Monday, April 11, 2016

season opener at MDHT!

You might believe me, you might not - but I legitimately had every intention of kicking this event recap off by getting straight down to the business of our dressage and stadium rounds, rather than dragging it out over multiple posts per usual.

organized chaos
But. Well. My internet at home is way slower than my internet at my last job, and a 4minute video (that previously took about an equal number of minutes to upload) now takes approximately THREE hours to upload on my home wifi. Uhhhh wtf.

the long and the short of it
So. I'm still working on it haha. In the meantime, here's the short version complete with some fun behind-the-scenes outtakes haha.

brita memorizes her test
Anyway the show was a blast. It was f*ing COLD out in the morning - we had lots of rain and wintry mix the day or two prior and things seemed like they could be sloppy. Plus overnight lows of 25* and I honestly wasn't sure what to expect. Both from ground conditions and mare conditions.

misshapen pad bc dammit it was too cold out and we needed that BoT... good looks be damned
It all turned out fine tho. Brita and I had absolutely perfect ride times - she was in the first BN split and I was in the fifth. We arrived early to walk the courses, then got Brita through all her rides in fairly short order, with my rides not far behind.

pony tries to convince the ring steward that she needs rescuing
Both horses did REALLY well too. Wick put in his softest and most connected test to date - really finally starting to bear the fruits of Brita's labor over the last year or so. It was honestly pretty exciting to watch! And obvi their jumping was on point. Forward and bold through stadium (one unfortunate rail bc Wick doesn't really respect the tiny sticks...) and a rip-roaring cross country!

she also bemoaned her plight to wick, who was happy to listen
Isabel was more than happy to come in strong for act 2 - tho if slightly quiet. Mare was legit tired for the whole day. I think we need more fitness... which I'll have to think more deeply about given my new scheduling etc. She was fine tho - SUPER quiet and relaxed through dressage to score yet another personal record for us (BN-B is generally a VERY good test for us), but then came alive for the jumping phases.

everyone make faces!
Jumping was fine, but would have been better had I spent more time putting the horse together. As it was, I wanted to save as much energy for our actual courses (esp given the xc course seemed almost entirely uphill...) so we were a tad out of sync in stadium.

Two badly botched distances but mostly pretty ok. Well, one botched jump should have separated me from the horse, but Isabel somehow managed to keep herself between me and the ground, tho a rail was the trade off. Oh well, I'll take that over elimination! Lines rode as expected for once haha.

iz and mini izzy!
Cross country was flipping fantastic too. I mean, the jumps were kinda small (tho there was one impressive double brush table that felt like a very respectable effort haha) but I actually LOVED the course.

Great use of terrain, lots of quirky turns through trees and hugging tree lines, a fun A-B combo on the BN course, and an even more fun A-B combo on the N course that lined up perfectly with our track (BN jumped the A element whereas N went straight down the line to catch both).

mini izzy and our swag for the day!
I honestly couldn't have been happier with Isabel's performance. Tho I learned a couple things about myself during the ride and how to keep chippin away at improvements in our jumping phases.

Again, I apologize that I don't have more specific details to share yet - but rest assured that there is a TON of media to come! Video of all three phases (including helmet camera!!!!), plus more gorgeous photos from GRC Photo!

60 comments:

  1. Woo - I spy a red ribbon! Great first time out :)

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    1. thanks - it was definitely exactly what the doctor ordered :D

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  2. Woohoo congrats girl, what a fab way to wet your feet again and start of the season with a great experience for all ☺☺

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    1. seriously, we had a blast knocking the rust off and having a little fun

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  3. Yay congrats! Nice placing and even better, sounded like you had FUN! :)

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    1. definitely FUN - that was priority #1 for the day, and we were absolutely successful there on all counts :D

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    1. thanks! izzy gets all the credit but we definitely enjoyed it !

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  5. Wahoo! Good day out, even if winter returned.

    Also, I must know where mini Izzy came from.

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    1. the weather ended up being less of a factor than i anticipated, which was VERY welcome haha. and mini Izzy was a blogger secret santa gift from the wonderful Alicia of The Red Headed Mare :D the little crochet pony is pretty much our mascot and goes everywhere with us

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    2. Ah! Do you know if I can buy one or two? Haha there's a red head that I always want me personalized things of, and of course Penn needs one too! I'll have to dig up your secret Santa post :-)

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    3. idk if she sells them or not, unfortunately. the secret santa post is here tho: http://fraidycateventing.blogspot.com/2014/12/thank-you-alicia-mollie.html

      Alyssa at HolyBully just posted about custom stuffed animals tho, maybe that might suit your purposes? http://fourmaresnomoney.blogspot.com/2016/03/shelter-pups-review.html

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    4. I checked out the custom stuffed animals, and I of course want those too, haha.

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  6. WOOHOO! You and Iz kicked ass, as per usual!

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    1. thanks - she knew EXACTLY what we were doing out there!

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  7. Woohoo! Going down to BN was absolutely the right decision!

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    1. omg exactly the right decision - i was able to stay relaxed and focused leading up to the event, even when the weather looked like it would be very uncooperative. definitely happy for that!

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  8. Sounds so awesome! Can't wait for the media dump!

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  9. So awesome! Can't wait for the follow up posts!

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    1. thanks! hopefully i'll have them written up soon!

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  10. Woohoo!!!! Red ribbon for the win!!! (If you pretend you're British it is first place! Hahaha!) cant wait to hear more details- I totally feel ya on slow internet- we have 1 step above dial up and there are some days it doesn't want to work at all 👎- but I LOVE little mini Izzy!!!!!! Soooo cute!!!!!

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    1. ha i'm more than happy to consider it at least a personal win, if not an actual recognized win lol. and isn't mini izzy darling?!?

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  11. Wohoo way to go!!!! BOO for slow internet though! Lol oh well

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    1. omg i dunno what to boo harder - the slow internet or the new work computer that doesn't want to be friends with my old wifi router.... many boos!!!!

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  12. Yay! Congrats on the red ribbon!

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    1. thanks! feels like a good way to get started!

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  13. Congrats on a super successful outing! Love the mini izzy :)

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    1. ha i love that little stuffed animal too - she's so fun!

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  14. Mini Izzy looks GOOD in Red! Congrats!!

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  15. Congrats on a great finish!! Can't wait to hear more about it.

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    1. thanks! details (and pictures! and video! and GIFS!) will be had aplenty!!

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  16. That's awesome!!! You guys rocked it :) Can't wait to hear more.

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    1. thanks! stay tuned over the next couple days for the full story ;)

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    1. Awesome day!!! You guys rocked it! (Now if only we could somehow get that schedule for every event!!)

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    2. soooo much fun!!!!!!! i wish we could get that schedule every time too haha, it was perfect! congrats again for such a strong event with Wick too!!! :D

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  18. Great work by all in chilly weather. (srsly though, go away cold!!!) That funny faces photo is adorable. I am way way behind on commenting so also congrats on the new job!!

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    1. thanks! and omg that funny faces photo had me DYING! first wick yawned, then izzy yawned, then wick did the flehmen lip thingy, then izzy did it too, then they both started yawning again and again - went on long enough for brita to pull her camera out and catch it on film - with my practically dying of laughter haha.... goofy horses!

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  19. Congrats on the ribbon. Sounds like an awesome show.

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    1. thanks we definitely enjoyed ourselves ;)

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  20. Way to go! Sounds like it was a good confidence building start to the season!

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  21. Woohoo glad you loved the course! Red is first place in New Zealand too so not a shabby ribbon there hehe

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    1. ha not too shabby at all! definitely felt like a win to me :)

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  22. Looks like it was a super sucessful outing! Way to go, both of you!

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    1. thank you! i'm so proud of this little mare!

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  23. Ahhh yay! I knew it was going to be excellent! And still love mini Izzy.

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    1. definitely an excellent day!!!! and obvi mini Izzy always has to be there to support and CELEBRATE!! :D

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  24. Yay congrats on a great outing and girrrl you really need new internet at your house.

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