Winona Horse Trial

We had a fun weekend Eventing (finally!) at Stonegate Farm in Hanoverton Ohio.  It rained just enough on Friday and a little on Saturday to make the footing very good, and although there was a little *snow* on Sunday as I tacked up for cross country, it was perfect weather for eventing.  Cool, breezy, and mostly sunny.  This was Captain's first time out since last year before his vaccination episode, and I was very excited to get him back out competing. 

Dressage was interesting, with very tough judging and some interesting comments all around.  Captain garnered a 37.8 putting us in a three way tie for second, while Jessica and Zophie earned a 41.3 putting them in fourth in their AA Novice division.  The stadium course was nicely flowing and good forward riding allowed us to get around within the time and leaving all the rails in the cups.  Sunday was cross country, and with a mix of sun, hail, and a little snow, it was VERY blustery and made for some completely wild pretty fresh horses. Zophie and Jessica had a good run around, and came in within the time to finish up Third in her division, after a little drama when they misrecorded her time on course as 9.05 minutes and gave her 88 time penalties!  It was pretty funny, but they had it sorted out in no time.
 Captain just could not hold it together and walk down the hill to the warm up so I had to hop off and hand walk him to the lower drive.  I was laughing the whole way because he was REALLY UP!  In the warm up he was spooking and snorting and while he warmed up well over the fences, he was struggling to keep a lid on.  I have to say its actually fun for me to have a tough horse like this because, I really needed a challenge to up my riding level, and he is like a hot little Ferrari when he gets amped up.  I can't imagine what he would have been like if I had not switched him to the Cavalor Pianissimo!  Anyways, off we went and by the second jump he was locked in hunting down all the jumps, and never looked at a thing.  Captain is very bold and probably the best cross country horse I have ever sat on. He just loves it and it is such a cool feeling when he locks onto the fence from so many strides out. Its funny because obviously people breed horses specifically for dressage or showjumping or whatever discipline, but for some reason it never occurred to me that you could do the same for making a good cross country horse.  I can tell you the Irish have this one down, and as a rider it sure is FUN to sit on one!  After the nonsense in the warm up, I just wanted to let him cruise around at a speed comfortable for him, so I didn't concern myself with riding to Optimum Time for the tie break, and just focused on a consistent positive rhythm throughout the course.  We finished well within the time, and he barely broke a sweat.  We ended up second due to the leader of our division having a time penalty, and being second closest to OT, so not bad for our first event out!  It really would not have been possible without our team of amazing vets, acupuncturists, trainers, sponsors, clients and friends who have all helped or given support (especially a hug when I really needed it!)in some way to get this horse back to normal. 
Aside from having a blast riding Captain, I GREATLY enjoyed watching two ladies compete horses that I helped them find to excellent placings this weekend.  The first being Jessica of course, but the second was Myra Chudakoff Buczek and Mikey...she has worked her tail off to train this green little guy, and mostly on her own.  It was wonderful to see how the partnership has developed over the last few months, and she finished fourth in a VERY competitive starter division that consisted mostly of pros who have ridden at Training or above on their talented up and comers.  What an accomplishment!   Myra and Ted have been big supporters of mine, and it was awesome to see her having fun and being successful. 
This week we have Boyd Martin coming in for a clinic, so I will keep you updated on everything as we go! Have a great week!