It took me a week to actually write this blog, because I was NOT on a horsey high after this weekend. Again, you'll understand soon.
We spent Thursday night (8/1/19) prepping the trailer and making sure I had loaded everything to head to Catalpa Corners in Iowa on Friday. I ended up not being able to ride, because I spent the evening running around and getting everything finished and ready. Chris, Harold, Leah, & I went to family dinner at the Chinese buffet in Butler before finishing prepping & heading to bed relatively early. The plan was to be on the road by about 6am on Friday.
Chris woke up at 4:22 am on Friday 8/2/19 to begin calling the horses up so we could feed them before we left. She started calling them at 4:30. Leah and I woke up at 5:15 and were up at the barn around 5:20 and Chris had still not had any success getting the horses to come up to the fence. Leah and I decided to head out into the pasture and see if we could find them. We eventually found them after walking around the whole pasture. Dezi came up with us, but the rest of the horses weren't having it at all. They knew the trailer was hooked up and did not want to get anywhere near the fence. Unfortumately, Harold would have to feed them.
The trailer clock read 6:03 when we pulled out of the driveway. Until I realized that we didn't pack a cooler or bring Dezi's ice boots for after cross country. We turned the trailer around, grabbed the things we had forgotten and were on the road again around 6:18. We made several stops on the way to Iowa City, including one stop at the truck wash where Dezi had to get out and graze in the minimal grass they had. She was only mildly confused & upset, more so because of the loud squeaking train that was passing nearby than being by herself. I got to drive the truck/trailer for the first time when the traffic was lighter. I was able to take the truck/trailer from north Missouri, through Des Moines, and into Iowa a significant amount, until we were about an hour from the horse park when I let Chris take over again. We arrived at the horse park around 2pm after all our stops along the way.
We set up the stall and let Dezi get acclimated to the show environment a bit. They had new permanent stalls that were all open, which was interesting. Dezi could see all the horses around her despite coming alone from home.
We walked the cross country course first. Everything looked pretty straightforward. This was Dezi's first time at Catalpa, but I had been here before and the XC course looked similar to those in years past. We stopped and talked about the water a bit. Dezi had cantered into the water at Heritage Park last weekend on her first attempt, so I thought that Chris and I were in agreement that I would canter into the water and then probably trot through the water to the next fence. More to come on that later...
I walked the course once more on my own before tacking Dezi up for our practice dressage ride. I had forgotten my schooling breeches (all I had were the breeches I was planning on using for the show), so I stopped at the tack shop to pick some up before our ride. I had a beautiful dressage schooling. I walked for a while until Chris and Leah could join me. We did some Canadian serpentines at the trot, worked on our trot to halt transitions, worked a bit on our medium walk to free walk to medium walk, and cantered before Chris told me that she looked great and I should just walk her out.
I cleaned some tack, made sure Dezi would be comfortable for the evening, and we headed out. We stopped at the hotel to check in before we went to our usual restaurant, the sports bar of the Power Plant restaurant (because the fancy part of the restaurant is much too fancy for us). Leah hung out in the pool for a bit while I called my boyfriend Anthony to check in before we headed to bed.
We got to the horse park around 7am on Saturday morning. Chris and Leah headed down to dressage to spectate for a bit while I fed and braided Dezi to prepare for our dressage ride at 11:15. The plan was to be mounted and headed to the dressage rings around 10:40. I finished braiding around 9:00am (no judgement at how long it takes me to braid, please). I opted to watch the preliminary cross country (which was close to the stall) instead of trying to make the trek to meet Leah & Chris at dressage. They ended up coming down to cross country to watch a bit with me before I had to head back to the stall to get ready to ride.
Chris & Leah met me at the dressage rings. I had gotten on too early. Surprise, surprise. I walked for a long time. I started my warm up, trotted a bit and then cantered before Chris said I was ready. No need to wear her out for dressage when she was riding well.
Our test was fine. Our trot and canter work felt really nice. And then I had to walk. Why do I always have so much trouble with the walk? I can go medium walk to free walk to medium walk to free walk forever at home with no problem at all, but for some reason, when I'm at a show, I manage to screw it all up. Our medium walk was fine. I got about half way across the free walk diagonal before I realized that Dezi was not reaching forward and down, only forward. I fixed it, but I didn't know if it was soon enough. And then my second medium walk was horrible. She was haunches in literally the whole time and I just couldn't fix it. Out trot transition was too late, because I needed to get her hind end under her before I could get a good transition. I was super disappointed. Chris said it was my nicest dressage test yet, but I still felt like I should have done better with the walk. Turns out, it was actually OK. I was sitting in a tie for 2nd with a 30.5. Consistent. That was the same score I had after dressage at Mill Creek, too.
Now time for cross country. I let Dezi take a bit of a nap before we needed to get ready for cross country. I planned on having a 30 minute warm up so that I wouldn't wear her out too much. Before this show (and with the previous horses I've owned), I was always used to getting on an hour before our ride times. But knowing that Dezi's fitness would likely be our biggest issue, Chris and I decided that we wouldn't need to warm up quite as long.
We did our 2 laps of walk, 2 laps of trot, and 1 lap of canter in each direction before we started jumping. Dezi took all of the jumps, no problem. As we were getting ready to go to the start box, I looked at the small water pond they had in the warm up and assumed that if Chris wanted me to take that, she would have suggested it. The water would be fine. It was fine at Heritage Park and the environment is similar with the water at the top of a hill.
We started out on course and Dezi was riding like a dream. If I didn't get the perfect distance, she was making up for my mistakes. She was a real rockstar. We were down on the time, though. I wasn't quite at the places I wanted to be for my minute markers. We headed up the hill to the water and I pushed her forward to canter instead of letting her trot. At the base of the water, she put on the brakes and I was too far forward in the saddle to be able to save it. I landed on the ground. My air vest went off, but Dezi just stood there with me. Stunned.
As I walked off the course, Melissa's mother (a woman I know well enough from competing against and riding with her daughter) was walking toward me with purpose. She gave me the biggest hug. And in that moment, that hug was exactly what I needed. A mom hug. And then I saw Chris, who just laughed at me and said "You didn't ride the plan." Well, I guess I didn't fully understand the plan. I thought I had understood the plan to be to attempt to canter into the water when apparently her plan was to trot the whole entry. Now I know to make sure to clarify those things.
Either way, It was my fault. I was thinking about the time. I was thinking about being in a tie. I was thinking about how well she had cantered into the water last weekend. I was thinking about all the wrong things when I should have been thinking about giving my horse a good ride at her first BN cross country. I cried that afternoon. Not because I was eliminated, but because I felt like I had let my horse down. She deserved better than the ride I gave her.
Luckily, when I went up to the show office to pick up my dressage test, there was a sign that eliminated riders would be able to school XC on Saturday evening after the cross country competition had been completed instead of having to wait until stadium was finished on Sunday, as usual. That's amazing! However, there was also a sign that there would be no courtesy rides allowed on Sunday for eliminated riders. Well, at least I could school XC on Saturday after it was all fresh in our minds instead of having to wait. Plus, the beauty of being eliminated was that we wouldn't need to wait until BN show jumping (almost the end of the day) on Sunday before we could start heading hom e.
So we headed out to cross country after the starter division was finished (only kind of with our tail between our legs... or maybe that was just me). We did our usual warm up. 2 laps walk, 2 laps trot, and 1 lap canter in each direction in the XC warm up area. And we headed straight for the water complex. I trotted her in and she was perfect. Lesson learned. At the trot, she didn't hesitate. She didn't stop. There was no drama. There was no PTSD. There was absolutely no issue. This horse is perfect. So then we tried again. We trotted in and cantered through. No problem. Then we cantered in and cantered through and finished the course. She didn't look at any of the other jumps and we had a total blast! Now if only I had been able to give her that ride on the first attempt. She was absolutely perfect. I just wish I could have been the rider she needed me to be earlier in the day.
We hosed Dezi down, got her comfortable with some linament, loaded most of my stuff into the trailer, and fed her before we headed out to get some dinner for ourselves. We stopped by the hotel first to get cleaned up. Never have I ever gone to the hotel, taken a whole shower, & actually blow dried my hair on the Saturday of an event. Why not look nice? I wouldn't be riding on Sunday. After that, we went to dinner at HuHot. It's tradition! Then we headed back to the horse park so I could walk her and put on her standing wraps for overnight.
No need to be early on Sunday. We got there just in time to watch some of the stadium competition. I fed Dezi, got her wraps off, and walked her up to the show jumping area. We stood around for a couple of hours and I got breakfast at the food truck before we decided it was time to leave. We watched all of prelim and some of training. The trailer was pretty much packed up, so all we had left to do was load Dezi. She was a champ. Loaded on the side of the main road. And we were off.
We didn't stop as much as we did on the way down. We left the horse park at about 10 am and were back in Butler around 5pm. I was home, and my boyfriend and I were grilling by about 8pm.
It wasn't the weekend I expected. Not at all. I honestly thought we would be walking home with a ribbon. I never would have expected to end on a letter instead of a number. But I also learned a valuable lesson. I learned to always put my horse first. I learned that she should always be my main priority. I learned that I should always put her needs ahead of those of the competition and my competitive spirit. I learned that a green horse who is not confirmed in understanding water should not be cantered into water. I learned that if I don't understand a plan during a XC walk to ask my trainer. These are all things I should have understood before this competition, but there will always be reminders. There will always be bad day. I am paying my dues. Hopefully our next show will be better. And hopefully I can give my horse the ride she deserves.
So we still have yet to complete a BN recognized horse trial. Feather Creek, we're coming for you!
