I must start by saying that I am TRULY BLESSED. I have two of the coolest horses on the planet! If I didn't know it before (which I'm pretty sure that I did), I definitely know it after my weekend at Full Gallop Farm.
I went down Friday to Aiken to have jump lessons with Kim. Renn was having a hormonal day and was pretty wild. However, I did the best that I could, and once we had a good moment or two, we quit while we were ahead. I was praying that he would calm down for the show! He's normally very well behaved, but you springtime can do crazy things to the boy's hormones!
Bug's jump lesson was much better. Kim really has me working on knowing where I am on the course at all times. She also has me riding more forward in my show jumping, as it helps to keep Bug from adding a chip in front of the fence and jumping way up over it and landing steeply. He's so athletic, that I can place him under the jump, and he'll still jump up over it, but it's so hard on his legs. I've been trying really hard to tune my eye in and tune myself into the rhythm of the forward that he needs. It was quite a good lesson, and I was very happy with him.
Bug was entered in the Intermediate, and Renn was entered to do his very first recognized Training. My student and friend, Naomi van Yperen, volunteered to tag along to groom for me, as this was my first event of the season running both horses and coaching a student, and I wasn't sure how it was going to work. Thank God she decided to come! Even though there seemed to be a lot of down time, my boys' times seemed to be really close together.
Bug's weekend was a great one. After walking the XC with Kim, I was mostly concerned about two combinations on course. The first was a cabin- 2 strides, down large bounce banks-3 strides to a large corner. In order to get to the corner, you either had to take a direct 3 but jump the corner at an angle with a great chance of a runout, or you could take it on a bit of a bending line and jump the corner squarely. However, you would have to be quick to make the turn. The other option, due to the way it was numbered, was to circle out after the bank and come back to the corner. My plan was Plan B, to take a bending 3 to the corner. The second combination that worried me a bit was a sunken road. You jumped in over a rolltop drop, 3 strides across the bottom and up to bounce out over a wedge. All of this was set up at a slight left to right angle.
Finally, Bug was very quiet for his dressage! I was so amazed that I forgot to really push him for brilliance in the test. I just sort of rode around the pattern. Oh, and lest I forget, I definitely halted in the wrong spot, earning me a -2 for an error. :( We ended up with a 42.3, which was not what I was hoping for. I plan to really buckle down before Poplar and get this dressage thing together! We were sitting about 18th or so out of 22 after dressage. Disappointing.
The show jumping was by Marc Donovan, and as usual, it was a great course with a lot of questions. The show jumping at FGF is on terrain, so that always adds for some extra excitement! I had walked the course with Kim, and I knew all of my striding. Bug and I went in there, and we had yet another great show jumping round. I feel like we are really starting to get it together. He is getting a lot more rideable instead of just overjumping everything by 3' and shooting me out of the tack! :) We moved up to be tied for 12th with our double clear round.
Cross country day was filled with nausea and apprehension. haha I BELIEVE in my horse 100%....but not always so much in myself. My goal was to jump around clean and be within 20 seconds of the time. I'm still learning how to go Intermediate speed and still take the jumps without riding too slowly. With the CIC** at Poplar looming on the horizon, I knew that I really needed to try to get it done.
Bug was a superstar! He answered all of the questions with ease. He did the step combination like a pro! I later found out that I was one of very few to make it through the combination, and I was one of even fewer to do it without circling. He made it feel so easy! He tackled every challenge with style and athleticism. Also, we ended up just 20 seconds over the time, which is exactly what I was shooting for! It's tough to make the time at FGF due to the twists and turns and hills, so I'm very happy with that. We ended up 6th out of 22!!
Here are the links to Bug show jumping and the steps combination on XC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyGB95reIdQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UTWBtyLiZo
Renn's weekend was pretty exciting as well. I walked the Training XC the first day that I was there, and I was definitely rethinking FGF as a move-up! It was a TOUGH course. The questions were very tough and seemed more like a mini Prelim. After walking his XC, I was thinking I might be more nervous to go Training than Intermediate! haha He had a full coffin on a bend that was hidden in the woods, a water to water jump, a house to a set of 2 stride down steps to a double chevron, a drop into the water then up a mound and over a rolltop, and another down bank combination.
Renn was very good for his trotwork in his dressage test. He was pretty wild for the cantering, thus giving us a 46.8. This put us second to last in his division of 20. He went on to jump around the Training XC like a superstar! Yes, he was very green, and there was some bobbing and weaving, but he jumped around clear and only 1 second over time. His clear round moved us all of the way up to 8th! There were so many stops and eliminations. I was THRILLED that my baby stallion got around and with confidence! He grew up as we went around the course. Unfortunately, he is still very green in the combinations in show jumping, thus causing us to have 3 rails on Sunday. However, we ended up 10th out of 20, and I am so pleased with him. I told him that after that Training XC, they would all seem like cake from here.
Check out his videos of SJ and the second water of XC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y43_UEVeOys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-ghlI91OQc
I am so happy with my boys. I have two horses that I believe are going to make top notch upper level horses, and, hopefully, international stars. :) I must thank everyone out there who has helped me on my journey. I've been working my entire life for this. I've never had the big bucks to just do it. I've had to make my horses and take things one step at a time. I'm just hoping that the road will keep going for me! I would love to make the Developing Riders List, as I think that is a pretty cool accomplishment.
I am seeking out sponsorships of all kinds at this point. It is very difficult to make it all happen when you own your horses yourself. If anyone has any ideas of places to send my proposals, or advice, etc, please let me know!!
Our next stop is Poplar Place Farm in Hamilton, GA the weekend after this one! Bug is doing the CIC** and Renn will be doing Training again. Say big prayers and wish us luck!
Thanks for reading and keep kicking on!!
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