We had to go get the trailer at Gracie's first. Then, we went back to my farm and picked up Chief. What a wonderful sight to walk into the barn and see:
He is gorgeous. Anyways. I got him and gave him a pep talk as Mom and her bf loaded my tack into the trailer. Then, it was Chief's turn. First, he walked up to the edge and then stopped. Huh?
One more try, and he was in. And as soon as he was in, and the door started to close... he literally jumped backwards out of the trailer, dragging me with him.
Fabulous.
He did that two more times before he finally settled down. And then, off we went! We picked up Gracie and her horse, JJ, and then traveled 45 more minutes (after driving two hours already back and forth from my house, to hers, to the barn, to hers) to the show. We got there, signed in, and tacked up.
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| Standing still at the trailer like a good boy! WOAH! |
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| warming up. good good gooood boy. 4 people told me he looked like a very nice horse, and one person actually asked about him and then asked if he was for sale. all before we even ran! they were shocked when I said he was 4 and this was his first show. he was so calm, cool and collected. |
Picture of our first run:
And last was dash for cash. He turned the barrel AMAZINGLY. I was SO impressed. And then, as we were running home, I let him go a little. Because he LOVES running. He was so happy to be allowed to go. We reached the end of the arena and he turned right and my momentum carried me forward. Literally directly into the wall.
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| ZOOM ZOOMMMM. |
I am FINE! So many people came and helped me. I got up and screamed that I was okay. And then...
I broke down. I was SO frustrated that he didn't do what he KNEW how to do - run the barrels properly, that is - that I just cried. Right there. In the middle of the arena. Covered in dirt. In front of everybody. Finally, I got up and walked out. Gracie had already taken JJ and Chief, since she was done.
Somehow, between the barn and the trailer, Grace got me from crying to laughing. She is truly an amazing friend. We untacked, loaded up, and went home. Everyone is fine and alive, thank god.
I realized a lot of things yesterday. First of all, Chief did an amazing job for being a 4 year old at the first public place he's ever been to, at the first show of the year for me and the first show of his life for him. Second of all, we need to stop and SLOW DOWN in our training. The rest of this month and half of next month will be spent doing nothing but conditioning, 3-5 times a week. for BOTH of us. He will be doing trot sets, canter sets, rollbacks, cantering hills, sprinting, distance trotting, etc. I will be doing work on my legs and abs, particularly my right leg. By the time we have our next show - May 5th - we will be able to trot and canter perfect barrels. Last half of April will be a mix of conditioning and pattern work. We can do this. No matter what. We are a great team, and if we work together and not fight each other, we can win something.
I signed up for IBRA. My goal is Nationals 2012 in KY. JJ, Gracie, Chief and I say bring it on.
