Orchard Hill Schooling 3 Phase

Lucy went to a schooling 3-phase at Orchard Hill Equestrian Center in Berlin, MA last weekend and kicked butt.

Things were a little hectic in the morning so the only warmup she got for dressage was 3 minutes of trotting. That's it.

Well she went into her test and had one of the most lovely dressage rounds ever. I have no idea what her score was but to me, she looked really wonderful.

Morgan was thrilled with how things went!

Then she went into her jumping round and had a bit of a flail fest. She really needs studs to jump out on grass. She refused the B jump in an A/B combination and Morgan brought her back around, jumped the B jump perfectly, and then was dq'd for not jumping the A and the B jumps. Apparently you have to jump the whole combination again, not just the jump you missed.

Here are some shots from the warmup:

all 4 feet off the ground, and game faces on

This whole venue is on a massive hill; here Morgan was explaining how
to get to the actual jumping ring from the warmup ring

Lucy is a hot tamale warming up, then walks through the woods on the buckle
by herself to get to her jumping round. Go figure.

On course!

They were able to go out and do XC as a schooling opportunity and Lucy was the best she has ever been on XC. She ran out of one jump that was up a steep hill but cruised around the rest of the course. She was in her element!! Morgan was thrilled with her performance. Yes it was a bummer they got disqualified, but they made the best out of the situation and everyone went home happy.

I was really pleased that I got to watch her go at this event. I was in the area visiting my parents and my mum watched Hannah for me so that I could go baby-free. I took Cairo instead, who of course was perfectly behaved, and we had a nice time spectating.

Another cool thing about this event is that Morgan took her new pony, Zen, whom she found chilling out in someone's back yard. Zen is loving her new life as an event pony. This was her first event ever, and her rider's first event ever, and they completed and had a great day! Here they are warming up, though Zen thinks she's warming up for prelim, not elementary:

Grinding my Gears

Boy, horses sure do keep us humble, huh?

After Lucy's super XC schooling round that I last updated about, she went to an unrated schooling 3-phase at Azrael Acres in Uxbridge, MA. In true Lucy fashion, she walked right out of a hind shoe getting on the trailer, but the foot looked perfect and she didn't seem to care, so they opted to go ahead with the show plans. Dressage went better than it ever has, with some beautiful moments. Overall still kind of a tense test, but miles ahead of where she came from.

I was very worried about both jumping phases. Lucy's division was first, so the ground was still quite wet from the night before, and they were both on slick grass. I know how sensitive she is about her feet and I was worried she wouldn't feel secure with one missing hind shoe and not a lot of traction.

Sadly, I was spot on. She had a very tough time getting around SJ and after three XC jumps, told her rider that she was done. We were all so disappointed, but not really in Lucy, just in general.

One XC jump from faaaarrr away

Morgan went back to basics that week, rebuilding Lucy's confidence. They went to Apple Knoll to school in the jumper show on Wednesday and did 2'9" and 3'. Lucy jumped very well. She has never jumped under the lights but she did that day, and it didn't phase her! She had a rail in the jump off in the 2'9" class and just missed the ribbons because of it, and the height in the 3' class surprised her a bit so she pulled two rails very early on, but jumped clean the last half of the class (funny how you actually have to pay attention at 3', horse!) so overall I was very very happy about all of that.

The day after that, they went XC schooling and while it started out great, Lucy got combative with her rider, E, and E kind of decided enough was enough, and got off. I don't blame her. Morgan got on and schooled Lucy and Lu did a lot better. They made the decision that Morgan would ride her at Valinor this weekend, not E, and they dropped her from Novice to BN. I was totally on board with that idea. BN set Lucy up for success, not failure. I was very hopeful that it would be a great event. Plus, it was set to be her first rated show!

Then Morgan found her in her stall with a giant swollen knee this morning. UGH how frustrating!!! So she's scratched for the day and Morgan cold-hosed her. She's a bit ouchy at the walk but sound at the trot. Morgan thinks it may be a bee sting or other insect related injury. Fingers crossed that it goes down asap.

On a happier note, have some Hannah and Cairo pictures:

another great day!

First, I actually succeeded in getting Kenny to the barn in a somewhat clean ensemble, with the dog; and also I managed to clean the 2" of dirt off Lucy that I found her covered in this morning. I even had to shampoo her legs - they were disgusting!

Maddy took the photo for me and..drumroll please....

everyone's looking (kind of) at the camera!!! SUCCESS!!!

Then I tacked up and had another super ride, and this time, I got photos!

YAY! Good pony! I should go buy a lottery ticket or something.

Then Amanda got on for a few minutes:

AND she got to ride Merlot the dreamliner.

Then Maddy got really brave and decided to jump Brantley over one of the XC fences:

So all in all, it was an A+++++ day and everyone had a super time!

Hunter Pace and Event Report

I've got to hand it to Lulu. She was superb this weekend.

Tyrone Farm Hunter Pace

On Sunday, my barn owner and I went to the Tyrone Farm Hunter Pace in Pomfret, CT. Lucy and I went to this one last year, too, and the footing was unfortunately just as horrific as it was a year ago! The mud was awful! We decided that if we both stayed on and the horses both came home with four shoes each, we'd be happy. Well, both those things came true but two other horses from our barn ended up lame this morning because of the conditions. Prudy and I were pretty careful and walked whenever we came upon bad mud, but even with just walking, the horses had to really labour at times to get through the mud. We were also very selective about what we jumped because some jumps had very slick footing on either side.

Lucy was hot, hot, hot. I had a LOT of horse under me at the hunter pace and I was so glad I used the Kimberwicke. She had a few tantrums and wanted to get silly after jumps, but she settled down about halfway through and used her energy to think and not leap around. We had to go up a LOT of hills and she used her hind end quite a lot!

Prudy and I somehow managed to get 9th place in our division and we were awarded the most beautiful silver ribbons! I was thrilled.

The forecast for the day had been lots of rain, but it turned out to be sunny and beautiful right up to the awards ceremony, and then the clouds thickened and it started sprinkling. We were in the truck snuggled up in our heated seats, ponies happily munching hay in the trailer as the rain really started coming down. We couldn't have had better timing!

Lucy loaded on the trailer in perfect form to go to the pace and to go home. Once back home, I wrapped her legs and fed her dinner. She was all tucked in for the night and I went home to get ready for today's event!

Valinor Farm Schooling Horse Trial

6am came waaaaay too fast today, but my alarm begged to differ. I got up, got ready, went to the barn and did all my barn chores, packed the last few things on the trailer, and got Lucy. She took one look at the trailer and was like, OH HELL NO. But she quickly came around and got right on. I was very happy with her!

We got to Valinor in time to check in and mosey around before tacking up. Lucy stood like an angel tied to the trailer, which was a first for us. I have been working with her on tying to things and she has been so good that I decided to try tying her to the trailer. She was very quiet and stood nicely while I brushed her and tacked up. We had started the day off on the right foot!

Lucy warmed up pretty well for dressage. She got a little excited at the canter but quieted down when I pushed her forward. I felt confident going into our test, but as soon as she got in the ring she tensed up and we had a rather unrelaxed test. Still, it was a vast improvement on our last test! She was obedient except for one canter. Our downward transitions were much much better and I was pleased that all our hard work has paid off at least a little bit. The final halt was nice too! The judge gave us a 47, which was probably fair, but I hope we can really improve over the winter and do better next year.

We had a ton of time between dressage and stadium, so we untacked the horses and put them on the trailer to relax while we walked the course and got organized. When it was time, we unloaded the horses and tacked them up, and then went down to the warm-up ring. It was INSANE. I stand by my mantra that the warm-up ring is the scariest thing about the whole show!! There were probably 10-15 horses in there zooming around in all directions, people were jumping the jumps the wrong way, and Lucy developed a particular aversion to this one little Haflinger that sounded like a mack truck cantering around. The horse passed us very closely and Lucy had a tantrum...sigh. At that point I just let her walk around and take a breather. Soon the person at the gate called my number and I was relieved that I could get out of the warm-up ring!!

Stadium went GREAT. We trotted about 50% of the time, which was my plan to begin with. The jumps were in an outdoor grass ring that had some pretty good-sized hills in it! It looked very challenging but Lucy handled everything so well. We jumped clean and I didn't forget any of them. PHEW. I was feeling so happy.

We went straight to XC and Lucy calmly walked into the start box on a loose rein. I have seen so many horses that look at a start box and lose their marbles, so I have very consciously NOT made a big deal of it. Everyone standing around remarked on how calm she seemed. They counted down from 10 and when they said "ok go!", I picked up the reins and we walked out onto the course. We picked up a little trot and went to our first fence! I was having a great time, and Lucy seemed happy and confident.

We got through the first half of the course with no issues, but we had to trot down a windy, hill path that opened out into a clearing with a jump. She refused it twice :( But I was determined not to be dq'd again so I got after her and we got over it on attempt #3. After that it was clear sailing and we had a blast!

I was so happy and relieved to cross that finish line that I threw one hand in the air and said, "WE DID IT!" Prudy was up waiting for me at the finish line and we congratulated each other, then happily walked back to our waiting friends and family. We were both on cloud 9.

I finished in 7th place, just out of the ribbons, but I was just so pleased with Lucy and also proud of myself for getting out there, getting her over that one "scary" jump on XC and narrowly missing getting disqualified, surviving dressage and improving on our last score, and of course staying in the saddle ;)

We met all our goals and overall I couldn't have asked for a better day!

Here are some photos:

dressage warm up (the test was in and indoor and we didn't get any
good shots)

Kenny came to support me and was such a big help.

in the stadium warm-up ring

tantrum...

cantering around like a lady, my barn owner and her horse Merlot
behind us

Merlot is so handsome! He and Lucy are in love.

ahh yes, there's the tail

a quiet moment in the ring; I took advantage and did a little jump

Prudy and Merlot showing off!

Lucy and I out doing our thing :)

the jumps were so tiny she basically cantered over them

all done! I was giving her a huge pat and saying good girl!

Prudy and Merlot showing off again. He is so fancy!

in the start box. she looks WILD, huh? :)

off to the first jump, a very inviting log

up a nice big hill to the second area of jumps

Prudy and I returning from XC, all smiles!

go team!

I love this shot, we both look so happy.

she was exhausted, but what a sweet face.

yay!