Growing up in Kentucky, there are few things I look forward to more than Rolex every year. Now that the Fork is over and Nike is fit and happy, I can actually allow myself to realize that we are headed to Kentucky in less than two weeks! At this point, it’s slightly overwhelming but through the next ten days I will hopefully get used to the idea.
The Fork went pretty well, Nike, William, and Galactic went well on the flat. Nike was ready to put in a very good test and I got a bit nervous and froze instead of showing him off. I had a few technical errors on William but overall, he had a steady test. Galactic had a better test than last time and show jumped very impressively. He has really stepped up and I’m excited to see who he’s going to be. All three were great cross-country thanks to my new Devoucoux Chiberta cross-country saddle. William felt like he could have jumped around the Advanced, and I had to actively make sure I jumped the jumps with the red flags instead of the blue! Nike was very confident and it was a great run before….the next run. 🙂
Show jumping was a bit of a downer on William, I rode him a bit backward and with the turny course it caught up with me. We had one rail and one time penalty and moved down to third place. Frustrating but it only makes me more determined to give him a better ride next time. Nike jumped great and because I was a little frazzled about making sure I didn’t go off course like I did at red hills, my head got quick and I didn’t take my time enough around one of the turns to a vertical and we had it down. All things I can work on and sort out. We’re off to Ocala horse trials this weekend, with Nike in the Advanced combined test and some young horses in the lower levels. So exited for Lauren who is also back to competing with only 6 (!) over the weekend!
Thanks to my mom for helping me so much and keeping my horses beautifully turned out at Red Hills and the Fork. I also want to thank John for the entertainment after show jumping with the dirt bike stunt 😉 Can’t wait to see everyone at Kentucky! Until then I’ll be practicing my 5-loop canter serpentines! -HSB
