My morning started early when my alarm went off at 5:30am. I was at Chris's house in Butler by about 6:45 and we were on the road by about 7:30. We got to the park with just enough time to tack up and have about a 20 minute warm-up before my 9:48 dressage time. That should be enough. It was going to be a hot day, so my usual hour warm-up was totally unnecessary. There was some confusion with ride times (probably partly my fault, because I was going by the most recently printed ride times and had Chris get my number without double checking). I almost went into the ring too early, but we worked it out and the judge seemed forgiving.
Our dressage test was pretty good. My tempo felt really good, but I always struggle with keeping my reins short enough. And especially after transitions, for some reason. But I did feel like my bend was spot on and my upward transitions were pretty good. My downward transitions definitely could have been better. My stretchy trot was pretty much non-existant (pretty typical for us- definitely an area of improvement). And my halt was base wide. Chris said that she thought my test would score 32-34. But apparently I'm too critical of myself and she's too critical of me, because I ended up with a 26.4 starting us off in 1st place in our division. Woo hoo! This is the best dressage score I've ever scored with Dezi, and I think my second best ever (after a 25.0 on Coco one year at Catalpa). I could not have been more happy. Onto the jumping.
Dezi got to have a quick rest break at the trailer while Chris and I walked a bit of the cross country course that I was confused about. She also talked me off the ledge about one table that terrified me a bit, reminding me that I jumped a similar sized jump the day before. We relaxed for a little while my boyfriend and some of our friends arrived.
I took my time putting in Dezi's studs and tacking up. Then we headed down to the stadium jumping area. The jumps looked really big, but they were novice. I trust that the organizers and volunteers setting the jumps know heights better than I do. They probably have measuring sticks and stuff to ensure everything is the right height. All the jumps were totally doable, though. Mostly verticals with a couple gates. The first jump was the only thing we haven't jumped in a while with a brick wall box in front of it.
Dezi jumped well in the warmup. Chris purposefully put the jumps a bit high to give me confidence going into the ring. The girl who went in front of me had a stop at the first fence, so between that and my previous apprehension about the first fence, I knew I had to ride it aggressively. When it was my turn, I did my courtesy circle and headed to the first jump. Dezi felt like she was hesitating a bit, so I smacked her pretty hard with the whip so she knew we were doing this. It was time. We're making our novice debut and we're going to jump all the fences. And she did. She launched that first jump! And then she proceeded to jump every other jump on the course well. We added strides in a couple places when I should have pushed her forward, I let my reins get a bit long (sound familiar?), and we did knock a rail in a downhill combination where I didn't have her working from behind enough. It was totally my fault. However, at our first novice, I have no problem with one rail! One rail in stadium is totally fine! We did it! We finished the course, and as Kristina, the MAEA president reminded me, we were 2/3 of the way to our first novice completion! My whole ride is on YouTube here!
After we got my boyfriend and friends settled with a good spot to watch a few XC jumps, Chris and I headed up to the XC warm-up. We talked about the horse's center of gravity and how her power comes from her butt and her hind end, so I need to make sure that her power is as close to her center of gravity as possible. And I need to help her by keeping my center of gravity as close to hers as possible. No running her off her feet. She could run as fast as she wanted, as long as her butt was doing the work!
There were 2 riders ready to go when we got to the start box. I had to ask for some clarification on how to get to jump 3 (we had only walked the second half of the course and I wasn't sure where jump 3 was located- thanks, Kelly!). Then I did a mini trot/canter warm up and jumped 2 XC fences before it was my turn to head out. I wasn't going to worry about time, but out of curiosity, I would use my stopwatch to see what happens.
We shot out of the startbox. Probably my fault, because I was wanting to start in attack mode. We were doing this. We were jumping a novice course. We could totally do this. We've got this. The first 3 jumps rode nicely, then we galloped down a slight hill to jump 4. She listened to my half halt like a champ and jumped the hammock at 4 like a pro. We totally belonged here. Jumps 5-7 were pretty straightforward. And then we had the water. She jumped the ramp before the water and cantered into the water like she owned the place. I could tell she was struggling with the depth of the water, but we had to keep as much momentum as possible for the house that was a couple strides out of the water. She jumped the cordwood at 9 well. She was weirdly lookey at the first jump of the half coffin at 10, but we got over it no problem and the ditch was nothing to her. The scary table at 12 rode amazingly well! She looked a bit at the frisbee golfers and forgot what we were doing for a second at jump 14. And thend she finished strong! The last 2 jumps on the course were not small jumps and she killed them! I love this freaking horse! She was perfect! Absolutely perfect. We absolutely belong here. You can watch our whole XC round here on YouTube!!
I headed back to the trailer to take care of her and get some water on her before I took her studs out and organized the trailer. My trailer. Oh yeah, that's news. I got a trailer! For now, I'm using Chris's truck to haul it, but maybe one day soon, I'll get my own truck. My friends and my boyfriend took off while Chris and I relaxed a bit with Dezi to make sure she was cooled down and happy before we headed home. We used all of the water in my tank (between sponging her down & giving her drinks) to make sure she was happy.
When we checked scores, it turns out our rail only took us to 2nd!!! So exciting! I was absolutely ellated! I could not have been more happy. I couldn't stop smiling all night and for several days after. Novice, we have arrived. We made it. I could not have done it without Chris believing in me. And losing 50# has improved my riding and my confidence in ways that I never would have expected.
Dezi and I are officially a NOVICE team!!!
