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Wentworth Hunter Pace - June 6, 2021

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

Green Acres Two Phase - July 3, 2016

Snappy and I competed at Green Acres Stables' event this past weekend.  They do a horse trials and a 2-phase, and since I have not had a chance to school Snappy over a cross country course as of yet, I figured a 2-phase was our safest bet.  We entered the Pre-Elementary division, which was just Intro B and 18" jumps.  Perfect little baby event for her first time!

She was fantastic when we arrived and settled right in.  I warmed her up in a fairly busy dressage ring with lots of younger riders zooming around, oblivious to any ring etiquette or rules.  Snappy was totally unfazed, which was good.  I took her for a quick walk over to the dressage ring before my division began, which is away from the warm-up and against the side of the indoor, which used to throw Dreamy for a loop.  Again, she was totally unconcerned.  We rode fourth in a group of six riders, and I was quite happy with our test.  I do wish I had made the choice to leave the ring when the judge rang the bell though; you cannot ride around the outside of the ring, so the judge lets you warm up inside the ring.  You also do not have to leave and re-enter, as some horses are thrown off by that, but I wish I had.  She rang the bell just as I was entering the corner at K, and I was a total idiot and just rode up centerline.  I should've known better, that not properly preparing Snappy for the turn would result in an overshot centerline, but sometimes I forgot she is not as seasoned as she seems.  She is still quite green, with this being her first event ever and only her third show this year.  

Other than that, I was happy with the test.  I dislike the short diagonal free walk, so our stretch wasn't great, but our trot work was solid 7s and our last centerline was an 8.  There were a few 6s (mostly notably on that first centerline) and then all 7s on our collectives.  We ended up tied for first after dressage with a 39.38.
Ready for dressage!



We had about two hours until we jumped, so I walked the course.  At that time, it was set much higher than I would jump, but still the jumps were tiny and I really wasn't nervous about my course.  It was easy to memorize and I liked the way it flowed.  There were nine jumps total and they ended up putting them all down to teeny little crossrails with one vertical on jump 4. 

I headed over to warm up about twenty minutes before we were to start and we were the only ones there.  Our division was last for the day so it had become pretty quiet at the farm.  I figured I would show her the cross country start box (she didn't even care about it) and wander around a little before doing 4-5 jumps.  I was fourth to jump, so I had a little time to spare.  

I pointed her at the first crossrail in the warm up and we approached at a brisk trot.  She dropped her shoulder right at the base and hesitated enough that I chose to tap her on the shoulder with my whip.  Foolish mare.  She went over it from pretty much a standstill (it was tiny) and I rode it again, but this time with a much more driving seat.  She hopped over it without issue.  The other jump was a larger vertical and she jumped it well, too.  I was slightly worried she might refuse in the ring, since the jumps there were much brighter than the dull colored warm up fences.  I just wanted her to have a good first round at a horse show and I didn't care about placings.  

The judge walked over and said she was ready for the division to start early if I wanted to just go ahead and ride first.  No one else in my division was there yet, and I told her yes.  I took Snappy over the cross rail and vertical once more each and went into the ring.  She was a little looky at the fences, but I had planned a fairly larger opening circle, to allow her to see about five of the fences.  She was great over the course!  No stops, no bobbles, no hesitations at all!  I was super proud of her!  


Ready for stadium!





We ended up tied for first place in our division!  
What a great start to her eventing career!



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