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Showing posts from August, 2011

NER United States Pony Club Show Jump Rally - July 20, 2019

Ellie and I had SO MUCH FUN at our first Pony Club jump rally this year.  We drove up to Clay Brook Farms, where we had our D-1/D-2 rating, in order to compete for the day on July 20.  This happened to be one of the hottest days of summer, so the organizers modified the schedule a bit.  Instead of doing two rounds in the morning and one in the afternoon, we all did just two rounds (with a ten-minute break in between) all in the morning, so we were done and headed out just after lunch.  
Everything ran so smoothly despite the condensed format.  We were able to do our formal inspections right before we mounted up, and we were all encouraged to limit our warm up time.  We were not allowed to wear jackets, and there was a TON of horse water and ice cold human water available at numerous stations around the field.
I was competing with Epona Pony Club, but I was again put on a Horsemaster team with two other adults from Foxcroft Pony Club, Angie and Beth, the two riders I competed with at the…
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SMDA Dressage Show – August 7, 2011

Sunday, August 7 was our fourth SMDA show of the year.  The judge was Bill McMullin (r).  I was happy to have a “little r” judge instead of a “learner” because I think they are better judges.  Dreamy has been going so well and I was anxious to see how we would do at First level again.  Of course, it had to rain AGAIN!  LOL!  Oh well.  At least it was not super hot, but it was a bit damp.  My young horse friend Amber came along with me, which was nice.  I usually show alone at dressage shows, so to have someone to talk to and help me out if needed was great!  She had never been to a dressage show, so it was neat to explain things to her.  And of course, she took some great pics despite the rain!
I had decided to ride Prix Caprilli again, but also do Training 3 and First 2.  It was a weird combination, but I am trying to qualify for SMDA year end awards and you need to ride a test three times to qualify, hence the reason I rode two tests that were not adjacent. 


We started with Training 3…
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Hilltop Horse Trial – July 31, 2011

I always enjoy competing at the Hilltop Equestrian Center in Somersworth, NH each year.  They run very nice schooling horse trials and have a great facility.  I went down on Sunday, July 31 for the day with Dreamy.  I brought along my friend Tania and her horse Otis for their debut event!  You can read about her adventures here.
Dreamy seems to enjoy jumping, and even at age 20, she is sound and jumps well.  I am careful to limit the number of jumps we do both at home and at shows.  I am smart and recognize that there is no reason to over jump her.  I also like to keep her around 2’3”; she seems most comfortable there.
We had a decent dressage warm up and I felt really good in our test.  We had a very nice right lead canter, with a 7 on the transition and a 6 on the circle.  Our left lead has been tougher this year, with a 6 on the transition and a 5 on the circle.  But that was our only 5, while the rest of the test was a few 6s, a bunch of 7s, and FOUR 8s (first centerline, first tro…
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Acadia National Park!

I took the BEST trip EVER this summer to Acadia National Park here in Maine.  I have been hiking there before, but never with a horse, and I have always wanted to ride the gorgeous carriage trails.  Last year, my friend Shelly and I decided we would make the trip there in 2011.  We had to book our reservations back in January and it felt like the weekend of July 22-24 would never arrive!  We both own Standardbreds who are 20 this year, so we wanted it to be our own special trip on our 20 year olds!  :-)  Our horses, my Dreamy and her McKeever, get along very well.  

We left on Friday morning and arrived at the stables mid afternoon.  We settled the horses in and took a ride later on that night, just an easy 2.7 mile ride around Day Mountain.  It was super hot, but it did cool down for a nice ride.


On Saturday, we woke up early to ride in the morning.  I think we headed out by 8AM and rode until almost noon time.  This time we did a big loop up around Jordan Pond and Bubble Pond, which …
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