Saturday, March 7, 1998 my first combined training show. Although I've been showing hunters for 5 years, it was interesting to do something a bit different. The show was held at 5 Jokers Farm in Greenville, SC. I rode Ranger, a friend's green Quarter Horse.
The weather was a bit gloomy, cloudy, and drizzling most of the morning. It managed to hold off while I was on for most of my rides. The turn out was really good, with about 4-8 people for each division of combined training and several people only doing dressage. I would say there were about 30 horses. After arriving at the barn, I rode Ranger around to let him take in the sights and smells. He snorted a few times but didn't spook once. That shows his calm nature.
The dressage test was first. He was anticipating the trot to canter transition a bit, so I held him back more than I should. One of the judge's comments was that he wasn't forward enough and that he should look like he is marching. We only had one little bobble, and our 20 meter circles were relatively round. We were in the lead after dressage.
In jumping, we only did Cross Rails b/c Ranger still doesn't quite have the hang of getting from one side of the fence to the other. He forgets that he has 4 feet and gets careless. We were clean over all the jumps, but he hesitated badly at 2. I could feel him start to back off in his stride, so I poked him with the spurs and he went across them cleanly. We won our division. His owner was thrilled. Next show, she intends to show Ranger, and I will be back on Magic, my normal ride.
Ranger and I going to enter the dressage arena
Ranger and I after winning the blue ribbon