Mud, Sweat, and....er...Cheers!

Hello, hello!

Things have been super busy since I last posted.  Bug, Renn, and I made the trip up to Morven Park last weekend.  Let's just say, I'm very glad that my mom got me a set of Frog Togs for Christmas last year, as I got to put them to good use there!  The weather was abysmal.  Cold, pouring rain, and wind were in abundance on Saturday.  Renn competed in the Open Training division A in a field of 15.  With the horrible weather and the cross country running right by his dressage arena, I was worried that Renn might be less than attentive.  However, I must say, he was very strong, but he was willing and listening for the most part.  He ended up with a 35.9 which put him in a 4 way tie for 5th place.  The weather only got worse as his jumping phases were upon us.  I am soooo proud of my boy for the way he went in the horrendous conditions.  He jumped double clear around a tough show jumping course and went on to put in another double clear in the XC around a tough course with very slippery footing.  Baby stallion ended up 4th in that huge division that included a lot of big names!!  After talking with Bonnie, we have decided that Renn has earned his way to a move up to Preliminary at the Virginia Horse Trials!!  Yay!!
Bug was in the Open Intermediate A division with a field of 16.  He put in his best dressage test to date in the indoor arena with a 39.6!  We finally broke 40!  That was even with an accidental flying change.  He was quiet and relaxed.  What we really lacked was brilliance in the trot for better scores.  I was THRILLED with him.  All of the hard work that we've been doing with Bonnie is paying off!  He went on to jump a double clear round in the show jumping.  The footing had gotten even worse by the time that we went, and Bug felt it was neccessary to overjump everything by 3', so I was a bit discombobulated, and I didn't ride as well as I would have liked.  There were some great fences, and there were some not so great fences. 
Bug's XC was on Sunday, and the rain had let up some, but the footing was still horrendous.  The weather was very cold, though the wind wasn't as bad.  I decided upon walking the course that I wouldn't be trying to make time.  The footing was horrible, and with it being so close to Fairhill, I didn't want to risk him.  During the warmup, Bug was jumping huge, and upon jumping a big warmup rolltop, he landed hard and got his feet stuck in the mud.  We almost had a tumble.  I think it rattled both of us, as we just weren't ourselves out on course.  I wasn't going forward enough to the fences, and Bug was being extra careful in the mud.  He was all about adding the stride. 
We ended up in 7th place in the division, which made me really happy.  We made it around, and even though there are still things to work on, I feel like we're making progress. 
Fairhill is upon us, and we leave on Tuesday at 5 am!  The jog up is on Wednesday, and the dressage fun begins on Thursday.  We won't find out any of our times until after the first jog. 
I hope people will come out to watch us!!! 

I will try to keep everyone updated as much as possible at Fairhill.
All thoughts and prayers are much appreciated! :)