Home Sweet Home

Ahhhh... I'm home.

Back in the 40 degree rain that seems to be the accepted UP fall weather. All of the locals like to remind me that I have yet to be here for a real Fall or a real Winter or even a real Spring, for that matter. But I can always win the real summer war. 115 degrees in El Paso for three weeks trumps one 90 degree day any time, any where... So that's some small consolation when I smile and nod and assure them that my thin blooded Texas self sure is in for it. Again.

Anyway, in between rain showers, I did manage to take Tilly out for a ride. Yay!
She's fat, lazy and unmotivated after her two weeks off, but she was a good sport and let me play a little Dressage Queen with her. We have a long way to go before she's fit and trained enough for her recognized show debut next year, but we have all winter, right?

The way I figure it, Delight was a 70% training level horse (yes, even at recognized shows) and she got slaughtered at the championships, so Tilly had better be a 75%+ training level horse before I even think about taking her to a real show. Ouch. That math just hurts me. I remember the days when a 65% was great... Now it's not even qualifying.....

Sigh.

Day 5 & 6: Get Me Out!

Ok. I have had enough.
Yesterday I had my two rides, with a little improvement... But we have a ways to go before I'm happy at first level at all with Delight. In good news, Tilly is fancy enough to compete in the Pony classes...

Now, why is this my worst horse show ever?
Let's review - in chronological order- shall we?

• My trip begins with a phone call that my horses are out on the road. In Chassell, MI... When I'm 200 miles away. Evidently, the horses ran right through the fence, taking down a whole chunk of my hot wire. Upside: I have great friends who corralled the horses and repaired my fence. 
• It rained when we overnighted in Jackson, MI. Why is this a problem? Evidently there's a leak/drip in my trailer which means that my helmet was literally full of water when we arrived in Lexington. I poured about a quart of rainwater out of my helmet and had to wear a cold damp helmet all weekend. 
• My moms truck (brought it bc it had more room for the dogs) starts running rough, but we make it to KY. Brought it in, and was assured that it would be fixed by Saturday. My mom got a call at 6p on Friday that there are no parts in the US of A to fix the problem. Enter the worst rental car ever.
• I get an update on my horses that they have gone, in a word, feral. RC's biting, Tilly's escaping, and London is running the farm sitter over.
• I realize how far I am to being able to compete as a professional. 
• Today I got a missed call with a voicemail from my barn sitter, telling me she had "bad news" and that my "barn was destroyed". My heart dropped out of my chest wondering is a horse was hurt or dead or something equally terrible. Come to find out that RC just kicked out a wall which was later repaired... With phone calls like these, I'm not long for this world. 
• I scratch my last class because with 20 mph winds and a tired pony, we had all the wrong kind of energy. Ponita was tired and grumpy (and probably sore) on our hand walk, and I knew that it was over. No point in pushing her beyond her limits or setting her up for failure.... But a wasted $80. And no qualifying score. 
• Mom and I get Courtney on the road and head to the airport to pick up my rental car (which I called and reserved for an airport to airport rental, Lexington to Marquette then coordinated a ride home). Denied, because I didn't have a credit card (which was NO PROBLEM to the woman I talked to when reserving my rental)... But the Hertz rental could hook me up, and accept my measly debit card.  But if it were really that easy, I'd be on my way to the UP. And I'm not. I'm currently updating my blog from an El Cheapo motel (the only kind that welcomes three dogs and two horse show weary travelers for under a hundred bucks). Come to find out that they need a credit check for those of us who are "point to point" renting, just in case I try to abscond with the shitty compact car I was attempting to use to get home. And little old me has never gotten a loan, borrowed money, or signed for any one of the myrad credid card offers that they send out to the ignorant college student so that they can trap them in that 27% interest. But not me... so I don't get a rental car. Even with cash in hand, no points on my license and two jobs. Nope, no debt, no car. 

So here I am, trying to find a way home.... Crap.

Day 4: The Disappointment

Yeah... Title says it all. Today was Delight and I's Training Level Championship class.

We were outclassed. We did not even belong in the same arena as the top ten horses in that class. The winner earned a 77%... We closed up the class with a 65%. Not even close to good enough.

Sigh.

I'll watch my video when I get up the nerve to watch it. At the moment I don't really think I'm in the frame of mind to watch me fail that hard and objectively watch for where I need improvement. Can. Not. Do that.

Receiving a little coaching...

Pony Canter

Flying Pony

My first ride was first level test 3... And I felt that it went quite well. Courtney schooled me before the test, slowing our tempo by about 50% for a slower, more powerful trot and increasing the give through the rib cage. Our test, while entirely different than our normal style, felt pretty good. I would have called it a success.
Until my sister relayed my score to me. I would have guessed that it was better than a 63%...

Pony warm up, waiting on the bell

Another Hover Pony shot

Chillin with the gang

What a day. Remind me again why I do this?

Day 3: First Class

Ah, so now Day One of the show (day three of my trip) is behind me, I can breathe a sigh of relief that Delight did not blow up or leave the ring or buck me off or any of the other myriad naughty pony moments that could have occurred.

Oh'dark thirty at the Rolex Arena

Of course, this being a horse show, the day started around 4:30. Ouch, right? But of course with two rides for Team MacDonald, both had to be before 9 am...

Sambuca Extra and Courtney in their first Grand Prix test of the show

I watched my sister ride at 7:45 in the rolex arena then had to rush to get on my horse and down to the Dressage Complex (looong walk, remember?). I was running a bit behind schedule, even though I didn't have to get changed since I wore my 'dressage whites' under my clothes to start the day (planning ahead for a change), so I only had about twenty minutes of warm up.
The warm up with the lower levels riders is, in one word, terrifying. In my twenty minutes I was nearly run down by worried juniors and white faced ammys more times than I care to count. Deli-pony was NOT a fan...

However, we managed to pull a decent test out of thin air. It was much more relaxed than our Wednesday warm up, but not as relaxed as ideal. There was quite a bit of room for improvement... So imagine my suprise when I actually placed with a score of 69.6%.... Only three percent out of the lead. There's hope!

Of course, after wrapping up the our classes for the day before 9, we untacked the horses then moseyed over to watch a few tests (with Sam who stopped by for moral support!) and follow the grand tradition of horse people and critique and comment on the warm up and classes going on, then took the dogs on a little walk on the cross country course....

What's a visit to Rolex without a course walk?

At the end of the day, Team MacDonald took the Bucky and Delight out for a little ride to stretch their legs... On the cross country course. Delight took (most) of it in stride while Bucky was not impressed with the jumps. Or driving horses. Or paso finos from the store next door.
.... And after a little hand galloping, I can kind of begin to see the allure of eventing. It was FUN.

And dressage horses can go out and do just fine.

Days 1 &2: Travel Time

So, the Championship Saga has started. On Tuesday my mother and I took off to head to Kentucky. Loaded up the 15 bales of hay, 8 bales of shavings, saddles, bridles, show pads, schooling pads, a bag of feed, dog crates and food…. The list goes on.  We were ready, set and off!

Six hours or so into the trip, I received texts and phone calls.

My horses were out. CRAP.  Why, after six months in their own field, would they choose the weekend that I’m already stressed and heading out of town to stage a coup?

Fortunately, I have some great friends/clients who corralled my ponies, restrung the fence and righted all the other wrongs. I continued the last 300 miles of day 1 with few(er) concerns.

The good news is that after 560 miles, we stayed at a great little place that I found on horsemotels.com. (Lone Pines Ranch outside of Jackson, MI… two thumbs way up).

Day two of my drive, we made it the final 350 miles (whew). Of course, I received a text that my three ponies at home had gone feral… But out of sight, out of mind.

Be still my heart... One chain restaurant down, one to go

I pulled in to the Kentucky Horse Park around 5:30, got a little lost looking for our stall in Rolex Tent 3, then bedded down a stall and brought Delight in. She made that 900 mile trip none the worse for wear (whew).

There should really be an award for the furthest traveled at this show. I'm pretty sure I'd be a strong contestant...

Team MacDonald... All settled in.

I was lucky that my sister checked me in and had picked up my number and info packet…. So off to the warm-ups! This is a BIG park! It’s got to be a 20 minute walk from the Rolex complex (where Courtney is showing and near the ) to the Dressage complex (where I show)…

Stay tuned for Day 1 of showing….

Final Countdown....

Good news: We survived the first snow fall of the year. The horses were blanketed and tucked safely into their barn. I did have to wipe the snow off of my truck... Too bad there's no power to the barn, at the moment. Damn...

Your colorful moment of Zen has been brought to you by the UP

Anyway, I'm sure that everyone realized that it's the final countdown to the GAIG USDF Region 2  Championships... My first ride is at 8:37 Thursday morning for my training level warm up. T Minus 3 days....

The look like show ponies, don't they?

My championship class is 5:21 pm... last ride of 40 training level horses. I sure hope the judge likes training level. No pressure, right? On the bright side, as of 6:50 Friday (after the awards ceremony, if I should be so lucky), I'll be able to claim that I've pulled off my first successful year as a pro. Yay me, right?

Whew... so much to do in the next 6 hours. Then 16 hours of driving. Followed by four days of activity and show tension. Followed by 16 more hours of driving. Followed by hibernation.

The boys don't get why I'm stressed.

Tis The Season....

That's right folks, it's that time of year again...

The days are getting shorter. COTH is starting it's Secret Santa (which reminds me, I should sign up...).The colors are changing. The temperature is falling. The snow is coming...

Wait, What?!?!?!1

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Yep, snow. London is not going to be a fan... Good thing that the driveway is finished and I can get my horses back into the barn!

Ooooh.....

Ahhhhh.....

Of course this driveway job was supposed to be done in August, but now that it's actually in, who am I to complain? AND i now have running water in my barn! How amazing is that?

Of course, before I officially welcome winter with open arms while whistling christmas carols, I have to say that the fall colors are/were amazing!

Isn't that bridge picturesque through the fall foliage?

 Look at all of the pretty colors....

Tilly and RC came over to see what I was doing.

Work?!?!?! We're outta here!


Bring on the snow... I'm in the holiday mood.