This past weekend, I introduced my new horse to the sport of eventing. And to some extent, it was a “welcome back” to myself. After taking nearly two years off, it feels good to be back in the sport again. My official return was back in May, where my upper level mare skipped around preliminary and we finished feeling like we hadn’t missed a beat. But now that she’s expecting, my focus has shifted completely to the green bean, Ranger.
I got Ranger off the track last fall as a 3-year-old. He oozed athleticism, had a great brain, and has all the parts of a potential big-time event horse. But as always, you just Never Know until you get to the next stepping stone– you never know if they’ll like jumping; you wonder if they’ll be any good at it; then you worry if they’ll take to cross-country, if they’ll mind water or ditches or banks. He answered all of those questions little by little through the winter and spring: “Jumping’s ok. Actually it’s kind of fun. No, more like really fun. Can we go faster?!” And the first few baby cross-country schools were encouraging, as he got rolling, his confidence grew as you’d expect. Ditches and banks came very naturally, as did trotting through the water (well, once he figured out you didn’t have to LEAP off the beach into the pool, screaming “CANNONBALL!”).
While he’s pretty mature mentally, there’s still the unknown component of working away from home: tying to the trailer, mingling with other horses in warmup, decorated dressage letters, fluffy filled show jumps, and the general exciting buzz of competition. We did a low-key BN combined test back in May, and while dressage was something to forget and show jump warmup was a bit scary, he performed well in the ring. Green, definitely, but successful.
Fast forward to this past weekend, and Ranger’s first real recognized event. He’s grown up a lot in the last month, becoming an old pro at chilling at the trailer, and adjusting quickly to new surroundings. He was fairly obedient in dressage– MUCH better than last time– and all the things we practice at home (namely, an ex-racehorse’s favorite exercise, Bending Right) were proudly displayed in the ring. Left bend? Not so much, but that’s ok, I know it’s in there! The judge must have liked us, and for one of the few times in my life I was pleasantly surprised with a score that was a full 5 points better than I expected. Gotta love that!
The cross-country was a very appropriate, inviting Novice course. I’ve been working hard to overcome his Need For Speed and steeplechase tendencies, so my plan for xc included lots of trotting, circles when needed, and if things got too wild, going home to try another day. He’s too nice of a horse to risk getting into trouble and scaring himself just for the sake of getting around. We trotted out of the box, over the first, and had a wonderful time around the whole course. I made one circle– after getting completely and hopelessly jumped out of the tack at fence 3. Gotta love baby horses! He attacked every jump with controlled enthusiasm, and I couldn’t be prouder when we finished. It’s only a small step in a (hopefully) long career, but you can’t make it up the ladder without leaving the ground.
Once again, we did a lot of trotting in show jumping, but he was obedient and quiet to the jumps. Half-halts were mostly effective between the fences, so we’re making progress. Flowers, gates, and spectators were of no concern. We finished on our dressage score, aside from the time penalties on cross-country, which were a necessary evil at this point in his training. More importantly, we finished with a smile and an exciting look ahead. Questions asked, and answered.
