Blogging on the Highway!

Ok, so we are all enroute to a HUGE tack shop in Camden SC and I am using my phone to power the internet on my computer so I can FINALLY do a blog update!  On the highway!  (I'm so high tech savvy!)

Aiken has blossomed into full Spring, it's just beautiful down here.  There are so many colorful flowers and new growth on all of the fields and trees, and the floral aromas in the air are delicious!  The days are longer and the sun is HOT.  I love it here, but things are starting to wrap up, only one week left, and then I get to experience Spring all over again in New England.

The important update that everyone keeps asking about:  Full Gallop Horse Trials!  Diem, Stew, and Ari all did their debut Novice outing of the 2012 season, and Carino and Marissa competed in their third Novice HT.  Full Gallop has a bit of an electric environment with all three phases going on at once on Saturday, it's quite a lot for the greenies!   Our guys all did Dressage on Saturday and Show Jumped and ran XC on Sunday.  Ari went first and had a tough time focusing in the dressage warmup and an even tougher time in the arena.  It was a bit disappointing since her flatwork has improved so much at home, but it's just going to take some mileage for her to keep focused off property.  Stew had a very energized test; he tried to focus REALLY hard but the electricity in the air had him so jazzed that we piaffed the whole test!  The judge had nice things to say about both of them though because they both had some really lovely moments.  It's just going to take some time and mileage to pull it all together.

Diem and Carino both had really excellent tests.  Marissa had one of her best tests to date, and had some fantastic moments.  They are starting to be much more consistent and Carino is really beginning to step out into the bridle, they were seventh in their class after dressage in a very large and competitive class!  Diem was the most attentive and workmanlike I've ever seen him at a show.  He stepped off the trailer and was all business right of the bat in the warmup and carried his focus all through his test.  He had some really super light flowing moments and played a very accurate and attentive game.  What a good boy!  He was also seventh in a large and competitive class after dressage; a huge step for Diem!

Sunday's showjumping went well with Diem and Carino both putting in lovely clear rounds.  Ari and Stew both had a rail in the beginning, but settled nicely into a rhythm to finish well.  The second half of Stew's round was like a hunter- good boy!  XC was a bit challenging for everyone's first run of the season, fence 5 was a true trakehner!  Carino and Diem, who had luckily both schooled them, took a little look but then sailed over and had very successful courses.  Diem was super bold XC and didn't even take a glance at the drops and banks!  Ari, who is a bit ditchy still, racked up two stops at the trakehner but then settled into a good rhythm and finished really boldly.  Stew, who has never seen anything even remotely close to a trakehner, took a big look with our first attempt, but then pricked his ears after looking at it as if to say "Oh, it's just a ditch!" And was successful on the second attempt.  He was actually the easiest ride out on XC once he settled into a rhythm- it was all point and shoot and just a little balance before the fences.  Not bad for a pony that had just gotten down here from MA!

At the end of the day Diem was the allstar, taking home fourth and finishing on his dressage score in a big class- go Diem!  Really a huge success for him not just because he was so competitive, but because he stayed so sane!  Stew's day was also a great learning experience, he is going to be a fantastic event star once he puts together all the pieces.  Ari was good, but needs to be a bit more rideable off property so she will have lots of field trips to warm up rings in her future.  Marissa and Carino really had a near perfect outing but were unfortunately tagged with time penalties that weren't theirs. This knocked them out of the ribbons which was a real bummer because they were in third, but was still a true success for their riding- they are solid in the novice standings and looking to start moving up!  Training is in their near future!

Happy Riding!