Sport Horse Extravaganza - 2015 Day 2 - Saturday

Today was Dressage followed by general Sport Horse.  The line up looked like this:
Training Level Test 1
Training Level Test 3
Sport Horse In-Hand
Sport Horse Under Saddle

I headed over to warm up, and the Fancy Pony was feeling ok.  I was as ready as I could be, so when the steward said so, I headed into the ring.
This was the first show where I actually had a reader, and it was actually pretty nice!

Down centerline we went, and we tracked left at C...
Trot circle on the long side felt stable...
Canter circle at A was feeling pretty relaxed...
And the judge blew the whistle.

Oh, dear.  How could we possibly have gone off course already??
She said I should have tracked right.  I pondered this for a second.  My reader read track left...  So I asked the judge, "Training Level Test 1, right?"
No, she had T-2.
But, we rode T-2 yesterday...

Turns out I was the first in my division to go, and they had the wrong test for ALL of us!!

I walked out of the ring to continue warming up until we were ready again...
My reader had her own class to prepare for, so a saint in the warm-up arena agreed to read for me!
Our ride was... average.  Ultimately, we scored a 60.2% and didn't place.

My friend Heather went into her own test on her sometimes-hot-gelding, and as she headed down centerline, a truck arrived *RIGHT NEXT TO THE RING* to remove a dumpster.  The truck beeped and groaned and whined the entire time she was riding her test!
I would consider keeping the horse in the ring under such circumstances a win!!

Is that a winning smile, or what?

Despite Heather's frustration with her ride, they scored really well!  I was so proud of the way she rode through what she saw as a disastrous test!

Later, we went into Training Test 3.  Apparently, the universe had not reached it's quota of entropy.
As soon as I entered the ring, sirens came rushing down the street behind me.  I listened closely to my reader (who was calling at the top of her lungs with great projection, and I could barely catch her voice between emergency vehicles).  At one point, I drew a blank, but there was her voice to save me!
Our free walk was not up to it's usual brilliance, but can you blame the Fancy Pony when there are emergency vehicles flying by all around us??
As soon as I exited after my final salute, the sirens and emergency vehicles ceased.  Thank you universe.
We walked out of there with a 63.6%!!  Our first Nationally qualifying score!

"So much to like!"

Back at the barn, I curried and brushed and hosed and scrubbed.  I made the Fancy Pony shiny.  Well, as shiny as a roan gets, anyway...  She was cool, calm, and together when we entered the ring for Sport Horse In-Hand.  She stood perfectly still.  She walked right with me on the small triangle.  She trotted like she was glued to my shoulder!  She lengthened on the back side of the triangle with me.  She turned at all the corners with me!  She walked again when I walked!
Alas, the judge was not particularly fond of her head.  She said is was "plain".  **shrug**
We'll try again at another show.

Sport Horse Under Saddle was our last class, and the session started around 7.  Everyone was tired.  We played musical horses in the warm-up arena.  Eventually, we settled to warming up proper for the class.
We had a decent go.  We got all of our leads.  Our transitions were timely, but Pony was tossing her head for the walk to canter transition.  We didn't place.  But the experience was still successful, and I learned a little bit more.
Bedtime was a blessing.
Tomorrow, we would be riding in our first Regional Championship classes!!