RVPC Derby Recap

I had an AWESOME weekend!!
#1. New dog.
#2. Great horse show.
#3. Trailered my pony like a big girl!

Firstly, our newest family member:

Our pack: Levi in the front (terrier/schnauzer), Fen in the middle, Lucy (mini German Shep) in the back. The humans are now outnumbered in our house!

On to the show! The quick recap:

• We did 2 dressage tests: BN A & B. We had no meltdowns, and I was able to ask for more and more out of Hemie as we went along. I’m proud of both of us for staying cool.
• We got to XC school before the competition, and had a great time playing around in the field.
• Our jump round was double clear – Hemie needed me to be supportive for a few jumps, and I’m proud that I was able to immediately respond when needed.
• We came away with 2 blue ribbons! One for the BN derby, and one for our additional dressage test. I don’t know how many other people were in our divisions – I think between 0 and 2.

The derby was put on by the Riverview Pony Club at El Sueno Equestrian Center where we’ve competed several times before. It was the same format and pricing as the normal El Sueno derbies, but the ponyclubbers brought their own jumps (decorated for Halloween!) and made up the majority of the competitors.

Dressage went well, I’d say. Due to a mix-up with dressage times (er…the lack thereof, actually), I tacked up and warmed up by myself and Laurie showed up just in time to watch my tests.

BN Test A was first. We scored 41.58, which I think was slightly generous.

I’m especially proud of our free walk – all that practice is paying off! “Against hands” is an interesting  repeated comment – I think I may need to be more elastic in my elbows.

We did BN Test B immediately following test A. I was a more proactive rider and we did get a better score of 38.75.

An 8!! For free walk! I’m quite proud of both Hemie and myself for this test.

Next we suited up for jumping and did some schooling out in the field. We did the water and a few logs and jumped over all of the ditches including some pretty deep and wide ones. I did a down bank and felt very comfortable with it – hooray!

The show started and we headed into the warm up arena while the lower divisions went. Luckily Hemie is totally fine being a couch and waiting around.  Finally it was our turn. Here’s the video!

He was a bit sticky in the stadium portion, but I’m proud of myself for riding positive and getting us over everything, even if we were chip-happy doing it. We added 2 jumps to our course – the first ditch (you’ll notice no standards), and the log after the 2nd ditch. They were both on our path so I figured – why go around when you can go over?

Added ditch

Ditch per course

Added log

Love this jump! Over a fallen tree branch with lots of fluffy leaves!

I’m also glad we had no problem doing a jump immediately after the water (the last 2 shows we had issues at the first jump out). As always, we’re going much slower in the video than it feels while riding.

In addition to a great, positive outing, it was my first time hauling the trailer with ponykins inside. Luckily its a very close show (20/25 minutes, all side streets), and TK and her husband graciously escorted me in the morning. I did it solo heading home after the show. I even loaded and unloaded Hemie by myself both times. I am very proud of myself and happy to be able to haul!

All in all, a great weekend!!

Also, be sure to check out the contest at Viva Carlos, and congrats to L on 1,000 posts!!