-Frank Lloyd Wright
And so, the culmination of my entire competition year has come and gone, and I can't wipe the smile off my face! Eventers always talk about the show where everything comes together....the show where your horse peaks at the perfect time.....that show that just goes right. Well, I got to experience that at the CCI** at Fairhill International.
My horse is amazing, to say the least. Just over a year before our trip to Fairhill this year, he was at Viriginia Tech having emergency colic surgery for the second time in his life. Being a poor up and coming professional, I was sure that I was going to have to put down my horse of a lifetime, just because I couldn't afford to pay for the surgery. As with all things related to insurance, once there's an issue, it's uninsurable. Therefore, I was looking down the nose of a huge surgery bill with no way to pay it. Thank God for the awesome vets and surgeons at VA Tech. They made it happen, and I will be forever grateful to them. Between the vets and my AMAZING support team of people, we got Bug fixed, home, and paid for. When I think back to all that my boy has been through, it makes this past weekend even more amazing!!
I also have to send a HUGE "Thank you" to Bonnie Mosser for coming all the way up to Fairhill to coach me for the weekend! She kept me mentally straight and gave me a plan to stick to. I am so grateful for all that she has done for me, and I'm looking forward to more! My riding has improved so much in the short time that I've been riding with her. She just says things the way that I need to hear them.
So, the Clif's Notes version of the show. It was HORRENDOUS weather for the first few days, though, I'm told it was nothing like a few years ago. For that, I am glad. Bug's dressage test was done in the rain with about 30 mph winds. The weights in the tails of my coat kept hitting me in the back of the head! Normally, this would have been just the thing Bug would have looked for to spook. However, we both kept it together mentally and put in our best test to date!! Yes, of course, we have tons to work on and keep improving, but I am THRILLED with how well he went. Our score was about 12 points better than it was at Jersey in the spring. That's quite an improvement! This put us tied for 30th place out of 68. I will admit...I may have done a happy dance in the stabling area when they announced my score. My goal was to break 60, and we got a 59.2! :)
The XC course was tough. It was definitely more of an Advanced test, and I was really excited to see how Bug would jump around it. I knew if I kept my head on straight, and he saw the fences, we would be good. However, I knew I needed to be as close to optimum as possible, which I have struggled with in the past. Mud makes me a bit nervous, as I displayed at Morven, so I was anxious to see if I could pull it off. I was number 57, so 50 some odd horses were going to run across the sloppy footing before I even got a chance. Bonnie told me to take it a bit easy in the first field, as the footing was sloppiest there. After I got over fence 11B, I was to gun it! haha Let me tell you, if I doubted that Bug could make time before, I'm certainly sticking my foot in my mouth now. We were only 15 seconds over time on a 9 minute course! For us, that is amazing! I think we were 60 seconds or so over at Jersey. I've finally figured out how to go fast and still be balanced and jump! If the footing had been good, I have no doubt that we would have made time. My little superstar charged around that course and ate it for breakfast. He never batted an eyelash, just kept saying, "BRING IT ON!" Our awesome round moved us up to 19th place!
Returning to the barn all smiles, I realized that now, my nemesis of the year, show jumping was staring me in the face. Yikes! Could I pull off a good round with a huge crowd? I tend to let my brain shut down. Show jumping has been MY nemesis all year. My horse is an AMAZING jumper, and he is very adjustable. He can and will jump from ANYWHERE. People say...what's the problem?? Well, the problem is, that makes it very hard to get your eye tuned to what's correct. However, I knew that I had put in many hours with Bonnie, and I COULD do it. I just had to step up my mental game and get it done.
After walking the course with Bonnie on Sunday morning, I knew it was tough, but I also knew that my horse could make it look like a child's game. I bucked up my brain and put my big girl pants on. Let me tell you, as I jumped the last fence, I definitely threw my fist in the air! It was the BEST round of my LIFE! Foot perfect. Amazing. I sooo wish I had it on video! The cheer from the crowd was amazing! The announced commented on the fact that I must be a crowd favorite, and that I was thrilled with how my horse went. I guess he could tell because I was grinning from ear to ear.
We finished 16th out of 68. That isn't too shabby for Fairhill! Our entire score was still 5 points better than my dressage score at Fairhill! I am still grinning. I love my special pony. He is definitely my once in a lifetime horse. I cherish him every day. Just watching him in the field as he bosses around his pasture buddy makes me happy.
Bonnie says to start studying the Advanced and 3 star tests, as we're going big next year! Bug says, "I really belong at Rolex, but Advanced will do for now, I guess." :)
In other news, baby Renn is doing his first Preliminary this coming weekend at the Virginia Horse Trials! Wish us luck! :)
Also, I have gotten a sponsor!!! Snider's Elevator (www.sniderselevator.com) has graciously offered to sponsor myself and my ponies! I'm so excited! I worked there through college, and they carry a large selection of riding supplies. Check out their website! Sending out a big "Thank you" to them!
I am so glad you had such an amazing time. I hope to be able to blog about a show like this one day!
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