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.
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 9th and 12th respectively in a large Preliminary division. Cameron and Kandace jumped into 7th 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 6thand Ted finished 8th in their large BN division, and the pony finished a stellar 5th 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
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