You’ve surely had one of those moments where you’re having such a good time that time itself seems to come to a standstill. The moment seems like it could last forever. Well, for a handful of eventers in the Novice division at Mill Creek Pony Club Horse Trails last weekend, it really happened. While we were galloping around the beautiful cross country course our watches kept counting, but the rest of the world, or at least a small area around the start/finish line experienced a pause in time, bringing several of us in significantly earlier than our watches read. Funny how when you’re having fun, time flies for you and stands still for the rest of the world….
The Space/Time Continuum aside, Mill Creek Pony Club does do wonderful job putting on a quality event each Spring at Longview Horse Park. It’s always a challenge weather wise, since a Missouri Spring can include highs in the low 30’s and mid 90’s within a few days. Add to that a Spring shower and a thunderstorm or two and you never know what you’re going to get. This year the footing was top notch. We received just enough rain leading up to the event to freshen up the grass and add just a bit of spring to the ground. Those that have ridden Longview know to watch for the random hole and divit, but this year the crew did a bang-up job marking problem areas or filling in with lime. Nutmeg thanks you!
The course was also reworked for the Spring event. It offered a newish track with new questions and a few new fences. My opinion when walking the Novice course was that it would prove to be a good honest test and I think it was, but I’m getting ahead of myself…
We pulled Nutmeg out of the pasture Friday covered in mud, after all it was forty something and raining so any sensible horse was covered in mud for extra insulation. It’s a good thing we bathed on Monday when it was ninety. New dirt is always easier to get out than old dirt. So, we bundled Nutmeg up for her trailer ride and departed.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so appreciative of a loose and happy horse. I was really sweating bullets about getting to the event with a sound horse. As my husband was giving me a leg up before Dressage, he said, “She seems to be walking really long and loose, I think you’re going to be okay,” and she was. She felt as good as she ever has. We had some really nice moments in warm-up and put in a decent test, plus, she was sound and happy – success!
She was just a bit “up” for cross-country warm-up, but as my husband so aptly put it, you’d be “up” too if Mother Nature was blowing forty degree wind up your butt. We warmed-up and made the trip down the hill to Nutmeg’s first trip out of the start box. We had a few awkward steps and take-offs, but overall I was very pleased with her trip around. We did have one “Oh dear!” moment about a third of the way around the course. The question was a tiger trap(not a toothy metal contraption, but a slanty wooden fence) followed by a downhill to some wine barrels. They were numbered separately so you could either jump the tiger trap sit up in two strides turn down the hill in four to the wine barrels or take the tiger trap and make a big circle to the right, giving yourself a nice long set-up for the wine barrels. I knew the short route was going to be a real test for Nutmeg and with the way she had warmed-up I decided I’d play it safe, use up a bit of time and take the long option. Well, as we were locking onto the tiger trap, I realized that there was a pod of golf carts sitting exactly where I needed to make my right circle. Time to switch back to plan A. Again, I’m so proud of Nutmeg. She stepped up to the plate and the wine barrels were one of our best fences.
We all had a good laugh at the water jump. We hopped over the log, cantered into the water and Nutmeg abruptly shifted down five gears. She was trying to stop and get a drink! Poor girl, I was laughing so hard as I shouted encouragement, convincing her there was a bucket with her name on it if we just crossed the finish line. She regained her focus and hopped out over the lattice fence, slightly offended, but none the worse for wear. According to my watch, we finished nine seconds under optimum, after just loping around the course. The timer, however, clocked us at forty seconds under optimum, awarding us a healthy amount a speed faults. Yes, I’m sure my watch was keeping accurate time; I checked it against two others. Oh well…
The Sunday stadium course was different. I honestly wasn’t sure how well it would flow when I looked at the course map and walked it. I watched several rides that certainly weren’t flowing and a few that got around smoothly. Ours was not so flowing, but it wasn’t the courses fault. In fact, it was a refreshing course and I’m glad they threw something new at us. It started with a bending line, followed by a single diagonal vertical, a vertical bending to a double, quick left turn to the end fence, then a tight right turn between the end fence and the rail back to a broken line around the end to a single roll top, finishing over a triple for Prelim and Training and a single oxer for Novice and Baby Novice. Nutmeg impressed me again with the way she sat up and turned at the end of the arena, but then we had a rail at the “in” of the broken line. It was purely a miscommunication. I was riding the last fence of the line instead of the fence in front of me. The way the points were, we could have had about twenty rails without changing the placings, so it was a good lesson, without being a painful one.
Again I’d like to thank Mill Creek Pony Club for putting on this event each Spring. It’s one of the finest in the area and it gives me something to look forward to during the long winter. A huge thanks to all the volunteers and sponsors that make it happen. Thanks to my coach for reminding me of the little things that make a big difference and a big thanks to Nutmeg’s owners for allowing me to compete such a game horse. She’s certainly something special, after all, when we’re galloping around cross country time apparently stands still so everyone can watch, at least that’s how we perceived it. ;)
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