One step closer to Mexico!
It wasn’t until the car ride home when it hit me…WE DID IT!!! Ginger and I completed our first CCI** and finished in third place! She went double clean today in the show jumping with no faults in jumping or time, she was perfect. Show jumping has become one of my favorite phases to ride and Ginger keeps proving to me she wants to do well just as bad as I do. This weekend was full of more anxiety than any other emotion knowing that the end of the weekend could mean the potential for an exciting future...
read moreGinger the jumping bean
This must have been the LONGEST cross country day of my life. We arrived at the park prompt this morning at seven to get chores done and after walking the course by 8:45am, we were out of things to do until it was time for me to go at 2:18pm. The cross country course today was longer than any I have done before and the questions proved to ride well as long as the rider was staying attentive. I rode one combination at a time learning from the last and carrying that education to the next. At the six minute mark, with two...
read moreDay one complete and onto cross country
An exciting first day met my hopes and goal for the past two shows, to finish first in the dressage competition. As planned, I took Ginger out first thing this morning to find that she was not as fresh as expected, so I completed our preview ride after fifteen minutes, headed back to the barn, and waited to get ready for the real deal. We warmed up twenty-five minutes before our test and she felt on, exactly what I was hoping for. Right before she went in I got her a little more expressive and took her in the ring to show...
read moreOn to dressage!
Jogs and in-barn vet inspections went as planned. They were uneventful which was exactly what I was hoping for. Tomorrow at 9:12am Ginger and I will be entering the dressage ring to kick off our first CCI**. Yahoo! The test we will be completing in the dressage phase is a bit more complicated than the one I did at Galway Downs, but it is one that Ginger and I are ready for. Today I got the chance to walk the cross country course with Derek, my coach and course designer. Wow, it is long and there are a lot of big...
read moreAnd We Are Off
I have spent the past two days here at Bea and Derek’s house and farm in Carmel Valley to get in some final practice and finishing touches before the weekend begins. Ginger was a bit of a hot tamale this morning our final jump school. The enthusiasm was welcomed and served to make a great final jump school before the show. When I was warming up this morning, I thought about the first time Ginger and I came for training at Stillwater Farms in January of 2009. At that point Ginger and I were trying to get through...
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