Cross Country Recap Part I - The App

I was very excited to go cross country this weekend, I haven't gone XC in a couple of years and I sure have missed it.  I have done a couple hunter paces a couple years ago but last year was such a loss due to moving, I didn't get to do much of anything.  I got the trailer all hooked and loaded up on Friday because, you know, I just couldn't wait and I even awoke on Saturday a full 20 mins before the alarm was set to go off at 7a.  I got all of the horses taken care of, fed and turned out quickly and without any issues.  I wrapped the App, loaded up and was able to head out by 830a.  I am very happy the place I went is only 25 mins away, that means it means very little drive time and lots more time for horse activities.  I really hate driving long distances, especially just to go to a show.  I will flat out refuse to go to a show that is more than 1.25 hours away, I just don't see how that makes a good use of my time.

SO and I got to the farm and I was amazed, it is so beautiful, lots and lots of green, grassy, rolling hills.  Lots of mature trees, board fence pastures, a barn that was older and looked very lived in but was very clean and well maintained.  I unloaded and went to the "clubhouse" to check-in, I chatted with the property owner and she was very nice.  She even offered to take me on a golf cart tour of the grounds so I knew where I was going when I was schooling.  She pointed out the fences for the different levels, she pointed out the sloppy and muddy spots, she even pointed out a couple of nice jumps I would have probably missed if I had been on my own.  I had a really good time chatting with her and am very thankful she took the time to show me around.  It make the experience much more enjoyable.

I mounted up and my instructor and I went to warm up.  My photographer, aka the SO, turned to me and said "Uh, where are your keys?".  I said they were in the truck, probably in the ignition.  He informed me that he must have locked the truck at some point and locked both sets of our keys in there.  As a result, unfortunately I have zero pictures of our ride because SO had to wait an hour for AAA to arrive.  I do have a single video of our last ride, I will see what I can do about uploading it.

We warmed up and the App was his typical "firecracker on a pogostick" self.  It was nice because I am fairly certain the instructor thought I was crazy when I described his insane behavior since he is so laid back in the arena.  Thus we had lots of transitions, lots of bending, lots of trying to get him to stretch his neck down.  Needless to say 30 mins later and some tired, tired shoulders later we were ready to go.  We popped over our first log and didn't look back.  We trotted and cantered in and out of water, we jumped up big banks out of water, jumped down big banks into water, we jumped over a log into water (a first!) and jumped a small course that included water.  We jumped some big jumps, we jumped really wide jumps, we jumped deep ditches, we jumped big logs, we had such a great time.  My App is rock solid, he is such a great eventer. My only regret is I didn't start eventing 5 years sooner.