Hoorah for my friends at Taylor Boyz trailer repair! They got me an electrical converter, and we hit the road early Saturday morning with no drama. Cleo and Ella even behaved together on the trailer, which is unusual.
They don’t play well with each other, and Cleo usually expresses her displeasure by kicking the bajeezus out of her hocks, but she emerged at Devon with only one superficial boo-boo. And Ella managed not to add to the collection of war wounds on her face—she’s incapable of travelling in a trailer without nailing herself in the head on something, in spite of fuzzies, head bumpers, the works. Good luck indeed!
Parking at Devon is a doozy, so my super-groom mom took the trailer while I got the ladies settled in and started schooling. Ella was remarkably sensible and had a very good school, though she was clearly starting to build in mental tension through the ride, so I worked her shortly and sweetly, and put her back in her stall before the smoke coming out of her ears set off fire alarms.
This is exactly what she needs—to go to the big shows and have good experiences, until the big shows aren’t a big deal anymore.
I figured Cleo would be a little up, whatever. Oh. my! I could barely put my left leg on, and I could NOT put my right leg on. Plus, she kept trying to sneak out from underneath me, while sharing Devon’s limited warm-up with kids on ponies getting ready for the FEI Pony Team test. Cleo, for those who haven’t met her, is 17.2. And it took a lot of bicep to say “CLEO, you will NOT stampede the ponies!
“ The ponies emerged unscathed, and once I could put both legs on she was really quite amazing—some of the best piaffe/passage she’s made, with very fluid transitions, almost a little too fluid and quiet in the rhythm. And I got all my changes (once we stopped leaping at the right leg—hilarious), made some nice zig zags and pirouettes, and back to the barn she went, too.
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It was a good day; I was hoping for a little more inner poise from the horses, at least from Cleo, but hopefully their enthusiasm in schooling will convert to energy and go-factor in the arena. Or, you know, I’ll have my arms ripped out. Whatev.
The Big To-Do at Devon is the Saturday night Grand Prix Kur class, and the rain did not deter anyone from making the trip out—every seat was packed. The class was down a few big names, but certainly did not disappoint, with a heckofa performance from Tina Konyot and Calecto V. I was also very partial to Danielle Galliger’s Abrikos—a beautiful, petite looking fellow with a marvelous attitude. She rode a really organized and accurate Kur to cute music.
Now I’m up at 3:45 am puttering around—I’ve never been a good sleeper at horse shows. I’m hardly a nervous competitor, but I LOVE showing, and it’s like Christmas morning—my screwed up little brain thinks that the earlier I wake up, the earlier the fun starts. Sigh. If only! So, today: I want Ella to let me ride her and for Cleo to go around and do everything; I’d love it if Ella would keep her front end up, and if Cleo would let me drive for the entire test. Bring it on!
LaurenSprieser.com
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