Horowhenau A & PI Show

I hate this show. Never. Going. Back. They screwed me out of $50 on class changes, underpaid my prizemoney (Awesome- $17 dollars to enter, $20 back for 6th in a series class. A whole three dollars.) And then have the nerve to ask for another $4 dollars. Never mind that the yards were so small the horses could hardly turn around. Baa Humbug.

Uhh it's not even like I can say I rode well which always makes for a pretty average show. Connie was the first horse out into the 1.10m in ring 1 on Friday and about three strides out from the first fence she got a look in her eye (according to bystanders) and wasn't having a bar of it. She went on to jump well though, just having a lazy rail into the second double. It was a spooky reasonably hard track so I was pretty happy. Enter Kate. If Connie had been hot and spooky, Kate was completely off her face. Heading into the liverpool at fence 3, it was I'm stopping- no I'm going, not I'm definitely stopping and opps I'm in the liverpool. I hate falling in the ring. Sigh. Late enter Kate into the 1.05m and had a stop at a wall, but I didn't fall off and she got a towel up and actually jumped quite well. Then Connie came out in the Amateur and she actually jumped really well. Didn't get a great spot into the double because I turned too late and she took that rail, but she was second fastest four faulter for 6th place which was awesome. So she was back in the dog box despite it being impossible to get on and having spent a minute backing around the warm-up ring while I tried to get my leg over.

After Friday I rode poorly, and Connie jumped average. I don't think she takes the smaller tracks seriously enough. Might be time to upgrade *gulp*. So three rails in the 1.15m and a rail and a stop in the 1.10m on the last day. The stop was because I lost my stirrup at fence 7 and still didn't have it back by fence 10AB and so mucked up the related line. I really pulled her up more than anything.

Kate didn't start Saturday because she felt off in her right front, and a visit with the chiro showed an issue in her lumbar spine in the left side. Sunday she felt good, but again was ridiculously spooky, even backing off plain fences, and I retired at the 8th fence in the 1.10m. Sigh. Lots of homework to do.