Wherein New Pony Gets A New Name

So I signed the Bill of Sale and said goodbye to a chunk of cash on a Saturday.  In true "crazy eventer" fashion I took my new purchase to a show on Sunday.

It was just a small local jumper derby and I entered the 2'6" since Dee is just coming back into fitness.  The division had two classes, Power&Speed and then the Derby.  I wasn't really expecting much.  My goal for the day was to not fall off.  This would have been a major feat with the red mare.  Apparently now that I have Dee I need to reconsider my goals (in the best possible way).

Since our partnership is in it's infantile stages I figured we could use the low pressure atmosphere to just kinda bomb around and figure each other out.  Turns out, riding a safe horse with more experience than me means when I put my leg on and say "Go" I get a lot of go.  Same when I put my leg on and say "Turn".

Not only did we go clear in the Power&Speed but we went fast!  It didn't feel like a crazy fast round but we were definitely moving.  I also took a few inside turns and Dee was a complete rockstar about it.

The derby class was a total hoot.  We jumped in one ring, then had an in-and-out into the next ring, jumped a wall coming out of that ring, up and down a "bank" then jumped back into the first ring. Since our first class had gone so well my competitive side kicked in and we took some tight turns and we boogied.  I had so much fun.  Not once was I scared for my life and I was sure that when I asked for something I was going to get it.  Coming out of the ring the BO told me that if I had just bought her yesterday I had made a great purchase.  I couldn't stop smiling.

It was a big class (20+) and I figured we might place but there were some established partnerships there, and some lightening quick ponies so I wasn't holding my breath.

Turns out we got a second in the Power&Speed and we took first in the derby, which was good enough for division champ and a COOLER!  There may have been some enthusiastic cheering/squealing and jumping up and down but I will neither confirm nor deny.

Best Pony thinks posing is beneath her.

Dee is officially known as Best Pony now.  So much so that my mom has taken to calling her BP.  It was an awesome start to our life together.  I can't wait to see what the future holds for us.  For the first time in quite some time I believe I will make it to Rebecca Farm next year.

Jump All The Things!

As mentioned earlier I took the mare cross country schooling this weekend.  It was her first time out and our coach could not make it.  Since our first event is in under a month I figured that it was imperative to get out ad find out how she was going to do.  So we loaded up and headed out to Minds Eye Ranch (about 1.5 hrs north) since our local course didn't open until Sunday.

It was not an ideal day weather wise.  It was overcast and windy as we tacked up and then because it's Alberta and MOTHER Nature likes to laugh at us it started to snow as we were warming up.  So we were all a little wet and a whole lot of cold.

Eventers do it in the snow!

Despite the weather she was a rockstar!  Considering we have had major problems with run-outs this winter I was a little apprehensive but my goal was to make it fun and be successful to build our confidence.  We had  few stops that were more a stutter than stop.  I've been working so hard on interrupting the run-out that sometimes we just peter out of energy.  So we backed up a few strides and she always went on the second go and then we didn't have anymore trouble with that fence.  All of our issues seemed to be at the little fences.  The few bigger ones we jumped were problem free.  Perhaps she's just a snob about little fences.

We schooled the ditch, with only minimal pony-club kicking necessary and went up and down the banks without a fuss. We jumped all the Pre-Entry fences and about half of the Entry fences and I called it a day since she blew my expectations out of the water.

We are heading to Beaumont this weekend with our coach this weekend to school again.  I hope that I can successfully school all the Entry fences and perhaps some of the Pre-Training fences since I would ideally like to do Entry at our first event.