What a weekend!

So, let's start with the heat. When Michael left the fairgrounds on Saturday afternoon, the car's thermometer read 115F!!! I got to the grounds at 6am and did not stop sweating until lunch (thank you dear sweet Hamburger Inn for your air conditioning!). I didn't have to use the restroom until that evening and I guzzled gallons (ok, quarts) of water all day long. Dassah was a pro and thanks to the cinder-block construction of the stables and a fan, seemed to be comfortable - she kept drinking and I kept refilling. Good pony! Jackets were prohibited on Saturday, we were told if we wore them we wouldn't be judged. Sunday felt like a cool spring morning in comparison - wearing long sleeves and breeches didn't seem unbearable in the least. Jackets were still waived and polos were accepted - I wore my long sleeved shirt and felt comfortable.

Now we can proceed to the classes. Dassah and I did Intro B and C and well, B was so bad I started laughing in the middle of it (so professional, I know). I couldn't get Dassah to bend, go straight, flex, pay attention, walk, or halt. Not kidding, we blew through free walk with a slow jog on both tests. The only good part of either test were our canter transitions in C! And those were the areas I was most concerned about!

Oh good heavens, B was so ridiculous as to be unbearably funny. Not kidding, I completely forgot HOW TO SALUTE! I totally military saluted the judge! WHO DOES THAT?? I mean, honestly, I did it in both tests and each time couldn't figure out why that didn't feel right. OMG, it was hilariously embarrassing. It was so unbelievably ridiculous that I couldn't cry about it if I wanted to. I wanted to die laughing. My husband and current and former trainers were there to witness the tragic sinking of HMS Haddasah and her Captain. I laugh now thinking about it. Of course our scores were nothing shocking - horse flexed to the outside, no free walk, canter transitions were "obedient" (can we say a most pathetic attempt at something postive?). Judge did say we had potential - bless her, it was so sweet of her to find something nice to say. We really were dreadful. We did get 4th out of 5 (the only person below us was disqualified).

Of course we learn from our mistakes and as Sunday proved, warm-up is everything. Saturday's warm-up was almost non-existent due to the heat - but a good warm-up it was! Oh well, lots of work ahead of us.

Sunday I had high hopes we would do cross-rails and 18inches but my trainer convinced me to go with ground-poles. I'm glad she did, we can surely canter and jump more than cross-rails but as Saturday was such a disaster, we needed something positive (I needed something positive). So from the division with a class of 10, starting with the first class of the division, we scored 6th, 4th, 4th, and 3rd in the flat class! I'm so proud of my mare! I don't aspire to to Hunters, but it was fun and I enjoyed it. Dassah did so well - she relaxed after the 1st class (as the placings show) and by the end I felt she was really working with me.

As for outside the classes, Dassah was a super star. She was calm, quiet, at ease, and just a peach. I am so proud of her! She settled right in and gave no fuss the entire time. With all the sights, sounds, smells, etc, she had not one meltdown. She rode around like a pro - head down, looking around and calm as a seasoned vet of the show circuit. I couldn't have been more proud of a horse there. This is only her second off-site show ever and she was fantastic!! I mean, what happened to my mare??? Unbelievable! She made showing so easy (except for those blasted dressage tests) - can you tell I had a fantastic time?!

Friday she loaded in the trailer with a little bit of protest and then Sunday she loaded without the slightest hesitation. She even stood without fuss for 15 minutes while the other horses were loaded! I'm SO STINKING PROUD OF HER! By gracious we'll be doing a horse trials by the end of the summer!!!!

Woohoo!!!

 What?! 

nomnomnom

Evil hay bag of starvation - but I want the hay so baaaad!