It's Showtime!

 Last weekend was the horse show and it was an adventure and a half.  

It all started last Sunday with my finding one of my trailer windows shattered. We're pretty sure a rock was thrown by the lawnmower. I had to wait until after the show to make an appointment so I used plastic and duct tape to keep everything dry. I put it on the inside and outside to make sure.  Getting the tape off is a problem for a different day. 

why yes that is a bag from the tack shop lol

Then on Wednesday and I was moving the truck and it died. whomp whomp. 

 I called CAA and they determined that it was the alternator. There was no way to get it fixed before Friday so it looked like the show was not going to happen. I was really bummed. Mostly because I had worked so hard on the freestyle and it was ready. Then a friend (a really good friend) reached out and said I could use her truck. 

on it's way to truck hospital

Needless to say that by the time I had sorted all the logisitcs this week and packed everything I was pretty exhausted setting out. Once I got there I was determined to have a good time. I was super excited to see my horse friends and to ride Carmen.  She has lost 100 pounds now and has been feeling really good.  We'd been working hard on the freestyle the last few weeks. 

Let me just say that choreographing a freestyle is hard.  I had spent hours on it and finally figured I had it finalised. I had built in a couple spots to flex in case we were ahead or behind time.  Carmen felt really good in our Friday warm up and I was able to run through it one more time to make sure there weren't any adjustment. 

I had signed Carmen up to do one second level test on Saturday and Sunday, plus the freestyle on Saturday.  Given that she came up lame at the last show I was keeping my fingers crossed that all would be well. Of course I have made a lot of changes with Carmen since then so it didn't feel like things would go wrong. But, also, horses. 

Anyway we rode our test and it went well. Carmen felt really good and back to her old self.  There were 5 people who signed up for a freestyle so they put them all at the end of the day. I was the last rider. 

I had a bout of nerves when I went in and then just took a breath.  The judge rang the bell and I got into position.  My music was a compilation from the Zorro soundtrack. (long time readers may recall I did a pas de deux to this with Karen years ago at a cancer fundraiser show back in 2019).  I have been listening to this music on repeat since I decided I was going for it.  I know it backwards and forwards. But when the music started and it filled the arena I got goosebumps.  My inner 12 year old laughed in glee and we were off. 

And, oh my god, I had so much fun. I was having the time of my life. Carmen was being really good. There was one bobble in the canter work where I loosened the outside rein and she spooked. I couldn't get her back and decided to ride it forward.  Anyway, here's the video: 

After I felt wonderful. I hadn't even wondered about my score. My heart was full because I was dancing with my horse again.  We ended up with a score of 63.2. The judge had a few comments. Most of which were negative: I had too many circles and she didn't like the canter music (myself, I LOVE the canter music).  She did like my entry and my trot work was interesting.  But honestly, I don't really care, lol.  

The music is dramatic. So it Carmen. So am I at times. The older I get the more I realise I want to ride with joy. Could the test be heavily critiqued. Sure. But I'm not at the olympics and I don't care to do anything to take away the joy I felt doing it with Carmen.  Those watching seemed to really like it and a few people after told me they enjoyed it. Either way we were reserve champs for the 2nd level bronze freestyle. And I got a lovely saddle pad. 

I don't think you can quite see the amount 
of glitter it has....

Quite a few people told me that Carmen was looking a lot better. Some commented on how happy she looked when I was riding her. The judge thought my horse beautiful and had a lot of power that I should learn to channel (working on it lol).  On Sunday she was lovely and sound. We had a nice test and I was glad to head home.  

I found out today that Carmen and I were actually 2nd level champs at the show. It never even occurred to me that we were in the running. Like I said, my joy was from advancing my riding, hanging with friends and riding that freestyle. It was a definite highlight. I'm pretty sure that Carmen enjoyed it as well.