We are back to showing this fall after taking the summer off. I was out of town for over a month during the summer (went to Hawaii and California, cry me a river) and Patrick was recovering from a minor injury he did while “horse playing” in his paddock. With him good-as-new again and me actually at home and riding, it was time for some outings to test our skill.
We chose a local series at Country Haven Stables in St. Leonard, Maryland. Country Haven has a nice large ring, a good set of hunter jumps, and provides a relaxing, small schooling show environment for the horses. It’s a really enjoyable show experience for the riders too and less than an hour away from our home barn.
We set out from our barn, Woodbury, with Patrick and his friend Lincoln the eventing paint draft cross in Diane’s trailer with Diane, her mother Mary Anne and me. My trainer, Julie, arrived with her gooseneck and two client horses. I wondered how Patrick would act since he hadn’t been to a show for awhile, but I had nothing to worry about. He didn’t even look left and right after backing off the trailer before plunging his head into the grass. His anxiety level about being away from home was somewhere between 0 and -3!
He was great in warm up other than the fact that he was so slow I had to put my spurs on half way through to get him rolling. He jumped all of the decorated fences unceremoniously. There was one single oxer that had been artfully decorated with shiny, tinsel-like, fake red and orange leaves. Heck, I was spooking at that fence, but Patrick didn’t care at all.
We chose a local series at Country Haven Stables in St. Leonard, Maryland. Country Haven has a nice large ring, a good set of hunter jumps, and provides a relaxing, small schooling show environment for the horses. It’s a really enjoyable show experience for the riders too and less than an hour away from our home barn.
We set out from our barn, Woodbury, with Patrick and his friend Lincoln the eventing paint draft cross in Diane’s trailer with Diane, her mother Mary Anne and me. My trainer, Julie, arrived with her gooseneck and two client horses. I wondered how Patrick would act since he hadn’t been to a show for awhile, but I had nothing to worry about. He didn’t even look left and right after backing off the trailer before plunging his head into the grass. His anxiety level about being away from home was somewhere between 0 and -3!
He was great in warm up other than the fact that he was so slow I had to put my spurs on half way through to get him rolling. He jumped all of the decorated fences unceremoniously. There was one single oxer that had been artfully decorated with shiny, tinsel-like, fake red and orange leaves. Heck, I was spooking at that fence, but Patrick didn’t care at all.
I rode in a low adult eq and and a low open hunter division (2’6”) at each show as well as going in a two round hunter classic at the first show. Patrick was second in the classic (to my trainer, Julie on a client’s horse). He was Champion of both equitation and both hunter divisions, which was sort of like icing on the cake. I will post a couple videos from the second show. We got all of our striding in the lines, even with the jumps set on a 12’ stride and the fences being low. We had good tracks and I am really proud of the roll back in the handy hunter round. It looks easy on the video, but it actually isn’t easy when you ride it wrong. I think that my equitation has improved, especially my posture. The feedback from one of the judges was that I flap with my elbows a bit and need to tuck them in both on the flat and over fences. She also thought my lower leg swung a bit when I sit the canter on the flat. I agree with her 100% on both points and have been working to improve. The sitting of the canter is going better but I am having one heck of a time pulling my elbows in! We didn’t have any horrible take off spots at the fences, but if you look at the video you will see that some are not perfect; they are a bit too long or short. I mostly notice the short ones because we aren’t as good at disguising those. I also saw that Pat was a stride late behind on his flying lead change, but Julie told me not to worry about that since the ring was deep on that end. She doesn’t think it’s a problem. The jumps are starting to look small to me. I think if things keep going the way they are going I will have a good shot at moving up to the 3’ adult divisions without being too scared. We’ll see. No promises.
We had beautiful weather for both shows and my husband, Will, was able to attend the first show, which was very special to me. Will is an excellent horse husband. He is very understanding of my riding habit and never makes me feel guilty about all of the time and resources I put into riding/training/owning/competing my horse. Will used to attend most of my shows when I owned my previous horse, Ziggie and when Will’s job was less demanding than it is now. Will is also a great horse show husband, though he explains it is easy.
He says, “You just sling a towel over your shoulder for wiping boots, green slime from the horse’s mouth, etc. Then on the other arm you sling all of the tack; bridle, martingale, rider’s jacket, crop, spurs. You just walk around like a human coat rack, provide whatever is needed and let the horse rub his mouth on your clothes and slime you.”
Hmm. Sounds a little too close to the truth for my comfort!
We had beautiful weather for both shows and my husband, Will, was able to attend the first show, which was very special to me. Will is an excellent horse husband. He is very understanding of my riding habit and never makes me feel guilty about all of the time and resources I put into riding/training/owning/competing my horse. Will used to attend most of my shows when I owned my previous horse, Ziggie and when Will’s job was less demanding than it is now. Will is also a great horse show husband, though he explains it is easy.
He says, “You just sling a towel over your shoulder for wiping boots, green slime from the horse’s mouth, etc. Then on the other arm you sling all of the tack; bridle, martingale, rider’s jacket, crop, spurs. You just walk around like a human coat rack, provide whatever is needed and let the horse rub his mouth on your clothes and slime you.”
Hmm. Sounds a little too close to the truth for my comfort!
Patrick with his "dad." Note Will's boot and slobber wiping towel.
Another fun development was that at the second show, we had the re-debut of my friend Susan’s older, former event horse (he’s 21, I believe), Cool Hand Luke. Luke has been semi-retired in Florida for the past several years with a young leaser. However, this summer Susan shipped him up to Woodbury where one of Julie’s young students, Emma, took over the lease. Emma had been out of the show ring for quite some time after a bad fall at show while riding with a different trainer and Luke had been away from eventing for years. After lots of hard work at home and with Julie’s help, Emma and Luke gave a great performance at Country Haven in two divisions. They are proving to be a great team! Furthermore, if there was a horsemanship award for this show series, Emma would be my pick. At both shows (including the show she did not show in), she volunteered to groom, tack and untack, and hold horses for the other Woodbury riders. Being a good rider and a good horseman are both venerable goals, but are not the same. To me, being a good horseman is more important. Good horsemen demonstrate empathy, caring, and helpfulness toward their horses and fellow riders alike. It was nice to see these qualities reflected in a young rider.
Team Woodbury. (From left to right) Cathy with Ellie, Erin with Patrick, Emma, Susan with Cool Hand Luke, Julie, Jasper the dog, Mary Ann with Lincoln aka Mr. President. Photo courtesy of 4leggedfotos.
All and all we had a fabulous couple of shows at Country Haven. I really got the chance to relax with friends and family while enjoying my horse while testing my skill. To me, that’s what it’s all about. Well, it’s about that and the pictures!
At the second show our friend, Debbie Patterson of www.4leggedfotos.com took pictures of the show as well as taking some candids and portraits of the Woodbury riders and their horses. All of the photos in this post are courtesy of 4leggedfotos. Debbie uses her “big silver disk” to help capture the perfect light. It was also a very effective device for getting Patrick’s attention!
RSS Feed