The theme for the show weekend was the inability of my huge horse to make it down the lines because he was just SO exhausted. We schooled well Thursday, a bit lazy over fences after a slightly spooky flat (that tractor pulling the water tank he’s seen every summer since 2008 is the worst…). Friday it rained insane amounts, I felt bad for the people who had to show in it. I hid in the barn, just getting Stampede clipped up and ready to go for Saturday.
The show life is rough!
Stampede got to go outside Saturday morning, and was ready for a nap while Christie was putting his braids in. So tired before he even had to do anything! Since Stampede has lied in the past, I decided to continue following the plan of lunging (which I wanted to do Friday but it was still raining). He was quiet on the lunge, just a bit gawky and did have to spook at the water tank as it rode by. My rounds on Saturday were good, other than some issues getting down the diagonal line heading away from home.
One of the girls napping with Chubbs the cat
Christie’s mom rode Mr. P yesterday and he was a good boy. I saw her cantering around and around in the schooling ring and P looked quite happy with himself. That boy would love to still be showing.
Today Stampede just wasn’t going to go forward. He was lazy off the leg and really did not want to move down the lines. Two of the lines were headed away from home today, and I had to fight for every step of those. I was riding a fine line between getting him forward and making him angry enough to kick out while asking, so my courses were a mix of both. Stampede was great in the hack, but the judge clearly preferred beefy warmbloods so it wasn’t our day.
Overall not my best or worst show. Stampede did not grab the bit a single time while jumping, which is a huge victory. I think his back was fairly sore today, which is a bummer. We will scale back and not jump for a while and see how he does, as well as get him checked by the saddle fitter just in case. I’m still working on researching my kissing spines surgery location/vet options, but I would rather do that in the fall so we don’t have to contend with flies while he is healing.
