We had our final show of our local barn series this weekend! Saturday was supposed to be Dressage & Cross Country. The forecast for the week had not been boding well for Saturday all week, so on Thursday, they decided to call off the activities on Saturday. They didn't want to tear up the nice footing that we have the pleasure of having at the cross country field. I have never in my life been so happy to have a show called off as I was when I woke up on Saturday morning. It was pouring rain, with an intense windstorm, and we even got some hail! I could not imagine having attempted to ride in that weather. Especially not running XC on a fit thoroughbred with 30+mph winds. That is the stuff of nightmares people.
Sunday was still show jumping day! Unfortunately the massive amount of rain that came down the day before made for lots of slop in the rings, but a large percentage of the riders that attend these shows are eventers of various levels, so we braved the mucky rings. It was pretty darn cold when we first arrived, but the sun slowly started warming things up and it became more bearable.
We had a brief, to the point warmup. Got some pretty solid warmup jumps out of Banner and I worked on reminding myself to not get in his way. Since this is the "scary jump" show, for Halloween, the jumps are decorated to be scary. Mostly just in fun, but some of the decorations really can freak some of the horses out since they are not something that is regularly seen at most shows.
We started out in a 2'9" round, and we were the first ones in the ring. The first fence was a natural wood oxer. Unfortunately for me, this is Banner's least favorite jump at the show. He is always a little bit awkward about this natural jump, but especially when its the first fence, it can be tough for him. He ran at it a little bit and then backed off at the last second and we just didn't have a spot to take off. He stopped and slid into the jump. They reset it and we did it again. It was awkward and deer leap-y, but we did it. Next was a 6 stride line. Banner was still not quite settling into a rhythm, and the first jump in was awkward. We mostly fixed it by the out and he settled a bit more but still awkwardly forward and backed off at the same time.
Unfortunately, that version of him gives me a rough ride. I have to hold to one fence and then kick to the next. It is the hardest version of him to ride. One jump at the end of the ring was fairly simple, so that finally helped him settle just a bit. An outside line of a 4 to a 2. First jump in the line had a liverpool, but Banner couldn't have cared one bit about that (thank goodness! Out of anything to spook at, I appreciate that the legit show jumping thing is what he doesn't care about). The striding was a bit awkward but he jumped less like a deer. Around to the left and there is a 5 stride line. Out of that line is where the mini "jump off" part began, but since we had a stop, obviously we were done.
It was an okay-ish round, but I didn't feel awesome about it, so I decided to throw him in the 2'9" one more time. Still had a stop at that stupid first fence, but he jumped it nice and squarely on the second try. After one whole round, he finally settled into a rhythm a bit more and I finally had something to ride. Back to his nice, bold self. Perfect! That I know how to ride! I rode quietly and got nice half halts in the corners before all the fences, and felt so much more positive about that ride. Despite the stop, a few people needed to see the whole course done, so they had me finish out the little jump off section anyways!
A couple of the Halloween decorations still backed Banner off just a bit again, but thankfully no more stops, and we got some really lovely, square jumps.
We waited through a few more rounds, and that first fence was taking people out right and left. Nearly everyone stopped at it. Made me feel slightly less incompetent for also having my horse have problems at that fence.
Back in for our 3'0" round. Again. Stupid stop at the first fence. Despite being frustrated about it, I decided that was going to be a battle for another day, so we backed up 3 strides, and picked up a canter from there. Beautiful jump! And a really beautiful canter through the next line! The jump at the end rode beautifully, but I got in a bit close at the first jump of the line and it kind of buried us into the rest of the distances as well. But he jumped nicely and didn't get flustered by the deep distances, so I was happy!
I lost his right side just a bit in the last line and so we jumped to the right (his typical go-to move), but he still jumped nicely for me, so I decided to quit on that round. Not a great day, but with the sloppy footing and a rough start, I took the bad with the good and decided to focus on the positives of how well my horse was jumping!
For a moment, I considered putting him in at another 3'0" round and just trying to clean up that little bit of rough stuff, and specifically deal with his issue at the first fence, but honestly, it didn't seem like I had enough to fix that it was worth the money for another round of schooling. So instead, I threw him back at the trailer for a little bit to chill and then watched friends jumping the big jumps. A few personal best rounds for them at the 3'6" height! Super fun to get to cheer on friends doing big, cool things.
In the middle of the day there was a costume contest & high jump! I'm a huge slacker when it comes to Halloween costumes, so I grabbed my Hogwarts robes at the last minute as our "costume". I almost considered making Banner wings so that he could be my thestral, but that sounded like a lot of work and I am lazy (and poor).
We all paraded around in our costumes for a bit and prizes were handed out to the super creative people (not me obviously haha). Then it was time for the high jump contest! It starts out super little (like not even 2') just so that pretty much everyone can at least try over one jump! Then it gets jacked up really quickly. There are usually 20-30 people "competing" and if we only went one hole at a time it would take foreverrrr to get everyone weeded out. It jumped up to 2'6" and then 3' and then 3'6". Banner and I tried at the 3'6" but he tipped it with his legs and it rolled off. I was still happy with him considering that is the biggest fence that I have ever pointed him at!
We waited outside the arena and watched everyone else kick butt over some big fences. 4' took out a few people, until there were only 3 riders left. At the 4'3", two riders knocked it off, so one was declared the winner! The two who rolled it off asked if they could warm their horses up a bit more and keep trying. Both of those two managed to get it up to 4'9"! The jump fell a couple times but they still finally successfully jumped the top of the standards! It was pretty darn cool to watch.
Normally, this is the point in the day where I load Banner up and we head home. But they were offering a bareback crossrails class for fun, and I decided why not? It sounded fun! I've never actually jumped him bareback before, but oh well, its just something fun to try! We waited around through the groundpoles and normal crossrails class, and then was our bareback class!
They decided to judge it like an EQ round, which I was highly skeptical of, considering I was pretty sure there was a good chance I might fall off! But instead, we ended up winning! What?! That was pretty fun. Banner got all of his leads and we got great striding through all the lines, and I was clinging to his mane for dear life (only kind of joking). I was pretty glad I stayed for that because it ended up being so much fun & it was a cool new experience with Banner!
All in all, a great horse show! I'm definitely having some horse show hangover feels this morning, but really happy with all the experience I got with Banner this year and this was a great show to finish on!
Sunday was still show jumping day! Unfortunately the massive amount of rain that came down the day before made for lots of slop in the rings, but a large percentage of the riders that attend these shows are eventers of various levels, so we braved the mucky rings. It was pretty darn cold when we first arrived, but the sun slowly started warming things up and it became more bearable.
 |
| Liverpool is nbd. |
We had a brief, to the point warmup. Got some pretty solid warmup jumps out of Banner and I worked on reminding myself to not get in his way. Since this is the "scary jump" show, for Halloween, the jumps are decorated to be scary. Mostly just in fun, but some of the decorations really can freak some of the horses out since they are not something that is regularly seen at most shows.
 |
| The unfortunate first jump that messed with us all day |
We started out in a 2'9" round, and we were the first ones in the ring. The first fence was a natural wood oxer. Unfortunately for me, this is Banner's least favorite jump at the show. He is always a little bit awkward about this natural jump, but especially when its the first fence, it can be tough for him. He ran at it a little bit and then backed off at the last second and we just didn't have a spot to take off. He stopped and slid into the jump. They reset it and we did it again. It was awkward and deer leap-y, but we did it. Next was a 6 stride line. Banner was still not quite settling into a rhythm, and the first jump in was awkward. We mostly fixed it by the out and he settled a bit more but still awkwardly forward and backed off at the same time.
Unfortunately, that version of him gives me a rough ride. I have to hold to one fence and then kick to the next. It is the hardest version of him to ride. One jump at the end of the ring was fairly simple, so that finally helped him settle just a bit. An outside line of a 4 to a 2. First jump in the line had a liverpool, but Banner couldn't have cared one bit about that (thank goodness! Out of anything to spook at, I appreciate that the legit show jumping thing is what he doesn't care about). The striding was a bit awkward but he jumped less like a deer. Around to the left and there is a 5 stride line. Out of that line is where the mini "jump off" part began, but since we had a stop, obviously we were done.
It was an okay-ish round, but I didn't feel awesome about it, so I decided to throw him in the 2'9" one more time. Still had a stop at that stupid first fence, but he jumped it nice and squarely on the second try. After one whole round, he finally settled into a rhythm a bit more and I finally had something to ride. Back to his nice, bold self. Perfect! That I know how to ride! I rode quietly and got nice half halts in the corners before all the fences, and felt so much more positive about that ride. Despite the stop, a few people needed to see the whole course done, so they had me finish out the little jump off section anyways!
A couple of the Halloween decorations still backed Banner off just a bit again, but thankfully no more stops, and we got some really lovely, square jumps.
We waited through a few more rounds, and that first fence was taking people out right and left. Nearly everyone stopped at it. Made me feel slightly less incompetent for also having my horse have problems at that fence.
 |
| Giving it extra room every time he did jump it |
Back in for our 3'0" round. Again. Stupid stop at the first fence. Despite being frustrated about it, I decided that was going to be a battle for another day, so we backed up 3 strides, and picked up a canter from there. Beautiful jump! And a really beautiful canter through the next line! The jump at the end rode beautifully, but I got in a bit close at the first jump of the line and it kind of buried us into the rest of the distances as well. But he jumped nicely and didn't get flustered by the deep distances, so I was happy!
I lost his right side just a bit in the last line and so we jumped to the right (his typical go-to move), but he still jumped nicely for me, so I decided to quit on that round. Not a great day, but with the sloppy footing and a rough start, I took the bad with the good and decided to focus on the positives of how well my horse was jumping!
For a moment, I considered putting him in at another 3'0" round and just trying to clean up that little bit of rough stuff, and specifically deal with his issue at the first fence, but honestly, it didn't seem like I had enough to fix that it was worth the money for another round of schooling. So instead, I threw him back at the trailer for a little bit to chill and then watched friends jumping the big jumps. A few personal best rounds for them at the 3'6" height! Super fun to get to cheer on friends doing big, cool things.
In the middle of the day there was a costume contest & high jump! I'm a huge slacker when it comes to Halloween costumes, so I grabbed my Hogwarts robes at the last minute as our "costume". I almost considered making Banner wings so that he could be my thestral, but that sounded like a lot of work and I am lazy (and poor).
We all paraded around in our costumes for a bit and prizes were handed out to the super creative people (not me obviously haha). Then it was time for the high jump contest! It starts out super little (like not even 2') just so that pretty much everyone can at least try over one jump! Then it gets jacked up really quickly. There are usually 20-30 people "competing" and if we only went one hole at a time it would take foreverrrr to get everyone weeded out. It jumped up to 2'6" and then 3' and then 3'6". Banner and I tried at the 3'6" but he tipped it with his legs and it rolled off. I was still happy with him considering that is the biggest fence that I have ever pointed him at!
 |
| A really good try at 3'6"! |
We waited outside the arena and watched everyone else kick butt over some big fences. 4' took out a few people, until there were only 3 riders left. At the 4'3", two riders knocked it off, so one was declared the winner! The two who rolled it off asked if they could warm their horses up a bit more and keep trying. Both of those two managed to get it up to 4'9"! The jump fell a couple times but they still finally successfully jumped the top of the standards! It was pretty darn cool to watch.
Normally, this is the point in the day where I load Banner up and we head home. But they were offering a bareback crossrails class for fun, and I decided why not? It sounded fun! I've never actually jumped him bareback before, but oh well, its just something fun to try! We waited around through the groundpoles and normal crossrails class, and then was our bareback class!
 |
| Bareback & baby jumps! |
They decided to judge it like an EQ round, which I was highly skeptical of, considering I was pretty sure there was a good chance I might fall off! But instead, we ended up winning! What?! That was pretty fun. Banner got all of his leads and we got great striding through all the lines, and I was clinging to his mane for dear life (only kind of joking). I was pretty glad I stayed for that because it ended up being so much fun & it was a cool new experience with Banner!
All in all, a great horse show! I'm definitely having some horse show hangover feels this morning, but really happy with all the experience I got with Banner this year and this was a great show to finish on!
super fun - you guys look great! my barn just did a fun day with the "chase me charlie" class with the jump going up a hole with each try... i didn't end up doing it but was pretty sure we would have gotten eliminated somewhere around the 2' height anyway lol, bc even tho my horse is plenty scopey he's, erm, not particularly careful LOL
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