Caber is about an 2 hours north. It was another little one day 3 - phase put on by the Chehalis Valley Pony Club. I invited a fellow boarder to come and bring her mare along too as she is new to eventing and has a 3 year old Perch-Arab mare who needs some exposure. So Special came along for the ride. She was actually really good for a youngster who hasn't been out too much.
So apparently in Area VII the higher levels go first. So Warren and I didn't ride til 2. That made a nice easy morning of hauling up there, but it sure does make for a long day. We pulled in about 11 and got settled. There were lots of trailers and horses, I was surprised at the size of the event! The dressage was in a grassy field near the trailers and the stadium and x-country were on the other side of the woods. I decided to check in and then go scope out the stadium and x-country before my dressage, as my rides were all very close together.
The stadium course had lots of twits and turns and it covered a large area. The x-country was on pretty flat terrain and again was quite spread out, I began to worry a bit about Warren's stamina. (In retrospect, I should have thought about mine!)
Warren was pretty good in warm up, for dressage, once I got my self focused. I think he thought he was warming up for x-country as we were on grass and out in a field, I had a very forward horse! When we were up for our test, we went to the other end of the field where the dressage arenas were set up. He got very worried about the horses warming up at the other end. And I had a hard time getting him to come back to steady and compliant and round. So our dressage was interesting, there was no shortage of forward of impulsion. There were moments of somewhat niceness but lots of bad geometry and conterbentness in between. Ah well.
It was a quick tack change and warm up for stadium, I was a little worried about memorizing my course as I am not very good at that, but after watching a few rides, I felt pretty confident. Warren warmed up great and was on for stadium! He moved around the arena with all kinds of speed and was very clever with his feet and placements. I was quite proud of the fella! Though after the ride I was feeling a little queasy, I am not sure if I breathed through the ride or not. That got me a little worried about x-country and that long course but since it wasn't timed, as it was a schooling show, I could take my time a little bit.
Again it was time for another tack change and off to cross country. I didn't warm up at all as I was a little worried about myself now and also had a feeling he was already on for cross country. That might have not been the best idea. As we came out of the start box heading away from home and approached a small log, which he was a little wormy on the approach but cleared it fine. However, he still didn't have his jumping brain on as I didn't either. (warm up fence would have been a good idea!) The up coming roll top I didn't keep my leg on and stay committed too so we sort of came at it wobbly again then he just stopped! That really surprised me. Warren isn's a stopper. But was probably a very smart decision on his part as he felt I wasn't committed to it and it would have been ugly for both of us if he popped over it. So we circled back and cleared it then it was to another large log stack after a hard left. Again, I wasn't committed, and he stopped again. It was another circle a growl to him and over we went.
Then there was a long alleyway along the woods to a table top. Here I was worried about my stamina and his too so we had a nice big trot all the way down the line and then opened him up for a canter a few strides out from the table. He took it nice then it was another long canter to another open field with a coop and a log stack then back down to the main field again, he was headed toward home and of course feeling good at that point. His jumping brain was on. And I was feeling pretty good too. We had another large roll top that he cleared nicely then to some logs and into the water, he slowed a little to look but splashed in and marched though then it was out to the logs and then I couldn't find the next fence amongst all the others levels towards the end, but fortunately it was a long way off and after some quick scanning I found that yellow number 13 and we cantered towards it. The last fence was an easy log and we were done. No queasiness for me and Warren was still had some energy in him.
Overall it was a really fun day even though I wasn't completely on my game. Warren did a wonderful job taking care of me and doing his job. I am looking forward to our next horse trials in a few weeks! In the mean time it is more conditioning for me....
So apparently in Area VII the higher levels go first. So Warren and I didn't ride til 2. That made a nice easy morning of hauling up there, but it sure does make for a long day. We pulled in about 11 and got settled. There were lots of trailers and horses, I was surprised at the size of the event! The dressage was in a grassy field near the trailers and the stadium and x-country were on the other side of the woods. I decided to check in and then go scope out the stadium and x-country before my dressage, as my rides were all very close together.
The stadium course had lots of twits and turns and it covered a large area. The x-country was on pretty flat terrain and again was quite spread out, I began to worry a bit about Warren's stamina. (In retrospect, I should have thought about mine!)
Warren was pretty good in warm up, for dressage, once I got my self focused. I think he thought he was warming up for x-country as we were on grass and out in a field, I had a very forward horse! When we were up for our test, we went to the other end of the field where the dressage arenas were set up. He got very worried about the horses warming up at the other end. And I had a hard time getting him to come back to steady and compliant and round. So our dressage was interesting, there was no shortage of forward of impulsion. There were moments of somewhat niceness but lots of bad geometry and conterbentness in between. Ah well.
It was a quick tack change and warm up for stadium, I was a little worried about memorizing my course as I am not very good at that, but after watching a few rides, I felt pretty confident. Warren warmed up great and was on for stadium! He moved around the arena with all kinds of speed and was very clever with his feet and placements. I was quite proud of the fella! Though after the ride I was feeling a little queasy, I am not sure if I breathed through the ride or not. That got me a little worried about x-country and that long course but since it wasn't timed, as it was a schooling show, I could take my time a little bit.
Again it was time for another tack change and off to cross country. I didn't warm up at all as I was a little worried about myself now and also had a feeling he was already on for cross country. That might have not been the best idea. As we came out of the start box heading away from home and approached a small log, which he was a little wormy on the approach but cleared it fine. However, he still didn't have his jumping brain on as I didn't either. (warm up fence would have been a good idea!) The up coming roll top I didn't keep my leg on and stay committed too so we sort of came at it wobbly again then he just stopped! That really surprised me. Warren isn's a stopper. But was probably a very smart decision on his part as he felt I wasn't committed to it and it would have been ugly for both of us if he popped over it. So we circled back and cleared it then it was to another large log stack after a hard left. Again, I wasn't committed, and he stopped again. It was another circle a growl to him and over we went.
Then there was a long alleyway along the woods to a table top. Here I was worried about my stamina and his too so we had a nice big trot all the way down the line and then opened him up for a canter a few strides out from the table. He took it nice then it was another long canter to another open field with a coop and a log stack then back down to the main field again, he was headed toward home and of course feeling good at that point. His jumping brain was on. And I was feeling pretty good too. We had another large roll top that he cleared nicely then to some logs and into the water, he slowed a little to look but splashed in and marched though then it was out to the logs and then I couldn't find the next fence amongst all the others levels towards the end, but fortunately it was a long way off and after some quick scanning I found that yellow number 13 and we cantered towards it. The last fence was an easy log and we were done. No queasiness for me and Warren was still had some energy in him.Overall it was a really fun day even though I wasn't completely on my game. Warren did a wonderful job taking care of me and doing his job. I am looking forward to our next horse trials in a few weeks! In the mean time it is more conditioning for me....
