Spring Down Equestrian Center Schooling Show

The last few months our primary focus was on dressage and flatwork, but the last 2 weeks we got a little jumping in.  And wouldn't you know, most of that flatwork translates to jumping as well.  Cupid has been very relaxed (lazy even) jumping, our connection is better, and I've been feeling more secure both physically and mentally.  I had tentatively been looking at the last H/J schooling show of the year, and two days before decided I'll go for it.

Cupid was perfect loading, no hesitation.  I have been giving him a dose of Gastroguard before trailering.  It was about half an hour drive to the show.  We got there and I went to check in, signing up for the first class which is a 18" warm up hunter (trotting allowed).  I realized, to my dismay, that there was no separate warm up arena and we had just missed the designated warm up time!  I was panicing a little.  There was the gate area, which was crowded with horses and people, and most of the rest of the place looked paved.  I settled for a little dirt patch next to the trailer parking where we could at least walk a little, though not trot.  So I just started walking circles, getting Cupid to bend.  We did some rectangles with a little shoulder in.  At first Cupid was a little nervous, and whinnied a few times, but I felt him start to settle after about 10 minutes.  I asked my trainer if it would be unfair to make him go in the ring, and she said since the jumps were pretty small it would be fine. So we decided to still do the class.

We entered the arena and trotted up a long side and did an opening circle, then headed to the first fence on the diagonal.  It had flowers sticking out the top, I felt Cupid hesitate a few strides out but he continued on and over it smooth.  Left hand turn to two jumps on the other diagonal.  Right hand turn to two jumps on the long side.  Continue around and right to 2 jumps on a short diagonal.  Then left turn to the final jump on the other long side.  Though I had hoped to canter the entire course, we ended up trotting it except between the combinations, since Cupid felt a little quick and distracted.  Or maybe I was just not confident because of the lack of warm up!  But overall I was happy with him.  To my surprise we ended up in 5th, I think there were about a dozen entries!  My trainer said we had a good takeoff and hit the center of each jump, and Cupid actually makes an effort and lifts his knees even over small jumps.  Plus there were several refusals, I didn't notice until after I finished that one of the jumps had a big inflatable Santa by the standard!

He looks pretty pleased with himself

Oops, I need to put my weight in my heels!!

 The second class was over the same course, and I thought it would go even better.  Unfortunately for some reason Cupid seemed more distracted.  We ended up mostly trotting again, a few times he landed in a canter that felt too fast to me.  He actually put his head down and propped a little after one of the jumps, I'm not sure if I did something on approach that annoyed him!  And he had a little spook approaching the judge's booth, but I think maybe the judge couldn't really see that from her vantage.  We ended up in 6th, so I think the judge really liked Cupid because it felt uneven to me.  But this did confirm my belief that Cupid can probably make a cute little hunter, he just needs a little more seasoning so he relaxes.

Luckily I didn't notice Santa until afterwards, otherwise I probably would have been looking down at it!

We stayed for the next warm up round.  The ring was very chaotic, and between all the horses and jumps I could barely find a place to circle.  But we trotted and cantered a little, and at the end Cupid was trotting softly with his neck arched in good hack form.  After the warm up session we hung out by the gate for a little bit.  Cupid must have been tired because he pretty much took a nap!  Earlier he was very unhappy having to stand.  I decided to call it a day on that.  I was very happy with Cupid, and myself for being able to roll with it, and be able to go into a place we've never been before and complete our course even without a sufficient warm up, and not getting anxious even when Cupid felt too quick.  We've made a lot of progress, and I'm excited for the next year/season!