This weekend I took my two dogs and a cooler full of bubbly & cheese to meet Simon and my barn family in San Antonio for a schooling show. I had made the executive decision months ago to focus on the hunters, so this was to be our first legitimate show back in that ring. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Part of me felt like we’d win everything, and part of me thought it’d be a huge failure and…
As I mentioned in my Simon haiku updates, I decided to take Simon to a last minute one day schooling show at our local show facility. Normally in November we trek up to Waco for the big year end show with our local show circuit, but this year that seemed like a huge expense to undertake when I didn’t feel prepared. Also if I’m being honest, I haven’t felt very much into the jumpers lately. I think it’s due to…
Several people commented on my Friday & Saturday show report commending me for my good attitude. Believe me, that attitude is not my natural inclination. I’m a fiercely competitive person. I want to win. I don’t like to step foot in the ring unless I think there is a chance that I will get something in the class. While I don’t feel like I put my competitive desires ahead of my horse’s welfare, the truth of the matter is that I…
For Sunday, I decided to give myself a little more ring time by signing up for the 2’6″ Equitation medal. I had competed in this class once last year, and enjoy it because it’s the toughest course for the height at our local show series. Adding this class meant that I had to get up early on Sunday to come school in the outside ring before the show started. My trainer seemed to think that schooling the jumps would be necessary…
I’m writing this post on Sunday evening with Pascale passed out on the couch next to me. We are both very tired from a long weekend of horse showing. This weekend was one of those “learning experiences” shows for me, and while I did not take home any satin to hang in the new apartment I did really enjoy myself. I think I posted something on Instagram to this effect, but I’ve never had so much fun losing before. Simon was…
Regardless of what is happening with the rest of the world, one of the things you can count on if you’re an Austinite equestrian is the Central Texas Hunter Jumper Summer Circuit series of horse shows. It’s a three show series that are two weeks apart, and they’re basically a beefed up version of our usual weekend shows. One extra day of showing means for lots of additional divisions and some special classes. Despite showing in Austin for four years now,…
For reasons outside the barn, this has been the toughest week of my life. I needed a good show, and my nerd horse gave me his whole heart on Saturday. I am so proud. I felt more confident going into this show than I did last year for my semi-disasterous 2’6″-2’9″ debut. Pace is beginning to be less of a mystery to me, and after 20 years of riding “sit up and go forward” is starting to become more than…
I did something crazy yesterday. I entered a show. I entered a show that is unlikely to be rained out. I entered a show that is unlikely to be rained out for a max 2’9″ jumper division. I have four days… that should be enough time right? I’ve done this before. Or bigger (at home). So I can do it again. Right? Right?!?
Even though I’ve always loved hunter/jumpers, it wasn’t until the last few years that I showed at “legit” hunter shows. Moving to the world of rotations and 1 million divisions under 3′ was a little confusing at first. It took a lot of hand holding by my trainer to calm my nerves and make hunter/jumper shows seem like the relaxing norm instead of a brave new world. My showing life before hunter/jumper almost entirely consisted of open shows. They are…
To quickly recap Saturday, I had one amazing round with a great ribbon and two rounds where I made pretty major mistakes. This is how Simon feels about his mom throwing away ribbons: For Sunday, I had two goals. A) Go straight (Saturday I let him drift left a lot which caused issues) and B) Don’t go slow! As soon as we walked into the ring for our first 2’3″ Power & Speed class, Simon wanted to trot whether I…
If you follow my personal Facebook or blog instagram, you probably already know that I had a great show. In case you don’t… I had a great show. Great great great. Feel like a million bucks great. My goals going in were to have a confidence booster for me and to give Simon a show where he felt like a rock star for being a good pony. I can’t speak for Simon, but I feel like a rock star too and…
Honestly alert – I am feeling pretty bummed about this year’s show season. A lot of that is because we ended on a not-so-amazing note, but what readers don’t know about are the goals and pressure I had put on myself this year. Why? I don’t know. It’s not like I thought my horse would magically get lead changes or that I would mysteriously become an amazing rider… I didn’t. I did want to have a shot at qualifying for…