Feelin' so fly like a G6

Octoberfest 2011 show: Day 1

Prologue
Hampton and I arrived safely at the Hoosier Horse Park. We went for a ride in the dressage arenas which were 1) busy, 2) windy and 3) chilly. I knew I would see exactly what my 4 year old was made of.

He was fresh, but kept all 4 feet on the ground and was never naughty. No spooking and no screaming for other horses. I put him up just in time for fellow blogger Amy to roll in with Steady. We got the boys all ready for the night and went out to dinner. I have met Amy maybe twice so far ... but it seems like we have been friends for a long time! We chatted over dinner about all things horses and headed back to the park. I made up my bed in the back seat of a my truck and promptly passed out. It was much more comfortable that I had expected. Could have used a hot tub but hey, can't complain.

I ended up waking up about 5:30 a.m. on Saturday because the horses in the barn were chatting and pawing.  I stumbled jumped swiftly out of bed at about 7 a.m. to feed Hampton and get things organized for our 9:38 a.m. ride time.

Dressage
Our first test was our combined test dressage - Green As Grass. So it was just Intro Test B. It was in the one ring I did not ride Hampton in on Friday, but oh well. He was maybe a touch spooky when the hurricane force winds blew some footing around but we kept it together.

Chatting with the judge.

This is at the end of our test when the judge was talking to me.
Judge: "So, I just have to ask - what does Weekapaug Groove mean?"
Me: "Oh it's the name of a song."
Judge: "Oh I see! I thought it was the name of a bad rock band."

... I did not tell her that Hampton is indeed named after a Phish song. Not that this judge looked like she would have any clue who Phish is, but it was funny. She apparently liked us because we ended up with a 33 in that test (a 67%!!) which landed us in 2nd going into stadium.

Our next test was Training Level 1. I have done this test multiple times now. We get in the ring and things are going really well. Then what happens? I FORGET THE DAMN STRETCHY CIRCLE. I know it's only -2 points for an error but for crying outloud. I was so mad at myself. Ugh. I think Hampton was lobbying for a new rider for a while. We still earned a 64% - good enough for first place!

Finally, Training Level Test 3. I made SURE this time I was not going to forget the test. He warmed up well and we marched into the ring. I felt like we had a good test - maybe a little crooked at the right lead canter - but overall, a solid test. I was right! A 67.6% and first place! My personal best dressage score EVER. I am so proud of Hampton and how much he has grown up this year. :) My goal was to better my 65% from the Sept. CAF show and we did. And what's better is that those two 67% scores were from two different judges. We got great feedback on our score sheets and some nice compliments such as "lovely horse and rider" and "a great start to your dressage training - keep it up!" The judges seemed really nice and positive. Makes the experience so nice when they are not sticks in the mud.

You should also check out Amy's blog for her results. You should have seen these two cruise around the dressage ring! Holy cow do they look fancy! I have to say that the BN test was pretty wacky compared to the USDF tests I'm used to riding. If I can't remember Training Level 1 - I'm screwed when we get to BN in eventing. :)

During our stadium rounds we also ran into another fellow blogger - Kelly from Princess Diva Diaries. It was like the blog stalker club all in one place!

Stadium
Not much to really say here. Green as Grass was crossrails and to be honest, Hampton is bored with crossrails now. I know it, and my friends were letting me know, too. :) I knew it was time to move up and grow some balls. We has a smooth, clear round and ended up moving into first place! Go Hampton!

Hampton says "zzzz ... puhleeeeze."

After showing on Saturday, we went out to school cross country. This deserves its own post, so stay tuned.

After finishing up on Friday, I was all packed and ready to just head home. I felt so successful and I was also exhausted. But, Amy my enabler really awesome show buddy started to think about staying for Sunday's hunter/jumper show and taking Steady in some classes. I mean, we had already spent the gas to drive down here. And entered some jumping classes would be good for both Hamps and I. And they weren't too pricey ...

Yeah, we ended up staying. And I'm so glad I did.

To be continued: Next up cross country schooling and Day 2 of the show