Overall I was really happy with our Jumper debut. It is no surprise that an eventer would have no issues with going over jumps at speed, it should also be of no surprise that it is hard as hell to remember the ever changing courses.
I left the house at a respectable 545a and got to the show right at 745a for the 830a show. They were letting people go in the ring and jump things (?!?) so we took the opportunity and did the same. Mia couldn't have possibly cared about any of the tiny little jumps, 2'3" did not impress her at all. The first class turned out to be a speed class, the fastest won. I was so very grateful for friendly competitors helping this stupid eventer in the classes. I read the rules but I still wasn't super clear and it was very helpful to have someone clarify!
Mia did well in the first round, until *cough* someone forgot the course and cut a jump way to close and knocked the jump standard over with their freshly polished boot. It was a jump that had to be jumped again so as we were going along, people were scurrying to put it back up. Which totally distracted the rider *cough cough* and I went off course. Ha! Go figure.
The second round was weird in that you did the first 6 jumps as a H/J course and then you did the last 5 jumps as a speed round. Got it! Again Mia did very well, she was quite adjustable and listened spectacularly, but at fence 9 she didn't half halt, jumped flat and knocked the tiny 2' jump over with her hind fetlock. Really mare?! Really. It was a big canter stride and you still knocked it down?
The last class was the only one I cared about, it was a stakes class with a payback. For this class they raised the fences to 2'6" and it helped so much. Mia FINALLY started actually jumping the fences and taking it seriously. For this round we did our 11 fences, stopped until they blew a whistle and then jumped the same course through the first 8 fences. Mia put the pedal to the metal and we were clear, resulting in a nice 2nd place finish. I really would have liked to have seen the scores and timing, I have a hard time believing someone went faster than us but hey. 2nd place was great as I got more than half of my entry fees back AND got back to the barn by 1030 AND got home before noon. Fabulous!
They aren't having any more shows this year, at least so far, but it is a venue I would go to again. I am actually looking at other shows around that are closer even though they are not horse trials. I am so burned out of driving 6+ hours just to go to a show, it may not be ideal but it should help scratch the itch and not take up all of my extremely rare free weekends.
That said, I have some big stuff coming up. On the 10th I have a clinic with Jim Wofford, on the 13th I have a dressage lesson with M that comes to the barn once in a while. On the 28th I have a possible local show and then Aug 11 I have another show that is at my barn. They aren't horse trials, and I am not schooling training level xc, but it does give me something to work towards.
We are currently melting (for PA) in high 90 degree temps, I rode Mia last night and she was not amused. My plan is to ride first thing tomorrow morning (since I am off for the 4th) and make sure my jumping position is on point for our clinic. Does anyone else have a case of the showing blues like I do?
Paybacks are ALWAYS nice! Congrats on a great finish in the stakes class!!
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