We took 3 students to the Leg Up mini trial at the Hoosier Horse Park on July 2nd and it was a blast! Anna Hood did the starter with her green OTTB Bravo, Tracy Stamper also did the starter with her horse Gus, and Brooke Evans did the beginner novice with my husband Scott's fabulous horse Cheddars. Let's just say all the girls had a great weekend!
Anna won the starter division on a 25.6! It was Bravo's first horse trial and he's a very nice horse that shows a lot of promise for the future. She had a lovely test (as I'm sure you figured out from the score!) He was very good in the SJ, starting out a bit green, but finishing the last half quite confidently. He topped the weekend off with a clean xc round despite the fact that he thought the fence judges were horse-eating trolls! He didn't mind the jumps, but was apparently quite spooky about everything on his path to and from the jumps. I'm sure he'll be less worried next time.
Tracy was second in the starter division. We call Gus "Gus the Bus" for a reason. His back is long enough for 2 saddles and he's toed in, etc...etc..! This doesn't really lead to him being a favorite with dressage judges since his hind feet can't even get into his front tracks! He actually can go quite nicely, but Tracy is recently back from having her first child so she's still learning how to get the most out of him. His test lacked bend and was a bit sluggish. He's a very kind soul and a I showed him all last year at novice for his pregnant mother to make him a packer and now he is. They had a very nice SJ round despite an interesting choice of line from 1 to 2 by his pilot! He easily went clean xc.
Last, but certainly not least was Brooke. Brooke got the ride on my husband's horse at the last minute because I sent the horse she was supposed to ride to a new home a week before the show. She's a good rider and usually get's to ride the more undesirable mounts since she doesn't have her own. It was a nice to treat for her to get to show a horse she could actually enjoy! Her dressage test was beautiful, but Cheds was slightly low at the poll throughout and the judge crucified her for it (judge's own words!) Oh well, she only got to ride him a few times before the show. She made up for it with beautiful SJ and XC rounds to move up 6 places to 3rd!
Way to go girls!!!!!!
As a side note, no trip with horses is ever without a little drama and this was no exception. I always forget about the giant fireworks extravaganza they have right across the street every year during the show. We were about to leave for the night at about 9:30 when the fireworks began. Bravo and Cheddars went absolutely crazy. Gus was just looking at them like, "Really?" Apparently he really is bomb proof! Anyway, I was afraid to leave them until they calmed down which was after 10:30 and the traffic was terrible getting out. The other girls were at their hotel only a few miles away while Tracy and I had to go another 10mi to ours. No big deal and we got to the Motel 6 at about 11. Tracy came out of the office and said they don't have our reservation. What?! We got out the confirmation and whadya know-Super 8. Oops. I was only off by two numbers right? Another 5 min to that hotel, 15min to check in, and a shower that I thought was going to give me second degree burns! Who ever heard of not being able to get cold water at a hotel? Needless to say I hit the snooze button a few extra times Saturday morning! All we could do was laugh.
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