Regionals wrap up

 

We survived the USDF Region 2 Regional Championships! It was very nice having it so close to home and therefore I only ended up having to stay over two nights.

On Thursday we went for a light school where I checked in on the buttons. The theme this year was Wizard of Oz and everyone's decorations were really cute.

I also have to give a shout out to the LOVELY LOVELY blog reader who recognized me at the food stand! This is the first time I have been "recognized in the wild" and it was so sweet. It really made my day. *hugs*

Friday morning was the I2 AA championship and we were the very first ride down centerline at 8 a.m. During warmup a rainbow even made an appearance for a few minutes. Hamp warmed up great and felt fresh and energetic.

Overall, I think it was probably the BEST I2 we have EVER done, even though when I went to start the line of ones, he stole a change from me at the start and I lost the rhythm. We recovered though, but it was an expensive mistake. We finished with a 58% and third place in the class. It rained on our awards but it was still really fun and the other ladies in the class were all really lovely and had lovely horses so I was pretty proud of Hampton to hold his own in such company.

Saturday morning I took Hampton out on a light walk and 5-min jog just to stretch his back and legs after standing in a stall all night. The horse park is absolutely gorgeous at 7:30 a.m. It's during these rides is where I find the true reason why I do this. It has nothing to do with scores or ribbons.

Our Grand Prix freestyle wasn't until 4:30 p.m. and by that time it was rather toasty out. And that afternoon Hampton actually LIED DOWN in his stall. In the 15 years I have been showing this horse, I have NOT ONCE seen him lie down in the stall at a show, much less during the day where he has "things to supervise." He was quite sleepy.

Our warm up was ... ok. He was behind the leg and we ended up having great moments in the warmup but once I entered the show arena and dropped my whip, I knew I was in trouble.

I broke my own damn rule and begged him the entire way. I was growling, pony club kicking in discreet spots. But he ended up missing in the twos and the ones, and in general just being more downhill than usual. I could tell he was tired. By the end, he was huffing and puffing as well. We did our best. It was not our best freestyle, but not the worst either. The judges gave us a 58%. Which, I felt was fair. 

I unfortunately did not meet my goal of getting a 60% at regionals. A bummer, but thems the brakes. Even still, Hampton held his own and the cheering of people during our awards gallop yelling "Go Porkchop" was THE BEST. 

Got myself a big ol' bobcat

More adventures await!

Please picture me in the weeds, before I learned civility

Summary of the past few weeks!

By the time you read this, we will be at the Kentucky Horse Park for the USDF Region 2 Regionals. I had considered imposing on Leah and going to Region 4, but since this one is SO CLOSE to home I really couldn't justify driving to St. Louis. Except Leah is awesome. 

Plot twist: It is looking likely we will be impacted by the remnants of a hurricane. Cool! 

1. Photos!

I am all about the Wenglish look

I had a professional photo shoot done with Hampton to celebrate 15 years with this beast. It was SO FUN and it has been way too long since I have had any cute pro photos done.

Photos by the awesome Three Redheads and a Moose!

2. We did a schooling show

We popped over bright and early to a friend's farm to participate in a schooling show/CT show. They were kind enough to fit in the DQs first thing in the morning. Hampton and I went through the I2 since we haven't done that test since May. It went ok, and I was able see where my weaknesses were.

A BIG hole in my own training is that I do not ride in a standard arena enough. Our indoor at home is just a tad too wide. I need to practice test riding way more than I do.

3. We beat up some cows

A week before Regionals, we participated in an evening cow-sorting clinic. Hampton remembered the cows from last year. We helped bring the cows from the pasture into the arena, pushed them around a bit and then did some two-person sorting.

"Fuck around and find out" - Hampton, to the cow probably

Once we started the sorting, Hampton's true personality came out. He was BLOODTHIRSTY for these cows and absolutely loved herding them and bossing them around. I had to hang on to the pommel of my saddle several times as he spun, cut sideways and launched at the cows with his ears flattened. I think he would prefer to switch careers. Cows are his element and he was drunk on power. lol. I guess horses either have this cow-y instinct or they don't. Hampton perhaps has some cow horses in his heritage somewhere? 

We rode until sunset. It was lovely.

Let's hope this hurricane doesn't beat us up too badly this weekend at Regionals. We are competing in the I2 and Grand Prix freestyle championship classes. I expect to get completely annihilated, but my goals are organized, clean tests. If I can get a 60 in either test that will be an accomplishment at this level.

Here we go!

Clinic recap: Stop being so sexy

The clinic was at a LOVELY private farm near Lexington

Once again I have fallen behind on things! #boxofshame

Hamp and I went to a LS clinic back in August. As usual, Lauren had all the right prescriptions for the little issues we have. Most notably, making the trot half pass level. Hampton has always been ... well, rein lame in the trot half pass. There's really no other way to describe it.

Turns out, Hampton is not Valegro. If I had too much bend and too much sideways, he physically just cannot do it and becomes unlevel. So, Lauren told me to "paso fino" sidways. Keeping him very upright, and just a tick of bend. "Stop making it sexy."

And that did the trick! As long as I don't overbend, and keep him feeling upright, he remains level. Is it a 10 half pass? No. But I will take a 6 or 6.5 happily thank you much.

The other thing we did was try a Finesse bridle.

Big honkin' pads on the crown piece

Handsome

This thing looked pretty odd from up in the saddle, and I am really not a believer in "miracle equipment." My motto is "suck less" and I feel most training issues are probably a rider issue or failure in communication. But I will say that Hampton DID remain more up in the bridle with the finesse bridle, and quieter in the mouth. 

Unfortunately these bad boys are insanely expensive ($700+ for a double bridle) so I dunno. I doubt I will actually buy one. It's just too expensive. I have looked into other ways to pad up the crown piece though. 

Anyway, it was a great clinic and Hampton did great especially in the heat (it was 90+ that weekend). 

Cows were moo-ing in the distance.
Hampton's bloodthirsty obsession with cows will be addressed in a future blog.
Standby.