Back in Aiken after a great week at HITS!

Courage - 3rd Place - 10k HITS Prix - Jump off (Photo by Bill Wertman)

We headed down to Ocala late on Tuesday. It was a quick turn around from Pine Top and I wanted to make sure to get all of them ridden before leaving. We arrived down in Ocala around 11:30 that night at Bruce Davidson's place where the horses were to be stabled. It was a huge relief to have the temperatures finally on the rise after the weekend!

Wednesday was our first day of showing. We were at the barn by 6am to make sure we made it to the show with enough time to finish entering and be ready for our first class. Courage, owned by Sycamore Station LLC, was first up in the $2,500 Brookledge Welcome Stakes. I've been working hard to make corrections from a few weeks prior. After watching the videos over and over I realized I needed to be slightly more patient especially at the verticals not to push him through the top rail. I also needed to keep him a little bit sharper overall. All of the work paid off! He was one of a handful of double clear rounds finishing in 8th!

Llama, owned by Rosie DiMola, jumped a great round in the level 4's (3'9") just following Courage's class. He finished up in 6th. This little horse has a ton of potential and is so careful I can't wait to see where he'll end up in the coming years!

Courage - 3rd Place - 10k HITS Prix - First Round (Photo by Bill Wertman)

Friday brought Courage to the 10k HITS Prix (1.45m - 4'9") He was 18th to go out of the 27 showing. There was only 1 double clear as I entered the ring. Courage was a little green at points but jumped very, very well. It was a much more technical course than Wednesday or 2 weeks prior. He responded with class and finished leaving all of the rails in place! Upon completion of the class there was 1 more double clear placing us in 3rd!

It was a very exciting result and a huge step in gaining confidence for the future.

Llama and I then headed over to the $1,000 FarmVet Level 5 class where he jumped around like a star. This was his 2nd time competing in the 4' class and he too finished double clear and in 5th! He is without a doubt a talent for the future. He'll be out again soon at PSJ's March Madness in Aiken.

We have a quiet weekend with Pine Top Advanced weekend on the horizon.