Flying High at the Southlands Classic

We did it - Miss Fancy and I successfully competed in the Southlands Summer Classic Hunter Jumper Show this past weekend and I am quite pleased with the results. It's been a whirlwind, starting with show preparation last Thursday (lots of cleaning, wiping, braiding, picking etc.), and heading straight into competition on Friday morning and again Saturday. It was very hot and sunny on both days, and I was cooking underneath that pin-stripe jacket and black helmet. I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally after Friday, and I had to drag my butt out of bed on Saturday to do it all over again. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

It's something I've worked hard for, and it was a goal to get through a major show and compete at the jumper level for the first time (Jumpers being the competition based on the speed and accuracy through a course of fences - fastest and cleanest rider wins). When it was my turn to tackle the 10 jumps, I was so nervous and sick to my stomach. What if I went off course? What if I missed a fence?

I took a deep breath and lumbered in a lofty canter towards the first fence - Miss Fancy picked up on my anxiety and she was not as speedy as usual over the first 3 jumps. As I cleared the first few fences, I gained more confidence and soon I was flying through the rest of the course. When it was all over, the announcer said I had made it into the jump-off! As there's no time in between your first round and the jump off, I stared down hard at the jumps and went for it. I went hard at the last series of jumps and to my own surprise, I had a huge grin on my face. I couldn't believe I had done it! Not only that, but I was in 2nd place!

I didn't end up winning that class, but it doesn't matter. What's important to me is that I went through with it and did better than I expected. Miss Fancy gave me a chance to win and I held nothing back.

I fared better in a few other classes, placing in 3 of them (we got ribbons - yay!). It didn't matter that I had burnt my brand new show shirt on the shoulder the night before in my attempt to iron it (wore it anyways - the judges can't see under my jacket!); it didn't matter that I didn't win a 1st, 2nd or 3rd. It was so much fun and very satisfying to know I had reached this, a long-time goal.

And my husband says, "All that work and money spent for a few dollar-store ribbons?"

And I say, "Absfuckinlutely!".

A few more pics of the show below.


Below: Back at the barn after a long, but rewarding day.

Below: Briggs, a cute Appaloosa owned by a friend also at the show.

Thanks to Totem Photographics and my dear friend Melissa for these wonderful pictures.

Get Your Leather On

It's already June which means I'm just over 6 weeks away from my horse show at the Southlands Riding Club - yay! I had another great horse weekend, and my good friend Melissa came out to the barn to hang out. It was kind of a windy day and Fancy was being quite spirited (to put it mildly).

I had trouble doing the liverpool jump (over a small pool of water) and at first she stopped and ran out on me. Melissa got a few funny pictures of that. When I eventually got her to go over, she leapt across it like it was a raging fire, not a 2 inch deep plastic pan of water. I think I grabbed some mane. After that she was ok going over it.


We let her loose in the cross country field too and I did some small stuff - logs, fences and tires.


Outfit:
Urban Outfitters striped sleeveless shirt vest
Lululemon yoga top
Greenhawk blue riding breeches
Ariat lace up paddock boots
Half-chaps, from the Dog and Pony Shop

Lil Miss Fancy

My friends Sarah and Shanah put together this video of me jumping Miss Fancy at the riding club. Special thanks to Shanah's man Pete for the editing and awesome music. The second Rodeo jump was my first 2'9 - Yippee! Fancy just loves jumping and we had so much fun in this lesson.

More riding fun this weekend as Melissa is coming to Southlands again to watch me jump Fancy. Hopefully more pics and vids to come.

Galloping on the Beach

Miss Fancy and I went on a beach ride at Iona Beach in Richmond over the weekend.  When the tide is out low, you can ride very far to the shore on flat sand and clay.  Sunday was the perfect day for riding on the beach - endless clear blue skies matched by endless crashing waves stretching out as far as we could see.   Below was my view from Fancy's back:

We took turns making videos of each other cantering and galloping along the beach.  Below, we were as close as we could get to the waves without the horses spooking.

There were many interesting birds at Iona, including this bald eagle.    I wish I had my other camera with me as my point and shoot can't zoom in too close.

Silverado and Nitro - My Two Favorite Greys

I had so much fun on the weekend playing with Silver and Nitro at Melissa's barn.  We had a beautiful sunny day, and we both took turns riding Silver, and then Melissa on Nitro.  Hopefully we can go on the trails together in the summer time, but only after I can somewhat control Silver!

Nothing more beautiful than perfect unison

My riding coach passed this along to me and it's utterly inspiring. Using just her body and shifts in weight, this woman is able to work in perfect unison with her horse. there are no artificial aids or even any tack to help her guide the horse. They are communicating to each other so clearly and just working together as a team.

There are days that I ride and it seems I am just fighting against everything the whole time. My pony Spice locks her jaw and it makes me tense and lock up. Watching this woman, everything just flows so easily and naturally. It's just amazing.