Yesterday I bragged profusely about my great horse show. Sorry about that, but today I’ll get into the more nitty gritty detail for those of you that like those kind of posts. As previously discussed, I decided to enter the 2’3″ and 2’6″ jumpers instead of the 2’6″ and 2’9″ heights we had been previously showing at. I stepped back because it’d been almost a year since I showed at all (April 2016), and it had been a year and…
Something very weird happened to me at the show this weekend. I’ve been showing for over 15 years, and the following has never happened: I signed up classes appropriate for my horse and my riding level. I brought a well trained, seasoned horse to the horse show. I listened to what my trainer said, didn’t go off course and rode competitively… and I pinned well in every class. Not only did I pin well, but I picked one of my two divisions…
One of the great things about having a barn family versus somewhere to just take lessons is that nobody questions why you would choose to spend your entire weekend at a horse show where you are not showing. Instead they say things like, “We’re ordering pizza for the classic. Can you bring ice for the beer?” Why yes, I can bring ice. I can also drink 3 ciders in an hour after not eating much and being super dehydrated. I can…
On day two of the horse show, Simon and I were kind of over it. It’s not that I didn’t wake up excited and ready to horse show (and maybe a little bit hungover… turns out day drinking isn’t really my style)… I did! However, when the hunter ring is dragging and a nap feels like a super solid idea, it can be hard to motivate one’s self. By the time we got to my first class, the 2’6″ Equitation, I…
On Friday night when we were schooling, I trotted around the jumps in the hunter ring and told my trainer how small everything looked. They were all set to around 2′, which used to be my comfort level but now looks like speed bumps. Don’t think I’m knocking all the 2′ hunter riders aren’t there who think schooling that height at the show is scary. I’ve been there. I know your feels, but now it looks itty bitty. After we cruised down…
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…
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…