OHJA Medal Finals: Day 2

 For the lower medals (the 2'3" and the 2'6") the third and final round is held on the flat. There were enough entries in the 2'6" to separate them out into a junior and adult divisions, so I hopped on about half way through the junior division while the adults were finishing their warm up. We were riding in the big hunter derby ring and the warm up for that ring was a bit small. It was chaotic with the 2'6" adults and the 13 in my class all trying to ride at the same time. There was a couple of ponies I was sure I was going to run over, and apparently no one knows how to pass left shoulder to left shoulder anymore. Thank god no one was jumping or there would have been accidents for sure. 

The judge was calling for a lot of sitting trot and transitions between trot and canter in the 2'6" classes, so Trainer M had me doing that in our warm up. Maya's trot is not the most comfortable, and my back wasn't super happy with all the sitting trot. But she was listening well and I felt as ready as possible heading into the ring. 

The derby ring has really nice new footing that makes the footing in the other hunter rings look like absolute shit in comparison. I hope they replace the other footing with this for next year. 

The flat ended up being one of the most brutal flat classes I've ever ridden. There was a lot of sitting trot, lengthening the trot, two canters each direction, and basically no walk except to change direction. Going right the judge had us lengthen the canter. I was just behind a group of about 4 horses that were on the rail going past the judge and my first thought was "This could be very bad". I turned on the quarter line to try and avoid the pile up but as I was passing a couple of horses, I see one tuck his butt and then explode. The announcer quickly called for us all to halt, and in doing so Maya turned away from the horse bucking. I heard the pop of the rider's air vest go off and Maya scooted forward, spooking slightly at the noise. 

Thankfully the kid was ok and the horse stopped once she was off, so no more mayhem was caused.  We went back out on the rail and the judge started calling some of us into the center while continuing to test the others. I was one of the first called in, which was fine by me. The judge called again for a lengthened canter, and I could see all the trainers at the rail flinch. Like dude, this is a 2'3" local medal and you already got one kid bucked off. 

First time winning a neck ribbon

I don't remember what my final score was, but I know I got a 60something in the flat. We ended up dropping to 6th overall, which I'm still super happy about. For only riding Maya once before showing her, I'd say we did pretty damn well. 

OHJA Medal Finals: Day 1

OHJA medal finals are held over two days, and have three phases. Phase one (a written knowledge test) and phase two (over fences) are held on Friday and phase three (a flat phase for the 2'3" and 2'6" medals, over fences for the higher medals) are on Saturday. The finals are held during a regular rated show, but I only did medal finals. The show was held about 20mins from the barn, and Maya has shown there a ton, so we decided to haul her in for those two days. 

We were supposed to take our written test between 7:30-9:30 Friday morning, and of course my round wasn't scheduled to go till 4:30pm. So I headed over to the show around 8, took the test, and watched a few short stirrup rounds go. There had been a study session held at the show on Wednesday night that I went to and was initially irritated by because it lasted all of 20mins, but the test was the exact questions they gave us at the session so it worked out. I got a perfect 10/10.

Everything was wet because it rained Thursday night and on and off on Friday

 I then went to the barn, hung out, cleaned, and organized my shit before we loaded Maya up around 2 to head over. Maya is a great traveler and was content to hang out in the trailer with a hay net while Trainer M and I watched the bigger medal classes and ate lunch. They opened up the course around 3 for a combined walk for the mini and foundation medals. We walked, made our plan then headed over to the trailer to start getting ready. 

All pro photos from McCool Photography. The show office charges each entry $35 for photos and you get digital downloads of all your pics. 

Trainer M hopped on Maya first, as she can sometimes be a bit spunky at the shows, and M would rather ride her through it instead of lunging her. Once I got on the nerves started to get to me a little. It didn't help that Maya was a little annoyed with me and tried to buck a couple of times. I was riding in her owner's saddle, that has a much deeper seat than mine, and I felt like I was sitting in a hole and slightly behind her motion. I was trying to be more in a half seat, but couldn't quite find my balance. We jumped a few fences, then went to watch a couple of rounds, planning on jumping one or two more right before going in. 

There was a posted order of go, but as the way of hunter ring, there was an open gate for about five minutes. I asked Trainer M if I could just go and get it over with, instead of sitting there letting my anxiety increase. She agreed, the back gate guy gave his blessing and off we went. I felt Maya perk up a bit, and once we picked up our canter she became all business. She really listened to me and was right with me every stride. I liked that the course was twisty as it gave me more to focus on instead of a lot of long straight lines. We landed every lead, and most of the distances came up well. I know I half halted a bit too strongly coming around the corner to fence 3, but otherwise everything else rode really, really well. It was honestly one of the best rounds I've ever ridden. I had given my phone to a friend to video, but it unfortunately died just after my round started so no video. 

We ended up with a 76, so combined with my 10 from the written test, we had an 86 earning us second out of thirteen. I was so beyond happy with our round and honestly don't think I could have done any better on Cinder, or if I had ridden Maya more. Maya got a lot of cookies while we untacked and cleaned her up, and then we headed home ready for round three the next day. 
 

Horse of a Different Color

Its slow going in rehab land. Cinder is feeling much better after her stifle injections, but we underestimated how much muscle and fitness she's lost being off since the end of April. We also forgot that we cut her grain while she was on stall rest and didn't up it once she was back in work, so she lost a bit of weight. For a few days she was looking like the before pic in a rescue before and after. But we've tweaked her diet and she's already looking a lot better. 

Peebs got pulled out again for some walkies, and we actually trotted a circle! He was not amused that I contemplated putting him back into work  

Unfortunately, she's not going to be ready for next week's Oregon Hunter Jumper Association Medal Finals. That was my big goal for the year, to qualify and compete. I also received a $500 grant from OHJA to help cover costs, and a $100 early qualifier voucher, which basically covers my show entry fees. When I realized Cin wasn't going to be ready in time, I cried. A lot. Over the course of many days. I know that's how horses go, you work your ass off and shit goes south, but it still hurts. 

So I texted Trainer M and asked if there was any possibility of getting a catch ride. An hour later she had one for me. One of her other clients is letting me use her mare, a 17yr old Holsteiner named Maya. She's a been there, done that three ring schoolmaster and took her owner to 6th at the same medal finals a few years ago. She can be a little sassy, and likes to test new riders a bit by going slower than a snail and pretend spooking at things, but jumps anything put in front of her. 

Bay ears view!

I had a lesson last night with Maya and she was way more fun than I thought she'd be. She's about the same height as Cinder, 16.3-17.0 hands, but thicker and longer, but she didn't ride as big as I expected. She was also more forward and responsive to my leg than we expected her to be, so much so that Trainer M took my spurs off halfway through the lesson. Maya wants you to establish the pace, then leave her alone and she'll maintain it, while Cinder needs more help maintaining her pace. We ended up jumping a full course and only had one slightly iffy distance. I saw the long one into a line so we kinda cannonballed it and I really had to sit back and get her together to get the five, but we did it. Not bad, considering I've barely cantered and haven't jumped since the end of April and this was my first time riding her.