Saturday goats, Sunday horses. Sunday morning (Mother’s Day) at 0745, we headed out with a single horse; Amanda and SA Jeeka’s Jessica competed in their first dressage show. Amanda had done a lead line test 10 or 11 years ago, but otherwise, this was her first show of this type. As far as we know, it was also JJ’s first at 17 years old. The Connecticut Dressage & Combined Training Association (CDCTA) is a group that Rob and King used to show with years ago. Amanda has taken some lessons with Ann Bowie to improve her flat work. The goal for the outing was simply to get experience in new environments (for both rider and horse).
The competition was held at Oak Meadow Farm in East Windsor, CT, which is a very pretty, traditional eventing barn, complete with indoor arena, multiple outdoor arenas, and cross country course. Amanda, being the youngest, grew up after the majority of our Pony Club outings. She is an endurance/trail kid through and through, but wants to expand her horizons. As we walked around the farm before the competition, she was aghast at the 20’x20′ – 40’x40′ “turnouts” that boarded horses were standing in. It was quite the contrast to our approach in keeping horses and I spent time explaining to her that it was quite common in boarding barns to see that type of environment.
Since this was the first time at an event like this, we arrived with 2 hours to spare before Amanda’s ride time and she planned to spend almost an hour in warm up (JJ is an endurance horse after all). JJ was a little nervous getting tacked up next to the trailer without any of her herd-mates, but settled in almost immediately once Amanda got in the saddle. Other than looking at a few things in the warm up ring, you would never have guessed it was their first time in that environment. Mom and Dad hung out on the rail, offering a few tips, but otherwise, Amanda and JJ did their own thing until it was time to ride the tests. Amanda rode Intro A and Intro B with about 15 min between the tests. The tests were completely unremarkable, which is actually a good thing in this case. Sure, Amanda needs to ride deeper into the corners, circles need to be more round, JJ needs to be more accepting of the bit, blah blah blah. But JJ didn’t spook or shy at anything. She never even considered leaving the ring (which is short enough a horse can step over it). Amanda didn’t forget any of her test. In short, they had an amazing first competition together. You can watch both test videos here: Intro A Test and Intro B Test
Once the competition was over, Amanda was surprised to receive the Community Horse Youth Award. We don’t know how many youth attended, but she was quite thrilled for one more win for the day.
In case it isn’t obvious, JJ (one of our part-Shagya mares) is quite versatile. Next weekend, Amanda and JJ plan to tackle another 50-miler together. More to follow…