Since we were snowed out at Plantation, I squeezed Fred into Waredaca's starter trial that was rescheduled. I had only been to Waredaca once before, maybe 2 years ago, but always liked the facility. Amanda was so very wonderful to accompany me to the event. This was her second HT and I couldn't ask for a better companion! It was a long day and Amanda made it much easier. Amanda also captured some great photos.
Dressage was fantastic. We had one small bobble during a down transition. We had a 35.5 which put us in 5th or 6th after dressage. I was quite pleased.
Stadium was a little crazy. Fred was calm and happy until warm up. Then his frisky fun side let loose. We had an energetic and clean ride through the stadium course, which rode great. We almost crashed the Ravens' oxer but somehow left it up. You'll see below what I mean.
The cross country course was a great BN challenge. There were 16 jumps and some were more than I had seen in a while. Fred was really good on the XC course until I started losing some brake control at the end. Again, see below. That was a minor complaint as I was thrilled to end our first season together on such a great note. We have lots of homework in front of us and the potential for a lot of fun.
Probably our only quiet jump.
Entering the two stride that we rode just right.
Yeah...
Over the last and clear.
First XC jump. Fred says "la de da..."
Headed to the finish and Fred can't hear my request to half halt.
We finished third and we earned it. I can't believe Fred and I did six event this year. We had three not so great outings and three that ended better than expected.
I learned a lot about riding, maintaining, and training horses this year. The lessons about motivation, perseverance, patience, and dedication are what will stick with me for a long time. I look forward to many more good days with Fred in and out of the saddle. I also look forward to the simple visits with Tyler where I can forget about everything else and hang out with my friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment