Saying many things have happened since my last post would be a complete understatement. I have to be honest and say that the reason I haven't written a post sooner is mostly because I'm lazy and a little because I'm always busy and tired...but mostly because I'm lazy.
Chattahoochee Hills Horse Trials the last weekend in October? Not even worth talking about. Just the thought of each phase that weekend makes me incredibly annoyed. So moving on.
I came back home to Cabot after that weekend and have settled in over this last month. After being on the east coast and coming back, I think it's safe to say I truly am a southern girl. Since being back, I've gotten to hang out with my friends I've missed, and I've loved every minute of it. With being back in town and not going to school, people think I don't do anything all day (which would be a fair and logical assumption if I were them), but the truth is that I go nonstop every day. With Stoney being boarded at a friend's farm in Ward, I drive a total of an hour a day just getting to and from the barn (after having my horse at my house for the last seven years, this is taking some getting use to). Also, I work at two farms (one being where Stoney is) four times a week as well as riding six times a week AND driving to little rock in the mornings twice a week to the chiropractor before riding and working. See, even reading the sentence made you exhausted. So it's safe to say I'm keeping myself quite busy, not to mention applying for scholarships and what not.
With having such inconsistent shows over the past few months, I decided I needed to get another training level ride under my belt before going to Florida in January and running our first prelim at Rocking Horse. Mom and I left for Mike's Wednesday, where we then had a dressage lesson that night, a show jumping/cross country lesson Thursday and Friday morning, and a flat lesson at the show on Friday afternoon. We definitely wanted to get in some needed lessons after being home for a few weeks. Mike had us jumping preliminary level in the ring and even had me doing questions on cross country that he'd never had us do before. Although we were only going training, it was nice training at a higher level than I would be competing, knowing that if I was jumping that successfully at the farm, I would have no problem over the weekend.
Let me just add in a small paragraph and say that pulling back into Gold Chip Stables after being away for five months was such a great feeling. It truly feels like my home. Everyone treated me like I'd never left, and I was incredibly happy to see everyone again. Everyone there is just so kind and open. You can't help but love the place. Okay, no more sentimental paragraphs. Promise.
Going down to Texas that early before a show gave Mom and I extra time to visit colleges, so we took a tour of TCU and UNT. I am 99% positive in telling you I will be going to one or the other, but I must say, I stepped foot on TCU's campus and felt it was the place for me. The only problem? It is really REALLY expensive. But when you have an awesome mother like I do who does anything and everything to help make the chances of me going there possible, you can't help but get your hopes up. Still, we have to wait and see. I haven't even been accepted into TCU yet.... I won't be given an answer until December 1st, so who knows. I may end up going to UNT since I've already been accepted there.
So, moving on to Texas Rose Horse Trials. I'll try to describe the weekend in as much of a short and sweet way as I can. Stoney and I had a great dressage test. If I had given myself more time in warm up, seeing as it took me a while to get a grip on myself, parts of my test would have been much better. But in the end, it really wasn't that bad. The judge didn't think so either and gave us our best score we've received so far, a 35. This was with the added penalties of my error. Yeah, way to go me. So it would have been even better if I'd actually remembered my test. That was the first in years I've done that, and hopefully the last. We were in seventh after dressage, and after having a picture perfect show jumping round with only one rail, we remained in seventh going in to cross country. The rail we had was Stoney's fault (though I'd rather blame myself every time than blame him). I got him to the upright vertical perfectly, was good with my upper body, and he was just a tad bit lazy with his front feet. Still, he was a superstar in showing how grown up he has become and how simple the course was for him. Cross country went as great as it ever could have. Every fence rode perfectly and the grey pony came off the course feeling like Superman. I must say though, I had no clue he was as fit as he was. Usually with the stronger bit I run him in for cross country, one tug to balance up before the fence is enough and gets his attention. This time was the first time since using it that I'd ever had to tug two or three times to get his attention and get him back before the fences. The monster kept ripping my arms off. Even with his ridiculously thick coat, he managed to cool of relatively quickly. With our flawless and double clear cross country round, we finished in third place. THIRD PLACE! Some would think it's no big deal, but seeing as I've been competing Stoney for almost two years now and we've only ribboned twice (both being seventh place), this was quite a big accomplishment for us.
The following week after the show, Stoney got to go on vacation. This is the only break he'll have for a LONG time seeing as he'll go back into fitness work, start qualifying for Young Riders in Florida in January and February, continue qualifying through the spring, and then hopefully (if we meet the qualifications and are selected for the team) attend Young Riders in July. We have quite a schedule ahead of us.
I finally body clipped Stoney after having put up with his long coat for far too long. Trying to manage his coat during Texas Rose was the final straw, and I could no longer wait until the end of December like I had originally planned. So now that the treacherous task is complete, he gets to start his fitness training tomorrow. Seeing as he is already too fit for his own mental good, I can only hope he doesn't kill me by the end of the year.
Aside from gaining our fitness, I feel like we are finally ready to move up. Having a double clear cross country round was important for me after having the unfortunate run outs at the previous shows. I'm now at a peace of mind and only able to see the positive outcomes from here on out that await us this winter. My goal is that Stoney will finish his first prelim feeling as much like Superman as he did finishing his last training, and I plan to do everything possible to make sure of it. Seeing as it is the first time I've had the opportunity to go, I am beyond excited for Florida and can't help but count down the days. So, let the count down begin at 53 days left! (:
Texas Rose Horse Trial; November 19-20 2011
