Eventing Bingo

Me: Hey Carmen, would you like to play a game of bingo with me? We could win a fabulous prize! 

Carmen: What are you talking about? 

Me: Emma at Friday Cat Eventing is hosting a contest. We were assigned a bingo card and we need to get a line. We might win a $25 gift card from Riding Warehouse. It's all about eventing. 

Carmen: What is eventing? 

Me: It's a competition where we would ride a dressage test, jump a cross country course and then a stadium jumping course. 

Carmen: Jumping? I'm a dressage horse, not some rowdy hooligan. 

Me: Well fist of all it's fictional. Also, do you remember when we first met? The other horse I tried, Agente, is doing eventing......

Carmen: Well I didn't say I couldn't do it- let me see this 'bingo card':

Me: So let's start with the warm-up. 

I want to start keeping you relaxed and focussed on me

Carmen:  But there's this horse that keeps cutting me off and breathing the same air as me. I have to show him who's boss so I pin my ears and kick at him to get him out of the way....

Me:....and before we know it we have one end all to ourselves and the steward is glaring watching us carefully. And now it's our turn to go in. 

Carmen: And of course you don't need any of those nasty crops or spurs...


Me: Which means that when I asked you to go into the ring you flatly refused

Carmen: Well I had to check for trolls first....

Me: And the gate person had to lead us in. It was embarrassing and I was wishing that I had brought my crop. The bell rings and we trot down the centre line and slam to a halt at X. 

Carmen:  And I notice the judge for the first time and I jump 10 feet sideways from the halt and try to run away. 

Me:  That gave us a '4' for that movement. But we keep it together for the rest of test and we have some really nice movements. 

Carmen: And then we do the cross-country course and I totally rock it. 

Me: It was pretty fast though- I barely remember it. But we survive and now it's time for the stadium jumping. 

Carmen: I don't see the point of the meandering course and I decide to take a short cut to the gate. 

Me: Yeah, that's called going off-course and it's not allowed. 

Carmen: I did try to tell you that I'm a dressage horse. 

Me:  Yes you did. I thought it might be fun to try something different. 

Carmen: But you were proud of me, right? 

Me: Always. 

See- I can jump when I want to!