120 Academy Showmanship Driving, 1st of 2
121 Academy Reinsmanship Driving, 2nd of 2
Both classes with HB Whizbang (Snippy. Or Mr. Snippy, we think he may prefer a more formal mode of address. Or perhaps even Mr. Whizbang. But I digress.) Thank you to the Alvis family.
As we came into the first class, I thought Snippy was looking around. He was. He wanted to make sure everyone saw his mighty marvelousness. We had a nice extended trot but not the dirt-flying, power-skids-in-the-corner trot that I was looking for.
In the second class, the competition had a better round &/or we had a little less energy that led to a little more wiggle.
Good drives, but not bulletproof.
As Sam is my security blanket under saddle [Report I], so Alvin is with the cart [Show Report, Photo]. Pro-Am last year was some of the best driving I have done [Team Awesome]. The thought bubble over Alvin’s head is so easy to read. Mainly he’s checking to see how much the rider or driver can handle [Report: Second Class]. If he is convinced you are ready, then it’s Luke in the X-wing saying, “Hang on back there.” I have not yet found those dials with Mr. Whizbang.
And yes, I was concerned – say 10% – that stomping too hard on the gas pedal would stir up the misbehaviors of our last lesson [Lots]. So, I was fractionally defensive, but not as bad as in my riding classes. Who woulda thought that one day I’d have a better time driving than riding?
132. Academy Equitation WTC Adult, 2nd of 2
133. Academy Showmanship WTC Adult, 2nd of 2
136. Academy WTC Championship, 5th of 6
All classes with A Woman of Design (Desi)
Thank you to Reagan Upton
Sam & I rock the Georgia National Fairgrounds. At the fall show, we are undefeated, four for four, two years in row. At Pro-Am, which tales place in the spring, we are almost undefeated. In 2014, we won two out of three. In 2016, we won all our classes, including a moderately large all-age championship. Us old farts gotta ride hard to beat the young & cute.
Although Trump & I scratched out a win and Robert & I had fun galloping around the Championship, Pro-Am 2015 was not my finest hour. Neither was 2017.
Second of two can indicate a close race. Second can represent a personal victory. This was not one of those days. I would have been last in any company. There were no specific errors of course. Desi and I walked and trotted and cantered where we were supposed to. We got our diagonals and leads. There were simply an accumulated abundance of style and presentation flaws.
I pulled my socks up for the third class. However, the judge was done with me by then. Or perhaps I didn’t get my socks as high as I thought.
Possible Reason 1: I suck. Or, at least, I sucked on the day. Sometimes, you’re the windshield; sometimes, you’re the bug.
Possible Reason 2: I make the mare crazy. I have an electric seat. In lessons, I do not ride Desi with a stick. It was deemed that I would need to carry one in the show ring. I think the combination of me with a stick was more than she could cope with, causing me to ride defensively. Coach Courtney disagrees. She thinks the mare was perfectly fine and that I was willoming and flolloping in the saddle for my own ineffable reasons.
Either way, the observable facts are that I did not carry a stick in the third class and that the third class was, if not good, at least better. What if I had started off in the first class without a stick? Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
Possible Reason 3: Clashing Styles. In my dressage lesson [Rodney’s Dressage Lesson], I was told to widen my hands, to look down at the horse (yes, he really said ‘Stop staring off into space.’), and to move my arms in rhythm with the horse’s walk. In my saddle seat lessons, it’s pinkies inside the reins, look up, hands up, hands together, and sit back (as in actually back toward the cantle, not just stop slouching). I have no doubt I will be able to ride both eventually. However, there may be a period of adjustment as I learn to run two sets of code simultaneously.
I know – intellectually – that a bad day at a horse show is still a good day, but I’m having a hard time feeling it at the moment. Onwards!
I is for Impressions. If you are joining me from Blogging A To Z, welcome! Since the blog is already daily, with topics for each day [About: Schedule], there is no specific A To Z theme. I may even skip a few letters. Gasp. Clutch the pearls. The goal for this year is less crazy, more visiting. [Ze State of Ze Blog 2014]
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(No photos. Left phone in jacket when I took it off. Thought about running back to get. Decided to be in the moment rather than fuss about documenting it.)
After Milton’s weekly trailer jaunt [Mobile], we did a test load for Rodney. Wrap. On. Stand. Off. Aced it.
He stood quietly while I wrapped his legs. Clearly, he remembered this. Equally clearly, it was not a bad memory. When we moved off, he did a can-can. We laughed. His look said, let me tie mattresses to your legs and see how gracefully you move.
I had trouble getting his large carcass properly situated in the slant load. We backed off and tried again. He didn’t leave the trailer as much as roll off like a car that hadn’t been properly chocked. The rig was on a slight hill.
Got him better positioned. Closed the side gate. Fed treats. Offered the hay net. He said, ‘No. This is a carrots-or-better situation.’
Calm. Alert. Dignified. His attitude the whole time was of a horse aware of and in control of his surroundings. As we walked to the trailer, I caught the aura of Big Time Show Horse coming through.
As I related in our origin story [Horse Illustrated], I saw Rodney four years before I bought him. He was a different horse by the time we saw him again. This is the first time I have caught a glimpse of the horse I saw lo these many years ago.
Maybe I was imagining it. Maybe it’s all in my head. Maybe I was just so happy to see my horse one tiny bit closer to being a performance partner instead of – or in addition to – being a pet.
H is from the Heart. If you are joining me from Blogging A To Z, welcome! Since the blog is already daily, with topics for each day [About: Schedule], there is no specific A To Z theme. I may even skip a few letters. Gasp. Clutch the pearls. The goal for this year is less crazy, more visiting. [Ze State of Ze Blog 2014]
“There’s a lot of talk about what we see on social media and how it’s the ‘best’ side of us, not the ‘real’ side of us.”
Have I done that?
It has never been my intention to present my life as a rose-strewn path. (It is, and I have no right to complain, but I’m getting ahead of myself.)
Change is interesting. Lately, there have been small changes for the better.
The issues in my life are those of stagnation rather than tragedy (Thankfully!). Same old, same old. Moping doesn’t make for good narrative.
Finally, I have whined so long and so hard on this blog over the years, I figure no one wants to hear it anymore. I’m certainly tired of living it.
Bottom line:
Riding well is the only thing I’ve ever really wanted. When I look out at my pasture and see two beautiful horses that I can’t ride, I feel like a failure every day of my life.
Which leads to guilt. How dare I. The world is full of problems so very, very much more serious.
Virtual Brush Box 