Experience and Great Friends

Ever been eagerly anticipating something so much, have it go pretty well, only to realize that you totally blew it? Yeah.....me neither....lol, what am I talking about, I totally biffed it the other day and this is not the post I'd been hoping to make.

Since I learned we have the potential of having a running shot at the Paralympics, I'd been looking forward to having a chance to film a virtual qualifier for 2020, and we had a shot at the last one for the year on Dec. 10th. We've been competing virtually all year, so this was nothing new.

Considering the unpredictability of the weather this time of year, I decided to play it safe and rented the arena at Madison River Equine for two hours the weekend before entries were due. Not only is the facility absolutely stunning and beautiful, but the arena is already set up as a full-sized dressage arena and at the very worst of weather conditions it's indoors and heated (not to mention the footing is absolutely divine). If y'all ever have the pleasure of riding here, or attending one of the many events hosted here, do it. You wont regret it. Straight-up one of the nicest facilities I've had pleasure of riding at and Cress is beyond amazing as a host and manager. I absolutely adore this woman and she is one of the nicest and sweetest people I know. Total heart of gold and so easy to work with and very accommodating. I don't honestly think there's much you couldn't do at this facility. Eventing? Check, full outdoor course. Jumping? Yep, arena jumps are gorgeous. Cattle work? Yeppers, there's a headgate/chute in the arena. Outdoor arena? Yeah, two beautifully groomed. Dressage? Sure, both indoor and outdoor, full letters. Driving? Of course! They drive draft crosses! Cutting/Sorting? You bet! I'm certain it'd probably be on buffalo, but ask and I bet you'd receive. Colt-starting? They offer classes! Literally, you can do it all!

Despite a winter storm rolling in two days beforehand bringing some icy roads and having to repair a bad valve stem on my new trailer tires in the morning (Thank you Les Schwab!!!), and Blue deciding that he no longer knew how to load into a trailer, we still managed to make it to the center in time, quite a bit later than desired, but still with a few moments to spare. At this point in time, I was a little disheartened, as the ride I'd so been looking forward to was clouded with lots of minor setbacks that just seemed to pile up on one another. Not to mention, despite being super excited at having sold my saddle and a new one on its way, I now did not have a dressage saddle to ride in, so had my brown Stubben jumping saddle, which is not the same, but would work just fine. We were committed to doing this. It was a little discouraging, as it was not how I had the day pictured in my head, and I don't do well when plans go awry, it makes me anxious. Extremely so. I was joking with cress about the situation as I was tacking up and she very graciously offered to let me use one of her saddles to film the test in. Oh my goodness, I'm so very thankful she did, her Superior saddle was incredible and felt so amazing!

I finished getting Blue and myself ready and we started our warm up. My husband was being a doll and helping to get my camera set up at the end of the arena. Once we were sufficiently warmed up and the camera was ready, we started our test. My cool and collected Blue who'd been working so nicely during our warm-up suddenly turned into an intense ball of energy that was ready to move. Although I was managing to keep us mostly successfully put together (he's so big!), as we rounded the corner at M, and approached C, he suddenly stopped and to my horror started pooping. I decided since I had the opportunity, I'd start over.

Our next attempt went pretty well. Blue was still a massive force of energy under me, but we had some nice extensions of both trot and canter. We had a small, controlled spook at the open door at M, but we made it out successfully. Overall the test seemed nice and we didn't have any major issues. I really wanted to run it once more, but decided against it, since he'd done a nice job on our test and was starting to get a little tired. I patted the very sweaty neck of my good boy and we proceeded to try and get some nice show photos with Cress' beautiful wreath backdrop.

We'll take it :)

I will say, we looked pretty snazzy and fancy and I really do enjoy my Berry-colored Horseware of Ireland Show Coat. Custom accented with Celtic rose gold buttons, zippered front and shortened sleeves (Thanks Grace!). I just apparently don't know what to do with my face...

Overall, I labeled the day a success and was happy I had decided to commit. It ended up being a pretty fun day :)

We got home and got everything situated and Blue cooled down and turned out. As Wes drove us home, I decided to watch my video. The first thing I noticed was our right lead was a counter canter... and I figured we'd take a hit in points for not correcting it and that would be alright, it's one of our recurring faults that is courtesy of me relearning my seat constantly and not asking clearly with my aids. Something we are actively working on.

I kept trying to figure out why the video seemed off and I couldn't put my finger on it and it was bothering me greatly, and then it hit me and my chest fell. In all the hustle and bustle of running late and trying to not run out of time and having allowed myself to be frazzled, I didn't catch we were filming from A...

In order for a virtual test to be accepted for submittal for judging, it must be filmed from C. If I had flipped the arena and done the test in reverse, then it could have been salvaged, but we had filmed from A, so the test was run correctly, just filmed at the wrong location, so it is unable to be submitted for scoring, as there are things the judge wants to see from C, that you cannot from A. I was crestfallen. You might be wondering why I would share this story, but we're all human and we all make mistakes. I'm choosing to learn from this one and use it as a tool in my arsenal. In a way it's starting to be a little funny, and in time, I'm sure I'll get a good laugh from it. At the end of the day, it was a great experience and really simulated a show-experience without all the heavy commotion, so it was really good. Blue tried his heart out as he always does and we overall had a successful test. I honestly couldn't be more proud of him and us to be honest, as embarrassing as this may be for now, there were many great take aways. We had extension in the canter that had some decent suspension. After his recovery from his hip injury, this was a huge accomplishment for me to get out of him, in both directions. The energy he has found is so big and sweeping that I'm still getting used to it. It makes him feel so incredibly amazing, but it's some big movement and I think if I have a saddle that will help keep me in the proper position, it won't be so intimidating. I promised 100% real content. Welcome to a day in the life of this hot mess. lol!