Optimum time: 5:45. My time? 4:15. Oops. Good thing the timing didn't count for speed faults, as I would have had boatloads of them. But the pony can RUN!
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was a sleepy pony for the dressage. I dunno - must have been the weather, which was unseasonably warm, even for NC, in November, with an average hovering around 70. Good thing Lizzie Snow did such a great job clipping the Red-Headed one, or he would have melted. I didn't bring along my dressage whip, which proved to be a big mistake as he was almost impossible to energize for dressage. it was rather funny - the stadium warm-up was right next to the dressage rings, so I pointed him inside there and galloped (sort of) around to wake him up. He did perk up once inside the warmup area, but then when he went back into the dressage area he slowed right back down. Silly boy. Anyway, after a couple of smart transitions, in we went, for a (what I thought was a so-so) test. A tad sluggish, but steady and consistent, minus some scootching around in the saddle and some flailing in a near-panicky attempt to get the canter BEFORE X on both lead, but surprisingly the judge didn't either a) notice me slinging my body around and losing a stirrup in the process or b) was so overawed by the fancy-schmancy clip that she gave us a 7 on both departs. Weird. We scored 7's all down the line, with one 6 for a "poll too low" trot circle (again, a sympton of being behind my leg) and a 6 for the final halt-salute, where I think he staggered sideways and crossed a leg behind. However, we did have a lovely turn up the centerline, which has historically been my bad movement, and that gained us an 8. We also got an 8 on gaits - wheee!!! - and 7's for all the collective marks.
You like me; you really, really like me! Ok, no more allusions.
Stadium was blech. I had such a wonderful school the week before, and then the day before, with Gina, with Oliver powering around and taking everything out of stride, over some much bigger jumps than what I was jumping at the show. He was behind me leg and we sort of crawwwwled around stadium, resulting in a couple of helicopter jumps and one reaaally bad move on my part where Oliver saved my a$$. Good pony - lots of StudMuffins for you. I tried to avoid catching Gina's eye on the way out, but she caught me anyway and was surprisingly nice, and chalked it up to Oliver being behind my leg. Off to XC.
I really galloped him around the warmup in an attempt to wake him up. Either his balance has gotten really, really good or he really likes the slower gears, because even at a flat-out gallop, all I have to do is breathe out and sit up and he tucks his butt under and slows down and stops like a reiner. Coming out of the start box, I headed towards Fence 1, the Hobbit's Hut, and bridged my reins, reached back, and slapped him once on the tush to get him going. Nice jump over that one. However, we landed and raced madly down the hill, and I didn't get him back well enough so we hiccuped over 2, the brush-thing at the bottom of the hill, and then galloped up to 3, which rode fairly well, and then through the trees into the open field, where I reached back and tapped him again because this was the Pheasant Feeder, which has been spooky in the past. That did the trick because he landed and took off. I guided him around the Prelim ski jump and then back to the BN 5, which was a log pile on the slope. Argh. I would far rather jump either the Training or Novice ski jump, as they are both easier than trying to rate a horse that's been spanked down a hill and over a blip of logs. I gave up three strides out, sat back and prayed he would pick up his feet, which he did, and we ran down the hill in surprisingly good balance to 6 and 7, a bending line which rode great. Up and a nice long gallop to the Hollow, which he wanted to jump the Novice out, and then a reaaaallly long gallop past the ditch complex, up the hill, and then a shortcut through the woods to 8, a smallish rolltop thing. Into the water, great gallop through the water, and then into the infield over the red barn with the shiny black roof - ugh - and then a good gallop on down over the the biggest fence on course, a half a rolltop, four strides over the ditch, which I almost missed because I was looking too far left, and thank God he jumped it well because I nearly missed the rolltop OUT and then the finish flags. SUCH a good pony, and I knew I made good time, but I didn't realize how fast we were until the timer commented on it. Oh well, that's ok, because we were too slow last time. Had a blast! I think Oliver did, too.
Ended up in 6th because I was tied for 5th with Kicki Norlander, sister of the (in)famous Peter Norlander and Dressage Diva Extraordinaire, which made me quite happy. There was a tie for 1st with a 27.1, 2nd place with a 28 something, and then Kicki and me with a 30. The competition was quite tough. Of course, since I was too fast, Kicki was closest to optimum time, something I didn't quite consider when I went riding hell-bent-for-leather XC. I still can't believe that I was only in 5th place after dressage with a 30, but there's a lot of hope as next time, I will bring a whip to the sandbox.
Upon reflection, my biggest problem seems to be that I tend to ride too slowly in stadium. I think it's just a bad habit, as obviously I don't have any trouble with speed when I jump xc. At Gina's, we're in a wooded field, so it feels like xc to Oliver. I think I need to practice in a sand box that is more similar to a show. Other than that, Novice, here we come!
