Well, it's now or never! After basically being in a panic about it all week, I solidly decided today that we are definitely not scratching from Sunrise Ridge. Even though the mare is still in flaming heat, her legs have stayed vaguely normal. She seemed fairly quiet today and I had a long heart-to-heart chat with her about keeping her panties on and behaving herself at the show and blah blah. Hopefully she actually listens to me.
I went out to the showgrounds this afternoon to walk the cones course and see the marathon. It's the 20th anniversary of Sunrise Ridge, which makes it the longest consecutively running horse driving trial in the US. This year's theme is Two Tickets to Paradise, which is obviously cute and clever because the show takes place in the town of Paradise TX.
It really is paradise, too!
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| Cones course |
I LOVE the cones course this year. It's incredibly flowy and has a certain kind of rhythm to it that makes sense to me. It's balanced and well matched on both sides. It has balance and a kind of poetry to it.
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| Although why they named it "Gay Pair o'Dice" is kind of beyond me |
If you're not familiar with cones courses, remember that they follow the same pattern as stadium or jumpers - red flags are on the right, and white are on the left. So you can follow the numbers and see which way you'll need to be traveling. It's a great course.
I'll post more about the marathon when I give my dressage and cones update. The show is set over two days for the first time ever, so we kick off our dressage tomorrow at a super late 2:57PM time, and directly head to cones following that (so nobody has to unhitch). You know what that means though... we get to sleep in!!
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| Scrubba dubba |
O god I think we're ready... do I know my dressage test? Did I pack everything? Is my mare going to kill me? Ahhh! Wish us luck!
Good luck tommorow! Looks like a gorgeous venue :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck!! So excited for you
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you and O!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
ReplyDeleteI'm really sorry to hear this. I can empathize because I actually had a similar experience myself when at a horse trials with my brother years ago. He was competing a mare I used to own (so I had a vested interest lol) when someone went to the officials and accused him of abusing and beating his mare which was the stupidest allegation EVER because my brother is actually one of the most patient and calm and gentle riders I know. I remember being enraged...and we never did find out who started the rumors. :-/
ReplyDeleteHope it went well!!
ReplyDeleteYikes! Maybe combined driving isn't for me... there is no way I could remember that cones course lol. I'm sure you did great! I'm going to read how it went right now.
ReplyDelete