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Rafter CF Trail Challenge

Sunday I decided to go to my first timed trail competition.  I knew it would be different from the slower paced ACTHA rides but I wasn't really sure what to expect.

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!

Von Holten Ranch ACTHA Series Ride 5, 6, 7 & 8

Wow!  What a ride!  I just realized I didn't blog about my final rides for the VHR buckle series.

Rides 5 & 6 we placed 1st and 2nd.  Cat did very well and I was please (for the most part) with her performance.

Ride 7 was a completely different story.  Ride 7, Cat decided she didn't want to wait for me to cue her, but instead she thought she could call the shots.  Needless to say, we placed 6th that day (the worst she's placed since beginning trail challenges last year).  After the ride, I rode out with MIL and worked on working her around Sis and letting her rest away from her.  She must have figured things out as she started to get to where she wanted to be no where near Sis.

Sunday morning (Ride 8), she started wanting to buddy up again.  I immediately jumped off and put her butt to work doing LFR stage 2 and turning her every time she got close to Sis.  While it wasn't a perfect ride, the judges like it enough for me to place 1st.  We must have done something right though as we were competing against two riders who are in the top 2 for nationals.

I ended up finishing the series in third, one point shy of the reserve buckle.  I had a great time at the series and met some really awesome people.

Our 3 blues have forced me to move up to open in the 2015-2016 season (next month) so it is time to really buckle down and perfect maneuvers and increase her confidence in scary objects.

Transitioning

One of my goals for this year is refinement and transitioning Cat into a more finished horse.  I want to get lead changes (simple and flying), more speed control, better pivots, etc.  With my limited riding time I know this is a big goal to set.  With that being said, I'll be happy with any changes we make to get us closer to this "final product".

About a month ago I tried to transition Cat into a shanked bit.  I used one Janet had and it didn't go over so well.  After doing some research, I ordered Cat a Randy Paul Colt Bit.  After riding most of the night in my snaffle I switched her over to the shank to try it out.  I could tell immediately she liked this bit 100x better than Janet's bit.

Randy Paul Colt Bit

I have two more competitions in Missourit and then I will be done traveling for a while.  ITREC starts up in June so a few of the gals are going to come over for "play days" on Thursday nights to practice the obstacles.  I'm really looking forward to a fun filled summer with the horses.

Cat modeling her new bit

Von Holten Ranch ACTHA Series Ride 3 & 4

What an awesome weekend!  I knew this was going to be an exciting weekend.  When I looked at the ride rooster I saw there were two gals coming from Texas.  One was featured in an ACTHA article.  What I was soon to find out was there were 4 gals there battling it out for a National Title (ACTHA's year ends at the end of May).

Brandon was able to get a day swapped with another coworker so he could go with me.  We weren't able to leave until late Friday so we didn't make it down to VHR until almost 10:30.  We quickly got the horses settled in and then went to bed.

Saturday - Series Ride #3

Obstacle #1 - "Get your motor running"
Score -  Horse 6 Rider 5 
Judges Comments:  Nice rhythm

For this obstacle we were supposed to trot, pick up an extended trot at the cone and then return to a slow trot at the next cone.  This is what Cat and I need to work on this year.  She doesn't have a slow anything so ours was fast trot, faster trot, fast trot.

Obstacle #2 - "Help us out"
Score - Horse 8+ Rider 8 
Judges Comments: Reins a little long.   Horse stood well.

There was a pile of bottles on the ground.  We had to get a pair of grippers and we had to pick up a bottle and place it in the bag on the tree.

Vonda and Jazz

Grippers

Obstacle #3 - "Mini Downhill" Sounds easy.....right?
Score - Horse 8 Rider 8
Judges Comments: Hesitation (Cat hesitated at the bottom of the embankment before going across)

For this one we had to go down an embankment, over a creek and then back up an embankment.  Right after I went past the start cone Cat's attention shifted.  I thought maybe she had hit a limb on the ground and looked down to see what the fuss was about only to see this big guy slithering away from us.

Yikes!

Obstacle #4 - L Back
Score - Horse 9 Rider 9
Judges Comments:  Nice straight

David made this pretty wide so Cat rocked this one!

Obstacle #5 - Why are you out here?
Score - Horse 8+ Rider 9

This was a close encounters obstacle.  David was on a bike w/a pink garbage sack.  Even though the kids ride all around us Cat was not super excited about seeing a biker on the trail.

Yielding the HQ while going past the biker

David and Brandy Von Holten

Obstacle #6 - Checking the mail just got a lot more interesting!
Score - Horse 8 Rider 9
Judges Comments:  Nice approach. Horse moved a little before asked.  Could have had a looser rein.

I'm guessing you can figure out what this one was.  Cat did fine but did leave before she was asked.

I was so happy Brandon was able to go.  Belle did great (extremely for this being her 4th ride this year).  Based off of his smile, I think he had a good time.

He found a shroom!

I was extremely happy with how Cat did on Saturday.  We ended up placing 5th.

Sunday - Series Ride #4

Obstacle #1 - Dance Fever
Score - Horse 7 Rider 8
Judges Comments - Good approach. Horse lost focus.

This was the Spanish pole.  Here is a video of Brandy demonstrating how to do it.  Cat didn't do it very pretty but she got the job done (she got frustrated and tried to knock the pole over for me).

Obstacle #2 - Elevated Maze
Score - Horse 10 Rider 10+

I didn't get any pictures of the elevated maze.  It was a labyrinth made out of barrels and landscaping timbers (on top of the barrels) with tarps, snow fence and other objects on the timbers.

Obstacle #3 - 360 Spins
Score - Horse 7 Rider 7

We had to walk into a circle and do two 360* turns on the forehand.  I've been working really hard with Cat to untrack that front foot vs. having it planted so this wasn't as pretty as it could have been.

Obstacle #4 - Aren't They Adorable
Score - Horse 9 Rider 9
Judges Comments:  Nice yield.

We had to walk past two minis in tutus and yield our hindquarter as we passed them.

WTH are those?

Obstacle #5 - Pulling a Double!
Score - Horse 10 Rider 10

For this one we had to drag a tarp with pop cans tied to the back of it.

Obstacle #6 - "You Better NOT"....said the judge
Score - Horse 10 Rider 10
We were "Judges Pick" for this obstacle

We had to ride into a circle, pick up a squirt gun that was on top of a barrel but inside of a painted motorcycle tire, squirt it toward the ground and then "blow" out the gun.

On Sunday we managed to place 3rd.  I got some compliments on how well she did from some of the top riders which was nice.  She seems to excel at the "scary" stuff.  Now to work on the precision stuff.

Crossing one of the many water crossings at VHR

Brandon and Belle

The Iowa Horse Fair

Last weekend Cat made her debut at the Iowa Horse Fair in one of the Iowa Trail Riding Equestrian Challenges demos.  I wasn't able to get her down to the fairgrounds until late Friday night.  When we arrived there was a firetruck and ambulance blocking the road.  I was told they were locking the barn so I unloaded her and walked her past the firetruck and ambulance to the barn.  I later realized they were locking the vendor area and not the horse area.  She quickly settled in so I went home for the night.

Happily munching away

I headed in fairly early on Saturday morning and met Brandon at the barn.  I could tell Cat wanted out of her stall so I took her for a walk looking for a place to exercise her a bit.  The pavilion was open, but there were so many riders in there I opted not to go in.

When I returned her to her stall she got nervous.  By then the hustle and bustle of the horse fair had started and people and ponies were both going by.  She started her stall popping which didn't go over well with me (this is something she learned to do at Janet's house that I have yet been able to fix).  I decided to saddle her up and look for a place to ride.

Horse Thief!

After walking around for a while I finally found the warm up arena and was able to go for a ride.  Jesse Munk was there (he put the first ride on Duke) riding a young horse with a huge smile on his face.  I swear he has to be the nicest man I have ever met.  I rode Cat around for a little bit and then hopped off to chat with a friend.  She was there with her daughter to help out with the mounted shooting.  Cat was a little jumpy when they started shooting but quickly calmed down.  I hopped back on and rode around a bit more before heading back to the barn.

For the demo I rode intermediate.  With her back leg still being a bit sore and this being her first time in a venue like this I didn't want to canter.  When I entered the arena with the obstacles Cat's head immediately lowered, she let out a huge sigh and immediately relaxed.  I don't know what it is about obstacles but they almost flip a switch in her little brain that says "relax!".

She was awesome for the demo!  Not perfect by any means but she rocked!  It was so nice having people come up to me afterwards to tell me what a good job we did.

She seemed to relax and settle in after the demo so the we left to look for some "great buys".

On Sunday Chase went in with me and decided he wanted to lead Cat around to stretch her legs.  I can't even begin to tell you how happy it made me to see him wanting to do something with the horses again.

Love these two!

We weren't in any demos on Sunday, but we weren't allowed to leave until 5.  I decided to take the opportunity to ride her in the warm up arena next to the mounted shooters again.  On Sunday they had some of the top riders riding so the "pops" came a little more frequently.  She did very well.  Some of the queen contestants tried to bring their horses up to warm up and quickly left as their horses got riled up by the shooting.

On the way back to the barn she was mauled by some small kids.  Watching her extend her head down into their hands just melted my heart.  She was so eager to let those little ones do whatever they  wanted to her.

While I'm not sure I'd want to do the Horse Fair every year, it was sure nice to see how Cat would react in a venue like it.

Von Holten Ranch ACTHA Series Ride 1 & 2

Due to a family emergency I wasn't home all last week which meant no ride time.  Thanks to some great family members, I was still able to go to the ACTHA ride at Von Holten Ranch in Mora, Missouri.  MIL and I loaded up and left around 2 on Friday.  Missouri has some interesting roads but we managed to arrive at our destination around 7:00.

Missouri Bridge

The ranch was lovely and the people were great!  David even cleaned the manure out of our horse trailer while we got the horses bedded in for the night.

Cat tucked in for the night

Saturday the obstacles were "easier" per the ride host Brandi.  She wanted to ease people into them.  It was snowing (if you want to call it that) and the locals were not thrilled but we rode out anyways.

Saturday - Series Ride #1

The first obstacle was a rain slicker.  Pretty simple obstacle if I do say so myself - however Cat had a different idea of how she was going to complete it.  She was in a hurry to get to Sis and tried knocking the traffic cone down.  We managed to complete the obstacle - but it wasn't pretty!

Rain Slicker

Along the way, some of the buddy riders had difficulties getting their horses over some water crossings which slowed things down a bit.  While most of the riders were complaining - I was happy to have the extra time to make "adjustments" to my ponies attitude.  By the time we got to the next obstacle we were a bit more in sync.

"Don't feed the bears" was the next obstacle.  It was done differently than any I've seen before and unfortunately I don't think I can explain it well enough in writing and didn't get a picture.

To get to obstacle #3, we had to ride through a canal.

Obstacle #3 was "Up Hill".  It was a pretty decent incline and by the time it was our turn the hill was a bit slick.  Cat had to dig in but did well.

Up Hill

Obstacle #4 was a "log drag" in the woods.  The log blended in with the leaves on the ground but Cat still did really well and so did Sis.

Obstacle #5 was "Canter - Stop - Canter".  Cat did this well enough to score high but I would have preferred a better stop.  I think I was the only one that sat for a second or two after my stop was completed which gave me a + on my score.

Obstacle #6 was a "Water Box".  Luckily I have one of these at home so Cat rocked it!

Water Box

Sis - well Sis needs more work. lol

Saturday Cat and I placed 3rd.

Sunday - Series Ride #2

Sunday was brisk in the morning.  It felt as if it wanted to rain and a lot of the horses were worked up.  Cat had a severe cob up her @$$ and Iwas pretty close to putting her back in her stall and calling it a day.  She started to relax so I decided to go ahead and go out.

Obstacle #1 was "dirty campsite".  We had to ride around a burn barrel that had a fire going in it and three chairs.  Cat hesitated when the smoke hit her face but continued on nicely.  After obstacle #1 I think she realized what we were doing and relaxed almost immediately.

Cat "ear-ing" the fire pit.

Obstacle #2 was "milk jugs" (vine simulator).  The ride host was hoping this would be the "scary" obstacle for the day but it didn't phase too many horses - including Cat and Sis.

Obstacle #3 was "hat pick up".  We had to pick up the hat from the traffic cone and touch both sides of the neck and both sides of the hindquarters before returning it.

Hat Pick Up

Obstacle #4 was a "jump".  OMG I hate jumping - even if it is a small jump.  This is something I need to work on this year but didn't expect to have one at the first competition!  You could either trot or canter to the jump.  MIL opted to canter.  She had so much fun but this picture just kills me!

Ahhhhhh!!!!!

Obstacle #5 was a "rope gate".  MIL has struggled with this one but ended up getting it completed with 1 second to spare!  It was ugly - I mean really ugly - but she got it.  Cat rocked it!

The final obstacle was "barrel run".  We had to trot/canter the barrel pattern.  You wouldn't think this sounds like a difficult obstacle but I was surprised at how many horses wanted to come back to their buddies.

Looking to the next barrel

Cat did great.  We even went the opposite way I had planned to so I could show another gal what the pattern looked like.  We were "judges pick" on this obstacle (shocked the shit out of me).

Sunday we ended up placing 3rd again and MIL placed 5th.

After the end of the ride on Sunday we decided to play on a few of the obstacles.

Raccoons?

This little guy was added to the "dirty campsite" with his buddy for the advanced riders.  He didn't seem to bother Cat one bit.

16" Bridge

I thought my 2' bridge was narrow!  This bridge was only 16" wide!

All in all we had a great weekend.  The drive home was exhausting.  VHR is having a series with 8 rides - I'm hoping to make it to all of them.  I met some great people and rode some fantastic trails.

Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance

That's the idea right?

Saturday we headed to Nebraska to go to the Nebraska Trail Expo.  I was hopeful there would be some good vendors with items geared more towards trail riding.  I was pretty disappointed when we got there and there were only a handful of vendors - most of them with little to no tack.

We watched a few of the clinicians on Saturday and weren't overly impressed so we headed to the hotel.  Janet and I went back later to watch the trail challenge to see what it was like.  This was a timed event.  Riders had 5 minutes to complete the course.  I'm not sure what carried more weight - doing the obstacles correct or doing it fast.

Part of the Trail Rider Challenge Course

MIL and I watched quite a few of the rides before getting cold, tired and bored.  We headed back to the hotel to get some rest.  Sunday morning we went out for breakfast and decided we'd rather be at home riding so we loaded up and headed home.

The weather was perfect!  A bit windy but otherwise gorgeous!  We set up some obstacles in the arena and practiced as many as we could to prepare for our competition next weekend.

I took the narrow bridge and put it up on tires to see what Cat would think about an unsteady narrow bridge up high.  She did great getting up there but wasn't sure about coming down.  She went off of the side a few times but eventually went straight down.

Cat on the narrow bridge

After working on obstacles MIL and I headed down the road and down into the fields for a nice, leisurely ride.  It really doesn't feel like March.  Well.it does today lol but it didn't yesterday.  I only have two nights left to prepare for MO but for once I'm not nervous.  Cat is doing really well and I expect she'll be just fine this weekend.

The dreaded tire!

We have had some AMAZING weather this week!  With the warm up in temperatures we are also getting mud - and lots of it!  This means no trailering out and no riding in the pasture so instead, my dad has been helping me build some obstacles.

Last night I pulled Cat out to see where her chest would hit the barrel push to see if we needed to raise or lower the barrels before securing the levels together.  I was having so much fun messing with her I decided to forego building obstacles to play with her some more.

Barrel Push similar to what I'm making

I had build a narrow bridge so we pulled it out to see how the horses would do on it - not a problem! Both of them walked across it confidently and didn't seem to mind that it was 1/2 the size of a regular bridge.  We'll see what they think once it is raised up off of the ground but for now - they did well.

Narrow Bridge (mine is straight - for now)

Then we pulled out the red tarp.  I was told at a recent ACTHA ride that at a competition in KS they had horses go from a blue tarp to a red tarp and the horses were scared to death to walk on the red tarp.  You can imagine my disappointment when Cat walked onto the scary red tarp without giving it a second look.

Next was the inner tube!

The inner tube of death!

Yep!  Now I have her attention!  I don't know what it is with her and tires but you'd think I unleashed a lion on her (actually I think she would have been less reactive to a lion).  Needless to say, I spent the rest of the night trying to get her to relax while the tire moved around her and while she moved around the tire.  I made progress, but I can tell this is going to take some time to get her really comfortable with it.


I have three goals for Cat this year (these may change as the year progresses).

1.  Get her over her tire fear!
2.  Get her to pick up the correct lead on cue (she struggles w/the right lead).
3.  Get her to sidepass.  Right now she has side ways down but I want a correct side pass.

And now I leave you with this quote.............

Sometimes good enough has to be good enough!

"Then it hit me. All you can do is the best that you can do at this very moment. If you wait for everything to be perfect, you can wind up waiting so long you never get back on the horse. Sometimes good enough has to be good enough." - By Rhonda Massingham Hart

I finally got the videos from this weekend uploaded.  I could go through minute by minute, second by second and tell you what went wrong - but I'm not going to. ;)

I'm only posting my videos as I don't think it's fair to post Janet's w/o her permission.

First go -

Second go -

F' It!

No, this isn't one of my typical blog post, but it's something I feel like I need to get off my chest.  I've been thinking a lot today (scary I know), but I really need to learn how to just say "f' it" and start enjoying life.  I've earned three buckles and numerous ribbons with Cat over the last year and wasn't proud about any of them.  I told myself "I only won because so and so wasn't here" or "I really didn't deserve that".

Growing up no matter how well my sisters and I did in school, sports, etc., my dad always reminded us we could do better.  He didn't do it to be mean, he just wanted us to succeed.  As an adult, I've found that anytime I accomplish something, I tell myself how I could have done better.  Wanna know what?  I've decided that is a bunch of bullshit!  Once can always do better, but what's the point if you are never happy with where you are or what you have accomplished?

I'm continually doubting whether Cat and I are ready for competition and that really isn't fair to her.  She has proven to me time and time again she's ready - we're ready.  Do we have things to work on?  Of course we do!  We are always going to have room for improvement.

It's funny how when you are thinking about certain things what you need to hear pops up right in front of you.  This was in my news feed first thing this morning when I logged into FB and it couldn't be more fitting for how I was feeling.

Now - let's get to issue number two.  I have always had a problem with my weight.  It's something I struggle with on an almost daily basis and I feel like it has kept me from doing so much.  I can't even begin to explain to friends how difficult it is for me to get out in public.  I mean seriously, I hate riding in the arena because it's next to the road and people driving by can see me.  So you can probably see why going to these competitions is a HUGE deal for me.  Thankfully, I have some very amazing and supportive friends who have pushed me to continue to go outside of my comfort zone.  I've decided *I* have a bigger issue with my weight than anyone else and that is something I need to deal with.  If anyone else has an issue with it - well, that's their problem, not mine.

So what does that mean for this blog?  It means I'm not going to hide my imperfections anymore.  I'll be happily posting pictures and videos and not giving a rats ass what anyone thinks.

Cat and I are due for our next competition next month.  I've got a lot of work to do between now and then but I couldn't be more excited about it.  I see big things in our future this year even if I never win another ribbon.

And Lucy - let's not forget Miss Lu Lu.  Her vacation is coming to a swift end.

Jester Park ACTHA AOC

Saturday, Jester Park Equestrian Center held an ACTHA AOC (arena obstacle challenge).  Janet and I showed up right at 8:00 hoping to get a good ride time.  I typically like to ride towards the middle/end and wanted to be spaced far enough apart so I could get some good video of Janet.  That idea was quickly squashed when we entered the registration area to find out they had pre-determined ride times.  Awesome - I was the third one to ride and Janet was the 4th.

The arena was set up nicely.  It looked very well thought out.  Not too difficult but not too easy either.

The riders briefing took longer than I expected.  I looked in the arena to see a horse/rider on the course.  I looked down at my clock it was 10:18 - oh shit!  I was supposed to ride at 10:30 and I hadn't even warmed up!  I ran out to the trailer and grabbed Cat.  Took her through the scary barn and into the warm up area.  Jumped on for about 5 minutes and then it was my turn.

Obstacle #1 - Mount

Cat was fine with this obstacle.  Sis, for whatever reason Sis didn't want to stand still.  This is not Sis so it threw Janet for a loop.

Obstacle #2 - Bridge

The first go, Cat stepped on the bridge and then kind of hesitated like she was waiting to see if it was going to move like the mattress.  Sis did awesome with the bridge which made Janet very happy as she has been struggling with bridges.

Obstacle #3 - Hat Pick Up

As strange as it may seem, I knew this would be Cat's most challenging obstacle.  This was one I had hoped to work on prior to this ride but since my riding was very limited I didn't get a chance.  On the first go she let out a snort but then allowed me to pick it up.  On the second go she was fine but I couldn't seem to get the hat on the stick!  Sis and Janet rocked this one!

Obstacle #4 - Trot Weave

Both horses did well with this one.  Cat did start to slow down on her first go when she saw the pine tree in the corner but ended up making it through it.

Obstacle #5 - Labyrinth

We were required to walk through the labyrinth.  Both horses did well with this one too.

Obstacle #6 - Don't Feed the Bears

Go figure!  The pile of PVC fittings I posted on FB - yeah, that was to make one of these for my fun day.  It is nearly complete but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

I'm not sure how many people were able to complete this one.  Mr. Polar Bear received a lot of attention.  On the first go I couldn't get Cat close enough to the fence to get the rope so I grabbed it from the pole.  I was able to get her close enough to return the rope.  On the second go, I was able to get close enough to get the rope but then had difficulties getting it returned.

Obstacle #7 - Pinwheel

I've done pinwheels a few times now but on the first go Cat was not mentally at this obstacle.  By this time she was looking at Janet and Sis and wanting to get the hell out of the arena.  The board was a 2 - 8 and was quite heavy.  I knew I wasn't going to be able to complete the obstacle so I dropped the board heavily onto the barrels to see what she would do.  Surprisingly I didn't get a reaction.

Round 2 I was able to complete this obstacle but it wasn't pretty.

Janet and Sis have struggled with the pinwheel and were not able to complete it.  This is something we will have to work on in the future.

Obstacle #8 - Mailbox

Not exactly a difficult obstacle.  Round 1 Cat was ready to be done so as soon as I shut the box she though she could leave.  Round 2 was much better.  Sis did better with this one Round 1.  Round 2 she moved away from it and then Janet couldn't get her back up to it.  This was very frustrating for Janet.

While Cat's performance wasn't anything to write home about, I was still very pleased.  I've ridden her 8 times this year, was not able to ride her the week prior to the competition, and had little to no warm up.

I'm glad this was done as "Gambler's Choice" as it gave me a chance to see how much she could improve.

We ended up taking home a the Blue and a long list of things to work on!

ETA - Ride Results