So much to post about! Part 4

Saturday May 18 - The Show

Big day is here!  Me being me, I overslept and got there about 20 minutes before my dressage time.  I was ready to go a few minutes before my time, but they were running behind, so I didn't ride until about 15 minutes after my time.  He wasn't bad.  I don't actually remember much of the test, it was all a blur.  The judge commented that he needs lots of work to the right and that he's a nice horse.  I totally agree on both.  We ended up with a dressage score of 47.5%, which was fair, if maybe a little harsh (not a complaint!).

So we went into jumping in 8th out of 10 with our 52.5 penalties.  Warm up was interesting... a crossrail and a vertical in a grass field with a bunch of other horses trotting and cantering and jumping.  We've never jumped in grass.  We've never jumped in an open area.  We've never jumped with other horses.

In typical fashion, Riv was a champ.  He wasn't sure about the warmup fences, but he went over them eventually.  By the time we went in the ring to do our course, I was ready to throw up with show nerves.  (Typical for me.)  He stopped at the first fence.  Tried again, he went over it.  He stopped at the second fence.  Tried again, he went over it.  Then the lightbulb went on--ooooh, we're jumping!  Okay!  And River hopped right over everything.  He was praised wildly after every line, like the jumps were 3' instead of 12".

So with the refusals, we ended up in last place.  I cannot being to say how much I don't care about our placing.  He did what I wanted him to do.  It was a very very very positive experience.

We also did two more dressage tests.  Intro B was our best, with a score of 61.9%!!  We did Intro C, but we didn't canter, so we had some zeroes.  I'd already entered, so we just did it for experience and to get feedback on stuff other than the canter.

I am so incredibly proud of him!  He took everything in stride (except the first two jumps, lol) and behaved better than I expected!  I've said it before and I'm saying it again--I am so lucky to have him.  I hit the jackpot of OTTBs.  And contrary to what my stalker thinks, we're a pretty darn good match.