It Was A Good Day

I've had my eye on the October show at Rivermont since August. With time available to train consistently while the kids were in school, I thought it would be a good test for how we were doing. Out here alone, there isn't anything to compare to and I'm a pretty harsh critic of myself in photos and videos riding. An outside opinion was definitely needed.

In the time between my decision in August and the show in October, Czech muscled up, stopped tripping over himself, and started running away with me. Adding the figure 8 noseband helped a ton and I was able to train on the noseband for 2 weeks before the show where I wasn't going to be allowed to have him in anything but a plain one.

After my experience trying to take Bandon to Rivermont in June and having a total meltdown when we arrived, I hauled Czech to a long trail ride with other horses just to be sure he would do okay off site and still have a brain.

The only real doubts I had this past week in training was not being able to slow him down and not wanting to stick out like we were what we were, a horse and rider team without a coach. What if I missed some etiquette thing in the ring? What if I put my horse in a position that messed up another rider?

Morning of the show, all of that fear came to a head as I sat in my folding chair next my horse and watched trailer after trailer after trailer load of horses and ponies pull up. Czech didn't seem to bothered and was acting reasonably calm waiting for our warm-up. I got him to the show site hours too early, I hadn't planned on the entries being so large for this particular show.

A few times I hand walked him up to the ring where he trotted circles around me and beside me as he watched the high jumpers flying around the ring.

Once I was on him, all the familiarity of riding him came back and it didn't matter that I needed to stay clean or that other horses and riders were everywhere. It was just us. Then he bucked and brought me back to reality that it was definitely not just us and this was a whole different ballgame. In case he missed making his point, he bucked again a few strides later. At a walk. A nearby cowboy thought he was pretty entertaining, not so much me...

The warm-up ring was chaos as usual at a show. Horses running, ponies everywhere, 3 horses deep on the rail, jumpers trying to get over jumps and not crash into anyone. Czech stressed out. He curled up on the bit and with all my arm strength I was able to keep him to a trot but not a walk. We left the ring after one lap. Czech soaked in sweat, we walked. When I asked him to stop (thinking he must be getting tired) he would paw the ground and walk backwards.

I didn't ever feel like he was out of control or anything, at all times he knew I was there and was careful of me, it was just that his stress was palpable in my arms and legs and I didn't know how to take it away from him. I stayed away from the warm-up ring after that, I was sure that all horses moving in the same direction at the same speed in our actual classes would make it easier for him.

I was partially right. The first class I was able to show off my boy at each gait the judge called. The only bad thing I can say about his first class was how incredibly heavy Czech rode in my hands,

In the middle of the ring lineup it took me awhile to find a spot among all the jumps and horses, when we did, he tossed his head and pawed at the sand.

I patted his neck, super proud of him for hearing me through all his tension. You could have knocked me over with a feather when they called Catherine Ford on Czech Valentine as the winner. I was shocked.

I knew he had done okay and I thought my position was pretty good, still in a class that size, I had no hopes of something like that. I was elated!

Back on the rail for the under saddle class I quickly learned to not like the Hunter ring. I heard a trainer tell her rider to get out in front of me and as the rider took her slower horse to my inside she then cropped him hard twice, right by Czech's head, scaring Czech so bad that it took many circles of him cantering to calm down. We did not place in that class and I felt bad for asking my horse to do it.

Next was equitation. This was my big one. I strongly feel like good equitation helps your horse work better and to not be sore, it also makes you a good teammate. Good equitation is hard to achieve without a trainer on the ground spotting you to tell you what to change. Most that train alone use huge arena mirrors. Wanting good Eq so badly, I had gone on photos my hubby took, came in and picked apart, then went out the next day and tried to improve.

Czech was still visibly shaken from the crop being swung so close to his head, I found a spot on the rail alone and I maintained it for him. The judge called sitting trot and my first "duh" moment hit, I had no idea sitting trot was in the eq hunter ring at low levels, we hadn't practiced that at all. If I sat down, I was worried the freight train in my hands would immediately canter, he didn't and we won the class.

Luckily there was a 4 class break before our jumping classes began, I collected my ribbons and went to give him water. Did I mention that Czech likes to play in water troughs? Note to self, next show bring him buckets instead of taking him to the trough... good thing I brought towels.

I asked a neighboring trailer to watch him a moment so I could grab a drink and when I came back around the corner to him, his ears flew up and he called to me like a long lost horsey friend and my heart melted. We were an us.

I got back on to prepare for the jumping classes, he again couldn't hold the posting trot and breaking to canter once cost us any ribbons in that class, but we did pull off a third place equitation in the next.

Last were jumps. Something in my stomach told me he was done and I should pull him. The first class was once around 4 cross rails. I wanted to see if he would do better when we were alone in the arena and I wanted to see how he jumped on arena sand vs the turf we train on at home. First jump he exploded over then ducked the second. I put him over the second which he leaped a stride too soon and landed in a gallop. It was easier to pull him up in the deep arena sand and at a trot we faced jump 3. He wasn't doing it. I sent him to the jump twice before moving on to the last which he also leapt too soon and too big landing in a dead run. We were done and I patted his neck and pulled him from the rest of his classes.

Arms around my sweaty horse, silver trophy in hand and fresh tears down my face after our names were called for winning the Championship in our flat classes, it was a good day. We both worked very hard the last few weeks and at that show and having something to show for it was just a huge bonus.

The last time I competed on a horse was 1993, it's good to be back and great to be there on my own horse, especially a partner like Czech.