Wednesday, June 29, 2016

What's Up Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday everyone! These weeks are FLYING by. Always seems to happen in the summertime. Why does winter take SO LONG?!  Anyway, let's get right to it. You want to know where I was this weekend, don't you?
I took a half day Thursday and all of Friday off so I could go visit my FAVORITE horse show!

You'll remember that I was super sad about missing the Saratoga Classic this year, so I decided just because I couldn't show, doesn't mean I had to miss it entirely. And off I went. I stay with a friend, so no need for last minute hotels or anything. I arrived in the evening on Thursday and pretty much just got settled in and had dinner with my friend. Friday morning I got to the show around 8. My barn away from home had an extra horse they said I could borrow for the Alumni classes, so I actually got to show while I was away! The alumni consists of one flat and one fence class, set at about 2'6". Nothing too challening! But let me tell you, this horse is wonderful. His name is Ventura, Venti for short.
He's rather tall... I'd guess about 17.2? And he is a total saint. He goes right into a frame with barely any extra bending or legging. He extends his canter easily. He halts. Total gentleman! Due to his gentlemanly tendencies, we won the flat class!
He was just as saintly over jumps. I haven't jumped a course... nor even an actual line, since probably New England finals last October. That's a long time my friends. A LONG TIME! I said to Molly who was schooling us, "Please tell me how to fast to go, I have no idea where his stride is!" She laughed and said she was sure we would be just fine. And we were. I got a little close to a couple of the jumps, but he took no offense and we finished in second. SUCH A GOOD BOY!
I mean, it was exciting to get to show pretty unexpectedly, but it was even more exciting to ride such a sweet horse. AND to get some pretty satin! I'm so thankful for good friends and trainers who are generous toward me. So much thanks to all of them! I was hoping to have one of the photos to share, but I haven't yet received the web photo yet. (Yes, I bought three photos AND a web version of one of them. I need the memories!)
The rest of the weekend I pretty much just slothed around the horse show. I watched some of the kids I used to ride with show in the grand prix:


And I watched my awesome friend (the one I stay with) win Grand Adult Hunter Champion!


 I also got to hang out with my dog away from home, Moxie:
She's the best! (I mean obviously slightly less best than my dogs, but right up there.)

I got back Sunday with enough time to ride my hooligans and hang with the puggers. No one tried to kill me so that's always a good day! Especially given they had so many days of vacation.


This week, it's been the usual late nights in the barn, but the horses have been really good shockingly.
After all the talk about bonnets yesterday, and the little bit of rain we had resulting in bugs galore, I decided to conquer my fears and try bonnets again. Everyone looked adorable... yet long eared.







I'm happy to report that all bonnets and bridles remained safely on all faces. Phew. And that's all that's up this Wednesday! We have a long weekend coming up with the 4th of July being on Monday, so I'm hoping to get to work cleaning all the bird poo off the barn floor. Exciting days ahead!
What's up with you this Wednesday?




6 comments:

  1. That sounds like a fun and very stress free show!

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    1. It was so fun! I was a little bored with not riding most days, but it was very relaxing!

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  2. My bff Ronnie lives in Saratoga Springs and she always sends me photos from the show, it looks so fun!

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    1. It's so fun! You should definitely visit your friend one of these years during the show!

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  3. I loved going to watch that show while I was working at the track!

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