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?

Belltown Spring Sprint

This past weekend, I finally got to run a road race! It's been awhile for me, and I was really wanting to get back into road racing (and by road racing, I mean spending money to run slow, but in a new locale). My friend Tracy had told me about this 5K that takes place right in her town, and I was excited to join her!
We arrived just as the kid's fun run was starting. Those kids are adorable. And FAST! The 5K is a smaller race, with only about 80 people participating. I like these smaller races, it gives you a better chance at success!

Important to note, they had a great event photographer who allows free downloads of photos! Imagine that? Free photos!? Yay!
Tracy runs SUPER FAST! (Or at least compared to me.) So I was excited to find this photo in which I was ahead of her at the start! (It lasted about 1 stride.)

The course was lovely with rolling hills (for the most part). We headed out of the parking lot and ran alongside a lake for about a mile and a quarter or so. We then took a left up a side road where we would eventually turn around and head back to the park. The hardest part was this side street, as it was all uphill to the turnaround point. I had managed to run at a pretty good clip until reaching said hill. (First mile in 9:16!) I did take a little breather about half way up the mountain hill, but then thoroughly enjoyed the downhill portion! We ran back along the lake again and finished up in the same place we started.

Tracy knew she was the fasted female, so we made sure to stick around for awards. (I told you she's super fast!) The best part about her winning (besides the obvious winning part) was that it bumped her out of my age group's awards... leaving me to finish in 3rd! My first real age group award!

My time was far from a PR (my current 5K PR is 26:36 which may stand forever, likely) at 30:19, but with how I've been training, I'm really happy with it. I would definitely run this race again, and can't wait until my next one!

Have you run any 5K's lately? Do you like out and backs or prefer a loop?

Weekend Recap and Our First Show of the Season: Part 2 Sunday

Sunday was an early morning. Up at 5 AM to get everyone fed and Jampy ready for the show. I needed to leave by 6:45 to have time to lunge and school before classes started. I'm sad to say I have no photos from the show itself, though there was a photographer there so hopefully I will have some later in the week.

Things went pretty well. Jamp was a little excited to be at a horse show and was a bit stronger than I like him to be. But he was more than willing to jump all the fences (and I even remembered the right order every time!). We showed in the Adult Equitation division which consists of one flat class (flat means we show at the walk, trot, and canter only, no jumping) and two fence classes. Equitation is judged on the rider's style and competency. We were second on the flat and seventh and first over fences. That resulted in being Champion of the division! Woohoo! Good boy Jampy!

Next I had two medal classes (also judged on the rider): one for CT and one for New England. In these classes, you earn points throughout the year based on your placings which will qualify you to attend finals in the fall. For CT, the class is judged 50% over fences and 50% on the flat. 12 points will qualify you for finals. For New England, you are judged over fences only. The judge may decide to also have you come back and show over a shorter course called a test. They did not do that on Sunday though, so we just jumped the one round. 10 points qualifies you for finals in this one.

My CT medal class went very well. I left a little close to a couple of jumps, but otherwise it was pretty smooth. The flat phase went very well also and we won the class! That means I only need two more points to qualify for finals. My New England class was pretty similar. I left the ground a bit too close to a few of the jumps but otherwise things went well. We finished in second place. This means I need four more points to qualify. Pretty good start to the season!

The best part about this horse show? I was home by 1 pm! Once home, I unpacked the trailer and let the puggies out. I decided I was starving and HAD to have a Beach Donut. So I walked down to the lake and got one:

Sadly, just after this photo was taken half of it broke off and fell on the street. I figure that saved me some calories though! Plus since I walked to get it and walked home... it's almost like this donut didn't even happen! And whatever, it was worth every calorie anyway.

Following my impromptu donut run walk, I was back in the barn to take care of Ducky and spoil Rio. While he was snacking I admired the foliage coming to life in the yard:

Mmm strawberries...

I was completely done with barn work by 3 and decided to try and get some late day sun. The pugs and I hung out for about an hour by the still not open pool... They love to hide under the lounge chair when the sun gets too hot.

The rest of the day was laundry and general grown up taking care of the house stuff.

Did you have a great weekend?! Do anything fun? Do share! And don't forget to visit me on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/amateuratlarge