HR B Show April 2021
In mid April, right after that tax deadline, there was an indoor show at the barn. It was the second show of the indoor season, but Ernie and I missed the first one due to his abscess in March. It honestly worked out for the best since work was insane at that point and it would have been stressful trying to show.
This show had small numbers in my classes, so much so that my limit adult equitation classes were combined with the juniors. Sarah (Draft Mare) brought Sydney to the barn to show which was really fun as well.
Ernie was great for the show, but given the timeline of his cough issue, then his abscess, and getting hind shoes put on a couple weeks before he hadn’t done that much harder work or jumping leading up to the show. He was quite tired Sunday which led to some issues with lead changes in the deeper footing at one end of the ring along with a rail in one of my classes later in the day.
We did win both our 2’6″ equitation trip (above) and our low medal class which was fun. All in all a great first show of the season – we hadn’t shown since finals in September of 2020.
HHF at WAG May 2021
Our first away show of the season and honestly the start was less than stellar. On Thursday while schooling in the equitation ring I got a bad distance into a spooky two stride and Ernie actually stopped between the fences. That was our first refusal together, and honestly it was the gentlest of stops. He was definitely right in his decision. Ernie was a bit concerned about going through it on the next approach, but we got back on track pretty quickly.
Of course we then proceeded to go into the hunter ring and he was suspicious of the fences with astroturf on them and stopped at the in on my first approach. My trainer put the top rail down and he went over, added a stride, and jumped the out with a little look. After that he was my normal boy and finished up nicely.
Friday came and it literally poured almost the whole day. It was also windy and around 40 degrees. Just nasty! I was thankful I didn’t have to show that day but I felt bad Ernie was trapped in his stall. He happily ate and hung out though. When things cleared up early evening I got him out for several walks. I opted to not ride though, which was good because only the schooling ring was open and it was both sloppy and insane in there!
I did opt to add warm up classes Saturday just to make sure we were okay with the fences we had issues with on Thursday. It was totally not needed, and Ernie went right around like the professional he is.
We then proceeded to have our best show together. I had several courses where I got that amazing feeling of everything coming together and it all felt so good. I live for that! He also was the most relaxed in my flat classes that he has ever been which is exciting. Of course I have no videos from this show. I bought one photo, but it’s not a jumping one. I fell in love with the look on Ernie’s face, you can just tell how much he loves his job.
I’ve done well in the equitation over fences in the past with Ernie, but this time we also did well in the equitation flats and over fences in the hunters. All that even with big classes. It was just such an amazing weekend of riding.
We’ve had some easy weeks as I decided not to do the away show in June, but we are gearing up for a home show here soon. After that we will be off to another away show a couple weeks later. Looking forward to having some more fun with my pony!
Congrats! I love how you two are figuring each other out. Can’t wait to read all about your upcoming shows!
Thank you. He’s really shown me how fun working with the right equine partner can be. 🙂
He is the best boy! It’s great to see you out showing and having fun again.
Thank you, he has really changed things for me. 🙂