As always VHT was a great event. Brian and Penny Ross put on a great show. It was a very busy weekend for us with 7 horses competing. Tali, Simon and Slick all in prelim. Reggie and Cordonelli in training. PJ and Vigil in novice. Kristin also brought Tom down for her second novice with him.
The weekend started with all the prelim boys dressage on Friday. It is seeming to be old hat, but Tali came away with the lead. It's funny, he's actually still quite green and I'm never certain exactly how well we're going to do. I was in even more doubt as I was trotting around the ring before entering. Twice he heard something behind him, or saw something and bolted. I was impressed, the further into the test we got the better and better he became.
Simon was next in, he's always impressed me with his athleticism but within the past week its all starting to fall into place. His trot has quickly become his strongest gait. Give him the winter and I think he might be giving Tali a run for his money. He didn't score as well as I had hoped, but like I said wait for next year!
Slick was the last of the Friday dressage rides. He had the unfortunate luck of being in one of the rings on the top of the hill. He tried very hard and pulled off a respectable test. Hes not setting the world on fire yet, but remember its only his 3rd prelim.
Friday night at Va is always a good time. They put on a benefit jumping competition in the massive indoor. It's a great opportunity especially for the green horses to get in the ring and get used to the atmosphere. It's also a plus that you can win some money! Slick finishes up second behind Holly in the big class. My Mom ended up winning the smaller one.
Saturday was very busy, the little guys starting up with dressage and the big guys with XC. The most notable part of sat, aside from the great jumping prelim horses was with PJ's dressage. We were nearly finished with our test, in the last canter circle. Out of no where the horse in the ring next to us decides to try to jump out of the ring. From the sounds of it, it didn't go well. Before I knew it we were bolting down the long side. PJ still finished up with a 33.5 or so but it could have been much better without a doubt! All of the horses finished very strong. Aside from Slick's 1 rail, they all finished on their dressage scores.
Sunday finished up the event. The results finished up as follows:
Prelim:
Tali 1st
Simon 5th
Training:
Cordonelli 3rd
Reggie 2nd
Novice:
PJ 4th
Virgil 3rd
Kristin also finished 7th on Tom
There was also a team competition occurring. The team of Tali, my Mom, Sister and Matt won out of the 26 total teams. My second team of Simon, Tara, Kathy and Larry finished up in 3rd...pretty damn good weekend!
This Thursday we're heading up to Toronto for the Royal Winter Fair's Indoor Eventing Competition. It's unlike anything I'd seen before. The helmet cam is coming along so check back next week for video...it'll be a hell of a trip without a doubt!
http://royalfair.org/indoor-eventing
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Hi Doug, congrats on your great time at VAHT. I think I'm missing this year's Royal's indoor eventing, but I do have a question for you. What level would you consider it to be? Perlim? I'm sure it's a fun time, but I worry about the message it sends to people who know nothing about eventing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, keep up the great work, and I love reading your blog.
Thanks, Lex
Thanks on VaHT...it's great to have such nice horses. Certainly makes things a lot easier! As for the Royal. I'd say it's approximately prelim height, but the atmosphere is unlike anything these horses would have seen. So ideally you'd have an experienced prelim or higher horse. Check back for updates...we head out tomorrow morning.
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