This weekend Ella, Midge and my mom’s perfect Andalusian stallion Tres are off to the dressage show at Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia. I wanted to get my two redheads off the farm, and Middleburg is a whopping 40-minute drive, so it’s an easy show to trailer into. Unfortunately, Ella is a MAJOR pain in the butt about her herdmates—put her on a trailer with anyone, and suddenly she can’t imagine life without them.
But I’m all about the learning experiences, so off we go on Friday to school. I arrive on the grounds with working student Nicole in tow, and I get on Ella and go off to ride. She is uncharacteristically quiet—normally she’s a bit of a nutter. And it’s a good thing, because the hot, sticky, sunny day has suddenly gotten VERY dark. I school the basics, take her around the arenas, and I’m barely back to the trailer when the skies fly open.
A quick spur swap, and I’m on Midge, trying to even see our way to the outdoor arena. Foxcroft’s warm-up is on grass, and after the last few rainless weeks, the ground here is rock solid; add a few sudden inches of rain to that and the warm-up was a slick, slippery mess.
Fortunately, Midge was also a trouper, so his workout was blissfully short, then it was back into the trailer and home—poor little Tres never even made it out of the rig!
I had an early ride this morning, so I had to drag Midge out of his paddock at 4:30 am (ew) to braid and hit the road. Overnight rains made the ground even slicker, so Ella was way backed-off in the warm-up, and then proceeded to get more bogged down in the test. She was obedient, but way behind the leg and accordingly lacking in self-carriage. She still won the class quite decisively with a 67.5 percent, including a 9 on extended trot and an 8 on four-tempis (booyah!), but I’m hoping for a better connection tomorrow.
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Midge warmed up like a trouper, then made his way to the indoor for his test. And then started to go into the indoor, then stood up and spun around. Rinse, repeat for a good 30 seconds. Just as the TD was very graciously offering to lead me in, I managed to get him in the arena, but I could barely get him around, as he’s too busy doing his Saddlebred impression. The judge was very kind and let me have a few laps around to try and get his back to be slightly more than 3 inches long, but it didn’t help much. He made some dumb mistakes and was just generally tight for a 63 percent, more than fair.
My mom, who is a very nervous Nellie at the shows, rode like a STAR, drove her wonderful but, ahem, VERY laid back Tres through the most forward test I’ve ever seen her ride! The score was underwhelming, but I am so very proud of her—maybe she’s rounding the bravery corner. Hoorah!
So: tomorrow is another day. Midge will whoa, Ella will go, and my mom will keep kicking butt. And I know we need the rain, but could it just chill out for one day?
