Little show

Well, the winter jumping show was a qualified success. :) Success in all the ways that matter, though.

Reveille was an absolute superstar! She loaded in the trailer with only one "er, I'd rather not," unloaded fine, and was perfectly content to stand tied and inhale her hay. The quasi-new place didn't faze her a bit. I went to put her on the longe line before our pre-show lesson, and her comment was "ho hum!" What a relief, completely. I'd come loaded for bear -- fresh vet wrap around my stirrup pads, neck strap, saddle stickum, running martingale -- but what I found was fluffy little squirrels. :)

After the lesson, that's when the "qualified" part of the success started. We had rafts of people entered in the ground poles class. Rafts of them. Juniors, seniors, green horses that needed experience, experienced horses with green riders, and so on. Just lots of people, and lots of rounds, because you could do a schooling round before or after your competition round. So the schedule got way behind very quickly.

I ended up dropping from Plan A, 2' and 2'3 jumpers, to Plan B, crossrails and 2' jumpers. Then, when it was 2:30 and we hadn't even started the crossrail class, it became clear that my friend, whom I'd caught the trailer ride in with, wasn't going to be able to ride in 2'9 until after sundown, and my classes weren't going to be much earlier. So Plan B became Plan C: just do crossrails, have a great round, and call it good. It almost became Plan D: screw THIS for a bag of soldiers!, but then I got a peanut butter sandwich and some juice, and I re-sane-ified.

Optimum time at this show for a 10-fence course in a smallish indoor arena was 1:47. The ground poles classes had the same time limit, and the riders hitting the time were having some trouble on course and going at a very slow trot, even a walk. So yeah. I knew going in that I was throwing the OT out the window and just having a smooth ride. I mentioned to my friend that with the way I planned to ride the course -- in a smooth, rhythmic, forward canter -- we weren't even going to break 1:30.

Yeah. I was right. 1:16. Heh.

So my lovely, forward, balanced ride with good position and patience earned me an official sixth place. Do I care? NOPE! :) Reveille was a superstar, we had the ride I wanted, and that's good enough. It's a great start to a successful 2012 season.

Now home, trying to rehydrate (idiot me!), and crashing out. More jumping fun in the morning!