Dante sharpens up and jumps the sixth fence with room to spare. Photo by Jenni Autry.
A jog time of 7:30 a.m. at Fair Hill meant a wake-up call of 3:45 am for us on Sunday morning. I stayed with Brigitte at the farm throughout the show, which was 45 minutes away. In the morning before the jog, I like to hop on Dante for a quick 15 minute long-and-low ride, loosening up his muscles after a night spent in the stall. We also do another icing session in the morning, as a precaution more than anything else. Add braiding into the mix, and it meant for an early morning indeed.
The wind that morning was fierce and freezing, a sign that the cold front had arrived. After spending most of the week in short sleeves, working on my farmer’s tan, I was a bit shell-shocked, but soon adapted as long as I kept moving.
After arriving at the grounds, I took Dante for a quick walk to begin loosening up his muscles. A jog down the road revealed that while sound, he was feeling a bit stiff still, so I was glad that I’d planned on riding him a little. Going through the tunnel in the pitch black before the dawn was a bit intimidating, but he handled it like a champ, and I felt him loosening up well after around 15 minutes.
The jog was cold and windy, typical for Fair Hill. I had no time to be nervous; not realizing so many in front of me had been eliminated the day before, I was a bit late and arrived just as they called me over to go on deck. No harm, no foul, and we jogged quickly down the strip. It’s always a good sign when you see the vet moving back to her side of the jog opposite the officials when you’re only halfway down the lane, so I didn’t have to wait long before hearing the magic word: “Accepted.”
The course was immediately open for walking, so Brigitte took Dante back to the barns while I walked with my coach. I felt the course looked good, primarily long bending lines with a few combinations here and there. Because I was at the end of the division, in 11th place after cross country, I was able to watch 30 or so riders go.
After seeing the first line done in both five and six strides, I made the decision to ride in six, then move forward through the rest of the lines. The time was a factor; while not tough to make, it could certainly catch up to you if you dawdled. Quite a few riders were having clear rounds, and I felt like I could be one of them.
Unfortunately, after beginning my warm-up, I knew it would not be my day. Dante was quite stiff, and while he was jumping okay, he didn’t have the usual push off the ground he normally does, even when tired. He was trying harder throughout warm-up, but we decided to conserve his energy until he got in the ring. After walking and trotting for a couple of horses, I went in, and proceeded to have three of the first four fences down, while Dante just felt dull.
After the fourth fence (and third rail), I took a deep breath, and so did he. I felt him sharpen a little, and all of a sudden we started jumping better. He was trying harder, pushing valiantly off the ground. We suddenly had a chance to get our qualifying score of four rails or less and I think he was determined to jump the remainder of the course clear.
I missed at the last fence before the final triple combination, burying him to an upright vertical that he just couldn’t get us out of. Suddenly we were at our limit of rails for qualifying and still had a triple combination to go.
I rode well through the final, and he tried hard, and we made it through the finish with four rails. In retrospect, I allowed him to wind down too much before going in. I think if I had kept his adrenaline a little up and kept him a bit sharper by jumping a few more, he might have gone into the ring a bit keener and not had those first three rails.
I’m so, so thankful for this generous horse, who gives me his all when he doesn’t have to and carries on patiently through my mistakes. We live and learn, and I’ll go to our next CCI with a better fitness base as well as a smarter warm-up plan for show jumping.
Dante is now on vacation and deserving every bit of it.
Cheers to all who finished this weekend, and here’s to next year!
