EHSC Photo Overload

Guess what came in the mail yesterday.  The amazing pics Brant Gamma took of Buggers and I at EHSC!  Woot!  Here are some of my favorites.

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Erie Hunt and Saddle Club HT

Ok, finally getting around to blogging about my time at Erie Hunt and Saddle Club.  I had Friday before the event off.  So time to get Bugsy all squeaky clean and that last ride in.  Bonnie actually got on Bugsy and rode him first, so that was a nice treat.  I always enjoy riding after she's been on to tune things up.  Bugs got a thorough scrubbing as did my tack and he was tucked in for a good night's sleep.

Saturday morning I was at the barn e.a.r.l.y.  My ride time was at 9:12 but we had to feed and load up with enough time for me to get dressed and tacked up and plenty of warm up time at the show grounds.  Plus Bonnie wanted to work Bugs a bit before we left.  He goes better the second ride usually.  Made it to the barn in time to watch Bonnie ride, always educational.  The kids all slowly started arriving and we managed to get on the road only slightly behind schedule.  Pulled into the show grounds with about an hour till my ride time.  Perfect.  I got myself dressed while my superb grooming team took care of Bugsy for me.

Soon enough I was in the saddle and heading down to the dressage ring. Bugs warmed up great.  He was in the bridle just where we wanted him.  He was tracking up nicely.  All in all he looked exactly like a beginner  novice horse should.  We did our walk, trot and canter warm up, then just walked some small circles until it was our ride time.  As soon as Bugsy hit the dressage ring he suddenly remembered that he was a big bad intermediate horse.  And he went like an intermediate horse.  Oh well, he was a little more up in the bridle than we would have liked for beginner novice, but he was listening to me, and we rode a pretty good test.  So I figured we would either end up about mid pack or at the bottom of the division, depending on what the judge liked.  I practically had a heart attack when scores were posted and Bugsy and I were tied for 3rd!  I was shocked, I never expected to do that well.

I actually look like I know what I'm doing!

We had a couple of hours till it was time to jump, so Bugs was untacked and got to chill on the trailer with a hay bag, and we headed out to walk the cross country course.  It was a nice, straight forward course, actually the exact same course I jumped with Kaye 2 years prior.  Bonnie and I worked out how to ride the course, especially the water, and then we headed over to stadium.  Once again the stadium course was straight forward, no confusing turns or anything like that.

Before too much longer, the kids were tacking Bugs up again (in my snazzy new Ecogold pad) and we headed over to stadium warm up.  Bugsy warmed up great for me, although he was a little insulted by the small jumps.  We watched a couple of rounds and then it was our turn.  He was perfect in stadium, until the last fence.

As we were jumping the last fence we had a slight, uh, equipment malfunction.  My right stirrup slide off of the stirrup bar, and that threw me off balance just enough that I lost my other stirrup.  Well, then the banging stirrup spooked Bugs and he took off around the ring.  We did about 5 laps or so of the ring at a gallop before he jumped an oxer backwards and that's when I went off.   I just couldn't stick on anymore.  Luckily I was ok.  A lot sore, and a little shaken up, but ok.  Bugs stopped as soon as I went off and so the kids were able to grab him and take him back to the trailer.  Honestly at that point I wasn't sure I was up to finishing the show.  Luckily we had crossed the finish flags (several times) and so we were not penalized for the fall.  The kids took care of Bugs for me, hosed him off and then tacked him back up for cross country.  I got a drink, calmed down a bit, and manned up to get back on.

Warm up was a little rough.  Bugsy was being good, but I was still very nervous.  But the good news is even though I felt like I was going to be sick, I was staying with Bugs perfectly, even when he started leaving out strides before the fences.  Tammy coated my saddle in Saddle-Tite.  And then my support crew headed out to find a spot on course and I just had a few minutes left.  The starter called for my time, and we were off.

I was super nervous the first few fences.  And I kept Bugsy fairly slow.  And then after fence 3, my stupid pinny got caught around the whip I had under my saddle, so that slowed things up a bit.  We trotted the up bank at 4 and then down into the woods.  Then coming back up out of the woods Bugs picked up and easy canter, and suddenly I remembered how fun this was.  I rode my entire course in two-point, which actually Bugsy liked a lot better, sitting the canter/gallop on him is just asking for a little too much at this level.  He was such a good boy for me!  Even did the water like a champ!  The water was just an unflagged pass through for beginner novice, about 5 strides or so after a log.  Originally the plan was to go around the water rather than risk a stop, as we all know water is not Bugsy's favorite thing.  But after seeing the course Bonnie told me to take him through it, since it wasn't flagged, even if he did stop we wouldn't be penalized.  About 3 strides out from the log he saw the water and sucked back a little, but I growled at him and he said ok!  Jumped the log and then he did drop back to a trot before the water, but he trotted through with no hesitation and then picked up the canter again afterwards.  We finished the course with big smiles and 9 seconds under optimum time.

 
My support crew took Bugs for a well deserved shower, after he got lots of treats of course.  And I got a well deserved gatorade and a seat.  It wasn't too much longer till we heard the announcement that scores had been posted for my division.  If I was shocked to be tied for 3rd after dressage, just imagine my shock when I saw that I had won!  The first and second place horses had some problems in stadium and so I was tied for 1st after that.  Everyone else already knew it, and actually I'm glad Bonnie didn't tell me.  Would have made me a lot more nervous for cross country.  Both the other girl and I ran clean on cross country but I was closest to optimum time and so I won.  1st place out of 19 in the division, including some professionals, feels pretty darn good!

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The Road to Rolex...

Well they say the road to Rolex is never easy, apparently that holds true for spectators as well as competitors. Wednesday was my last day at home before we headed down to Kentucky and of course it was busy and I didn't get the nap I hoped for. Carol was nice enough to let me leave early since I hadn't taken a lunch the day before. That part was nice. Of course though I couldn't just go home and go to sleep. I had to make a few stops and pick some things up before the trip. And then I had to go home and finish packing, and take a shower to wash my hair, since I wouldn't have another opportunity for a shower until Thursday night. And I had to and see my Mom before I left. All that adds up to Jennifer not getting any sleep before driving to Kentucky.

Picked up Astrid a little after 11 and then headed to Zelie to pick up Ethan. Got to the barn a little before midnight (agreed upon plans were to leave at midnight) No Bonnie. So I text Bonnie that we are there and head in the barn to say good bye to His Poniness. Heather and Ari pull up, followed by Taryn. And then finally Bonnie shows up. Turns out we have to hay the horses and move hay bales around for Tricia. So by the time we get all that done it's much closer to 1:00 than 12:00 when we actually get on the road. Hop on the turnpike, drive into Ohio, stop for coffee at McDonald's. Get back on the turnpike and promptly get a flat tire. FML! Couldn't find the jack in the CRV, so we used Bonnie's AAA. About an hour and a half later, tire is changed and we can finally get on the road again. We made it to the horse park just in time to get in our seats and see Phillip Dutton's first ride of the weekend. Whew!

We got to see some incredible dressage on Thursday, Phillip Dutton, Boyd Martin, and Becky Holder, among others. It was a long day at the horse park, and after getting no sleep the night before, I'll admit I was a little bit goofy. After Rolex dressage finished up we headed down to Lexington to find the hotel and check in. And lo and behold there was a Fazoli's right next door to the hotel! Awesome! Checked in and headed over to Fazoli's for dinner and then it was back to the horse park for the Kentucky Cup Freestyle Dressage. Oh My God! Was that amazing to watch. The winning pair was Tina Konyot and her horse Calecto V, and they had an amazing ride.

It was late by the time we finally made it back to the hotel, like after 9 and I pretty much just crashed! I was so tired by then and we would have an early morning on Friday.

Friday morning we headed out early to watch the horses gallop at Keeneland. Unfortunately it was raining and just generally yuck, so I didn't want to take the camera out. We watched the horses for a while and then headed back to the hotel for breakfast and then back to the horse park. Since it was still raining and gross, I only stayed in the stands long enough to see the first two horses of the day, Phillip Dutton and Boyd Martin. Then Astrid, Ethan and I headed over to the Trade Fair, where we spent most of the day. Unfortunately we ended missing the Kentucky Cup Show Jumping Warm Up class when they moved the time and didn't really announce it at all. We all headed back to the hotel then and well, Taryn and I weren't quite ready to turn in yet. So we headed over to the bar that was attached to the hotel. Ended up having a good time there, drank more than we should have. But it's okay cause we had like 4 different guys buying us drinks. It was a lot of fun, of course though we paid for it the next morning. Not with hangovers but with Bonnie's somewhat snide remarks.

Saturday was cross country day. Woohoo! They were calling for some pretty bad storms Saturday afternoon and evening, so they ended up eliminating the lunch break and sending out horses every 4 minutes rather than every 5. Taryn and I slept in a little bit and didn't head over to the park with the others so we did miss the first few rides of the morning. But that's okay. Got to see a lot of careful riding this year, not the run around at top speed and hope and pray you get over the fence. Laine Asker was back with Anthony Patch (her first time back at Rolex after the terrible fall with Frodo Bagins two years ago) and I was really impressed with her. She took her time and from the few fences I saw she was jumping really well. Good for her that she was able to come back to Rolex and do so well, I'm sure that it wasn't easy for her. Read more about how it felt on her blog.

Laine and Anthony Patch over the Keeper's Brush

Finally, their third year running I managed to see our local eventer Kelly Sult at fences other than the Sheep's Shelter and the Double Diamonds.

Kelly Sult and Hollywood over the Offset Brushes

And then of course the highlight of my day was seeing Boyd Martin on his three horses.

Boyd Martin and Remington XXV over the Dray

At the end of the day William Fox-Pitt of Great Britain held onto his overnight lead with a double clear cross country round.

William Fox-Pitt and Cool Mountain

It was a good thing they shortened up the day because we made it back to our hotel just in the nick of time. We had only been in the room a few minutes when it started pouring down rain. Of course though I still had to go out in. Had to get that pesky tire fixed. So I stopped at the front desk to ask where I can get a tire fixed. The guy there tells me to go to Walmart. Said to make a right out of the parking lot, go about a mile down the road, at the redlight with the liquor store on the right you'll make a left and Walmart will be on the left. So I follow his directions, make the left at the light and I drive for about 10 minutes, no Walmart. Finally I search for Walmart in the GPS, it tells me I have to turn around. Turns out, at the light I should have made a RIGHT turn. Ok, no big, I find Walmart, pull into the parking lot, drive around looking for the service center, don't see one. Of course they don't do tire repair. So I ask the woman at customer service for help, she directs me to a place further down the road. It's closed. Finally I just start searching for Walmarts in the GPS and called them to find out if they have a service center. Find one about 10 miles away so I head there to get the tire fixed. And of course I find out it can't be fixed I have to replace the damn thing. Finally the tire is taken care of and I can head back to the hotel. I get changed quickly and we all pile into the van to head back to the horse park for the Kentucky Cup Show Jumping Grand Prix. Only we get there to find out that it's been canceled because of the weather.

Sunday morning we did get to sleep in a bit. Checked out of the hotel and headed over to the horse park. Since stadium didn't start until noon, we had plenty of time to wander around the horse park and check out the trade fair one last time. Bonnie and I went on a mission to find a nice leather spilt lead shank that we could have a plate with the farm name engraved on. Plus we spent a lot of time drooling over pre-fab stalls and expensive leather saddles. But soon it was time to head back to our seats and get ready for stadium to begin.

After the very first ride (and the competitor in last place) had an easy double clear we began to worry that the stadium course was too easy and it wouldn't be very excited. But then they started dropping rails left and right. Kelly and Hollywood had an unfortunate stop in stadium, but that still moved them up 2 places to finish in 28th.

Kelly and Hollywood

Of course things got really exciting as we headed into the top 20. Lots of great horses and riders up there and it was pretty exciting as falling rails started moving the placings around.

Laine Ashker and Anthony Patch finished in 14th place

Boyd Martin and Rock on Rose finished in 11th place

Phillip Dutton and The Foreman finished in 6th place

Will Faudree and Pawlow finished in 15th place

Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos finished in 4th place

Karen O'Connor and Mandiba finished in 7th place

Phillip Dutton and Woodburn finished in 2nd place!

Becky Holder and Courageous Comet, unfortunately a rail dropped them down to 3rd place

Kim Severson and Tipperary Liadhnan had some problems that dropped them out of the top 20

William Fox-Pitt and Cool Mountain


Cool Mountain finishing a double clear stadium round to win the 2010 Rolex Kentucky

All in an awesome weekend. Of course I was not at all happy to be leaving Kentucky to head back to Pennsylvania. But at least I have the combined test at South Farm to look forward to next weekend!

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Lost Hounds HT

Finally it was time for Lost Hounds this weekend. I spent the week practicing my braiding. Which I'd just like to mention how much I hate braiding.

Finished product

Rachel's lucky, no braiding for Airy

Thursday after work I headed out to the barn to clean my tack. I spent a couple hours taking apart the saddle and bridle and making sure it was spotless. Got home about 9, just in time to head to my mom's so we could watch the new epi of Royal Pains. Then I had to find a laundry place that was open all night. Luckily for me the Snowy White in Rochester is 24 hours, so I spent about an hour over there washing my green saddle pad for the show.

I took Friday off from work so I would have time to get everything done and get up to Edinboro to walk the cross country course. Got out the barn early and started feeding. Bonnie was picking up Astrid on her way home from work and they stopped at Tammy's to get the trailer. Bonnie had to get sawdust in the morning and Astrid and I stayed behind to get some stalls cleaned. Then when Bonnie came back she rode Kaye for me. Got her in the bridle and looking really good. Then Bonnie got on Airy while Astrid and I gave Kaye a good bath. We got Kaye nice and squeaky clean, picked her stall again and put her away. And then Astrid helped Rachel give Airy a bath. After lunch we all piled into Beth's car and headed up to Edinboro. We walked the cross country course, man was it a nice beginner novice course! Everything was straightforward, nothing too confusing back in the woods. Lots of room between fences. Just a really nice course. That's the way beginner novice courses should be set up. We walked the course twice and then headed home. Rachel grabbed Airy's tack to clean and she went home. We fed the ponies and I took Astrid home before getting to bed myself.

Saturday morning I was up at 3:30 to get ready. The plan was to leave about 5-ish, so I wanted to be at the barn by 4:00. Of course it was raining, and it rained the whole time I was at the barn. I was dashing out to the trailer between raindrops trying to load all my tack. I decided to tack Kaye up at home and haul her up with the saddle on since my ride time was at 8:30, and it makes me way to nervous when I'm rushed. Finally get everything done, get the ponies loaded and head up to the showgrounds. It poured the whole way there. We get there and park the trailer, it's still raining. Go to get my packet, still raining. I get dressed and finish bridling Kaye, still raining. I ended up not wearing my dressage coat because of the rain, instead I wore Bonnie's navy fleece pullover. I was soaked within minutes. But Kaye was so good! Our warm up was amazing. I asked for the trot she was flexed and on the bit. Picked up both canter leads and she stayed flexed. It was fantastic.

Free walk

I went into the ring and I had the best dressage test I have ever ridden. There were a few minor things that were my fault, but overall the test was great. Unfortunately I don't think the judge was watching my test. She gave me a 44.8 that put me in 10th place out of 11. And the comments she made don't even make sense. On almost every movement she said Kaye was resisting. Either she was watching something else or she has no clue what dressage is, because Kaye was not resisting! As much as it pissed me off, I just had to put it behind me. We'll make it up jumping. We had a couple of hours before stadium so my parents and Aunt Sandy and Uncle Ralph headed off to Erie for a bit and we went to walk the stadium course.

Stadium

The stadium course looked so easy compared to what Bonnie has us do at home. It looked small after jumping training level too. There was lots of room to turn, the in and out was a two stride, nothing too hard at all. The third and fourth fences were set up that in order to jump them both head on you would have to do a sharp left turn after three to get 4. We decided to just jump them both on an angle so we could get a straight line between the two of them. Yeah, they were oxers, but beginner novice fences are small for both Kaye and Airy. We walked the course two times and then had to repeat it to Bonnie. Finally about noon we got the horses tacked up and headed up to stadium warm up. We started warming up and Kaye was a superstar. She very nicely jumped everything. Got her leads when I remembered to ask for them. She didn't try bolting at the fences or anything. Rachel and Airy had a few problems in warm up, but when they went into the ring they rode a great round. Soon after that it was my turn. Kaye was amazing!!! I love that mare. I wasn't nervous at all so I was able to actually ride her and not just hang on and hope for the best. We got in good to every fence, got all out leads. We rode the third and fourth fences just like we walked it. Kaye did exactly two strides in the in and out. It was perfect. Bonnie told me it was the best round she saw all day in beginner novice or novice. No one else but Rachel rode 3 and 4 in the straight line. Everyone else turned between them and there were a lot of problems.

Flower box just before the water

So then back to the trailer, change my clothes and over to cross country. Kaye knew that's what was next and so she jigged around the warm up. Bonnie just had us jump the oxer a couple of times and then she headed out to watch Rachel. They ended up waiving the optimum time for beginner novice because of how much rain we had. Well that ended up being a good thing. We were in the start box, I never even put my legs on her, Kaye heard the starter say "you're on course" and she took off! She locked onto the prelim/int fence and floored it. I fought her the whole way to get her to slow down and over to the beginner novice fence. And then when we landed she just flattened out and took off. We could have been in the Kentucky Derby! So I circled her to get her under control. We jumped the second fence and had to circle. We jumped the third fence and then three strides later she jumped the patch of dead grass from where a portable had sat all winter, and then we had to circle again. Jumped the up bank and circled. We had to circle after every fence until like fence 9 I think. After that she would come back for me. At least until the next to last fence, I had to circle after that one. When she jumped the last fence, she knew she was going home and I couldn't do anything to slow her down. I was just praying people would stay out of our way. We didn't have any jumping faults, and since there wasn't an optimum time, we didn't have any time faults either. So we moved up to fourth place. Not too bad. And as tired as I was after that cross country round, I think it was a good thing for me. I learned I can ride her through things like that. We did eventually work through our control issues. And I finished. I didn't let my nerves talk me into quitting, and that's important for me.

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