The Countdown Is On!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

One week from today and I will be getting ready to leave for Rolex in the evening! Woohoo! I am so excited for this year. For the first time we will be going down for all four days of competition. No more missing the best dressage rides because we didn't make it down for Thursday. Plus they are also running the Kentucky Cup Test Events. So Thursday night we have tickets to see the Dressage Freestyle test and Friday and Saturday evenings are some Show Jumping test events. So excited to get the opportunity to see riders from these other disciplines. And of course all the fantastic event riders that will be there as well.

In other news, I finally got my new boots. I'm actually pretty pissed that I had to buy new boots. I have really nice Ariats that I have worn maybe 5 times. But I tried to put them on and I was able to get the one on but it was so tight across my calf that it was painful. Couldn't even manage to get the other one on all the way. I have always worn a regular calf boot, but not anymore. So Friday after work I headed out to Luster's and tried on every boot they had. I liked the idea of getting something with a zipper, easier to get on and off, and probably won't be as noticeable if it gets a little tight. I ended up buying a relatively inexpensive pair of Devon-Aire boots: the Hampton Not too bad for the price. I wanted to get them now so I'd have some time to break them in and ride in them for a few weeks before South Farm.

Saturday morning I rode in my new boots for the first time. I had a short jumping lesson with Kaye before the kids rode. Overall it was pretty good, we started over the liverpool (which now has a big blue barrel in the sled) jumped that a few times and then added the swedish oxer. Then finally we ended with a little mini course. Blue barrel with the bending line to the swedish oxer, big left turn to the tarp and then the diagonal line to finish over the blue barrel. Overall we had a good jump school, but my first fence is still crap. I hate it, no matter what I do we always have a crappy first fence. We almost always chip in and take an extra short stride, and I'm usually all over the place. Then once I have that crappy fence I can usually settle in and actually ride the rest of our fences. I just want to be able to do it right from the first one.

Then later in the day after the kids all rode, I tacked up my little dirtball for a ride. Started out pretty well. He was tense when I first got on but we worked through that and he relaxed at the walk. And then started with some nice trot work. I didn't put the draw reins on, just rode in his running martingale. He was actually, going with his head down and mostly on the vertical. Then I asked for the canter and everything went to hell. He would not pick up the canter for me. Then he just turned into an all around jerk. Fussy with his head, not listening to my outside leg at all, dropping his inside shoulder, and just being a jerk. I've been asking Bonnie for months to get on him and school him a bit. However as of yet, she hasn't done so.

After I finished at the barn for the day I had to head home to help Mom empty, clean and refill the spa. We also got the brilliant idea to try and pull down the dead tree in the backyard. Yeah didn't end up working so well. Needed Todd's help to pull it down. And then to finish off the night I met Bonnie and Lee and introduced them to the goodness that is Wooley Bully's. It was a little bit weird being there on a Saturday night. Different crowd, different bartenders and no Victor. But the pizza was still good so I can't complain.

Sunday morning I was at the barn early. Got the ponies all fed and then Bonnie and I headed out to the field to try and decipher the deed to the 5 acres she's selling. We got the property marked as best we could determine. And then took Chloe for a nice little run around the farm. I remember not all that long ago when she hated the quad, now she loves to go for a run with us. Back to the barn to clean a few stalls and then when Tricia showed up to ride I tacked Miss up with her. Apparently though it was not my day to jump Miss. Had a couple of stop (completely my fault) and that's when we decided to call it a day. She's just getting better and I don't want to risk injuring her again because of something I'm doing. I did get some pretty decent flatwork from her though, so the lesson wasn't a total loss. After that we pretty much just finished up with the ponies and headed home.

So one more weekend at home and then we'll be heading down to Kentucky. And then the weekend after that will be the South Farm CT. Show season is gearing up and I can't wait!

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