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...
Our final NEJA show in their winter series was at the end of April. On a whim, I decided to kick it old school and wear my rust breeches and navy coat. I definitely got a few "looks" from some of the HJ crowd, but it was worth being the weirdo eventer girl haha.
It was a gorgeous spring day and our rounds were all excellent. Rejoice really seems to enjoy her newfound jumper pony status and powered around like she knew what she was doing haha.
My goals for the day were to win the ground poles speed class by taking a sneaky route someone's trainer would not approve of again haha like I did at the March show and to remember my jump off round like I did NOT do at the March show!
Though there wasn't a super sneaky route to take in the ground poles class, I made sure to set her up for tight turns and rollbacks. We did win the class out of nine riders! Whoot!
Our speed cross rails was also a good class, with Rejoice willing to listen to half halts, turn on a dime, and also to GO when asked. Out of twelve riders, we placed third!
For the cross rails class with the jump off, I made sure I knew my courses well. After we went clear in the first round, I took a minute to look at and repeat the jump off course. I am glad I took this moment to breathe and remember the jump off, as I remembered the entire course! Yay! Both goals met!
We ended up third out of five in our jump off class, which was great! Such a fun way to start 2021 and Rejoice has given me a confidence boost over fences. I think I have moved through the stuck mindset of expecting a stop at every fence like I did last year. Rejoice helped me practice putting my leg on and expecting the horse to jump, because that is exactly what she does. Completely no drama and no doubting her rider.
We ended up third out of five in our jump off class, which was great! Such a fun way to start 2021 and Rejoice has given me a confidence boost over fences. I think I have moved through the stuck mindset of expecting a stop at every fence like I did last year. Rejoice helped me practice putting my leg on and expecting the horse to jump, because that is exactly what she does. Completely no drama and no doubting her rider.
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