It was a good 2 hour drive down to the competition. When we got there, we got signed up and then went through a walk-through of the obstacles with the judge.
Obstacle were:
1 - teeter bridge
2 - balloon plank
3 - spider jump
4 - pinwheel
5 - hula hoop pick up/sidepass
6 - back through bale maze
7 - bank jump
8 - ring bell in pond
9 - gate
10 - drag
11 - log jumps
12 - tire platform
13 - tunnel/cowboy curtain
14 - water box
15 - mailbox, hill climb, deliver mail
16 - slide down bank
17 - cross ditch (bridge)
18 - load in trailer
Since this was a timed event, we were told we needed to at least trot between obstacles.
Cat did great on the teeter bridge. It was the largest teeter I've had her on.
I was worried what she'd think about the balloon plank (I actually have a bucket of balloons in the back of my car I purchased to try this, but haven't had time) but she did great! One sniff, her typical snort and then right over it.
The spider jump. Oh my! I was more afraid than she was. I am NOT a jumper! This is one thing that has been on my "to learn to do" list for some time now. She jumped it and I came out of the saddle upon landing. I thought I'd lost my rein but it was just on her neck. I regained my composure and went to the pinwheel.
The pinwheel went well and so did the backing of the hay bales (for some reason this was difficult for a lot of horses).
The bank jump was 50". I approached it to get some credit but opted to go around (I'd already lost my seat once and wasn't going to chance it again. Besides, I'm a chickenshit!). If you'd like to see what the bank jump looks like you can view photos of it from their competition last year here. She was hesitant to go into the pond but went in and ignored the floating crocodile and while I rang the bell.
The gate went well and so did the drag.
The log jumps........well something on the pond bank was making her nervous so she was hesitant. She did jump the last one and yet again I lost my seat.
She snorted at the tire (because it had wood on top and was different from the others she's seen), but did go over. I can't really fault her as the wood on top did break on the last female competitor. They deemed it unsafe for the men to ride.
My biggest fear wasn't even an obstacle. They had cows in there just meandering around. Luckily by the time I rode they were settled under a shade tree. She went right past them to the tunnel. she did hesitate there (this is on my to make list), but went through.
The water box she hesitated at but went through as well. I sure wish I could get her to walk right through. One of these days it will happen.
The mailboxes and hill went off w/o a hitch.
The "slide down bank" was a steep bank. Not bad (we've done worse), but she hesitated. I found myself getting in a hurry and finally told myself "slow down Courtney and give her a chance". When I did she went right down, over the bridge and back up the other side.
The last obstacle was loading in an open stock trailer. The judge preferred we walk them in vs. sending them in. I'm not sure why as I always think sending them in is more difficult. It didn't really matter much as she went right in.
I was VERY proud of her! For her first time doing a timed event, by herself (not in a group setting like ACTHA), she did awesome!
We ended up placing 5th out of 10. After the awards the judge came up to me and told me I had a nice little mare and asked how she was bred. He said she did a great job.
Another mule person told my friend she'd make a nice mule (I'm assuming he mean produce one which will NEVER happen).
I was also complimented on having her come to me so I could mount her from a flatbed trailer.
She's such an awesome horse! Now to fix the rider errors!
1 comment:
Well done. You are going to have to learn how to stay in the saddle during a jump!
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