Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Show Day: Part 2

The photo below. I love. I could stare at it forever. Probably one of the best moments of my life. 
Before we get too excited, the fences were only 2' and there were only four people in the class. 
It was the Bardsley $500 Classic. 


Ben and I had already competed in the Long Stirrup division. I feel kinda silly since we had been in the Pre-adult 2'6" stuff last year- but since I've only been riding once a week and this was our first show of the year I figured we might as well go in and have some fun with the smaller jumps.  
True to form we had a great first round (2nd place), a miserable second round (6th place), and a slightly better third round (5th place). And the flat we were 7th. The woes of trying to ride a jumper in the hunter ring- he gets more keyed up as time goes on (hence I get more keyed up- then we're both disasters). 
BUT the flat class gave us a break between the Long Stirrup division and the Classic. 
Now a Classic is just a single course and usually involves prize money. I've never seen a Classic in such a low level- they're typically reserved for mid/high jumpers or the high hunters and average out at about $1500 a class. 
But Kara entered me in the $500 Classic and in I went. 
It was a pretty awesome round. Easily the best of the day. We just got that rhythm and flowed through the entire thing. BUT there were horses entered that could get the strides, the typical hunters. So when my name was called as the winner I was in quite a bit of shock. 
The Bardsley team put the championship ribbon on Ben's bridle. We all (Dee, Paul, Kara, Andres, Bardsley, and the photographer) trooped to the winners circle. I hopped off and Ben got his new magnetic cooler (good for sore muscles) and sash. I hopped back on and we all smiled. Or I tried to smile while I ALSO tried to prevent Ben from munching on the tot's ponytail. Classic Ben.