Deuce is getting the loading up thing down pretty well, especially
when his buddy, Special is already on the trailer. He walked right in, ready to
go! We pulled into Inavale Saturday morning and rolled up to a very busy
parking area. There were horses and trailers everywhere!
We got parked, got the horses settled, picked up our numbers and
set out to walk cross country course. The Intro division course covered some
ground! I was happy to see the Tiny Table again and in a slightly different
place but still on a hill… we were going to conquer the beast this time! It looked
like it was going to be a fun course!
Deuce had to spend a little time away from his pal, she was riding
in the Beginner Novice division. However, the spotted boy did pretty good
standing by himself at the trailer. While he did call out a bit, he had so much
else to look at around him that he did not have any major issues.
Dressage warm up was in a nice open field, with lots of horses to
see. I worked on trot walk transitions and changing speeds of the trot to keep
his attention on me. Then I ventured into some canter work and had a
surprisingly pliable horse.
Before too long, we were on deck and then walking around the
outside of the dressage arena waiting for the bell. I always like to walk past
the judges stand both directions and the flowers and letters and anything else
that could be potentially scary. Deuce did not seem too concerned about any of
these things so the bell rang and we proceeded to trot around the outside of
the arena and towards A where we would enter the arena and thus begin our test.
As we came around the corner on the outside at “F” Deuce acted like the big
pink board and letter had just appeared out of nowhere and he jumped sideways
at the structure. He quickly gained his composure and trotted on, but I had to
laugh at his startlement since we had been past it 3 times already. So we entered
at A and down the centerline with a big smile on my face. Always a nice start
to the test! It was a decent ride, I was a bit stiff and tense and I did not
have him bent well enough for our right lead canter transition, so he picked up
the left lead. I tried to fix it but it I got all panicky and tenser and thus
becoming a bigger mess so I decided to just ride the circle at a counter
canter. Oh well that was one movement, the rest were okay and we ended with a
nice halt.
After a short break, it was time to start thinking about jumping
and our stadium round. The warm up rind was up in the indoor arena. It was dark
and small and lots of horses going everywhere. Despite all that, we had an okay
warm up ride, he did get a bit rushed to the jumps but I think it was due to
the small space.
Then it was time to go down to the arena and wait our turn. Deuce
was fascinated by the other horse jumping in the arena, he would stand and
watch and study the course.
Soon it was our turn. So the course was pretty compact; lots of
fences in a small space so we had to really concentrate on where to go and
staying straight to the fence. We trotted in smartly and made our circle,
picked up the canter and away we went. 1 and 2 clear with no trouble, then 3 was a slight bend to the left and 4 was
a turn left down the long side… well, I was thinking so hard about the left
turn, I went right between 3 and the other fence and completely bi-passed it!
Before I got to fence 4, I realized what I had done, so I continued on my big left
hand circle and went back to pick up 3 then back to 4… then around and back on course. Doh! That will cost some time.
However, Deuce was doing well with my directions and the jumping! There were
some big scary looking standards on 5 which he did not even see and then 6 had a
big carrot standard on the short side coming off a right hand turn. His left
shoulder popped out and I did not straighten with my legs and we had a left run
out. Grr! Circle around and hop over then around to the big sunflower headed
towards home. No problem. Then 8 on the
diagonal, away again then circle to the right and straight across the diagonal
again towards home over the oxer waves and we were done. Good boy Deuce! Lisa...
still have work to do on that riding straight and using your legs!
Back to the trailer we went for a short
breather and then off to cross country.
I figured I did not need to do too much jumping to warm up for
cross country so I worked on canter trot transitions and having him right under
my legs. He was all too happy to be out in the field and was quite strong. So I
kept up with the transitions and half halts to get him settled into work. I
started feeling pretty good about where he was so we took a walk break and then
it was time to get in the start box. Then the countdown and then we were off and
running. Well, a nice bold canter, but it was exhilarating nonetheless. Deuce is
starting to get the idea of what comes after leaving the start box. He was eagerly
looking for the first jump. It was a little log and he sailed over it and cantered
on. What a ride this was starting out to be! Up the hill we went to the next
log and then a short canter to the tiny table; we aren’t running out here! Both
legs on and straight and over he went! Lots of praise then around the corner;
he sorta looked a little at the shadows on the ground but I think it was mostly
to make sure he was not about to trip over something (what a clever boy!) Then
around the corner to the log on top of the hill…and darnit! The approach got me
again, I took it for granted and again he popped his shoulder out and we had a
run out again. GRRRR! We circled back and over it we went. Then down the hill
to the tiny little grass ditch… both legs on and sit tall and over he skipped,
then around the corner into the water (he questioned me again for slowing him
down to a trot – he really wants to gallop through!) and then out and around
the spectators hill to the log.
We had such a great rhythm going and he was
looking for each next jump. It was really a great ride, the next log, coop and
long stretch to the table all flowed well then there was a long stretch to the
last fence so I got off his back and let him get a big canter to the last log,
and oh my goodness, he took off! It was controlled but wow that boy wanted to
FLY! I sat up and got him back for a final log and then across the finish line.
If we lost time for our run out, we more than made up for it in that last bit.
(maybe even a speeding ticket!)
The exhilaration of a horse and rider at
the finish line of a cross country ride is something that is nearly tangible.
Deuce and I were grinning from ear to ear from pure enjoyment from our ride.
Fortunately we had a long walk back to the trailer to cool out and come back
down off the rush.
We got our horses cooled out and tack cleaned and put away and
everything packed up and ready to head out as we waited for our scores to be
posted. Deuce and I ended up with a 34.3
and tied for 4th in dressage. After stadium we were dropped out of
the top 5 due to a jump penalty (run out at the carrot) and time faults but we
caught up in cross country with only a 20 point penalty and no time faults. We
did the course in the fastest in our division at 3:08 but the optimum time was
3:18. (Speed faults started a 2:21 so no speeding tickets for us, thankfully!)
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| Pretty in Pink |
In the end we came out in 5th. Not bad for our fist 3
phase event!
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