Tuesday 4 October 2016

Catching Up with Best Pony

We went to two local jumper shows in September. The plan was to do numerous divisions and see if we could expose her physical issues.

The first was the Killerney Derby. I have a soft spot for this show as it was the first show I took Dee to, and gave me my first cooler win. This year we did both the 2'9" and the 3'0" divisions, to the tune of 74 jumping efforts. I was a shitty pilot in the first class and surprised her with a triple bar and picked up a stop but it was smooth sailing after I got my act together. We picked up a second in the next class. A rail in the first 3'0" class landed us as the fastest 4 faulter and a 4th place. And then in the 3'0" derby class we were fast and clean, taking home the red and yet another cooler!

It's even in my colours!

The next show was the Gorsline show that we had great success at last year. Last year I showed on Saturday and this year I was on the Sunday. Sunday has the higher levels and a greater level of competition. We did both the 0.9m and the 1.0m. We took a fifth in the first 0.9m class (out of 27) and I was pumped about it, especially since there is money to fifth place. We then proceeded to have a great round in the 0.9m Jumper Special, taking home the win by a margin of almost 2 seconds. This landed us a hefty check and a new cooler.

We then stood around for a while and I made the mistake of not keeping her moving. Going into the 1.0m I was super nervous. Couple this with her getting stiff and it was a super rough round and we ended up getting eliminated after two stop. Horses are sure humbling. I got my head in the game, kept her moving until our next class and put in a solid round with a great jump off. We pulled the first rail, but once again were the fastest of the 4 faulters and took home a 4th. Overall it was great, I even came home with $40 more than my entries.

This is my favourite cooler photo!
Fortunately (unfortunately?) my plan to expose the NQR in Dee's back has worked. After our last show she came up with soreness in her lower back and hip.

So she's off to spend a month with my mom. My mom's business partner is an equine osteopath and the plan is for them to work on her quite extensively over the next few weeks. My mom is also 10 minutes from my preferred vet (I'm over 3 hours away) so it's easy to tap that resource if she isn't showing improvement.
William also got a treatment from them!
My mom is awesome, she's the entire reason I started riding and she has made it feasible for me to continue with this crazy obsession more times than I can count. I trust her with my horse implicitly. And I still cried after dropping her off (and even writing this is making me teary and I'm not a big crier).

So it'll be quiet(er) on the Dee front. I'm hopeful that this time will really help get her sorted out because I plan to enjoy her sassiness for many years to come.


8 comments:

  1. Congrats on your satin/coolers/cheques! Sounds like you have a good plan (and a wonderful mom!) for Dee. Hope she's all sorted out soon :)

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  2. Actually making money at a show!?! I'm in awe! haha

    Congrats on your successes in the show ring! I really hope Best Pony is feeling better soon *fingers crossed*

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  3. Winning a cooler is on my bucket list! Also wining money, hell yeah!!

    My massage lady is also an osteopath, I think theyre wonderful people to have for our horses. Hopefully she rights herself soon!

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  4. Aw talk about bittersweet :( glad it was an awesome outing tho and hopefully the plan for Dee pans out!!!

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  5. Awwww best pony. Hopefully you can find some answers.

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  6. Best pony is the best! I hope she feels better than new after her vacation.

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  7. What awesome results!! Congratulations!! Fingers crossed she comes back all fixed up

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  8. Um you guys are epic for being able to do that! Hoping Dee comes back happy and sound!

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