Having fun.. and taking care of yourself!

Well everyone, we had a great day yesterday at the Fair Hill Jumper Show.

I took Baggage, Tinka's Lady, Irish Cheer (aka Braddock), and La Grange.

It was a pretty hot day, but the horses did great.

I took Tinka and Braddock both in the 3' jumper class, and I was thrilled with the effort they put in. Both horses had never really shown, they had definitely never seen tents all around the ring, and lots and lots of people and horses all over. Both horses jumped around great depite the fact they were unsure of everything, and I got by on them trusting me! Thank goodness for that :-) Tinka ended up 4th, and Braddock was 5th!

Next class was the 3'3, and I took La Grange in that. It was his 6th horse show. I think he woke up on the wrong side of the stall! For some reason he was just not in good humor.. silly horse. It took two classes to mellow him out. We ended up 3rd in one class and 2nd in the Jumper Classic.

After the three 5 year olds showed (Tinka, Braddock, La Grange) I pulled out my Ace, 'Super Bags'. I really enjoyed riding him again. He jumped ONE time since showing him in May at Blue Rock so his first round in the ring was a bit playful! By our second round he was all game, and put forth some killer turns to produce a winner, winner, winner! In the Classic round we place 2nd.

Now, I have been beating myself up for this one.. A here are my reasons: I did not eat all day, I did drink a lot but by my very last class I was over heated, and was not 100%. I was getting dizzy and did not do my best. What made me upset was that I did not take care of myself. Its really important to do this. If you can't eat while riding you should prepare to eat that morning or eat a big meal the night before. I didnt do either one. So what cost me the class was not taking care of myself and there is no excuse! If you are expecting your horses to perform, you better be able to perform yourself! So a note worthy experience.

All in all a great day!

Middlesex

Sunday, June 27th, I took Ganowe 2 to the Middlesex Horse Show held at the New Jersey Horse Park. We shipped in for the $10,000 1.30m Prix. There were 20 entries, and I was on the order of go at 5th.

I walked the course with my mom, and explained the different things that I saw in the course. It was fun to share that with her. I gave her Ganowe to work with since she has been down from New Hampshire and she has completely fallen in love with him. So for her it was more exciting to watch the horse go since she had been riding him every day.

I on the other hand had not ridden the horse since our 1.40m course at Blue Rock which was in May...but I guess that it really doesn't matters when riding Ganowe. For me, the 1.30m course was my forth go at a bigger level course. I felt pretty confident in the ride I gave Ganowe. He felt perfectly confident, and very game to tackle whatever I pointed him at.

I've had Ganowe for a year this month, and not that I'm looking for a 'pat on the back' but we've come a long, long way and I think that our course at Middlesex was our first course that we really did together. It felt good. We didn't complete a fault free course, but we tackled the hardest elements with ease.

I wish I had the ability to show every weekend at this level, and continue getting to know Ganowe, but its easier said than done. I have to bring along the young guys and keep Ganowe fit enough to slip him in every once in a while. We will get there! I have full confidence :-)

Swan Lake

Wednesday June 23rd I took La Grange to Swan Lake in Littlestown , PA for the 5 Year Old Qualifier. Looking back at the day I was happy with La Grange, and I was pretty happy with the ride I gave him.

Swan Lake was our fifth horse show ever. I trust that La Grange can actually JUMP, so what we are working out is experience. He doesn't back off the jumps but he does see the score board and he does see the tents and the people moving around when we are on course, can sometimes distract him from jumping brilliantly and causing a rail.

I think what I realize is that I expect A LOT from this little guy. I think we can get so wrapped up into what we want, and forget to see where we've come from, and be grateful for all our experiences and improvements.

We finished 3rd in the qualifier. Our next stop is Princeton on Thursday and the Dream Park on Friday. Both shows holding the qualifier classes.

Pictures From Upperville

Schooling Show with Tinka's Lady and Irish Cheer

Upperville

We had a pretty long day yesterday... got up at 2:30am fed the horses and then we left for Upperville, VA to go in the 5 Year Old Young Jumper Qualifier Class with La Grange. It was a brand new experience for La Grange seeing as it was on the grass in a big field. The jumps were great, the footing wasnt too bad, and all in all I had a great time. La Grange felt really confident jumping the new jumps and handled everything well leaving us in 5th Place. I didnt have anyone to video tape or do pictures so I'm sorry, you'll just have to trust me that it was a good day.


Next stop is a small schooling show this Sunday, and then PJA :-)

La Grange and Priscilla Godsoe at the Devon Horse Show, June 2nd, 2010