Leo and I went with Jen and Sammy to the DVCTA Unrecognized Horse Trials, which are held at the Carousel Horse Park in Wilmington, Delaware. It's a really lovely event. Show jumping is on the small side, but the course uses a lot of terrain. The cross country course is a legit training effort. This was Sammy's first event this year because of his lay up and when you can spend $90 versus $200 on the entry fee, it was really a no-brainer. We're lucky to be in an area that offers several quality unrecognized events, so we can save some money without skimping on the quality of the test.
Jen and Sammy won our division, finishing on their dressage score of 29.1 (how awesome is that!?) It's funny, but I really do think that time off for a young horse does a world of good. Sammy is coming back with a vengeance. He was really competitive last year at training, but this year he is more mature and focused. Leo came in 7th, with a final score of 47.6.
I followed Sally's game plan for our dressage warm-up and I was super pleased with our test despite the fact that we only scored a 43.6. Leo was very workmanlike and tried his damned-est to pay attention and focus. It felt like one of his best efforts so far. He jigged multiple times in the walk and wouldn't stand in the final halt so we lost lots of points there, but overall it was steady and productive. The dressage judge said it was "tactfully ridden." I think that is a compliment?
I screwed up in show jumping - big surprise there. There was a serpentine line of 3 fences. He was really bold over the first fence, then he caught a big spot to the second and jumped me out of the tack or maybe I got left behind. Either way, we had to make a left turn to the third fence, but I dropped my inside rein, I grabbed it and tried to wrangle Leo back to the fence, but he was confused and ended up stopping. Stupid me.
He was fantastic on cross country. It's a fun, hilly course. There were a number of combinations. The first was at 5A & B, which gave the rider an option of a bending 4 strides or a straight 3 strides - requiring you to jump the fences on an angle. Leo's really sharp with angled questions, so we took the 3 stride option and he was stellar. Fences 6A & B was a table to a small drop bank. Fences 9A & B was a half coffin - table 2 strides to a ditch, then a bending line to fence 10. There was a substantial brush fence before the water at 14 and followed by a skinny chevron at fence 15. Leo was fantastic everywhere! Since it was unrecognized, it wasn't timed which was the only bummer.
We're heading to another unrecognized event in September at Loch Moy Farms - also a fantastic xc course. Then we'll go to Middleburg Recognized in late September and Waredaca in October. I want to get a 4th horse trial in - either Maryland at Loch Moy recognized in October or maybe Virginia Horse Trials the first weekend of November (which is the one Jen is aiming towards). Both Leo and Sammy only need one more qualifier for Prelim, but Leo and I need to get more of our training worked out before we can consider the move-up. Jen, who's competed through Intermediate on other horses, will likely move up before me which is a real bummer since I will lose my ride to shows when she does. Training and Prelim are rarely on the same day. I'm going to try not to worry about that until it happens.
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| Chevrons at fence 3 set the horse up for the chevron skinny later in the course |
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| Option at Fence 5 - bending 4 or straight 3 |
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| Table to bank at fence 6 |
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| Nice galloping fence before the water at 12 |
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| Second trip through the water at 14 - harder question than the first trip |
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| Chevron Skinny at 15 |
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| Table at 17 |
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| Gorgeous ribbons from DVCTA! Small divisions are the best! |
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