Show: Blue Ridge Hunter/Jumper Association Benefit Horse Show
Place: Harmon Field, Tryon, NC
Dates: April 25-26, 1998
Horse: To The Extreme (aka Extreme)
After several months of trying to find a suitable horse to show, Estella, my instructor, told me that I could show Extreme, one of the stable's boarder's horses. Myra does not get to ride very often, so myself and another person have begun working Extreme and taking lessons on him. Extreme is black a 15.1 hh TB/QH cross. He hasn't been jumped or shown much the past 2 years but is doing well despite that. He has a very light feel and is a cute mover. Over fences, he needs to be pushed into a good pace in order to look his best. This is something I've had problems with in the past, so I thought the show would be a good way to test myself on how I can push Extreme and make him look good over fences.
We went to Harmon Field Friday afternoon to school. Extreme didn't spook at anything although he thought the jumps were a bit interesting. The first time we went over one, he would look at it a bit, back off, and them leap over it. After that he would canter over it with no problems. He felt pretty good, even though we found some pretty bad distances. I think that is more me than him. I can ride wonderfully at home but tend to choke up at a show. In the last 2 years, I simply don't have the mileage in the show ring not to get nervous. Estella thought I was just telling her a story when I mentioned it to her in my last lesson, but she found out that I really do choke up in the showring during warm-ups. After about 30 minutes of jumping, we had several beautiful lines and decided to end on a good note.
Saturday morning I awoke at 5:15 am and was off to the show. The morning was cool and lovely. I got to watch the sun come up over the mountains that are just behind the town of Tryon. What a great sight! I decided not to school b/c he had done well in our session on Friday, and I didn't want him to get tired b/c we had 8 classes ahead of us. Estella was not with us in the morning b/c she had a dressage show across town with her horse. I was a bit nervous about not having my crutch (errr....trainer) there, but managed to allay my fears when I told myself that I've been riding for 15 years, and I know what I'm doing.
Our first division was Low Hunters, which I had decided to use as a warm-up. On our first trip, I forgot to count my strides, so we didn't get many distances right. Courtney said that he looked ok, but the messed up distances cost us a ribbon. The second trip was lovely except that I forgot a diagonal line and was off-course. The Low Hunter flat class was perfect. I couldn't have asked Extreme to do any better. Alas, I was up against all of the trainers as well as several A circuit hunters, so we did not place.
Adult Equitation was up next. Our over fences round was very nice, but I am not an equitation rider. I rounded my shoulders a bit much and could have stabilized my leg a bit more. After watching several of the other riders, we chatted about how we all hated Eq but that our trainers made us do it for the practice. There really were no true Equitation riders in the class; each one had some things that needed correction. The flat class was decent. On the right lead canter, Extreme picked up the wrong lead for one stride before I could get it changed. Luckily, we were behind a jump with lots of plants, so the judge couldn't see us. I was particularly pleased with my sitting trot. I noticed several of the other riders had their horses strung out, but I was able to collect Extreme and put him on the bit. We were 5th.
The final division for the day was Adult Amateur Hunter. I watched the first several riders do the course and was about to go in when the horse that was in the ring took a 6 stride line in 5. He hit one of his front legs on the oxer, rolled over, and his rider flew off. She got up for about 2 seconds and then collapsed. The jump crew rushed into the ring. By this time, she was screaming in pain. (My heart was beating very fast. I always get upset when I see a rider take a bad fall.) No EMT's were on the grounds, but there was a kid's fair being held in the parking lot on the other side of the complex. While someone called 911, two others and I galloped over to the fair to the Ambulance display to find am EMT. Extreme was a trooper. He didn't spook at the children or the balloons. The EMT rushed over and started first aid on the fallen rider. She looked like she was able to wiggle her toes and move her hands. The ambulance arrived about 10 minutes later. Although she appeared to be fine, they took her to the hospital as a precaution. She broke her collarbone but was otherwise alright. My heartbeat had finally come back to normal, and the show resumed. I was 2nd or 3rd in the jump order. The round was going perfectly. I had Extreme forward, he was jumping round and softly, my release was good, until the last line. The turn into the diagonal was very sharp. We lost too much momentum into the first jump. After it, I immediately sat up and pushed him. About 1 1/2 strides before the oxer, I had visions of the other gal's fall. I knew we were not coming into it at a good distance, so I circled, established a good pace, and jumped it nicely. Even though it knocked us out of the ribbons, I was happy with my decision to circle. I had one last chance for a decent trip. I decided to stay in the ring and get it over with immediately after my first trip. We took the first jump wonderfully. Extreme was forward, I was sitting up with straight shoulders. The second line was nice; he rounded great over the roll-top oxer. The diagonal line that we had just circled on went smoothly. We found a good distance to the next single oxer. (aside: I thought it was a bit unusual for them to have a single oxer in the Adult Amateur division. It isn't something we see around here often. The singles are usually brush boxes or simple verticals.) The outside was even better. I could feel him going softly but forward. He popped over the first fence. Without even having to push him on, he opened up his stride to the second fence and went over it in a perfect distance. Next thing I knew, the round was over. I was beaming as I came out of the ring. I felt really, really good about that round, even if we didn't get a ribbon. Our Adult flat class went beautifully. Even though he was getting tired, Extreme seemed to float at the trot. One of the trainers even complimented me on the way he was moving out. We were rewarded with a 6th place ribbon.
Overall, it was a decent show. My nerves got the better of me in the early jumping classes but seemed to get better as the day wore on. I could have pushed Extreme to open his stride a bit more, and I should have been counting the strides in the line a bit more. I think that would have salvaged the first trip of the day. I had a great time, and it was WONDERFUL to be back in the show ring again!
Extreme and I during the Adult Amateur Equitation Flat Class. I was doing my best to try
to sit tall.
Over an oxer. I dropped back a bit too soon over this fence.
Over a fence in the Adult Amateur Over Fences Class. Extreme snapped his knees!
During the Adult Equitation Class on the Flat