The Abridged Version

We've gotten some super entries for our Design Team call so far but there's still all day today to submit! This really is a super gig. AllyScraps

And now on to my usual ramblings....

7/7/7...was it good for you? It was supposed to be a "lucky" day according to many but it had it's ups and downs for us. Well, for Jess really but as the Mom I felt her pain. She had a show at Fair Hill. Her and LuLu's biggest so far. Jessica's been there, and actually competed at a higher level on a much smaller horse, but LuLu and her had not. I walked the cross country course with her and Chase in the morning and I'm not embarrassed to admit I was really nervous for her. The jumps seemed so big and LuLu is still pretty new and not always coordinated. If she (as in the horse) jumps awkwardly in stadium and doesn't clear she knocks down a rail, in cross county....well, the jumps are SOLID. No give and take in a giant log or stone wall. So if she doesn't quite clear...?? I don't even want to know. But I was feeling the what ifs in my stomach all day.

Then our first bit of bad luck strikes.

Jess needed to get her horse off of the trailer but Chase's horse is behind. So she runs around trying to find him so she can get ready for her ride. No luck. Her plan is to unload Bucky, have me hold him, unload LuLu, we'll switch horses and she'll load Bucky back. Makes sense to me. She just about had Bucky tied back in the trailer when he spooked (or something), banged his leg and came out. Jess still had him, he didn't escape, but he was limping something fierce and wouldn't put his hind leg down. My stomach fell. We broke Chase's new prize horse. Within 10 seconds my mind figures we owe Dawn several thousand dollars and she'll probably kick us out of the barn and refuse to give Jessica lessons again. Irrational, I know. But you've never dealt with the wrath of Dawn.

I sent Jessica to get Michelle who was parked a few trailers away. She took Bucky and ran some cold water on the gash for a while and told Jess everything was ok and to get ready for her ride. HA! Jessica is a complete wreck. I'm thinking this is going to be her worst dressage score of all time. But she starts getting ready and head to the warm up field.

Meanwhile, Michelle is still working with Bucky who finally puts his leg down. I'm still worried that not only is Chase not going to be able to compete that day but that we've ruined his horse for all time. Again, pretty irrational, I know.

To make a terribly long story just a bit shorter, Michelle went to Dawn (who had just completed her dressage test) and broke the news and smoothed things over. Turns out all that worry was for nothing. Bucky had a pretty big gouge in his leg but Chase was still able to ride and Dawn's wrath didn't rain down or Jess or I. She just said next time, don't unload, get Michelle.

No worries there!

So I find Jess in the warm up field and assure her that everything is ok. Dawn's not mad, Bucky's not lame and she can relax and have a good ride. Which she does.

Later, while Jess and Chase are warming up for stadium and cross country, I check her dressage score and find out that she's in 2nd place so far. And only 1 point behind. She had a 33 (fabulous score) on her dressage test! This means if she goes clear in both jumping rounds she's got at least 2nd place for the day. And not that we wish back luck to other riders, but if the person in first has just one rail down or one refusal AND Jess goes clear, it's a BLUE RIBBON for her.

Next up is stadium. It does fast and she goes clear! Then comes cross country and I'm still nervous but excited about her chances. Her and LuLu take off and after the first jump it looks to me (from where I'm standing) that LuLu isn't heading to hte right like she's supposed to be. My fear of her not wanting to leave the pack is back with a vengeance. But they I see the top of Jessica helmet over the hill and they're heading in the right direction.

We hear them announce that "Jessica and Look at Me Now (LuLu's show name) are clear through the bank at 5. After those, we're going to be able to see the rest from where we're standing. And she has a fabulous ride! They do the whole mile long plus course completely clear with no hesitation. She even barreled through the water. It was a thrill to watch!

We had to wait forever for them to post scores. When they finally did, I checked the rider she was trying to beat first. She had lots of jumping faults and I KNEW Jess went clear. That could only mean one thing...a blue ribbon!

And then the bad luck strikes again.

I look up the sheet for Jessica's name, assuming I'm going to see a "1" and the end of her row. Instead, I find two "E"s under stadium and cross country. WHAT??!! She went clear! How on earth did she get eliminated?? And I say exactly this to the lady posting scores.

She looks it up, tell me #94 jumped the wrong jump at 6. No way. I walked that course with her. She knew what she was doing.

Well, apparently not. We checked the video (luckily I guess, we had ordered a video of her cross country ride) and it turns out she jumped the Intro jump. One level down. She said when she was approaching the 2 jumps that were side by side then both looked like the same height. I guess she didn't think to look for the right flag.

And so not only did she not get a blue ribbon, but she didn't get a ribbon at all. But she knows she had a GREAT day. And she still feels like she won.

Still with me? Wow, you're good. Thanks for that. As your reward, some photos. From this show:





See you tomorrow!