Clemson Report

As always I'm still waiting for pics. Although, since none of our regular photographers were able to travel with us we may only have a ribbon pic. Not sure if the camera came out other than that. Clemson was great this weekend. But, it was frigid. It never got above 45 degrees in the sun. I packed knowing it would be cold, but even my fleece lined breeches, and insulated tall boots weren't enough to keep me warm. We travelled with a slightly smaller group. There were 4 riders and a total of 8 of us. I have been really wrapped up in some sludge lately. This weekend gave me a chance to get away from all of it and remember how much I LOVE what I do. Everything ran so smoothly I had the opportunity to ponder some decisions and situations that I needed to resolve. So, now that I'm home it's time to follow through on the decisions I have made. Enough about my mental health, on to what you really want to know... how we did.

Gia took both her regular mount JP (from J&B) and Skittles with us. She was originally going to ride JP in the open classes. He schooled really well Friday evening, so Kellie and I discussed her showing him in hunters. Gia wanted to jump him, but Kellie was nervous how he would jump away from home. I told her to hang in there and lets try it. That meant Gia had to show both Skittles and JP in the crossrails hunter. The class was huge. It had 22 entries. Skittles was third and JP was fifth. Way to go Gia!! Gia then had took Skittles in the 2' hunter classes as well. Those classes were even larger as she had 25 entries to compete against. I made an error and taught her the wrong course, but apparently Skittles was so stunning that no one noticed and she placed second. Gia then got to relax for awhile, and run JP in barrels and poles in the evening. She again came home in the ribbons.

This was Nicole's first show with Houston. We learned a lot about him this weekend. He travelled very well considering how he had travelled coming to us. He rode up there like a champ. We discovered he doesn't like the cold and he spent most of the weekend lying down in his stall trying to stay warm. Nicole showed him in the 2' and 2'3" divisions on Saturday. She pinned well in the HUS class of 20+ entries, but not over fences. Houston was very sloppy about his distances and using his hind end. In hind sight I should have encouraged Nicole to push him forward more, so he was using himself better. At the same time I was very happy with the outcome. For the very first time Nicole got mad at her horse for not holding up his end of the relationship. I am not a big one for blaming the horse for our errors. I genuinely believe when horses misbehave/under perform it's a result of our error. This time around I still feel it was our error, but an error I would repeat. To see Nicole start to appreciate the sport aspect of riding, and not be completley hung up in the relationship component with her horse was a wonderful moment.

Now to the big news of the weekend. I normally post about how helpful Diane is. Always being there for me, providing wonderful food, playing chauffer, etc. Of course she did all of those things as always... but, she also SHOWED Houston. She has had 4 lessons, and went into the open ring in a western walk/jog class. Her class had 15 entries, so I didn't really expect she would place. I was so proud of her for jumping in there and going for it though. Yeah DIANE!!! You're a winner to all of us.

Sunday had it's share of highlights as well. Nicole was set to show Houston in 2'6" Hunters. She went in to the ring second. As soon as she finished her course I knew she would be in the top 3 of the 9 entries. She and I stood ringside together for the whole class. Not something I often get to do, as I'm typically rushing off to get someone else ready. As each of the entries rode their courses my smile continued to grow. As soon as the final entry had gone I looked at Nicole and told her she had won the class. She smiled a bit, but I could tell she was sKeptical. When the placings were finally announced she couldn't have been more excited to learn I was right. She then had her equitation round which didn't go as well as I would have liked. We have spent a lot of time the last several weeks talking about Houston needing to be more supple. Nicole hasn't been very interested in taking the steps to improve that area just yet. His stiffness came back to bite us as she had to ride a very tight broken line. She also placed well in her hack for the division. I really wanted her to have a stab at the division championship, but more importantly wanted her to get a second chance to ride the broken line. When she came out of the ring from her last 2'6" class I took her to the schooling ring without saying much. I know how nervous she gets with the unexpected. I put up a vertical again without saying anything other than to ask her to jump it. She looked curiously at me, but didn't get whiney. She pointed Houston and asked for impulsion he lifted over and she stayed with him. When she landed I asked her to do it a couple more times. Then I said alright let's go ask mom. I wanted her to go in the 2'9" classes to pick up more division points. Nicole had never jumped that big with Houston. In fact the only time I have asked her to jump that was when Tansey started stopping with her. Her degree of trust in Houston was evident. Nicole was excited for the opportunity not nervous. She went in and again they got around a beautiful hunter course. Following the eq class I tallyed the division points for her. She was in reserve. I knew she didn't have 3' in her, so I stripped down ring side and put her show jacked on intending to ride the 3' hunter course in order to pick up enough points for her to win the championship. If I got him around clean we were guaranteed the championship as the girl we had to overtake wasn't showing 3'. Once I entered the ring and jumped the first line I had to make a heart wrenching decision. I pulled Houston up and excused myself from the ring. He was tired and he and I were not in a good rythym. I had to make the safe choice to compete again another day. Nicole did take home a beautiful resrve championship ribbon though.

Sunday is Kaijsa's day to shine. It's the day they have both combined training and dressage. She had also chosen to ride in the high gambler's choice. The jumper classes were a fraction of the size they have been in the past. The 2'6" jumpers was a fair size, but then the next to only had one or two entries in them. The Gambler's choice didn't go as well as we would have liked. Kaijsa was so cold that she virtually couldn't move. Em saved her butt, and Kaijsa made the smart decision from then to just take it easy knowing full well that she would place as long as she didn't fall, or have 3 refusals. She came out second in that class. Her first dressage test of the day (the one that is part of her combined training) went well. She scored better than she did on the same test last time up there. The judge did blow the whistle on her and comment that she didn't ride the correct test. We were all puzzled at this, and Kaijsa was just hopping mad. The judge allowed her to finish her test and scored it. In actuality she rode the correct test, but not with the same degree of accuracy the judge would have liked. When it came time to jump for the CT we decided to scratch as Kaijsa was still frozen, and just didn't feel she had the ability to get Em around a jumper course. She placed fourth in her CT despite the scratch. Her final class of the weekend was the important one. She rode first level test 3. The test includes extensions at the trot and canter, as well as leg yields. The judge was very favorable overall about Em, and Kaijsa scored much higher than our last outing. She won her class with a score of 61.43.

I have forgotten to mention one other class Kaijsa rode in. Nicole allowed me to borrow Houston so Kaijsa and I could show in the discipline rail class together. This is the class I explained after the 4-H show when I rode Riley without stirrups for the entire class. This time the judge elected to run the class differently. He ran a freestyle type of class. He basically gave us free rein "no pun intended" to show our horses to the best of our abilities. He had us show at each gait and show the best they could do. I take my hat off to Kaijsa as she beat me by a narrow margin, but I couldn't keep Houston in the canter. He was too tired and I didn't have spurs on. Next time Kaijsa and I have decided if we're given the same opportunity we're going to turn it into a pas de deux. She would execute a maneuver and then I would have to match it. She would then try to match my challenge.

There is so much more that happened this weekend that I would love to share, but I need to get outside and enjoy the 60 degree weather. If you want to know everything that happens when we travel you really should come with us. Remember the Christmas party is tonight at 6pm. ALL are invited. If you live in the area and take the time to read my dribble we would LOVE to have you come to the farm.