I know I know. I'm SO ridiculously late on this blog. It's awful. I have no good excuses except to say that I've been INSANELY busy. Don't you feel sorry for me? ;-)
But - Yay! We made it through the dressage show, and everyone completed their tests without anything disastrous happening. Oh wait - the RAIN was disastrous. Really disastrous. We're talking about rain that Noah could build an ark for. But despite all that, I really really had a great time.
Friday was probably the best day of the weekend (especially 'cause I got off work super early haha). The weather seriously could NOT have been more perfect - We were incredibly blessed to have mild, sunny 70's with a slight breeze.
Tammy, Hailey and I ended up getting to Full Gallop farm around 3ish - so that gave us plenty of time to get the horses situated and play around the stadium jumps, spiffy dressage ring, and fantastic cross country course. Sudi actually got to play in the water complex (Thanks to T-Rex and Hailey for their patience!) - which he loved. We were all pleasantly surprised at his adaptation to water. He's a veritable otter. I was also really impressed with his bravery in trekking across the cross-country course all by himself too. He was just really moving forward and taking in everything. My baby is growing up.
Several others that were joining us later were quite a bit late, so that caused some stress. We also realized that we left several important things at home such as hooks, clips and you know - FEED. :-) Maintaining the style of the day, the Limehouse's had some major catastrophes trying to get out of Charleston and up to Aiken (including the slicing Liza's cornea, flooding of bathrooms and complete air-conditioning overhaul), but everyone ended up getting there on time, and we were all able to relax over dinner at Applebea's and a glass of wine (well - fruit smoothies and chocolate cake for Liza and Hailey).
Saturday morning started out hopeful, but alas, as soon as we got all the horses out of the trailer, the rain came POURING down. It wasn't a very cold rain, but needless to say, we were all drenched, and I now own a very ugly pair of white breeches with RED and BLACK leather coloring ALL over the BUTT.
With the rain making the fields rather soggy, I decided to take Sud out of the combined training class and just do Intro Test A and B, and for Kehbir, just do Intro Test A. Kehbir was the first of my boys to brave the puddles. I have to commend both of them - they both had amazing center lines and halts. In fact, Sudi got a 7 on his very first center line!! Kehbir's 7 came from movement.
Sud's moment of glory (haha) came from his tremendous bolt from M to X. He glimpsed his reflection in the corner mirror and mistook himself for the Lock Ness Monster. This escapade garnered the judge's response "Way to Stick!!!" for which I was very proud. :-)
Forward movement was no one's forte though as neither were excited about traipsing through mud. Both got comments such as "wrong bend." Of course they were bending wrong! - The silly Arabs were arching their necks to get a better look at their reflections in the water!! Oh - and another comment was "Teach horse to bend for better balance." Ha. My horses have GREAT balance - they tiptoed through the whole test!
So, in spite of the absolutely HORRID conditions, we really did have a good time. All the babies ended up with comparably bad scores - but none of us minded in the end. As we all swam home, we definitely couldn't quit laughing and reminiscing and plotting future show experiences. It's going to take a lot of perseverance, but with perseverance, even snails made it on to the Ark!
But - Yay! We made it through the dressage show, and everyone completed their tests without anything disastrous happening. Oh wait - the RAIN was disastrous. Really disastrous. We're talking about rain that Noah could build an ark for. But despite all that, I really really had a great time.
Friday was probably the best day of the weekend (especially 'cause I got off work super early haha). The weather seriously could NOT have been more perfect - We were incredibly blessed to have mild, sunny 70's with a slight breeze.
Tammy, Hailey and I ended up getting to Full Gallop farm around 3ish - so that gave us plenty of time to get the horses situated and play around the stadium jumps, spiffy dressage ring, and fantastic cross country course. Sudi actually got to play in the water complex (Thanks to T-Rex and Hailey for their patience!) - which he loved. We were all pleasantly surprised at his adaptation to water. He's a veritable otter. I was also really impressed with his bravery in trekking across the cross-country course all by himself too. He was just really moving forward and taking in everything. My baby is growing up.
Several others that were joining us later were quite a bit late, so that caused some stress. We also realized that we left several important things at home such as hooks, clips and you know - FEED. :-) Maintaining the style of the day, the Limehouse's had some major catastrophes trying to get out of Charleston and up to Aiken (including the slicing Liza's cornea, flooding of bathrooms and complete air-conditioning overhaul), but everyone ended up getting there on time, and we were all able to relax over dinner at Applebea's and a glass of wine (well - fruit smoothies and chocolate cake for Liza and Hailey).
Saturday morning started out hopeful, but alas, as soon as we got all the horses out of the trailer, the rain came POURING down. It wasn't a very cold rain, but needless to say, we were all drenched, and I now own a very ugly pair of white breeches with RED and BLACK leather coloring ALL over the BUTT.
With the rain making the fields rather soggy, I decided to take Sud out of the combined training class and just do Intro Test A and B, and for Kehbir, just do Intro Test A. Kehbir was the first of my boys to brave the puddles. I have to commend both of them - they both had amazing center lines and halts. In fact, Sudi got a 7 on his very first center line!! Kehbir's 7 came from movement.
Sud's moment of glory (haha) came from his tremendous bolt from M to X. He glimpsed his reflection in the corner mirror and mistook himself for the Lock Ness Monster. This escapade garnered the judge's response "Way to Stick!!!" for which I was very proud. :-)
Forward movement was no one's forte though as neither were excited about traipsing through mud. Both got comments such as "wrong bend." Of course they were bending wrong! - The silly Arabs were arching their necks to get a better look at their reflections in the water!! Oh - and another comment was "Teach horse to bend for better balance." Ha. My horses have GREAT balance - they tiptoed through the whole test!
So, in spite of the absolutely HORRID conditions, we really did have a good time. All the babies ended up with comparably bad scores - but none of us minded in the end. As we all swam home, we definitely couldn't quit laughing and reminiscing and plotting future show experiences. It's going to take a lot of perseverance, but with perseverance, even snails made it on to the Ark!
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