I have spent many a blog entry waxing philosophical on what a magical place Gladstone is, so today I won’t bore you with more of that. But seriously: There’s no place like it. It’s hallowed ground.
Midge and I spent the last two weeks alternating between playful work and pieces of the test we’ll be demoing—the new Developing Horse Grand Prix test. It’s a great test, straightforward as is appropriate for the age, but still with nice technical questions. He feels super. He got a nice thorough bath, complete with purple shampoo on his socks and his blaze (not his favorite thing, but with that much chrome, he’d better get used to it), all of which proved wasted when I brought him in from a night outside in his paddock… in the rain. We’ve been in a drought for months, and it rains the night before, and through most of my drive to Gladstone. Go figure.
But we made it, and the sun shone, and it was a pleasant temperature, and it was really a very delightful day. I got to watch most of the Grand Prix, which was VERY inspiring—no rides that were start-to-finish flawless, but lots of incredible parts. I was actually the most impressed by Adrienne Lyle’s ride—it wasn’t perfect, and it didn’t get the highest score of the class, but there was something so lovely and quiet about her riding, and about her horse’s transitions in and out of the piaffe. Rhythmic, tactful and nicely gathered. Super stuff.
I rode Midge at the end of the day, so Lendon could help me a little. He started a little tight but settled right in and went to work. He turned into quite a squirrel in the changes, which will be what they’ll be, but Lendon gave me a great exercise in the trot for the steep half-pass that not only improved it, but also made a HUGE difference in the passage. Midge has super talent for passage, but he can’t yet easily turn left in it. Lendon’s very steep head-to-the-wall leg yield opened that door up. Cool! And of course he made his usual lovely pirouettes and extra lovely passage-piaffe-passage transitions (Lendon: “Good girl! You’ve done your homework!” Me: {insert the sounds of beaming}).
And then we were all treated to a FABULOUS BBQ dinner at the Hamilton Farm Golf Club. It’s a tough life, gang. Let me tell ya.
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Tomorrow I get to ride in the show ring, but not until the end of the day at 5:15. I don’t want to spend Midge, so I’m just going to work him lightly, long and supple and stretchy and make sure that he’s settled in that environment. He was a pro here last month, but now, with the tents and the people and whatever, I don’t want to take anything for granted.
So I have a full day of spectating ahead of me. What a nice break!
It’s a good thing, actually; the flu thing I had going on Monday has turned into an unpleasant cold that’s migrated into my lungs and left me with this sultry voice that, this morning, had me thinking I could start my own 1-900 number. Now, after a full day of talking, and a full evening of talking over the live band, I just sound like crap. Yuck. So a day of rest is probably just what the doctor ordered. Doing it while watching great dressage is a great compromise!
(And hey, P.S. I schooled Ella hard on Thursday, the first time since we identified a problem. She was GREAT. I don’t want to call it until new bloodwork confirms, but I’m hoping we’re out of the woods. Yeah!)
