Poplar!!!
Well... we did it! We got to another horse show. And despite the weather, we actually finished! As opposed to not even starting last time we were at Poplar. (that was the show that we went to warm up for it and she was practically 3 legged lame. She ended up having a pebble stuck in her shoe, but then was still lame... and it was raining... and I had that horrible eye ulcer, so we just went home the next morning).
I was smart and had taken the Friday off so we got to go school and have fun. I rode Dan Friday morning before we left as I had spent a good chunk of Thursday packing and prepping. I gave Lyric a bath since I had warm water, although she wasn't that dirty. Then I loaded her up and we headed out. We made good time and despite the forecast predicting rain ALL day Friday, we got lucky. No rain other than a little bit of drizzle here and there on the way there. We got unloaded and set up and parked and still no rain. And.. it's kind of nice. I can leave a stall chain up and leave her door open and she stays in her stall. She doesn't eat anything in front of her stall. She didn't knock my saddle down, or chew on it. Jacel was able to use the stall next to us as a tack stall and hang things on the bars and she didn't eat them. And, she was so sweet and snuggled with everyone that came to visit. She was so sweet with Grace and Victoria. But she did get upset when her friends left. She was mostly upset when Smarty would leave but a little bit when Piper did too. But she settled quickly each time. So, overall, much easier to take to shows than Dan. (But I still miss showing Dan).
We got tacked up and went out to school XC with Laura and Julia. Jacel took my e-bike and we headed out. It was misting here and there at this point but nothing more than a soft mist and it was intermittent. Yay! We basically schooled the course but one jump at a time. The first fence was by the pond and it was one of those stupid shallow tables with mulch with a hanging log. Like Chatt likes to use as their first fence. And the approach wasn't great either. So, we had a few stops at it. We finally got over it and then were only slightly braver the second and third time. Then the second fence was a square cabin thing that down a slight hill. We stopped at that one too but then got over it on the second attempt. Ugh... this is not how I was wanting things to go. Jacel reminded me that Lyric is emotional and I need to be brave for her. No emotions!!! And I reminded myself that I was here to have fun. I was so looking forward to this weekend. And it got better. The next fence actually looked fairly small at first. I was thinking I was going to have to jump the novice one and was going to ask if I could start on the smaller one. But then I realized, oh wait.. the smaller one is my jump! But she stopped at it too. Sigh. So then I got a bit more brave outwardly. I growled at her and she went. And then the next fence, at the top of the hill, was another wide low table with a hanging log. And we stopped at that. Sigh.. okay, come on Holly. I got brave and sat and supported and growled and she jumped it bravely. Then we skidded down the hill and turned back and did it again and it was much smoother and braver this time. Next up was a small bench thing, which we were both brave enough for and jumped it fine. Actually, I think she threw her shoulders out at that one and we got to it crooked but I was like "no... we're jumping" and rode to it and she jumped it anyways. Then the next fence was a doghouse. A big wide doghouse. Sigh... ugh. My nemesis. And the guy was mowing around it. So I got brave and picked up the canter and headed to it and ... the lawnmower moved out from behind the tree into my landing spot. Dude!! So we went around and then pulled up. And then watched as he methodically mowed around it... taking his sweet time. I mean, I get it, but... come on dude! So he finally finished so I took her up to it. And she stopped. Ugh... So Jacel made me back her up... a bit more.... now trot it. Um... from here?!? Yes! Eeeks. But we did. And she trotted it fine. So then we came back around and cantered it and she did it. Then we cantered on to the next small but blocky cabin and she tried to throw her shoulder out there too but I rode tough and she did it. So then we came through that line again and it was smoother and then we carried on to the ditch and she popped over like it was nothing. I laughed and told Laura that "we had 99 problems but a ditch ain't one... it was just... jumps... regular jumps". Ha! We can do all the technical stuff.. banks, ditches, water... but just solid cabins and doghouses.. nope! Doh! So then the next fence was another big table. But we jumped it on the first try!!! I had to use my crop for moral support a time or two. And as we were taking off, I used it again (but that time was for me, vs for her!). So then I cantered on and we jumped the tiny coop. Wheee. Okay, now maybe we're getting the hang of it. The next few fences were the water combo. It was a triple bench/staircase thing, which was rather big, but not quite as intimidating as a solid table. Then through the water, out of the water and over the overturned boat. And she was perfect! She jumped them all! And we even kept cantering on and jumped the wedge! YAY! Now we're getting our groove. Then we had to cut through the woods and go down and up a steep hill. Coming out of the woods was a faux trakehner. She jumped it great! The final jump was a big rolltop thing that was two tone on a slight angle on a hill. And we could not find our line. We had two run outs before I finally got it. But jeepers.. it still wasn't our worst cross country schooling. And I was really quite proud of her and pleased with ourselves.
So then we hacked the course again to help us remember it. I got a little focused on schooling and didn't pay as much attention as I should have. And they were fine with a cool down hack. After that I gave her a rinse and scrubbed her butt from where she sat on the butt bar. We grazed a little bit. And then they noticed the cows!! Danger! Ha. Lyric was curious at first but then a bald faced one with horns lifted his head and she got all worried. He did look like a skull in the dusk.
They got dinner and tucked in and we went for mexican. It was tasty. When we got back we went for another short walk and then we all went to bed. I stayed up and did some studying and then went to sleep. Or tried. I didn't pay for a hook up because I figured it would be cool enough and it wasn't. It was steamy. And I had drank sweet tea at dinner so... I'm not sure I slept more than 30 minutes. I guess I did, but... not much! It did rain a tiny little bit overnight but nothing like we were supposed to get.
Saturday morning we got up early and got stalls done and ponies fed and a short walk. No rain! I didn't dressage until 12:30 ish so we hung out and watched the others go. Then it was our turn. Still no real rain but it had started misting. Oh well. It was nice to be able to tack up in the stall and be dry and even get on and be dry before having to walk out in the mist. She was fine and didn't mind and we warmed up quite nicely. I had to do lots of bending and figure 8's to get her to unlock her barrel but she got quite soft. It was a nice warm up. Then they told us to head over to the show rings so we did. And then they made us wait for 2 riders worth of tests. Ugh.. oh well. She was a bit tense when we first went in but she settled quickly and we got one lap around the arena before they rang the bell. In we went. It wasn't perfect but I was quite pleased with it. There were moments when I lost her, but overall she was pretty consistent and soft and on the aids. I was proud of her! We ended up with a 31.8, which put us in 2nd of 4. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th place were pretty close. First place went to "Fried Rice" with a 23. Hee hee! Dang though!
So then we untacked and I rinsed her saddle area off and she got to munch on hay and relax. I watched some others, we walked stadium, and then... it was about time to start tacking up. At this point it had started to rain. But again... I could tack up in the dry area so... we did. We headed down to warm up and were told that they were 20 minutes behind. Ugh. Oh well. I was already on. And at this point it decided to pour. This is just silly! Oh well. We walked some, trotted some and then cantered and then Jacel was there. She had us warm up over 4 fences and holy cow they were brilliant!! We were both spot on and she was actually jumping out of stride!! I wasn't jumping ahead and was supporting! It was lovely! Like.. the best she's ever jumped!! So we quit with that and I headed over because they were about to start BN and I thought I was the first BN rider (because I was in dressage). But they had 3 before me at least and wouldn't let me jump ahead even though the first two riders wanted me to go first. Oh well. They said if no-one was ready I could go but otherwise they wanted to keep in order. Fair... but it meant we sat around for 15 minutes and I didn't quite think I would have time to go back to the arena and jump again or even trot or canter. Oh well. We finally got to go in and... that ring got small real quick! Those jumps came up fast and... I resorted to riding too tentatively. I picked and held and asked her to add instead of sending her into the bigger step like we did in warm up. Sigh. Oh well. It felt way worse than it looked but I'm still disappointed in myself. She was great! She jumped everything anyways and didn't knock any down. But it wasn't the stellar warm up ride we had. Oh well. Good pony!
We were soaked through at this point and I was actually getting a bit cold now. I untacked her and let her dry in her stall and munch hay. I talked to Jacel about scratching XC because... it kept pouring... and she has pads on all four feet now.. and no stud holes. And her confidence was so tenuous I didn't want to undo all the progress we made Friday. So...we decided that we would warm up and see what happened.
And then, it stopped raining. The sun tried to come out. The ground was still soaking and sloppy but at least it stopped raining. So we headed out to XC. She was a little sassy so instead of trotting and cantering around, we just trotted over the medium log. And then cantered it. And then the bigger log. And then we cantered the coop. The fairly big coop! And she was great. She was smart and put the ad in, but not because she was questioning... more because she was smart and careful! Okay... well, lets just give it a go. Jacel said if she slipped once or slid at the base of the fence and got rattled... just call it and walk off. So that was the plan.
We left the start box (which was WAY overgrown and she walked right into it like it was no big deal!) and headed out. She started off in the trot, zigging and zagging like a drunk monkey. Ha ha. But then we straightened out. The start box was on the opposite side of the woods so we had to cut through the woods to get to the first fence. Dumb, but whatever. And... she jumped the first fence.. and the second... and jumped everything all the way up to the middle big giant table. The one that she jumped on the first attempt yesterday. I held her off to the right a bit to avoid the mucky middle footing and... apparently confused her. She ran out. I mean... I was sort of asking her to. Doh! We reapproached and she jumped it fine. I may have tapped her with my stick too. Then she rocked the rest of the course all the way to the last fence. We almost had it but I looked down and she stopped. Doh! We circled and came back and she did it. Whooo hooo! And she had fun! She was happy and brave and most of the fences we jumped out of stride! So, two stupid mistakes that were my fault.
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