And we're off.....

This season is going to be busy... and we like to be busy!  We've been filling in the calendar with all sorts of things to do (cause that's what one does when stuck inside for days on end!), and right now, things are looking good.... if we could ever put together a string of decent weather around here.

Last weekend was the first show I had on the calendar - a schooling dressage show at Whinstone Farm.  At first, we had a sizable group interested in showing, however after the treacherous weather of the last couple weeks, everyone's enthusiasm has waned a bit.  I did however feel bad emailing Patti (show organizer and Whinstone owner) to let her know that none of us from C-Horse would be attending, so I went ahead and signed up the P monster.... never mind that we had only been doing walk and trot sets for the last month.  I sent in my entry, and popped outside to see if we remembered how to canter.

And of course I can't help but to schedule things on top of one-another, so I had very limited time to enjoy the actual show.  I pulled into the grounds, furry/dusty pony in tow, a mere 13 minutes before my ride time (thank you frozen trailer hitch, you're a big help!).  Prophet warmed up fairly respectable, and put in a decent enough test.  One of my goals for the next month or two is to get P in lots of dressage arenas so I can really figure out how to RIDE him thru a test rather than winning the warm-up and then blowing it in the box. I figured now was as good of time as any, and booted him through a couple of movements to really try and get him to keep trying in there. I had a couple of wonderful clients come watch, and they were wonderful enough to video my rusty first go, so I will get to watch our test and see how it looked.... it didn't feel the best, but not the worst.

It must have not been too bad, as P scored a 69 and change, earning a win in the First Test 1 division and the high score of the day!!!!  AND we actually got an 8 on gaits (which I owe totally to the careful addition of weighted boots to our program).  Since I don't have the video or pics of P yet, I'm posting pics of our test for proof!

Can you tell I booted him a bit too much in our free walk?  (6th movement)

An 8! An 8 on GAITS!!!!!

69.310!  Good boy Diddy man.

So, I do feel like maybe the judge was a bit generous, but I am proud of my little man for being such a trooper with a 7 min warm-up.

The cool thing about Diddy is that he is multi-talented... As I had MANY lessons scheduled after the show, I threw him in a field at a client's place, and drove around to 'my' barns for a couple of hours, before returning to my boy.  I had one lesson left for the day... one of my younger clients, Ms. Yancie, who has a deep love for all things pink, so I figured she'd like a lesson on the Diddy, complete with his Pink Blingy Dressage Bridle (BonVivant Equine).  So Diddy pulled another shift as walk/trot lesson pony before getting to go home.

Her legs barely reached the bottom of my jump saddle!

Just because he was such a good boy Sunday, P got treated to the first canter/gallop of the 2011 season on Monday, and man, did it feel awesome.  He felt strong... really strong, and was moving SSSOOO well.  I'm so excited about this season!

Ciao, ciao!