Fair Hill July 5, 2009

I am happy to be starting this blog on a very positive note. This past sunday Freddy and I went to the starter event at Fair Hill. After forgetting my coggins and having to drive home to get it (one time for living 8 minutes from the event!) we had a very lovely day. It was the day after my birthday and my good friend Jac and my parents came out to cheer us on. I was running a little late so by the time I got to the dressage warmup I was only about 3 riders out. We w/t/c in both directions, did a couple of canter departs on the right lead and headed right down to the ring. He was a little bit tense and short strided to begin but I tried to remember to ride him more forward this time than my last test. It definitely helped and after the first canter he was more relaxed in his back and more willing to take longer strides. I wasn't particularly thrilled about my dressage but it was a good challenge for me to have to try and ride him through his tension in the ring.

I had about an hour between my dressage and SJ so I went ahead and got his bell boots and galloping boots on then let him stand on the trailer and eat hay until it was time to tack up. When I was hacking up the road to the SJ area I remembered why I love eventers so much. Every single rider I passed along the way smiled and wished me luck. We have such a great community in this sport and while time are changing a bit it is still about good horsemanship and sportsmanship over competition. Fred was very relaxed all the way up the road until we got out of the woods. I asked him to trot as soon as we hit the grass and his head shot up and I felt his whole body tense up. There was a little dip in the path and he slammed on the brakes and tried to whirl around, the little booger! I kicked him firmly forward, which he ignored, so he got a couple of taps behind my leg with my crop. That made him move forward and just as suddenly as it started his little tantrum was over. I know he wasn't afraid of anything, this is just what he does every now and then to test me. He thinks life's quite funny and wants to see if I'll allow him to misbehave. Once we got up to the SJ warmup area he trotted around on the buckle completely relaxed as if nothing had just happened. He warmed up well although I kept seeing long spots. I didn't worry too much about it though because he was forward and relaxed which were my main concerns. Syd was the ring steward and she called me over and said she was sending Sally in the ring and then me.

When we entered the ring he definitely "woke up" a little bit. He got all wide-eyed and snorty as I trotted him in and picked up my left lead canter to approach the first jump. Once we got over the first fence I think he realized what we were doing and settled right down to business. I still need to work on not pulling him around the turns with my inside hand. To the left we're ok but since he's a bit weaker on his right hind we were sort of swinging around the right hand turns with his shounders drifting left. For the most part he clocked right around the course like it was nothing although he did have a peek at the third fence, a good sized oxer with arches underneath it. We jumped clean and other than sort of gunning him to the last oxer I think we had a pretty smooth round.

We headed over to XC next and I had 3 or 4 riders to wait for before it was my turn. At least 2 of the riders before me had refusals so I did start to get a little nervous as I stood there waiting. That quickly disappeared as soon as I got on course. Fred was on fire! I rode every fence like he was going to stop but there was no question. He clocked right around like a pro! I had several people comment to me afterwards about how smooth we looked going around. He'd never jumped a trakehner before and he didn't even hesitate one bit. He cantered right in the water too. I was very very proud, he made it so easy and fun. Fair Hill's course is pretty straightforward because the terrain is so flat so I think we'll enter a recognized event for his next outing and see how he does with that. I think that Training level by the end of the year is definitely doable. We're also going to enter the last 2 YEH in area II and see if we can qualify for the championship since it's right at fair hill this fall.

As if I wasn't already on cloud 9 after our 2 lovely clear rounds, when I got back to the trailer my mom and Jac informed me that I was in FIRST PLACE! Even though I only got a 37.5 on my dressage that was enough to win my division! Not only did my horse totally impress me but he brought home a blue ribbon, can't beat that!

The next few weeks should be interesting as I'll be trying lessons with some new trainers (my new BO and possibly Doug Payne and/or Boyd), XC schooling, going to a jumper show, and plugging away at our dressage work. Stay tuned!