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
When I considered what I wanted to do with Snap Dancer about a year ago, I figured just getting out to a few shows would be a success. I had no idea how she would take to a new career of "show horse" and honestly I was nervous about the both of us taking the previous year off completely because of my January - September 2015 pregnancy.
We started at a local fun day, just to see what the mare thought of the little dressage ring. I felt pleased with her yet discouraged by my severe lack of core muscles (thanks baby human haha).
Our first dressage show felt like a fluke.
But each time we competed, I felt her grow more confident and rideable.
State of Maine Dressage Association - Intro A Champion, Intro B Champion, High Point STB
To say I am proud of this little mare would be an understatement. She was such a good sport about giving this dressage and eventing thing a shot. I know we will never have such a successful year again, and who knows if she will ever win another ribbon or championship. But that doesn't matter to me because she did it now and how could we ever expect to do better than this!
I have some ideas about what I would like to do this year with Snappy, and time will tell. We will see how she feels and how her canter comes along. I know that I will always remember 2016 as a great year.
We started at a local fun day, just to see what the mare thought of the little dressage ring. I felt pleased with her yet discouraged by my severe lack of core muscles (thanks baby human haha).
First outing in 2016 |
First dressage show - two great scores and a high point rider award! |
But each time we competed, I felt her grow more confident and rideable.
Bravest 2-phase in August! No spooking! |
First 3-phase in October and she was super! |
Snap Dancer's first year of showing ended up being a fairy tale. I know that sounds silly in a way, and we only competed at intro level, but I know we will never be able to replicate the amount of success we had in 2016!!
All told, we competed in 11 horse shows:
- 4 dressage shows
- 5 two-phases
- 1 three-phase
- 1 open show
- Plus 1 xc clinic and 1 fun day
And we ended up with:
- 12 first place ribbons
- 6 second place ribbons
- 1 third (egg/spoon)
- 1 fourth (showmanship)
- 4 high point awards
I was pretty excited by the end of our show season in October, but I still had year end awards to look forward to! Snap Dancer ended up winning FIVE championships. Definitely a fairy tale year! I nearly couldn't wrap my head around it each time the awards were announced.
Maine Horse Association - 71.56% - Introductory Level Champion (out of 5)
Maine Combined Training Association - Introductory Level Champion (out of 11)
To say I am proud of this little mare would be an understatement. She was such a good sport about giving this dressage and eventing thing a shot. I know we will never have such a successful year again, and who knows if she will ever win another ribbon or championship. But that doesn't matter to me because she did it now and how could we ever expect to do better than this!
I have some ideas about what I would like to do this year with Snappy, and time will tell. We will see how she feels and how her canter comes along. I know that I will always remember 2016 as a great year.
Hot damn! That's one way to come back to the show world! Congrats on all your gorgeous satin!!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, that's a lot of ribbons! Congrats.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is fantastic!! Congrats on such a perfect first year!
ReplyDeleteOh man, that's AWESOME!! Congratulations!!
ReplyDelete