(From left to right) Young riders Haley, Victoria, Maggie, and Libby pause for a photo at the scoreboard on Saturday.
I once heard a rider state: "The one person in the world who can be consistently wrong and still keep their job is the weatherman."
Competitors arrived at Poplar's first HT of the year expecting temperatures in the 60's. Sadly, it never even reached 50 degrees. It was overcast, bitter cold, and muddy.
Competitors warm-up at Poplar early Saturday. It seemed to get colder as the day progressed, and riders were soon warming-up with quarter sheets.
Because of thunderstorms predicted for Sunday, cross-country was moved from Sunday to Saturday. While a few riders scratched, the other hardy competitors braved the conditions wearing multiple layers of clothing and really big studs.
Werner Geven, the trainer at Poplar Place Farm, rides Wivita out to cross-country.
Besides the frigid winds and gloomy skies, the day was relatively uneventful. There were several clear rounds and only a handful of jump penalties. Time faults on cross-country were aplenty, but we would rather have riders carefully navigate the deep footing than rush to make time. The courses were welcoming as a starter for the season. All in all, Day 1 was a success. See results to date on the Poplar Place website.
Two members of the team that make it all happen. Owner and organizer Donna Stegman and assistant Sara Young take a short break in the office.
Thanks to Poplar Place and all the volunteers who cheerfully powered through the icky conditions for a successful first day.
Check back tomorrow for final results.
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Ugh - the weather man is never our friend at our event.
Last year we didnt get a drop of rain the entire summer.
But it rained at our event.
grrrrr.