USDF First debut

Spoiler - our rides weren't great. Mia was stiff and it took a good while to warm her up, which wasn't good because it was 90 degrees with 80% humidity with zero shade. She didn't overheat, although I kinda did, but she definitely ended up cranky and picking fights in the second part of the day. 

Our day started late, with the first ride being at 130p. It was SO nice to get up at a normal time, have breakfast, and not be rushed before heading to the barn early. We were early enough that I even braided her, something I don't do often because she isn't good and we end up annoyed at one another. She shakes her head and neck, she moves forward, backward, up, down, shake, move, shake.... you get the drift. This was actually the best she has ever been for braiding, so that was a huge win.

By the time we hauled out of the barn, the humidity was already making things uncomfortable. I was happy that Mia still loaded like a champ and we were out of there in minutes of being ready to go. The show facility was a 30 minute drive, which was also super nice, and we got ready. With the sun beating down, with not a cloud in sight, I was sweating before even hopping on. 

I took a long time to warm up as Mia was very stiff and borderline short on her left hind, the one that had the abscess. She wasn't lame, but she was certainly short on that foot and was working out of it. We had some decent warmups before it was finally our turn. 

Mia had an amazing entrance and ended up with an 8, even though she wasn't square. She had been fighting me SO hard for contact and roundness in warmup, and I was tired and hot, so we went with what I THOUGHT was her pretty well on the bit and listening to aids. Until I saw the video....erm.... yeah. 

What I thought was short reins with her being connected looked like an intro rider frame. When I was pushing for her to come round and step under, I am tilting forward as she was pulling me forward so much. We had some moments of brilliance, but they were just that. Moments. I missed some geometry (the indoor that I have been practicing is smaller than a standard ring and I was riding in a large ring) and also had an error where I didn't ride completely to a letter before making my turn, so there went 2 points. 

I am much happier with First 1 than First 2, but by the time First 2 rolled around 45 mins later, we hadn't had an opportunity to cool down, she was quite annoyed with me, she was adamant that she couldn't bend at the poll, and we were just riding to get through it. 

I think the judge was a little hard on some points, but fair overall. She doesn't think Mia is ready for 1st level with this frame. And...well I do agree BUT this is not where we are really in our training. We have the skills and I am going to work even harder to get there because we do belong here. What kind of things are we working on to do that? Well....great question. I already have the answer.