The barn is still under a 2 week quarantine and we should be able to leave the barn May 31st pending no new EHV outbreaks. Looks like things are holding steady and nothing has blown up. I know of several shows that are going to happen this weekend, so maybe the hysteria is dyeing down. I miss my weekly lessons with my students.
I’m planning on going to Inavale farm for XC schooling May 31st. The weather looks like showers all week and hopefully the fields will be dry and we can have a fun school. I’ll be taking Clyde. I plan to school quite a bit of the Novice fences and jump the ditches and banks. I realized his first up bank was at the Aspen Derby last month. Nothing like learning on the fly….. Clyde is a great horse and I really enjoy riding him. He’s gamey and learns quickly. I’ll be taking a few students down as well.
Next up for Safari is the OI at Aspen. I’m looking forward to the course at Aspen. They usually have a challenging, but fair course. Hopefully the weather will be in their favor this year. The week leading up to the event last year was very wet. The footing in the back field was so deep, they had to remove that loop from the OI course, which made the course just over 4 min. Talk about a fast round. I felt like we were just getting started when we crossed the finish flags. I would also love to be in the permanent stalls, but I’m not holding my breath. Stabling was so packed and crowded last year. Plus all the rain made everything so slippery, I had to put my truck in 4 wheel drive after getting stuck a few times.
The field at the barn is lovely right now and I’ve been riding dressage, hacking and doing trot and gallop sets out there. I plan to get my mower over there and mow a dressage arena. Cindy has steaks for a dressage arena and I need to get my letters cleaned up. It will be exciting to have a “real” dressage arena. After that chore is done, I plan to move a bunch of jumps into the field for a xc/derby set up.
Enjoy the holiday weekend!
Clyde was a champ and had a smooth dressage test. Here he is in the first trot circle scoring an 8.
Look how relaxed this horse is! Hard to believe this was his first time in a dressage arena! Check out how much it's raining.
Last fence on course. He was rolling along. Never even broke a sweat after this round. He was awesome! The footing was the worst here at the last and it never phased him.
I’ll start this post by explaining the TE in stadium for the NWEC Mothers Day Classic. I went off course. Nothing complicated about it; I jumped the wrong fence. I’m seriously disappointed in myself since my horse has been jumping so well (knock on wood) and I knew this would be a good course for him. The two riders before me were clear and I was really looking forward to my ride. I mentally struggle with the final phase and I really let myself and my horse down. Something about the show jumping phase gets me very rattled. It’s definitely something I plan to work very hard on and I’m glad I didn’t make this mistake when there was prize money on the line. Better here than at Rolex…. While I’m upset about giving away the win and not getting the points, I’m not disappointed about missing out on the tiny ribbon or cheap cooler. NWEC isn’t known for generous prizes.
The real gem for the weekend was my XC ride. Safari was so game and quite a punk in warm up. I love his attitude and how he really understands his job. While the course was rather soft, with fairly small fences, I still rode like I was excited to be there. Safari skipped around like it was novice and made great time with very little effort. I barely touched the reins, which makes for a steady and efficient round. The footing was quite awful in places and we did slow for those areas and I put medium bullets in all the way around. But he was so easy and balanced we didn’t slipped once despite the fact it never stopped raining all weekend.
It’s onto Aspen for Safari. We can definitely expect a stiffer course and I plan to bring my A game. I plan to work on my dressage and improve my score over NWEC. I left some points in the arena because I didn’t ride as accurately and with enough bend and angle throughout the entire test. I know this horse can get the job done; I just need to ask for it.
I want to congratulate Anna and Sophie Ernst for riding great last weekend and both girls finished on their dressage scores.
I head back to NWEC for the Baywood Pony Club One day this Sunday. The forecast is depressing; rain Saturday and a 90% chance of rain Sunday. Ugh. My poor tack is still recovering from last weekend. Clyde will be going BN and I will have a few students up there as well. Unfortunately I don’t have studs drilled for Clyde so we may be opting for a slow and steady round if the footing if awful. Hopefully I will get some pictures and video of Clyde this weekend if all goes well.
Cheers.
The boys and I drove to Aspen Farms April 30th for the final spring derby. I arrived just in time for Clyde to run the BN stadium schooling course then head out to the derby field before the class changed over to Novice. All the tracks were similar and the footing was surprisingly good in front of the fences. There were a few soggy spots but they were kindly filled with gravel so we didn’t sink into the bog. Clyde was a champ and wasn’t at all impressed with the BN fences. He even jumped his first up bank and walked calmly thru the water and trotted out. He was a little distracted by Safari calling for him at the trailer. But over all a great first out for him and I’m very pleased. He will definitely be a ready for Novice in about a month.
Safari and I had to wait around for the Novice and Training rides to finish. I did a very smooth stadium course with him. He felt very rideable and jumped really well. I only wish the fences were bigger. The derby for the prelim was fairly straight forward. Safari rode well and I was working on being forward and controlled between the fences. He got distracted and a bit off our line at the last fence and had a hard rail there. I’m a little disappointed with myself and felt I could have given him a better ride.
I enjoyed the weather and seeing everyone again and I’m glad I went. But… I really wish the courses were more challenging and longer. It took me an hour to get both boys ready and packed in the morning and then 2 hours to drive there. It makes for a pretty expensive ride when you spend so much money and time and you’re only on course for 30 seconds……
I’m looking forward to NWEC this weekend with Safari. The boy feels great and ready to go. Too bad the weather looks like absolute crap L
I just want to make a couple comments about Rolex. I was so incredibly busy and didn’t get to watch any of it on the web or TV, but I did see highlights and tried to read as much as I could. I have to say I am incredibly impressed with Mary King. She is a crazy good rider and I loved watching her pilot her horses around the courses. She has an amazing position and her lower leg never moves! I loved how she smiled like a little girl as she talked about her horses. You could tell she cares dearly for them and really knows their personalities and what type of ride they need. I also love how she rides XC in her stock tie and pin. So very British! Congratulations Mary King! And congratulations to Sinead Halpin for an incredible first time around a 4 star to finish in 3rd. These two ladies are truly inspirational.
