rums_mom
11-03-2008, 06:17 AM
OMG, what a weekend!
The weather turned out better than forcasted. We were stalled in the same barn as Phillip Dutton, Kim Severson and Boyd Martin! Didn't see them much, they were on the other end of the barn from us but it was exciting nonetheless.
So onto the show! Laurel and Rum got a 50.5 in dressage, this is definitely their weakest event. Judge made a nice comment about Rum, the judges always make a nice comment, they seem to really like him. He has not had a lot of formal dressage training so it is something they are going to really have to work on over the winter.
On to jumping! What Rum lacks in dressage skills he makes up for in jumping. They made it through the Show Jumping course clear, no jumping faults and no time faults! I saw a few eliminations and our co-boarder, Carrie saw quite a few as well. Carrie's mom came from Illinois, she is an upper level eventer and she said the SJ course was pretty difficulf for a Beginner/Novice level. Laurel said she doesn't even have to push Rum to the jump, they cleared everything with no problem, she said they didn't even look scary to her. They sure have come a long way...........
Now for the XC, our trainer, Beth, said this is a very challenging Beginner/Novice course. They looked great in their royal blue, yellow and white colors (think the Swedish Flag!). Made it all the way to the water hazard and Rum had a quick stop, funny for him because he loves going through water. But they went clear otherwise. There were a lot of eliminations, I saw 4 horses balk completely at the water hazard. For Laurel's first time doing a show of this magnitude, they did great. And Laurel said Rum is so much fun to ride! They had a blast and that is what counts. They ended up 13th overall in their division, which ended up with about 35 riders. I was hoping after all the eliminations she would have ended in the top 10. But we are extremely satisfied with the end result considering the competition!
I dug out my old Hanimex 35 mm camera so at least I got a few photos, I had to get batteries and film on Saturday so didn't get any picts until then. I did use Beth's video camera, it is on a mini-DVD so hopefully some of that came out. There were professional photogs there, when I get some picts I will certainly share.
This is it for our show season, I think we went out on a real positive note. For Rum and Laurel's first real year showing, they accomplished a lot.
Her goals this year:
Pinehurst HT..............check!
Thoroughbred Training Center.............check! (5th place in Spring Dressage & 6th place Fall Horse Trials)
Averett University CT..........check! (first place)
VA HT................check!
Next year she wants to move up to Novice, which considering Rum's jumping ability I think they will have no problem doing by the end of the year. They will only get better!
The weather turned out better than forcasted. We were stalled in the same barn as Phillip Dutton, Kim Severson and Boyd Martin! Didn't see them much, they were on the other end of the barn from us but it was exciting nonetheless.
So onto the show! Laurel and Rum got a 50.5 in dressage, this is definitely their weakest event. Judge made a nice comment about Rum, the judges always make a nice comment, they seem to really like him. He has not had a lot of formal dressage training so it is something they are going to really have to work on over the winter.
On to jumping! What Rum lacks in dressage skills he makes up for in jumping. They made it through the Show Jumping course clear, no jumping faults and no time faults! I saw a few eliminations and our co-boarder, Carrie saw quite a few as well. Carrie's mom came from Illinois, she is an upper level eventer and she said the SJ course was pretty difficulf for a Beginner/Novice level. Laurel said she doesn't even have to push Rum to the jump, they cleared everything with no problem, she said they didn't even look scary to her. They sure have come a long way...........
Now for the XC, our trainer, Beth, said this is a very challenging Beginner/Novice course. They looked great in their royal blue, yellow and white colors (think the Swedish Flag!). Made it all the way to the water hazard and Rum had a quick stop, funny for him because he loves going through water. But they went clear otherwise. There were a lot of eliminations, I saw 4 horses balk completely at the water hazard. For Laurel's first time doing a show of this magnitude, they did great. And Laurel said Rum is so much fun to ride! They had a blast and that is what counts. They ended up 13th overall in their division, which ended up with about 35 riders. I was hoping after all the eliminations she would have ended in the top 10. But we are extremely satisfied with the end result considering the competition!
I dug out my old Hanimex 35 mm camera so at least I got a few photos, I had to get batteries and film on Saturday so didn't get any picts until then. I did use Beth's video camera, it is on a mini-DVD so hopefully some of that came out. There were professional photogs there, when I get some picts I will certainly share.
This is it for our show season, I think we went out on a real positive note. For Rum and Laurel's first real year showing, they accomplished a lot.
Her goals this year:
Pinehurst HT..............check!
Thoroughbred Training Center.............check! (5th place in Spring Dressage & 6th place Fall Horse Trials)
Averett University CT..........check! (first place)
VA HT................check!
Next year she wants to move up to Novice, which considering Rum's jumping ability I think they will have no problem doing by the end of the year. They will only get better!