USDF National Finals -- Part 1

I am hardly sure where to start.

Going to split my Nationals experience into two posts. Part 1 will be about Hampton and our tests. And Part 2, equally as awesome, will be about THE SWAG AND MY PURCHASE OF THE CENTURY.

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*Cracks knuckles*

First. If you ever have the opportunity to attend the USDF National Finals, even if you stand no chance at a ribbon, you should make this a bucket list item.

In the 10 minutes it took me to go to the show office to check in, I saw Debbie McDonald and George Williams. And I knew I was no longer in Kansas. I do apologize as I was a bit stunned and did not break out my phone for creeper photos like a proper fan girl would have done.

Awards table

Guys this show is legit. It is the real deal. Six-figure horses strolling around everywhere. Absolute top notch riding. 42 states were represented here, so yes you see the best in the country. Ex-Olympic horses, international horses and riders, Gladstone winners, multiple CDI horses. People flaunting their money. It was like being in Wellington. Only it was 20 degrees. Ha.

Some of the trophies

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Hampton and I arrived late Friday morning and got settled before we rode a regular PSG class in the afternoon.

He warmed up great, although the footing was pretty sloppy and it took him a while to acclimate to it. We marched in the ring and put in what I thought was a solid test! He was obedient, and we did not make any mistakes.

They had electronic scoring so my score was up on the big light board before I even walked out of the ring! That's way cool! (They also text your score to you). Our score was a 57%+ - our worst ever at the PSG. I suppose that's what I get for trying to show in front of this type of judging panel! haha!

Check your scores at these stations

But also, here's why I cannot afford to make ANY mistakes with Hampton:

From my PSG test. hahaha.
So many 6s

So while other pairs can afford a bobble or two because they are a 7 or an 8 out of the box because their horse is just plain better, I cannot. This judge gave us several 4.5 and 5s, one was on Hampton's medium walk which HAS NEVER EVER HAPPENED. But on the bright side we DID get a 7 on the left canter pirouette which I had been screwing up all year! So there is that.

Here's the thing. If I want scores in the mid to upper 60s, I would have to go back to 2nd or 3rd level. That is just the name of the game now. Hampton is just not uphill enough, or engaged enough (or even "fake engaged" like you see in Fresians) to score much more than a 6 from most judges in PSG and up. The fact is that Hampton is a downhill, flat mover. However, he is a fantastic teacher and he is teaching me how to train a horse up the levels. So we will continue onward. Scores be damned. And he is quite happy to do the FEI still so we keep going! I was disappointed in the score, but happy with my horse and all the progress we have made.

What else can you do?!

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Saturday morning rolled around and I did my sound check at 6:45 am. FROZEN. It was barely 20 degrees.

6:30 am at the KHP

I did some shopping before my 10:39 ride time which I will post about next.

Teaser: I bought something beautiful. I went full out dressage queen.

Anyhoo, it was maybe a tick warmer around 10 when I got on Hampton to warm up for our championship 4th level freestyle class. He warmed up great. He LOVES this chilly weather. Meanwhile, there were many other fresh and naughty horses. Things were pretty interesting around the horse park haha!

Our time was up and I marched into the Murphy ring. Hampton was uphill, energetic. And stayed that way throughout the test. He was so on my aids, never dropped an ear.

I started grinning during the trot work, I was having so much fun. In fact our trot work got a little sloppy because I was like "weeeee hahahahahaha I love this!" But still, we hung right in there and got a 63%+. Which is about what we have been getting all year, and this was under 3 judges at the National level. Including Janet Foy.

Here is the full video! I don't have to analyze why we don't score that awesome. It's super obvious, but it's fun anyway!



And we didn't get stomped on, the scores (well, except for the top 2 horses I think) the scores were TIGHT. So Hampton really hung in there! We finished 9th. Out of 10 horses. hahahaha! I didn't even expect to beat anyone at this level but that's cool!

I was just so proud of him and how far he has come. He was so happy to be showing and also really showed how awesome of a horse he is when, at the end of our extended canter, two ring ladies flapped their blanket around mere feet from us and Hampton NEVER BLINKED. I can assure you probably any other pair out there would have been spooked. Not Hampton! Check them out in this clip of our freestyle. They are on the right hand side of the screen.

To me that kind of brain is worth far more than those leg flingers who get the big scores but their riders have to be to and from the barns by a ground person.

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We got all jazzed up for the awards ceremony. Again, it was chaos but Hampton stood there half asleep as if he does this everyday. lol.

Hampton: "Oh another awards thingie. zzzzz"

We took a lap around the Alltech and that was that!

weeeeeee

What an amazing experience! I'm so glad I went, and have a long list of people to thank for helping us not just get to Nationals, but all year along the way.

Waiting to go into the Alltech

Good boy!

The colors at the horse park were gorgeous
Can you spot my new purchase? hee hee

Fluffy posing for a photo

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This completes our 2018 show season. We may be done showing, but we are not quite done collected loot because:

To be continued ....