Well then of COURSE Buck decides to hurt himself! haha. I went to a cross country schooling lesson with Shannon on Thursday (after my breakthrough lesson) and he stepped on a really sharp rock. And then went badly 3-legged lame :( I opted to give him a few days off, soak it with epsom salts and then pack it and wrap it in a poultice. Well I lucked out because on Sunday, he was sound and ready to rock.
So it's like 85 degrees on Sunday with a humidity of about 80%. haha Of course it is, it's AUGUST and we *should* have this heat, but does it have to be THAT humid?!?! I opt to wear no jacket for dressage, as per the 2009 USEF rule EV 113.8 - which states,
At Eventing Tests or when all three phases of a Horse Trials are contested over one day - Protective headgear and protective vests as above. Clothing as appropriate for the test in progress (see below), or at the competitor’s option - boots, britches, spurs and gloves - as applicable for the test being performed. Long or short sleeved shirt with collar and without neckwear, of a conservative color, neatly tucked into riding breeches.
I figure, heck, I haven't ridden since Wednesday and haven't jumped since July 28th....why bother with getting overheated so much so I can't compete for the rest of the day? Well apparently NO ONE at this event had heard of such a thing, nor had the dressage judge. I started trotting around the outside of the arena and she stops me, asks me if I am looking for cross country (as I had my pinny on - didn't realize there was a bridle number in my packet)...I tell her no, that I am opting to wear a shirt with collar, no neck wear, so that I can compete the rest of the day and not get heat stroke! She asks me if I have a rulebook that states this is correct, I tell her I don't have one on my person but I was certain the organizer of the event would have one available....She lets me ride and doesn't put up a fuss about it.
The test itself was blah. I am not sure WHAT is going on but I feel that he was wiggly and a wee bit behind my leg. Must discuss with Denise at my next lesson. We scored a 40.0 and that put us 2nd out of 3, with the first place test being a 35.
I walk the cross country course and was not impressed. The jumps were on the smaller side, the whole course a bit cramped (except for the fences in the woods which were well spread out). And everything was just a bit "ghetto". I LIKE ghetto typically, but this was very ghetto. I questioned about 4 of the fences in terms of safety (the tire jumps just shouldn't be like that because a horse can get their hooves in to them, and the green wall at fence 3 was almost falling over!). Anyways, you can see the complete course on my facebook album.
I was THOROUGHLY expecting Buck to be a bit looky and squirrely to these jumps, especially the first few since they were not inviting at all. We went in to the box after jumping the x-rail in warm-up 3 times....the starter "counted us down" and when he hit one, Buck launched out of the box like he had rocket boosters under his butt!!!! We cantered down the path to the first fence (aka trip obstacle!) and then around the bend to fence two, and I instantly knew that a. he UNDERSTOOD HIS JOB and b. we would make it home clean! AND we did. I was SOOOOOO thrilled at how well it all went. He was just "on" and looking for the next fence the entire time. What a GOOD boy!
I can't believe how good he was on cross country given the fact that the last time he even jumped was at Apple Knoll. He was very responsive but was not looky at all really. I was soooooo happy with him!
Anyways, 2 of the 3 horses in my division had stops on cross country, which meant I moved in to first.
Stadium was a terrible course. The arena was tiny - maybe 75 feet wide by 100 feet long (or a bit longer, but not by much). That's not necessarily an issue, but the course they had set was SOOOOOO technical for the level that it was difficult. They had used just about every useable space in width in the arena such that you couldn't canter to the sides of fences to pick up our canter. The approach to fence #1 was tight and yucky. Then fence #2 was set right on the center line, and on both sides of the arena at that point there were "looky" things - a white coop/wall thingie and then on the opposite side we had panels leaning up against the fence.
I didn't feel like I got the chance to get a good rhythm started in stadium, and it just did not flow for me at all. It was "eeeeky" but we went clean.
So Buck and I got to do our first victory canter ;)
I'm really looking forward to redemption at Groton House...which opens TOMORROW!
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