First show of the year

Clare and I started the show season off by heading to Amberlea for the third dressage schooling show in their series. We both were in Senior Training Level tests 1 and 3, which made it a nice short day; we pulled out of the yard at 11am, and back in at 4:30!

The roads were in good shape, so the drive was nice, but it was a far cry from the 24 above it was at this show last year!

This was Pony's dressage debut in the new Training Level 1 test. We scored a 69% for that test, and placed 2nd. Our second test rode about an hour later and was Training Level test 3. We scored a 66% for that test, and were again 2nd. I think we had more better moments in the second test, but she was a little uptight as there were horses making a fuss in the barn and she was being a little spookier.

It was kind of funny, as for both tests I was immediately after a short rider on a very tall horse!

Magnus was a little overwhelmed I think by the number of horses in the little warm up section, but I thought he handled it very well, and had some moments of brilliance...punctuated by moments of baby tantrums. All in all though, I think the two did very well, and hopefully this show will give Magnus some more confidence about being in the show ring all by himself.

Pony and Magnus made quite the mismatched pair!

I don't know why dressage riders get so hung up on having a big horse...Pony does not require a mounting block to get on or a step stool to braid, and for that matter, hardly needed any braids! Plus...she is super cute!

Karen