Well, it was quite a contrasting weekend for me at Stuart this year compared to last year. We took around the same amount of horses, but Phillip decided not to run his upper level horses cross-country, which made the weekend a lot more doable. Coupled with the fact that my amazing working student Arianna was there and had things completely under control, the weekend was great.
Indie ran the preliminary and went very well. I’m thrilled with how he’s going, and I really feel like this is the first weekend that I was sitting on a horse whose mind was starting to click in on his job (even though I nearly went off course in the show jumping). He came third, ending on his dressage score of 29, and will be getting the next two weekends off on a well-deserved break.
Grayson did his first preliminary this weekend and really stepped up to the plate for me, since I think Stuart was an ambitious place to move him up. There was one green moment on the cross-country, but he was really good on the flat, considering it was the harder preliminary test, and he scored a 33. Plus he show jumped a clear round, which can be quite hard to do at Stuart.
Dreamboat and Ollie ran the training level, and both were quite good. DB ended sixth, while Ollie, who’s still learning the rideablity, had a rail down at the skinny and came seventh. He was quite a bit better than at Maryland, and both horses will be getting the next two weeks off from horse shows to train at home before Millbrook.
Phillip and I decided not to run Cambalda in the CIC*** at Rebecca Farm this week—not due to any reason other than wanting to do the best thing by him and make sure that his confidence is back to form.
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I believe that it was the right decision to make, and it gives Ping more time after Luhmuhlen. I’ll run him in the intermediate at Millbrook, and then depending how that goes, the CIC*** at Richland Park, which is one of my favorite tracks due to Ian Stark’s course design. I also love the footing at that event, and with the lack of rain we seem to be having here, I look forward to the well-watered footing there.
I had a pretty serious fright coming back from Stuart… Upon arriving home I opened one of the side compartments on my truck, which has a utility bed, to find that something must have short circuited the light in the compartment, which caused my bag from the horse show and the blanket in it to smolder and ignite once oxygen reached it. I was so happy that the horses were off the trailer and the rig was parked far from the barn. Of course I immediately took the truck in to the shop to sort out what happened.
I’m so thankful that the only thing ruined was my clothes. It just goes to show that things go wrong even when you think everything is being done right.
I wish all my friends best of luck at Rebecca Farm and wish everyone safe journeys while driving to and from and competing at the events.
Jennie
