This is part 14 of Jenny’s adventure as a working student and EN guest blogger. Jenny has ambitiously decided to spend the next year as a working student in Lexington, Kentucky. In this post, Jenny’s writes about returning home from Aiken. Thanks for writing this Jenny and thank you for reading.
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Hello Eventing Nation!
So much has happened in these past two weeks now that our show season has kicked in! Last week we spent 10 glorious days in Aiken, with 8 of our clients, and all of our horses… including Molson! The weather was perfect, all of the horses were extremely well behaved, and our days consisted of riding for hours in the warm sun and then eating great food with fantastic friends. Over the 10 days, we had the opportunity to school xc at three amazing facilities (Jumping Branch, Sporting Days, and Full Gallop), hack through Hitchcock Woods, jump around the beautiful show jumps at PSJ show grounds, watch the Thursday and Friday training sessions at Three Runs Plantation, and have numerous other relaxing rides in the sun! Not only was I elated to have the opportunity to bring Molson (a sound Molson at that!), I was so proud of him the entire time we were there. Dr. Newton cleared us to go and have fun, and to just keep his best interest in mind and not to push him past his comfort zone. I have to admit I was a little nervous on our first xc outing down there since we haven’t been out since October, but Molson was more than ready to be out working again! As we approached our first few jumps, my mind was thinking ‘Oh gosh, I hope you remember you are an event horse and are supposed to jump these funny objects I put in front of you,’ while Molson was thinking ‘FINALLY!!!!’ He was an absolute star the entire trip, and took everything in stride. We schooled most of the Novice and Training questions with full confidence and had plenty of practice with ditches, banks, and water. By the end of the week I felt like I had a whole new and improved horse. Of course he is still getting back into shape and building up his muscles again, but he feels great and is definitely on the right track.
This past week we went back to the grind, as we got ready for the first show of the season, Paul Frazer Memorial. Almost all of the horses that went to Aiken competed this weekend, so it was really fun to see how great they all were and how much they have improved in the past few weeks. I was able to take Molson in the Novice CT, and have fallen ever more in love with him if that is at all possible! For his first show since his injury, I wasn’t expecting much. Megan likes to use a CT in the beginning of every season to get the kinks out and get back into the rhythm of showing, so I had that mindset going into Paul Frazer, hoping that we could sort any problems out there so that we could be in top shape for Spring Bay in two weeks. However, Molson quickly reminded me that his place is in the show ring, and does not need any ‘refreshers’! He was incredible in dressage, doing everything in perfect balance in the steadiest frame he has ever had to date! Except for a little whinny in the middle of the test and a hollow canter transition due to my lack of preparation, I was very happy about our test. Stadium warm up felt great, we had our rhythm the second I sat in the saddle. Molson ate up the course, going double clear. We managed to FODS with a 33.5 and came home with a pretty red ribbon! All in all it was a great weekend, and I cannot wait for Spring Bay!
This week in addition to our daily routine of riding 6 horses each a day, we are gearing up for a 5k race this weekend with all of Team CEO–trot sets on foot anyone?
Until next time,
xo, Jenny
