Learning to trust

Chris and I headed to Catalpa Corners Charity Horse Trials in Iowa City, IA last weekend. We both took Friday off work so we could leave super early to try to beat the heat. We didn't want Dezi to be in the trailer during the heat of the day. After preparing the trailer in some viscious heat, eating delicious BLT sandwiches, & watching some Olympics, I slept over at Chris's house and we were able to pull out of the driveway at about 5am Friday morning.

Little did we know, there would be a cold front when we passed from Missouri into Iowa. We even pulled out sweatshirts at one point during our journey! We arrived at Catalpa around noon, got Dezi all settled in (we lucked out and got one of 4 stalls with concrete, so I bought her extra bedding for comfort), and got the stall set up. We found our campsite and parked the trailer in the perfect spot, so I could work out of it all weekend easily. Oh the joys of showing up early at a show!

When things had settled down a bit, we took Dezi out for our warm up. She was firey! I don't know if it was the weather change or the show environment, but she was full of herself, and I was OK with it. She's so much more fun to ride when she has energy as compared to when she's lazy. We made it a pretty quick ride and then headed back. Chris napped while I gave Dezi a bath and then we headed to the competitors party. They had some delicious pizzas and salad! And someone had donated a bunch of hard ciders, which were also delicious!

After dinner, Chris, our friend Cindy, and I headed out for our cross country walk. The course seemed pretty straightforward with several jumps that even looked more like beginner novice jumps than novice. I wasn't about to complain! The biggest questions would be a big table at the top of a hill, a half coffin with a ditch to a fairly skinny rail, the option into water (either a bank down or just a run in), the option of running through a covered bridge to a large table at jump 9, and a 4-stride bending line combination between 11 & 12. But overall, it was a pretty straightforward course, and definitely fair for the level. I walked the course once more on my own to collect my thoughts before Chris and I finished the evening watching some Olympic eventing dressage. I walked Dezi a few times before we headed to bed.

I woke up early on Saturday to feed Dezi and braid her before Chris and I went out to watch some of the prelim dressage. When it was time, I headed back to get ready. In the warmup, Dezi was still pretty spicy, but it was great. She was listening and I felt like I was riding well. When it was our turn, we took a couple laps around the outside of the ring and then headed in. Suddenly, the amount of space I had seemed really small and things were coming up quickly. And she wasn't listening at all. She felt completely different than in the warmup. And I'm sure it was me. It's amazing how mental horseback riding can be. I'm sure I was nervous and handsy and trying to micromanage her. Damn me. She knows her job. We've ridden dressage a million times. We know how to ride dressage. Well, given the test we rode, you might not be able to tell that. It was pretty tense. She wasn't listening. My geometry wasn't good. It was pretty much a disaster. We ended up with a fair 35.0. However, that put us in a tie for 2nd place going into XC. Somehow! Maybe everyone else in my division had just as shitty rides as I did.

We had about 2 hours before cross country. I put Dezi in her stall, put away all my dressage stuff, and Chris and I headed out to the XC course to watch a few of the training riders. The course was eating them alive! Most of the people we saw went through the water really well, but the double down banks were getting people. When it was time, I headed back to the barn to start getting ready. We headed out to the warmup and we were ready to go. Dezi warmed up really well. We jumped all of the stadium jumps and then the cross country warm up jumps well. Chris was going to head out onto the course and told me to jump one more jump, any jump I wanted, when they called for my 2 minute warning before I headed to the start box. We were given the 2 minute warning, jumped the novice XC warm up jump, and headed out. As we were walking to the start box, I heard the announcers call over the radio that there was a hold on course. I was having flashbacks to Mill Creek, when I was held at the startbox for about 20 minutes (I had spent the whole time walking and when I finally went out on course, it took us a couple jumps to get back into a rhythm- Chris had suggested that if it happens again, to go back to the warmup and do a little gallop and jump before I went out of the startbox). I had learned my lesson. I asked if I could go back to the warm up and then get a 2 minute warning again. I'm not sure how long the hold was, but we did eventually get a 2 minute warning. This time, I had her jump the training rolltop cross country jump before we headed to the startbox. This time without a hitch.

Cross country rode really well! My time markers were confusing me. I thought we were behind at the first minute. We were right on the second minute, and then suddenly, we were 20 minutes up on time. At the end of the course, I was slowing her down to a stadium pace as we were headed to the last couple jumps. Everything rode well, though. And we did a pretty good job of riding the plan. She chipped into the 5th jump (a coop in the woods), she took a bit of a look at the ditch (no biggie), I didn't have the balls to do the bank into the water, she beasted through the covered bridge and the big table after, and we took a different line to the bending line than we had planned, but it worked. And it was fun! We went double clear! Woop woop! Unfortunately, the person in first place had a lot of trouble and the person who was tied with me ended up falling off. We finished XC in first place in our division! I could hardly believe it! But the scores were very close. No rails in hand. Check out our GoPro here: https://youtu.be/F7hStqWtdR4

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the beginner novice & starter XC riders. I spent a lot of time walking with Dezi. Chris and I ate some delicious steak and jalapeno artichoke sandwiches and walked the stadium course. Then we watched the Olympics XC before we headed to bed. Nice and chill evening.

I slept in a little bit on Sunday (until about 6:30am). I fed & walked Dezi before Chris and I headed to stadium to watch the prelim riders and some of the training divisions. A lot of riders were having trouble with the owl jump, which was downhill and needed to be approached with a good square turn on the grass. When it was time, I headed back to the barn to put in Dezi's studs and get ready. Of course she hadn't laid down all weekend and decided that right before stadium would be the time. Of course. So I had to give her a good grooming to make her pretty before we headed to the ring. We probably got there a little too early, because we spent a lot of time walking before we were really ready to warm up. Dezi was jumping well. We were ready.

We headed into the ring and got going. The first jump rode well. The second jump rode well. And then she was on the wrong lead, so I brought her back down to the trot and picked up the correct lead to head to the 3rd jump (the owl jump). I rode my square turn well, but I didn't see the distance and instead of pushing her forward for the distance, I held her. I micromanaged her. She knocked the rail with her front end. Shit. So we're not in first anymore, but we were perfectly capable of finishing the round well. We jumped the next 6 jumps well. Coming to 9A, I had a bit of deja vu to the 3rd jump. It was a square right turn and again, I should have pushed her for the distance and instead held her and tried to micromanage my horse who knows her job. She's easy to ride. Point her at the jump and put leg on. I didn't put leg on. We knocked a rail, took 3 strides in the 2 stride line, and managed to leave the B element up. I pushed her to the last fence and we ended the round with 8 jump faults. I didn't trust my horse and tried to micromanage her over the fences. Note to self: don't do that anymore.

We ended up in 4th place. I literally handed my blue ribbon to someone else on a gold platter. I felt like I had let both Dezi and Chris down. I didn't ride to my full potential. After I was sad about my finish, I started to get mad at myself and confer with Chris to make a plan before AECs. I need to work on my mental game and remember that my horse knows her job and I do not need to micromanage her. I'm planning on riding a dressage test every week and doing a jump school every week between now and then. I'm going to let Chris ride Dezi and give me pointers on how to manage her left shoulder (which she likes to drop- chicken or egg?) and do some more lunging to try to get her to carry herself better. And I'm going to read (and hopefully finish) the book "Ride Big" and workout for 30 minutes (non-riding-related working out) every day. We're going to figure this out, and I'm going to make Chris and Dezi proud at AECs. We've got this!

Going from...

To...

Eventing is all about ups and downs

Mill Creek Pony Club Horse Trials came quickly this year! We actually got some good opportunities for conditioning before we needed to head out. The weather report was calling for rain and storms all weekend, though, which is always a little concerning. I took Friday off work. I spent the morning cleaning tack, getting my trailer ready, and loading everything up. Chris got off work around noon and we headed to Longview. We got the stall set up, had a great dressage warm up in a hectic arena, and then we walked XC. The rain held out all evening for us. I hung out with Dezi as long as possible and then headed home for some sleep. 

Saturday was an early morning. We rode dressage around 9:30 (just as the skies were clearing after the morning rain) and had a very nice ride. Chris and I were both super happy with it. We were both positive that it would fufill my goal for a sub-30 dressage score at a recognized event! It was seriously one of the most beautiful, effortless dressage rides I've ever had! Unfortunately, the score did not reflect our anticipations. I got a 33.6, but I was sitting in first place. The judge must have been particularly tough!

I didn't have a lot of time between dressage and XC. Despite the rain all week, the footing was still pretty nice. Chris and I decided to opt for some simple tiny grass studs and headed down to the warm up. I was the 5th rider in the novice division. Everything was running on time, which was awesome, because those pesky storm clouds were looking like they wanted to make another appearance. Our warm up went well! Dezi was jumping everything like a champ and just felt great overall. It was finally our time to head down to the startbox. We said goodbye to Chris, who was going to go out on course to get some video. As they were announcing my 2 minute warning, the TD came over the walkie talkies saying that there was a jump that didn't have a jump judge. They were going to hold me until they could get it figured out. From the walk over the walkies, it sounded like it would be a quick fix, so I just continued to walk around the box and the area near it. It probably ended up being about 10 minutes. Unfortunately, I didn't even think about doing another canter or going back up to the warm up to take a jump because I assumed it would be quick. So after they got it figured out, my 2 minute warning came again. We cantered out of the startbox and she jumped pretty sticky to the first couple fences, but the third fence rode perfectly and everything from there was nice! We ended up double clear with a time of 4:27 with an optimum time of 4:45. She even stumbled right up the baby bank out of water without a problem! What a champion. We maintained our first place standing going into the evening. Check out our XC ride at https://youtu.be/wZCrc5X3yU4.

I hung out with Dezi as long as possible. Hosed her off a couple of times. Watched some of the lower levels ride XC, walked her, fed her, and then headed home for the evening. It was a friend's birthday, so I got Jimmy Johns (not quite the steak dinner I had earned) and headed to the driving range for his celebration. We had a lot of fun. I went out to the horse park to check on Dezi and take her for a quick walk before bed. 

I got up early Sunday morning to get to the horse park to take care of Dezi. The open novice division would be the third group to go. I was able to watch the prelim riders before I had to head back to start getting ready for my ride. We were the last people to go in our division, so I got to watch some of my competitors from afar. Some people were knocking rails, and the KC Chiefs jump in particular was spooking a lot of horses. Honestly, though, I couldn't stop smiling. I was so happy. It was one of those days when I just couldn't stop being grateful for all the opportunities I was afforded by being able to be here. I am truly living my dream. I'm making friends and having a blast. No matter the placing. I was so happy. 

I went into the ring to start my round. It wasn't pretty. There were certainly a couple jumps when I got way too close to the base and there were definitely times when I let my reins get too long and didn't keep the pace I knew we needed. But somehow, we managed to keep it together and leave all the rails up! We won! First place! I don't think my smile could have been any bigger. We led our victory gallop. Then after I took care of Dezi back at her stall, Chris and I hung out watching some of the other riders do their stadium rounds. I wanted to enjoy this moment as long as I possibly could, because unfortunately, that afternoon, I knew I would be on the opposite side of the emotional spectrum when we went to the funeral services for a close friend of ours who was supposed to be in our wedding and passed away unexpectedly. I knew that I wouldn't be able to ride the horse show high quite as long as typical. 

We had about a month to refine our dressage even more, practice our jumping, go to a couple more XC schoolings, & condition as much as possible before we headed to Queeny Park in Saint Louis. 

Chris took off the whole Friday and we were able to leave her house just before 8am. We got to the National Equestrian Center around one. We got the stall set up and chilled in the camper with air conditioning until the weather cooled off a bit. It was going to be a hot weekend! The weather report was calling for highs in the 100s every day. I rode a short dressage warm up around 6:30pm. We had a really good warm up! I was starting to get really excited for the weekend. After it cooled down a bit more, I took Dezi out of the stall for a couple more walks and some grazing. I like to get her out of the stall as much as possible at these shows because I don't feel like it's fair to keep her cooped up when she's used to living in a pasture and roaming around all day. I'm not totally sure she cares either way. I think she enjoys the vacation and the security of the stall and the consistency of a fan with a constant breeze. I ended the night catching up with some old friends and posting up in front of Dezi's stall reading until it was late enough to head to bed. 

It started getting hot early in the morning on Saturday. We decided it was probably best not to give her a huge warm up before dressage. She felt really good. And then she started jigging when I would ask for medium to free walk. And I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. And I started getting frustrated. And I totally got into my own head. I tried to calm myself down, but I couldn't stop thinking about how we had worked so hard on our medium to free to medium walk transitions and I was sure I would blow it. The test started out nice, but as we went around, I let my reins get longer and longer. And I wasn't thinking the way I know how to think during a dressage test. It was OK. She didn't jig during the free to medium walk transition. We ended up with a 34.3 to put us in 8th place. Check out our dressage ride here: https://youtu.be/JAlhntv1-m0

We had about an hour to get ready for stadium and the temperatures were really warming up. And riding in that sand arena was like riding on a beach. Everything just felt hotter. We gave her just a couple minutes of warm up before I headed into stadium. She jumped well! Our pace was good and she even took fence 3 well despite cross firing and me not being smart enough to get the correct lead. I got her too deep to fence 4 and she knocked it, but the rest of the course rode well! She's so cool. Our rail took us from 8th to 9th. In a class of 13! Oops. Check out our ride on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aKaygbLPibg

Chris and I let Dezi chill in her stall with her fan while we went over to Queeny Park to walk cross country. It was so stinking hot! There were definitely some questions on the course. The first was a bending line with a mound in the middle. Then there was the significant bank down that would be shared with training & prelim. And the last real question was a bank out of water. Like a real bank. Not just a tiny baby bank step out of the water like at Longview. The plan was to keep her going at a good pace through the water so she could have some momentum coming to it. She'd take it no problem. On our way back, we stopped at Quik Trip for a much-needed diet coke. 

I spent the rest of the evening with Dezi. We went on a couple of walks and I finished my book from my chair in front of her stall. I only had to yell at her for trying to bite my feet (I was using my tack trunk as a footrest) a couple of times. I also packed up as much stuff as possible so we could head to Queeny Park as early as possible in the morning. 

Sunday morning, I fed Dezi and took her for a walk early. Then we headed out to Queeny Park where we would work out of the trailer for cross country. We got there just before the modified riders started heading out to the course. It was very interesting to hang out with the other riders at their trailers during a recognized event. I didn't watch any of other riders, because I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get back and get ready with enough time. I put in some baby road studs and headed out to the warm-up. Dezi was warming up like a champ. We walked a lot, because it was hot out and I didn't want to make her work too hard before we even got out on the course. 

The timing was perfect when they sent me to the startbox because I literally got there as they gave me my 10 second countdown. We headed out. It was perfect, because I didn't have any time to overthink. I rode the plan and the course rode really well! The hardest part was the terrain! There was a lot of ups and downs and it was pretty easy to see that we're lacking in that understanding a bit during our gallops because she wasn't nearly as balanced during her downhill stints as she was uphill. Everything rode great! And then there was the water. It was really murky. She decided it would be safer to trot in, which was OK, until she decided that walking would probably be better. I kicked and hit her with my whip, but she didn't want to go any faster. She WALKED up the bank! But she did it. And didn't even hesitate. What a goofball! DOUBLE CLEAR! Ride along with me and my girl with our GoPro here: https://youtu.be/eFbmjAv8h1A

The majority of the other riders in my division went double clear, too, so we ended up keeping our 9th place finish. 

It's amazing how eventing keeps you humble. After a first place result at both the schooling show at Heritage and Mill Creek, we got knocked down a couple of pegs with a 9th place finish out of 13 riders at Queeny Park. We definitely have homework to do, but overall, I still think Queeny was a successful show. We learned a lot and I now know how to plan even better in the future. I know to push her towards a distance that I can't see in stadium instead of holding her. I know that we need to work on banks out of water and galloping terrain. And I know that I need to learn to keep my head in the game during my dressage tests. 

Next up (after a bit of a break because it's been hot and rainy)- Catalpa Corners in Iowa at the end of July/beginning of August. I'm so excited to have Catalpa back (there was talk that they might retire it)! We're definitely going to be doing our homework to make it as successful as possible and use it as preparation for AECs at the beginning of September. It'll all be here before we know it! And I couldn't be more excited. I'm so lucky to be able to share this journey with Dezi and to have Chris in my life helping me make it all happen. 

Let the Show Season Begin

It has been a long winter!

I rode Dezi as long as I could until the weather started getting truly unbearable, which was in January or so. From then, we would have weeks of being able to ride followed by a week of nasty weather that would make it unsafe to either ride out or haul anywhere. Starting at about the end of February or beginning of March, we were finally able to have some consistent ride time. Dezi and I have spent this time homing in on our dressage skills with our dressage queen barnmates. We had a couple of dressage lessons with Jonni Allen, where we worked a lot on walk/canter tranitions and the ever-score impairing free walk to medium walk transitions. We're starting to school first level dressage movements, like leg yields, lengthenings, counter-canter, & more honest lateral movements. Maybe one day, if I have the time and money and energy, I can start thinking about working toward my bronze dressage medal. But dressage shows AND events are quite expensive!

I decided to have Dezi clipped at the beginning of March when her thick coat and excessive sweating started to interfere with our ability to get anything done during our rides. And never again will I not clip a horse at the end of winter. Yes, the blanketing requirements and decisions were a bit difficult, but it was so worth it! We were able to have productive rides and didn't need hours to cool out. We have had a few jump schools in the grass jump field at Chris's house. We cross country schooled twice at Longview. It would have been more, but work and weather and prior obligations made that more difficult. We've had a blast, though. Dezi and I are starting to work on training level questions, and she's coming up with some impressive answers. The only hesitation we've had is at skinnies, but even those, she's starting to figure out what's being asked of her. She truly loves her job! 

Today (5/2/21), we went to Heritage Park for a schooling show organized by the Mid-America Eventing Association. We were put into a big division of about 12 riders in the novice HT. 

We left Chris's house around 7am and made it to Heritage Park around 8:40... just in time for a quick warmup before my dressage test at 9:14. We warmed up quickly and then went in for our test. It felt awesome, but I know better than to assume anything. I had Dezi forward but on the bit and our stretchy trot was decent, my square turns in the center of the arena were actually square, and she didn't completely blow up when I asked her to go from free walk to medium walk. Overall, I was very happy! We ended up with a 27.1 to put us in 2nd place after dressage. 

We had a short amount of time to breathe after dressage before stadium and XC which started at 10:30. Chris and I went down to walk stadium and watch some of the training riders do their courses. When we got back to the trailer, I put in Dezi's studs and it was time to head down. My friends (Jess works with me and her boyfriend, Cotton) and Anthony had come to watch. Anthony had brought the dogs from home, and it was a lot for him to manage. We really need to work on leash training. 

Dezi and I had a short warm up next to the stadium ring before heading in. She jumped out of her skin, even on the couple of fences where I didn't have a good approach. She totally saved me a couple of times. We had a hard rub at jump 7 but somehow the rail managed to stay up and we went double clear! 

Then we headed out to cross country. Dezi jumped everything. And then she got to the second-to-last fence where she saw the trailers and decided she was finished, so I really had to kick her on to get to the final fence, but we made it happen. We ended up going double clear. 

Check out the YouTube videos of the GoPro for stadium and XC here!

Unfortunately, the person in first place after dressage had some trouble in stadium, so finishing on our dressage score was enough to move us into first place! How stinking cool! I love that horse so much. And my trainer and friend Chris has been the glue that holds us together. We literally wouldn't be able to do half of what we do and accomplish a fraction of the goals we've been able to achieve without her. I will never be able to thank her enough and show her how truly greatful I am for everything she has done for me and my horse. And knowing her, she won't stop supporting us any time soon! Thankfully!

Purple purple purple

Windermere Run HT 2020 was Dezi and my second recognized novice event on October 23-25 after a 10th place finish at Heritage Park earlier in the month.

Kansas City and the midwest in general are known for crazy mood swings when it comes to weather. The week before Windermere was typical fall weather until Thursday when temperatures hit the mid-80s! I didn't even ride that day, because I was worried our planned ride would be too much for Dezi with her full winter coat and a full week of work. And then Friday came and the temperatures dropped. Mid-40s and cloudy all weekend were what the weathermen predicted. Great. I can handle the 40s. That's not that cold! I live in the midwest. We're used to cold. I neglected to realize that mid-40s were the HIGHS for each day. It was cold. 

Because of the number of entries, they made the show a three-day. Prelim would do dressage and XC Friday with stadium Saturday. Training & novice did dressage Friday, XC Saturday, & stadium Sunday. And BN & starter would do dressage & XC Saturday and stadium Sunday. So for us, it was actually a three-day show. We would ride dressage at 4:54pm Friday, XC at 11:45 Saturday, & stadium around 11 on Sunday. 

I took Friday off work so that I could get Dezi and the trailer ready. I got to the barn around 9am. I opted not to bathe Dezi, because it was cold and I didn't want her to hate me for the rest of the forseeable future. But I did braid her from the comfort of our own wash rack instead of trying to get it done at the park. Good thing, too, because it took me about twice as long as it usually does because of my cold fingers that constantly needed breaks for warmth. We left around noon and headed to Longview. 

We set up the stall and made it look as purple as possible before we headed down to walk the cross country course. Everything looked pretty doable. There was nothing we hadn't jumped before except for the novice corner, which of course they decided to put directly after a ditch to make it even more of a question. I walked the course a second time before we watched some of the prelim riders go. 

When it was time, we headed back to the stall to prep for dressage. Dezi had been napping in the fresh shavings and was very resistant to getting up. After I finally convinced her that it was time to ride, I walked for a while in the grassy area near our stall before we started toward the warm up. Dezi was doing really well! She felt soft. She was listening to me. I was actually thinking and keeping her in a frame and working from behind. We heard that they were running ahead, so we headed up to the warm up area. In the small arena, we were still killing it. And then they told us to head to the warm up behind the arenas. I didn't realize that heading to that warm up meant that there would still be 3 whole tests before we would get to ride our test. I did the best I could to keep the momentum going, but Chris had relocated to the stands thinking that we would be going fairly quickly. Not the case. I don't know what I was doing or if Dezi just became agitated at the long wait, but I didn't feel like I was doing anything right. Going around the outside of the arena, she felt like she could take a deep breath. We headed down centerline and we had a nice test. I struggled with the things I would have predicted I would have trouble with. Our transition from stretchy trot to medium trot was not pretty at all. Dezi was very bracey. And then there was the free walk. Thank god it's not a coefficient anymore. I have really been working on the free walk, trying not to give her too much rein to allow her to get distracted and slowly picking the reins back up to get to medium walk. Well apparently I got too complacent in the test, gave too much rein and then tried to pick her back up too abruptly. She threw her head in the air, truly offended that I would possibly ask her to finish the rest of the test. We worked through it and came to enough of a compromise to finish the test. 37.6. I know it was bad, but I didn't realize it was quite THAT bad. Other than those 2 mess ups (which were totally my fault), the test was actually pretty nice. We were sitting in 9th place. Make your own assessment of the ride on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/2TPN-zSY4kM

I took my time putting everything away. I fed Dezi and just relaxed a bit. We went for a walk before I called it a night and headed home. I took all my jumping stuff with me so I could clean tack in the comfort of my own home, on the couch, while watching TV. Anthony and Paul were playing in a pool tournament and it was kind of nice to have the house to myself. 

The 5:30AM alarm came quick. I did my usual QT stop before I headed to the barn. My dog, Sophie wanted to come, and with Chris coming for our rides and then leaving, it would be nice to have the company. I fed Dezi, walked her around the property for a bit, and then Sophie and I headed down to watch some of the training level XC. The course was eating people alive! There were riders falling off, lots of refusals, and several people that just decided to withdraw in the middle. It was a very technical course and honestly, made me reconsider ever wanting to move up to training level from novice. Although, I guess that's a decision that can definitely be made at a later date, after we've established ourselves a bit more at this level. 

I headed back to the barn to find Dezi napping. Silly girl! But we had to get ready. We headed down to warm up. Alone. Sophie got to relax in the warm car while I was riding. I hadn't seen Anthony or Chris, but XC was running early, and I wanted to make sure I was there when it was my turn. It was nice to see Annetta, a familiar face, when I got down to XC warmup. Chris eventually arrived and we had a good warm up. Dezi was totally game to jump all the things. She felt really good. We headed out on course and she absolutely killed it. We weren't as close to speed fault time as we had been at Heritage, but I think it was mostly because of the hills, which were really testing her fitness. She rose the first jump really well and then proceeded to cross-fire most of the way to jump 2. She did the bank up (5) well and then hesitated a bit at the bench at 6. She swapped leads all the way down the hill to 7. It felt funky and I wasn't sure if I should be worried about her for some reason, but she didn't do that at all the rest of the course. I think we need to incorporate more hills and inclines in our fitness work. She jumped the ditch like a champ and then had locked onto the corner before I even needed to ask her. It's so cool how she loves her job and just looks for the next fence. She was a little slow up the hill to the lattuce and jumped it a little funky. We got to the water and she started to hesitate a bit, so we made the joint decision to trot it. She the refused to pick up the canter in the water, so we jumped 14 from a trot. We were fine on the time, so I let her relax for the last 2 jumps and she came down to a trot as soon as we crossed the finish line. She was done. Good girl, Dezi. Watch the GoPro video of our ride here.We went double clear to end up moving up to 7th place. 

Dezi got the afternoon off, linament, and lots of hay for munching. Sophie and I went shopping and then watched some of the BN cross country to see the people we knew and then watched the prelim riders do their stadium rounds. It was a really fun environment with almost everyone from the show there to support the top level riders! Dezi finished the night with a good walk, some food, and standing wraps. I headed home for a warm shower (still feeling like I would never be able to warm up), and then went to a friend's house to celebrate his birthday. I made it an early evening so that I could comfortably wake up early on Sunday when the alarm went off at 6AM. 

Another QT run before Sophie and I went to Longview. I fed Dezi, walked her, and got her wraps off before I went down to watch some of the show jumping. Since we were at the end of the novice divisions, I was able to watch all of the training riders before I headed up to get ready. 

It was cold. That morning, it was really hard to take off my layers of clothing! The show was running super early, and Anthony arrived right as I was getting on. We walked for a bit until it was our turn to head into warm up. Dezi was being good. We had a good rhythm and she wasn't second-guessing anything. She was ready. 

We went in for our round and she was really good, but I think we were both maybe tired. Typically, we race around stadium with reckless abandon, and then get a stern talking-to for being too on the forehand and nearly out of control. Well, I guess I overcompensated, because this round was too slow. Maybe we were tired. Maybe I was working too hard to keep her slow and paying attention, but we knocked a rail and then proceeded to get short spots to almost every other fence on course. Dezi didn't look at any of the jumps or question anything. She was a total champ (you can see, too, at this link: https://youtu.be/PxFQPTO-Vu8 ). The announcer announced that we had a double clear round, whcih was definitely not true. I made sure to ride over to the judge to make sure they had my rail marked- I couldn't imagine finishing on a score I hadn't earned. As we watched the rest of my division, it looked like almost everyone went double clear, but there were a few rails. We would see. 

We headed over to the grass arena for the awards ceremony. Again, like at Heritage, there were no numbers called so I didn't know if I would be getting a ribbon or not. I decided to take a chance and go in with the group. They announced 8th and my heart fell, I assumed my rail would take me down in placings. I was totally prepared to be that loser that is at the back of the victory gallop without a ribbon. And then they announced 7th. It was me! What? I ended up in 7th place! I guess people had more trouble than it appeared. I forgot that they had not had us go in numerical order, so the people placed ahead of me must have gone before me. And the best part about a 7th place ribbon?!? IT'S PURPLE!!!! PURPLE!!! It was destiny!! 

We got the stall torn down and headed home for a relaxing evening. It was a long weekend. 

We definitely have work to do this winter. I need to get into the dressage ring as many times as possible so that I can work on not going brain dead and continuing to think when I turn down centerline. We need to work on our stretch to medium transitions at the walk and trot. We need to figure out the proper rhythm for our stadium courses and maybe even go to some hunter/jumper shows to get in the ring and get that figured out, too. But until then, Dezi will have some time off. I hesitate to take the foot completely off the gas, though, because we typically are forced to take the entire month of January off (because KC weather). We shall see what we decide to do. But it's definitely time to look at our goals for the year and start thinking about all the big things we want to achieve next season. 

I could not be more proud of Dezi and my work this season. We've worked hard, and I'm so excited for the great things to come next year. We're just starting to figure it out, and we are going to accomplish amazing things. She's my girl, and we're true partners. #badasswomen