday was a tough day. I got the news that my first horse had passed away due to old age and I felt awful that I haven’t seen him in about a year.  His name was Whatchamacallit (boy did I think I was funny when I named him that) aka Duncan and he was retired at Masterson Station Park having been a lesson horse there for many years.  I still hold on to nothing but good memories of him from my childhood and will miss him mightily.

I was 13 when I came across Duncan. He came to Masterson to be in the lesson program and I decided I had to have him. He was a tall chestnut with high white socks behind and a big stripe down his face. He had to have been some sort of TB/Saddlebred/QH/Heinz 57 mutt, but he was beautiful.  He had been a track pony for a lady who sent him to Masterson and when I spoke to her she told me I could have him for $1,300. Nobody knew exactly how old he was because he was a cribber, and the vet told me she thought he could be anywhere from 12-14, but he looked great, so I just assumed he was younger.  I approached my Mom about buying him. There was no way she could afford it and thankfully she told me no (though at the time I hated her).  I talked to his owner again and she said I could make payments. So it took me two years of odd jobs and hard work, but in the end he was mine. To this day I have him and my Mom to thank for the huge lesson in perseverance and responsibility. 

That horse took me to many 4-H shows and took me to my first horse trials.  He wasn’t the best jumper and lord knows I was scrappy but I really had no idea what I was doing, but that horse taught me so much. He was a teacher and a friend.  Most everyone knows my Mom and I butted heads a lot, so Duncan was my refuge. He was a safe conveyance. He never said no, but always made sure I was safe. There are countless times when he should have dumped me and left me for the wolves. There was a time when Annie and I were too lazy to walk the trash the half mile to the road so we tied the trash bags (insert WTF here) across our horses’ backs to take them. Naturally they spooked, and dumped us and the bags, but Duncan didn’t run away. He just looked at me with that “hey dummy what were you thinking” look. There was the time we dressed our horses up like reindeer to ride in the Christmas parade downtown and the time at the 4-H state show when my Mom and I got into an ugly fight and I galloped off on him at the Louisville Fairgrounds. My Dad used to hold Duncan's lead sitting in a lawn chair and he would just stand there and sleep.  He was my saving grace as a child.

Duncan and I at the Christmas parade with 4-H

 In the end college came along and he was getting older ( or so I thought). I couldn’t really afford to keep him and knew he would be safe if he was at Masterson with Georgia (one of the people I most look up to). There he stayed for another eleven years (yes I said 11). In that time he learned to lay down with kids when they rode him so he didn’t have to work, he would stand for the endless number of kids to climb on and off of him. He taught my nieces to ride. He grew old and just kept on being the saint he was from my youthful years.

This morning I got a phone call from my good friend, Georgia, who has run the Masterson program for as long as I can remember. She said Duncan was down in the field this morning and didn’t want to get up. It was his time to go. We guessed he was around 35 years old. He could not have had a better life thanks to Georgia. I am incredibly grateful to her for taking such good care of him. So now that I have reflected on how amazing my first horse was and regretting that I had not seen him in about a year I must say goodbye. Rest In Peace Duncan. You were a friend, teacher, kind hearted soul and you started me on the path that has led me to make horses my lifestyle, and I will never forget you. 

Until next time

~Mandy

NAJYRC Volunteering

So I had the privilege of volunteering at Young Riders this past weekend. It was an amazing experience. If any of you ever have the time, volunteering is both fun and rewarding. It gives back to this amazing sport we all love, for without the volunteers none of us would be able to compete. In my previous jobs volunteering just wasn't possible. If I went to a show it was to work as a groom and if I didn't go to a show it was because my previous jobs had me working weekends. I am now in a situation that allows me to be a somewhat normal human being so volunteering is more attainable. I also have this twisted idea that I might try to get certified <-- is that the correct word? as a MSEDA judge with the ultimate goal being to someday get my "r" in Eventing Dressage. I know crazy right? And since I want to do this, many hours are needed scribing and volunteering.  So onward with last weekend.

As we all know my last experience with scribing was an eye opener. I took it for granted that all of my horses and students went in the show ring looking their best and doing their best. There are a lot of people who just don't care. Well this time was different. It was a championship. It was an FEI level event. It was much more polished. I was super excited when I got assigned to the President of the Ground Jury at C, Annabelle Scrimgeour. First, she had an amazing British accent (I love accents) and second she was the head judge so I knew I was going to learn a ton. For those of you who don't know, in FEI level events there are three judges instead of just one. Its intimidating as a rider, but it gives you a much better view of how your test rode because you get three opinions (sitting at different points in the arena) instead of one. We all know dressage is quite subjective so it gives you a chance to see how you are really doing. I also discovered that scribing in a large arena is TONS easier. You have more time to write and to watch whats going on because theres more room! Novel concept isn't it? I loved how Annabelle was not destructive in her comments, yet when she felt strongly about a movement she made sure to explain her scores. I was able to ask her questions and understand what she was looking for and the best part was I was able to keep up with her AND my scores would have been pretty similar on more than 80% of the tests. (better yet were her british terms, "rather big circle" "muddled lengthening") I was stoked because she's an "S" judge and I was able to see so many things. Yay, I'm not completely useless in what I see!

I must say I was super impressed with the riding ability and the presentation of the horses and riders. Its nice to know that some of the up and coming riders can clean up and take care of their horses for shows.

And then on to Saturday where I "Area Stewarded" for the first time. It was also a good learning experience and EXTREMELY intimidating. I have ridden at the upper levels and at the FEI level. I know the rules, but wow when your put on the spot and asked to be in charge in that situation it is intense! For the day I was assigned the jumps back by the "hollow" they use at Rolex. For the 2* the riders had to jump off the huge drop at the root cellar and go to a skinny brush and then jump a log in the hollow followed by a skinny before they headed for a long gallop to a trakehner. It was pretty well ridden. We only had one fall that was because the horse slipped and fell on the landing side of the skinny brush (horse and rider were ok, just frustrated) and a hairy moment at the log going into the hollow for one rider where her horse went to take off, saw the drop and lost momentum in the air, leaving a leg at the fence, but keeping a cool head his rider rode on through and finished successfully in one of the top spots for the 2*. The 1* had to do the double bounce step down at the hollow and while we were concerned it might ride tough, for those who chose to do it instead of the option there, it rode well. We only saw one rider look straight at the ground and almost end up there. Her coach was standing near and said, " well her instructions were to trot and look up, she cantered and looked down- glad we got that on video" It was interesting to hear the different Chefs, Coaches, friends, and family members accounts of what their team was supposed to do.

All in all it was a well run, well ridden event. I was more impressed than I thought I would be. I had an excellent experience and I give tons of credit to the smooth running to people like Mary Fike and Bev Henson  who were in charge of varying parts of the Eventing portion of the NAJYRC. They are incredible people in our area and we take them for granted. Oh, and thanks to Janice Holmes as well for helping me understand where I was supposed to be. Otherwise I'd probably still be asking exactly what I had to do to be an area steward? And were they sure they wanted ME to be doing that job? I really could just jump judge.... lol.

So I encourage more volunteers and make sure to say thank you to those out there. They really are the backbone of our sport. 

Off to Cobblestone this weekend and will have a full report!

Signing off~
Mandy

The Importance of Grooms

You know I never got to properly thank my many amazing helpers/grooms/moms with food/friends at Midsouth Horse Trials the other weekend, so I thought I'd say thank you and remind everyone just how important grooms (unsuspecting friends) are in the horse show world. I also thought I'd share what it means to be a groom. If you didn't understand before you will now, and maybe you will rethink trying it out because it looks like your dream job.
When most people think of grooms they think of poor immigrants working ungodly hours lunging horses and cleaning stalls at the big hunter shows.What they don't think of are poor riders who want lessons or to compete at the upper levels so they commit their life to being paid less than minimum wage, eating Peanut Butter sandwiches, and moving home to live with their parents so that they can afford to compete at the top of their sport. Wait, didn't I say that being a groom was a barrel of monkeys? If you believed the first paragraph then your more gullible than a kid who believes a man who tells you "there's candy in the van with no windows". Here's what a day in the life of your average event groom looks like:

5:30AM Get up, don't shower because your just gonna get covered in slobber/tack soap/bath soap/ turpentine/furacin/surpass or any other number of crud at the barn, eat a granola bar (2nd cheapest thing next to PB&J), and rush out the door, wait go back and put some pants on, then rush out the door to the barn (or in my case the 20min drive to the barn)

6:13AM grab the first horse on the list and do a record time groom and tack up for the trainers first ride at 6:30AM- wait until 7:45AM for trainer to show up (ok this only counts for the trainer who puts too much on their plate...which incidentally is most of them)

11AM- have tacked/untacked/bathed/wrapped/walked in, out, up the hill, down the mountain/set fences/changed bits/ on no less than 8 horses....take a deep breath

11:15AM...run like a chicken-with-head-cut-off out to field for that last horse the trainer was asked to ride..she wants to be on in ten min...horse is on the other side of the 80acre field and thinks its funny to trot away from you

11:33AM your 8min late and your getting yelled at...why did you forget that darn 9th horse-that you weren't told about, but you should know about because of E.S.P?

12PM ok lunch time...PB &J (or Ramen if you aren't sick of those little packets yet)

12:15PM why are you sitting like a bump on a log, you need to have cleaned all 9 bridles by now, and iced 4 of the horses as well as washed ALL of the dirty saddle pads...oh and theres a horse coming in for the trainer to try at 1, have the correct tack out (so call the owner and see what you need)

1:05PM Ach, the person bringing the horse is late...carry all of needed tack to the parking lot and wait for the trailer to roll in, then hastily wait while the owner coo's at Sir Snortsalot and begs him to unload..for 20 min...set tack on wheel well of trailer and show owner how to unload horse...horse knocks tack on ground...run into the barn for a wet towel...run back to trainer tacking up Snort (aka Rearing Dragon of Death) who barks at you for leaving the tack too close to the horse while getting him ready...

2PM Snort has fought with trainer so much he's staying for a month of training...go set up a stall and pray he doesn't eat you alive because you get to help try to break his nasty habits over the next month (and your the assigned guinea pig to school him cross-country for the first time because he might try to re-enact a scene from Godzilla and your the "young-un")

ooops back up from 1:05-1:59 call the feed store and change feed for one horse, call two sponsors because your about to be out of product (and schmooze about how much you like Ed's Fish Oil even though secretly its caused you to not get asked out on a date recently because you smell like it and when you go to a bar smelling like an oil dredge people usually scatter), call an owner to remind them their tax-deductible contribution to the "Team" is due, call the farrier because you have horses competing this weekend and they need new shoes, call the trainers friend to pick up their kid from school because the trainer added three more lessons this afternoon and they can't go get said child...or wait- nope the neighbor can't go..you have to...

3-5:30PM feed, re-set feed, Oh! Don't forget to pick up trainers kid (beg said kid to not scream like a pterodactyl in your car), check any needed meds...clean the 4 bridles you still haven't gotten to, order hay/shavings for the traveling weekend, take a lesson on your own horse (beg forgiveness from said horse for ignoring him because the "string" comes first) drag Sir Dragon-Snorts-Death to his new field and hope he doesn't kill the boarders horses...uhoh he thinks he's a stallion..catch him and put in private paddock...call owner and inform her the board will be a little higher because Sir Flower is special and needs his own space

5:30-7 set fences for students in lessons, go back up to the barn and clean the three stalls that the barn staff didn't get to, grab trainers helmet so she can get on a students horse, go again beg forgiveness from your own horse (read-LOTS OF TREATS), then when told your done for the day...run to your car like your pants are on fire and drive home...wait turn around there's still laundry in the dryer that needs to be folded...then run home...eat another PB &J sandwich

8PM crash and burn because tomorrow the day has to start earlier, we just aren't able to get everything done in the hours worked.

Now what this doesn't include is the horse shows (lets not even go there for those hours) or the other strange things that pop up in a day. It also doesn't include trot/gallop set days because those are even worse. I just don't think people understand what a hard life being a groom is. On the other side of things though, there is nothing more rewarding when one of your charges jumps a clean round, or gets an admirable look or comment from  a passerby..better from the trainers trainer... and the epitome is when your horse gets a best-conditioned/turned-out award or wins their class..you become a proud Mama and all that hard work pays off. There is also nothing better than getting to compete your own horse and noticing the improvement you have with them because Sir Snortsfire taught you stickabilitiy.

SO, because I have been there and I know what its like to be a groom I vowed to never treat my grooms badly and sometimes all it takes is a simple "thank you." So THANK YOU Courtney, Hannah, Catherine, Catherine's Mom, Julie, and Elisa. I know we wouldn't have gotten through that weekend without your help. Now onward and upward to Cobblestone HT...lets see what shenanigans get Shamrock Eventing in Michigan

signing off~
Mandy

Midsouth PC HT Craziness

I encountered another first this weekend. It was the first time I have ever competed more than two horses at once and I can now say I have a newfound respect for anyone who competes more than two horses at one event. It was a crazy weekend and it ended up being educational for all involved. I had four students riding, competed my mare, and competed two friends green horses.

Friday there were only two dressage rides. Mira went first and since her behavior is about as mercurial as the famous Christian Grey she had a not so stellar test. We went from an amazing 33.5 at Indiana HT to a 44.3 at this show. While it put us in second to last, it was still a qualifying score and I am well aware she (and I) are capable of doing much better than that. Next went Elisa and her mare Marley, who have been riding with me for a little over a month and are showing steady improvement. They also achieved a qualifying score, but we all know Marley is a much better jumping bean than DQ, so all is well.

Saturday was the crazy day. There were 4 XC rides, 5 dressage rides, and 3 show jump rounds in all. My day was set to be wild. I made the mistake of drinking one of those 5-hr energy drinks in the morning before we got to the Horse Park and because of that little bottle of stimulant I was shaking like a kid who has had too much sugar and walked into an amusement park. Mira was foot perfect on cross-country and we were up on the clock until about fence 14 when I slowed her a bit, knowing we would be pretty good on time and still a little apprehensive to push because of our still mysterious metabolic holdups. Elisa and Marley got around their first prelim clean and looking excellent, much more controlled than in the past. Then we went into some dressage rides. Chelsea was a bit nervous, so Weber fed off of her. They had some hairy moments in dressage warm-up (Weber felt there needed to be some jumps out there), but went in and put in a pretty good dressage test. Following them were Kandace and my wonder horse Cameron at their first recognized event. As always Cameron put in a very steady test. That horse is so amazing. I was so blessed to have had him as long as I did. It was then my turn again on a green sale horse, Ted (Return to Sender) who walked all the way from Egypt (where the trailers were parked) to the dressage like a champ (even when some kid on a bicycle tried to mow us down). He was a little worried in warm-up but once in the dressage ring decided he was a big kid and actually put in a really steady test. Following Ted I ran (ok on a golf cart courtesy of my awesome older sister) out to cross country to warm-up Chelsea. She was again pretty nervous (having not competed since last summer) but worked very hard on keeping calm. She and Web had some sticky moments on cross country and ended up calling it a day about ¾ of the way around the course, not because of elimination, but so that she could teach Web the lesson of patience with his rider. I then ran back to dressage in time to see Catherine and her wonder pony put in a test worthy of admiration. (I am so proud of her and that pony, mostly because of the confidence he has given her) And again back out to cross country (can you say running like a chicken with its head cut off?) to help Kandace and Cameron get going. Cameron was his usual goofball self in the start box, shaking his head and demanding to start like someone lit a fire under his bum, but went out and showed Kandace just why I loved him so much. Then it was back to dressage for me to ride, Julie Congleton's awesome little mare, Lola. Julie had a crazy busy week judging at the Midsouth Pony Club Rally so when she asked me if I would ride Lola I was honored. Lola is a dressage machine, so showing off in the dressage ring was right up her alley. And then before the day was through Ted, Lola, and Ransom pony all had to show jump. Each went in the ring like old hands and jumped double clean. I was so proud of everyone Saturday, but went home and was in bed by 8pm.

                                                   photo courtesy of Perry Photographic :)

Sunday was the last of the early days. I was supposed to be the second horse in the show jump ring, but when another rider scratched I was up first. I was exhausted and Mira had on her wings, so we would have jumped clean if I had been allowed to sleep for 6 more hours. I quit riding at fence 9A on a very winding course so we had one rail, but at least I know it was my fault. As always Marley was perfect and jumped brilliantly for Elisa. We finished 9^th and 12^th respectively in a large Preliminary division. Cameron and Kandace jumped into 7^th place in their large Novice division. Then Ted ran cross country like he had been doing it for years, and Lola jumped around the same (putting Julie in tears because the “fiesta table” didn’t cause us any problems) and with the pony bringing up the rear and finishing in stellar fashion. Lola finished 6^thand Ted finished 8^th in their large BN division, and the pony finished a stellar 5^th in his division of over 25 rides!

All in all it was an incredible weekend for Shamrock Eventing although I was so exhausted Sunday I slept for almost 13 hours between Sunday afternoon and Monday. We look forward to Cobblestone HT coming up in July. Mira is well on the track to do the CCI 1 Star at the fall Midsouth HT, hopefully Ted will sell soon, and the rest of the crowd is excited about the upcoming shows. Oh! And not to forget, the pony will be competing at the Area championships at Cobblestone. Wish us all luck in training!

TTFN~
Mandy