Pony Toes and I had an excellent time at St Johns. Sure, it was snowing and cold and there were 50 mph winds, but we got to run fast and jump. That makes any day awesome.
I packed Penny's sheet that she's never worn at the last minute and I'm glad I did. When the snow was blowing in I'm sure she appreciated it. It kept her clean too, though she'd managed to get poop on her neck Sunday morning. We had an end stall with no one behind us, which was awesome. I suspect my request for a "solid walled stall" might have given them the impression she's anti-social. She's just paranoid that some other horse is going to steal her food if they can see it, so the solid walls are needed for pony happiness.
Our dressage was abysmal. The earlier rides had dealt with blowing snow, but we had higher winds (45-50 mph.) The little dressage arena fence was on its side. Penny was quiet but our lines were wavy and our circles more gear shaped. Sometimes she was like a giraffe, other moments she was actually being good. So, quiet but not at all listening to me. We got our worst score ever: 52.9. My Partner In Crime did slightly better, but the judge called her over at the end of the test and told her that her horse looked really cranky and that he really didn't want to be there. One more example of just getting through the dressage so we can go jump.
Due to the crazy wind they had to postpone stadium to Sunday morning because the jumps just wouldn't stay up. Walking XC was insane. The signs were on the ground, backwards, broken, etc and there was no point to righting them as the wind would just tear them up again. They were all in place for XC and that's really all that matters.
Penny was absolutely brilliant jumping. She has confirmed herself as a Super Jumper. We went into stadium and at first she was all "ho hum" then she realized the fences were bigger than she's competed at before and just rocked. We flew over that course. There was a bit of a scary moment with a tricky turn and she thought about going over the arena fence (not taller than 3') but we got turned and continued on. I guess the spectators all held their breath for that moment. Oh, and my shriek probably didn't help. I don't know what it is when I'm competing. When something out of the ordinary happens I shriek. Happened in warm-up too when she spooked at the bronc chutes (we've been to St Johns three times, you would think she'd be over the darn things by now.)
Directly after stadium we walked to XC (that's the across the racetrack, around the runway, past the graveyard trip.) We were all warmed up, so we basically walked directly down to the start box. Upside: no nerves. Downside: I was a bit out of breath so had to stop and walk between fences 4 and 5. Penny, again, just rocked. I walked 2-3 times in the earlier part of the course and she came right back to me. I know it's odd, but it gives us both a moment to catch our breaths and focus.
When I was walking the course I was second-guessing the decision to go BN. I need to have more faith in my pony. I suspect I could take her out Novice and just hang on. I did need to put my leg on occasionally, especially when we had the tricky lava rock fence up a hill and then a couple strides later just at the top of the hill the jump we call the "Toop" because it's sort of half-table, half-coop. We did the water option, though it didn't actually require us getting in the water. We stepped two left hooves in. If I'd know how my time was I would have gone all the way through it. We had the fastest time and that's with the walking.
Both stadium and XC I just let her go. She loves to run and jump, she was being safe and was fit enough to do it. Her natural cruising speed is BN speed, so it works for us.
At the end though, we didn't move up from last place and ended up with 6th. Perfectly respectable for our first BN, but it means I didn't get the place I needed for an AEC qualification. My Partner In Crime now has both of hers. I'm trying not to worry. My pony is awesome and that's all that matters.
Do I look wind burned and cold?
