What a fun weekend.
I showed Odessa at the Intermediate level for the first time at the Gayla schooling show. She was GREAT in the warm up and I had high hopes that she would pull off a nice dressage test. We were resting in the shade and as people started to show up, she started to get nervous and things started to fall apart. I don't know why she does this to herself, but while she didn't spook like she normally does, she wasn't listening and basically gave me the finger through most of the test. I probably didn't handle it the best and was pretty mad at her by the end. I sometimes think our personalities are too similar for us to be successful together, but we are stuck with each other so it is what it is. We scored a 52.
The cones course was really big with some fun moves that Sterling put in. We cantered a lot of the course and made time with a few seconds to spare. She stopped listening going to 17 and we smashed one cone but other than that were clear so I was pretty happy with our first Intermediate cones attempt.
Lenny did a nice job with the gates on the marathon and we had fun on all 4 of the obstacles. She didn't hesitate at all going into the water so that was huge. I used a different bit on her and I'm just not sure it's the right one. While it's more aggressive, she's less responsive in it. I think I'm going back to the mullen mouth snaffle that she seems to prefer.
A hitching accident earlier in the day, sent Carrie to the hospital (she's okay) and left Mary Phelps without a navigator for her first time out with her pair of Shetlands. TJ worked out her times and as soon as I got Dessa unhitched I jumped on Mary's carriage and off we went. Mary did a great job, drove clear lines through all of the obstacles and as a result she took home the blue ribbon in a class of three. Congratulations Mary!!
After lunch and the awards I had to run to the airport to pick up a rental and then head down to Riverplains Farm for their Farm to Table Dinner. TJ was kind enough to get Odessa home and settled. Helpful, navigator husbands are invaluable!
Despite it being a bit warm at River Plains, the ambiance was good and the scenery beautiful. The dinner started out with pickles, slaws, spelt crackers, tomatoes and fresh condiments followed by sirloin tips, fried green tomatoes, okra skewers and potatoes, with chess pie for dessert. Locally brewed beers and organic cocktail mixes were also available. After the meal we all moved into the barn for several more hours of socializing as the storm that had been brewing let loose. It was a fun evening.
I made it home about 4 yesterday exhausted and ready for a nap.
Photos of the Gayla schooling show
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments
