Priceless

Well, this has taken a while.  It’s that time of year when things spin a bit out of control.  Who am I kidding, they’re always out of control around here, but this time of year I have trouble catching my breath in the whirlwind.  Thank goodness for the occasional weekend when I can immerse myself in the horse world and breathe deeply.

That’s just what we did at Heritage, although caution against breathing too deeply was needed.  Temperatures stayed in the 30’s during the day and dipped into the twenties by night.  Even with woolly winter coats coming in, I don’t think anyone was worried about over heating their horses on cross country.

I really couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.  I got to catch up with dear friends and pilot Miss Nutmeg around her first Training Level cross country course.  There were definite instances that showed how much improvement is needed, but I still came away from the weekend wearing a huge smile and terribly proud of the pony.

Dressage is going to be the game we play this winter.  Although we’ve truly made some great strides (no pun intended, well maybe slightly), there is still much to be desired.  Here’s the best descriptor of our dressage test.

Photo by Merrick Studios.

There were some decent moments too.

 

And some moments where the judge’s comment of “transition a little late” was more than generous.  For whatever reason, I was paying more attention to staying on and in the ring then I was to riding a precise test.  Still, as my coach said, “She went in at A, did most of the movements, and came out at A.”  I’ll take it and we WILL improve from here.  Gives me plenty to work on through the dark of winter.

As less then polished as our dressage may have been, Nutmeg earned every one of her blankets, cookies, and pets around cross country.  I did not ride my best, but she rocked it. 

 

Looks innocent enough, right?  I don’t know what it is about the first fence at Heritage, but apparently Nutmeg doesn’t care much for it.  Last year it caught me completely off-guard, this year I was ready.  It took being ready and then some.  Fence one was probably my best ride of the course!

Fence two, I threw my shoulders a bit and we got a funny spot, but Nutmeg pulled it out.

Then I remembered to turn on the camera!

I almost pulled up after three.  Cantering from three to four things just felt a little funky.  I couldn’t place my finger on it so I just eased up a bit and things seemed to sort themselves out on the way to five and six.

Headed to the water, I didn’t get it together.  It didn’t occur to me until over a week later, that I could have made a circle and set things up better, but at the time I was just completely focused on forward.  Unfortunately, I also focused down.

Big Praise to the Pony.  I could have ended up very wet and cold if she hadn’t kept going!

It took me a bit to regroup, but Nutmeg trotted over the “boat house” like a pro with me bopping along on her back.  I still wasn’t completely settled back in as we headed down to the dreaded trakenher.  All the while I was yelling to myself, “Get it together!  This has to be right!  Eyes up!  Eyes up!  Eyes up!”  I managed to keep them up almost all the way.  Nutmeg had a legitimate peek at the ditch, can’t blame her, she’s never seen one with a log over it before, but in that instance, I quit riding and prepared for disaster.  She’s amazing.  She really is because she piled us over that log and landed at nearly a complete stop.

Onward and forward!  After that it was all icing on the cake.  The bank up to the table wasn’t super smooth, but she read the question and answered it.  The combination I was most concerned about was probably our best combination on course.

I threw my shoulders again at the chevron.  Another jump she’s never schooled but piled me over in spite of my distracting flopping.  I really need to get back to the gym or at least off my rear more often and get my mental longevity back.  Over the end table and home free.

 

I thought we’d gone double clear, well inside the time (26 seconds), but later discovered I’d set my watch 30 seconds slow.  We had a few time penalties, but I view it as a blessing.  By setting my watch incorrectly, I made the time a non-issue.  I was planning on “ignoring” the time anyway, but you always have just a little pressure from that watch on your wrist.  This way I faked myself out.  I am very confident that time will not be a problem in the future.

Photo by Merrick Studios.

For those of you who have never ridden by the seat of your pants, had your horse save your hinny, or even had just an exhilarating gallop around the pasture, I can’t put into words how great I felt after cross-country.  It is one of those experiences you really just have to experience!  Say what you will about riding, it is teamwork on the highest level.

Sunday dawned not quite as chili, but still frost clung to the grass well after nine.  The Show Jumping course looked like it would be a real challenge for us.  There were several downhill turning questions where I could have easily lost Nutmeg’s shoulders and when the shoulders go, we’re sunk.  We would also be returning to the ring where she pretty much ran away with me last year, but we’ve been working on submission ever since and I was literally praying it paid off.

Photo by Merrick Studios.

She was a champ.  One hundred percent more ridable then the year before.  I was thrilled with the round.  We had a rail.  Possibly she just didn’t see it.  It was have black and half orange.  I rode to the black half to give us just a hair more room in our line to the next fence, she pulled the rail.  Oh well.  The rail did mess with our ride to the following oxar which in turn affected our ride into the one stride.  It twern’t pretty, but it was amazing.  The horse that grabbed the bit and plowed around courses earlier this year listened to my voice alone as I steadied her up for the one stride and somehow we came through it unscathed.  Good pony.  Good, good pony.

That really sums it up.  I am still completely overwhelmed with how good she is.  It was nice to get a pretty pink ribbon, but I’d trade a hundred pink or even blue ribbons for the feeling she gave me repeatedly that weekend.  “Mom, I can do this, just come along for the ride, or at least stay out of the way.”  She’s happy and she is loving this game.  If you haven’t watched the video through to the end, do.  The look on her face back at her stall is priceless.  My Fresh Perspective from our weekend at Heritage: I am truly blessed to have such a creature in my life.  

Photo by Merrick Studios.