After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time! most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the
Well, I got my letter from USTA today. We were chosen as the alternate for the jumping demo at the FEI World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2010. BUMMER!
Ah well. The discipline I applied for was eventing, as I was hoping I could do a cross country demo on that fabulous KHP course! LOL! And instead, the worst part is that they did not separate hunter/jumpers and eventing....so they were all considered "jumping." There were 6 horses chosen: one hunter over fences (no idea who), two dressage (one is my friend Helene's horse JB and the other is that gray from FL named Sea the Gray or whatever) , one barrel racing (that would be J's Duncan), one carriage driving (no idea), and one "riding" horse (no idea). I have no clue what type of "riding", since the woman at USTA who I spoke to did not know either. LOL! Granted, they are not riding folks. :)
So I am the alternate for the "hunter over fences demo". It stinks that someone else's misfortune would mean my happy day. Of course they won't know until mid 2009 if the STB demo is even going to be included, and I may not know if I end up with a spot until mid 2010. There are alternates for both JB and Sea the Gray....but I was told that I could also be considered for a dressage alternate if one of the first two alternates could not make it...seeing as I applied for eventing (and it includes both dressage and jumping).
They received 22 or so applications, and she said hunter/jumper and dressage were the most competitive. I was REALLY hoping I could jump the cross country jumps at the KHP and the hunter could jump the regular rail fences. But no such luck....we all got lumped together. OH and they are going to have a 7th horse for racing....but will wait until 2010 to chose one of the top horses in that year rather than pick one now.
So.....I am kind of bummed at being the "second best" but hey.....I am proud of both JB and Duncan and I will be going down with J as a groom even if Dreamy does not get to go. :) It is nice to be number one, but it is also a good life lesson to come in second. And out of all the horses that applied, it is still a pretty cool thing to be considered second best!!! I admit I was surprised and I did grieve for about an hour this afternoon after I read my letter, but now I am totally OK.
Anyway, that is my big news for today!
Ah well. The discipline I applied for was eventing, as I was hoping I could do a cross country demo on that fabulous KHP course! LOL! And instead, the worst part is that they did not separate hunter/jumpers and eventing....so they were all considered "jumping." There were 6 horses chosen: one hunter over fences (no idea who), two dressage (one is my friend Helene's horse JB and the other is that gray from FL named Sea the Gray or whatever) , one barrel racing (that would be J's Duncan), one carriage driving (no idea), and one "riding" horse (no idea). I have no clue what type of "riding", since the woman at USTA who I spoke to did not know either. LOL! Granted, they are not riding folks. :)
So I am the alternate for the "hunter over fences demo". It stinks that someone else's misfortune would mean my happy day. Of course they won't know until mid 2009 if the STB demo is even going to be included, and I may not know if I end up with a spot until mid 2010. There are alternates for both JB and Sea the Gray....but I was told that I could also be considered for a dressage alternate if one of the first two alternates could not make it...seeing as I applied for eventing (and it includes both dressage and jumping).
They received 22 or so applications, and she said hunter/jumper and dressage were the most competitive. I was REALLY hoping I could jump the cross country jumps at the KHP and the hunter could jump the regular rail fences. But no such luck....we all got lumped together. OH and they are going to have a 7th horse for racing....but will wait until 2010 to chose one of the top horses in that year rather than pick one now.
So.....I am kind of bummed at being the "second best" but hey.....I am proud of both JB and Duncan and I will be going down with J as a groom even if Dreamy does not get to go. :) It is nice to be number one, but it is also a good life lesson to come in second. And out of all the horses that applied, it is still a pretty cool thing to be considered second best!!! I admit I was surprised and I did grieve for about an hour this afternoon after I read my letter, but now I am totally OK.
Anyway, that is my big news for today!
I love the new banner! And I am very sorry to hear that they didn't pick you first...you should be flattered that they considered you a hunter though! That means that they think dreamy floats. I know it is not the news you were hoping for, but that is still pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteAs you stated you WILL be going with us. I can not even begin to think about this without you being there with me. As you know I have been in tears all weekend, I still have a hard time talking about it.
ReplyDeleteBAAAD I know.
I am so pleased that Duncan got picked. The woman who trained him for me will be comming up from Fl to ride him for me. She's the best and as silly as this might sounds I do not have to be the one up. I am perfectly happy to stand on the rail and say " HEY, THAT'S MY HORSE!!!" Stupid huh?
Hang in E. you'll be there grinning from ear to ear. Remember, the big horse running the silly cans is one of YOUR Dressage Horses and you are the ONLY person that will ever be able to make that statement.
That's too cool! Well, it would have been cooler to be a first pick, but it's still neat to be on the list. I wish I had sent in an application, but two years is just so far away and I don't even know if we'll still be jumping then.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of who goes, I really hope they can go through with the STB demo.. When we had our drill team we made it to the USET headquarters at Gladstone, and a few other "big" events... But showing the breed at the WEG would just be FANTASTIC!