Week 26: Stepping Stones

                The last two weeks have been momentous! Not only did I take Finn to Fair Hill for cross country schooling, I also competed him in his first horse trial. After a lot of hard work in lessons and many sleepless nights, we arrived at the cross country schooling in a knot of nerves. As usual, Finn loaded beautifully onto the trailer and stayed well behaved for the hour and a half drive to Elkton Maryland. Upon arrival, I went ahead and unloaded him from the trailer and unwrapped his legs as quickly as possible. In order to let him get his silly’s out, I led him around the trailer parking lot and let him get a good look at all of the people and their towing rigs. At that point, I went ahead and tacked him up while my trainer gave me a pep talk. It was really important to me that the schooling went well. As a rider, I always want to be the best equestrian I can be, but in this case my reasoning was different. I knew that this was going to be Finn’s ever post-racing off-farm experience and I did not want it to be a discouraging one.

Roll top take one

Roll top take 2

                After getting a leg up, Finn and I followed our group through the woods and out to the jumps. We were accompanied by two other green horses and two horses that had been out and about for a while. Finn and I started by trotting over a very small log. I made sure that my heels were down and that my leg was not sliding back as he jumped over the log a bit too enthusiastically (ok, so he overjumped it) and then I pointed him over the log again. After jumping a couple more smaller jumps fairly successfully, my trainer suggested we tackle a larger blue/green colored roll top. The first time that Finn and I jumped it, I made the mistake of shortening my reins too much and not allowing him to find the proper distance. In an attempt to get him to add, I ended up annoying him and taking a bit of a flyer. The second shot, my trainer repeated “soften, soften, soften, and breathe” and I managed to get the proper distance.

                Our next adventure was at the water complex. At first I tried to coax Finn into the water calmly, but he had other ideas. After a lot of fidgeting on the bank, Finn lept enthusiastically into the water, launching himself 3ft in the air and about 3ft across. My barn mates and I laughed about Finn’s display and then, with the help of an older horse, we managed to get Finn trotting calmly through the water.

                Fast-forward a week and we were heading to Fair Hill for our first event! Finn once again trailered nicely and unloaded like a solid citizen. My dressage time was at 2:00, so I took my time walking my courses and brushing Finn in the morning. I made sure to leave myself about 20 minutes before dressage to warm him up and 10 minutes before that to lead him around the dressage area. Dressage ended up going fairly well. We scored 46 penalties and I was pretty happy with that score. Although a 46 is in no way a great score, it is a great starting point. Some of the best comments from the judge were: “great cadence” and “beautiful length of stride”. I hope that as Finn progresses in our training our dressage scores at horse trials improve.

Dressage

                After dressage, Finn and I both got changed into our jumping gear and headed up to the jump field. We went ahead and trotted over some verticals and oxers, and then headed into show jumping. I made a large sweeping circle, passing anything that could be potentially scary and then started my round. Finn and I ended up going clear. I must say that my position during show jumping left much to be desired. Instead of sinking down into my heels and opening my knees, I got a little stiff with nerves and ended up hindering Finn over the first two fences.

                Cross country was definitely Finn and I’s best phase of the day. We trotted and cantered along at a nice and calm pace, and cleared all of the jumps easily. Some of the jumps were a little tricky for Finn and me but I had identified them during the course walk as possible problem areas. One of the jumps that caught Finn a bit off guard was a hay jump that had wagon wheels on both sides. With a little nudge of the leg Finn jumped politely.

                After all three phases, Finn and I ended up in 4^th place out of 8 people in my division! I could not be any prouder of my horse and how far we have come. I do not know what I would do without my family and trainers, not to mention my friends. Next adventure on the list: Horse Park of NJ Horse Trials!