Green Acres....is the place to be!

So with our previous successes at Weenie and Green levels, I decided to up the ante and see what this pony is REALLY made of. Up to this point I didn't really have any goals, but I did want to compete in the Groton House Summer Classic - which only offers Elementary level and Beginner Novice level divisions. This meant that I would have to be ready to jump 2'3" courses, and rather than make a fool out of myself at Groton House, I opted to "try it out" beforehand.

There is a local event that runs a series....This event, Green Acres Stables Event Series, has a bit of a groupie following. Seriously, some people live and breathe for this event. Before signing on to this event I did attend a cross country schooling clinic taught by Nancy Guoyotte. I found the "pre-elementary" jumps to be too small for where we were at in our training, so I decided to just GO with it and do the elementary division.

Now this could've been the biggest mistake in Buck's training. I figured it was kinda risky considering that on May 17th we'd done the 18 inch division, and then by May 31st we'd be doing 2'3" division. That's a pretty large jump in a horse's training....but we had previously been schooling up to beginner novice (2'7") heights. Plus Buck is no "ordinary" pony. He's very laid back. Is happy to do what I ask (most times) and doesn't get rattled with excess traffic and excitement. In short, he acts like a 20 year old pony who has been there and done that....but in reality, he had NEVER been off the farm (or on a horse trailer) until I bought him.

So anyways, the week beforehand I panicked. I stayed up all night long (kinda like tonight!) and I rode hard. Not only was this a move up in terms of jumping, but this was also a move up in dressage as we had to actually ... CANTER ... in a dressage test. WOAH NELLIE.

Finally the day came. Before I knew it I was at the event and ready to puke. Okay, I'm not really the puking kind of rider, so I didn't almost puke....but I was edgy and just wanted to get the SHOW on the road already! I warmed up for dressage and he was WONDERFUL. Very light in the hand (relatively speaking), responsive and ready to go.

Well somewhere between the warm-up ring and the dressage ring something happened. We got in to our test and it all but fell apart! I suspect that most of this has to do with the fact that when Buck is nervous he locks his jaw and basically communication stops there. EEEEEEk. The first canter transition is basically blown as he attempts to pick up the wrong lead. I correct him quickly and we manage to SOMEHOW stay in the arena. This test is an EVIL test because ALL of the trot and canter circles are to be done at "A"....which JUST so happens to be where the break in the arena railing is....HULLO. WHO designed this test for green horses and riders???? Anyways, this would be one of my least stellar dressage tests EVER, but we still manage to score a 37.8. The Video shows that it was not nearly as bad as I had feared. In fact, my overall feedback for my own test is SLOW THE TEMPO DOWN, DINGBAT...whereas in the arena I felt that we were REALLY lazy.

Anyways, with dressage down, I am now free to concentrate on cross country - the real scary part of the day. So after waiting forever, I am FINALLY in the start box and it's time to go. Our first fence on course is a wee little brown coop (which we jumped at the xc schooling clinic) and to my surprise he actually offers to STOP at it!!!! I say, "LIKE HELL you are stopping at the first weenie fence on course" and he jumps it. I beat him with my stick once between fences and he gets the idea - go forward or else. The second fence is a largish log (maybe 2'?) with a nice inviting large face. We have no problems with this fence whatsoever. That beating helps. Our third fence is another LITTLE log, but the approach is downhill. The downhill evens out just before the log, but the landing is a bit of a drop. He jumps this with no problem.....and so we canter off to my "bugaboo" fence on course. Fence 4 is a max (2'3") brown rolltop. Not a BAD fence but the face of it is about 8' and there is NO wing on the right side. Buck definitely gets behind my leg at this fence - if I even had my leg on...haha. Anyways, it jumps terribly, but we get over it on the first try. Phew. Fence 5 is the same log as fence 2 (just going at it backwards this time). It's fine....and then we come to a BIG ASS LOG in fence 6. YIKERS. This is the one that AWESOME friend Shannon tells me NOT to walk too close to when we are walking. (The theory being that the closer you get to it, the bigger it looks. I have tested this theory before and it is definitely true.) Anyways, this fence actually jumps really well, phew. On to fence 7, which is a set of whiskey barrels with quite a bit of "munch factor" in it.

(When I say munch factor I mean that someone forgot to use the weed wacker around the base, and therefore the grass here is as tall or taller than the jump, haha!).

Whiskey barrels jump fine. Now we are to fence 8 - which is one FREAKING wide ugly log, with a downhill approach, very narrow face with mega run out factor to the right. The log is doubly yucky because the left 3' of the log are larger and bumpy, which gives you about a 4' area of optimum jump factor. Right, this one jumps fine, too. Phew.

We continue down the hill and bang a left in to the other field. We go around a bunch of jumps and go to fence 9, which is - SURPRISE - another log - a small one - maybe 18" but also with a drop on the exit. I trot this one. Actually, I trot *most* of the downhill portions. Buck is ALREADY built downhill, there's no reason to further handicap him! After this point I walked a few seconds. Yes, I walked. I had planned to walk at some point in the course. I needed a mental break, and I was really worried about Buck's fitness and breathing. We are still battling the breathing issues AND this is the longest, most terrain and biggest course we have ever jumped.

The walking actually didn't last for too long. It just didn't feel "right" and Buck agreed. We trotted down the rest of the hill and jumped fence 10 - a BIG jump. This one was haybales with a telephone pole suspended over them. I did actually walk right up to this in my course walk - and yes, it was between Beginner Novice and Novice heights. There is NO WAY this should have been on an elementary course - BUT it rode beautifully, so there.

We had to snake through a bit of a mucky area....we may have walked a few steps before regrouping for fence 11 - an ugly railroad tie type oxer thingy. Fine. Then we cantered back towards home and jumped fence 12 - a max red coop (and Buck actually HIT this one, so I know he's feeling tired at this point). Continued up the hill screaming, "YOU'RE GOING TO DO IT BOY, JUST ONE FENCE LEFT!!!!".....

Haha, fence 13 is a small loggy type thing that jumps fine....and then, as I'm cantering to the finish lines I see....wait, ANOTHER FENCE!!!!! haha. On the course map there were 14 jumps, but when I walked I only saw 13. Well thankfully I was paying attention enough to see this one last minute log thrown in for good measure. This one jumps fine, too.

PHEW. We went clean. And then, I am brought to tears. I realize how so very thankful I am for Dancer bringing Buck in to my life. I have ALWAYS firmly believed that Dancer brought us together because we found Buck just 3 days after Dancer passed....and while our life with Buck has been interesting (with the breathing issues), it has also been very exciting. I am FINALLY able to say that I am an eventer. (Yes, it's still not a USEA recognized division, but we will get there....)

One more phase. The stadium course is Buck's nemesis. He could really careless about stupid PVC rails, and he also knows exactly where they all are. The course has a few oxers - which we haven't jumped since December - on it, plus a rollback turn and a bending line. Should be interesting. I go in with instructions to RIDE YOUR PONY you idiot! hehe. And I do....except the two jumps with PVC rails - we clip them and they come down. Well, the rest of the course was pretty good, so I'm happy with it.

FINALLY I check the scoreboard. I was 3rd after dressage, but ended up dropping to 4th after the rails in stadium. I am still TICKLED with this result. More tickled that we had no stops on xc!!!!

This feels like a huge victory in my heart and my brain. I don't think I'll EASILY get over Dancer's naughtiness....but I am finding myself trusting Buck more and more, which allows me to ride better. How cool is that?

So our next event is Groton House Summer Classic. And I will not make an idiot out of myself because now I can CONFIDENTLY go in to the event knowing that if I ride, my pony will jump it! And that's all I need to know for now :D

Cross Country at Green Acres
Stadium at Green Acres