At the beginning of July, Ellie and I tackled our first ever BN level XC course at a competition! We take jumping lessons with Babette at RABT Farm (Rest & Be Thankful Farm), so having Babette there that day to coach me was perfect. We did have some bobbles on my part, like not riding to each fence and not enough leg (NEVER ENOUGH LEG) so we had one stop on course, but I was super pumped to have a chance to jump around a course at a place we are totally comfortable but it was a crazy chaotic day with 50 horse/rider pairs and a ton more activity than our Wednesday lesson days! ready to go I paid for a second unjudged round after our division of nine riders jumped and we went clean. It was a beautiful summer day and such a fun opportunity. All COVID protocols were in place and people were super respectful of them. Due to our stop, we ended up in 8th place with a 3rd place team finish! I paired up with two of my Epona PC teammates for the team competition and they both won their di
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.
Getting ready to r