The in-gate volunteer watched our ride and as I was walking out she was like "He looks like a fun ride." I laughed, because that pretty much summed up another...interesting...show jumping round. That's why I like this guy!
Warmup was like:
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| "I ain't touching that!" |
And then it was like:
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| "LONG SPOT, WOOHOOOOOOOO!" |
And then I asked him to please not leave out a stride and get to the base of the fence and it was like:
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| "I just touched that, sorry..." Note the flying rail. |
So rest assured his next attempt was another sky scraper, and after we had both cruised over the fences enough times to be comfortable, with my trainer helping me to stabilize my lower leg, we went over to the ring, where Connor was all "SPECTATORS!" and I was all "Fence 1!"
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| Him: "Shiny..." Me: "They just rang the bell." |
So he was predictably unpredictable at Fence One.
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| One. |
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| Getting my reins back on my jumper pony. |
At 2, he did his classic peek before takeoff. My husband was standing with my teammate for our round, and he said he joked, "And this one smells like roses..." when Connor looked at this one:
3 and 4 were pretty straightforward, we had a good canter going:
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| Butts. |
Fence 5 reminded me of that skinny that came off the rail quickly in team practice a couple of months ago, so I made an executive decision just before I went into the ring to trot it. It was also the only fence with filler, a gate:
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| He had no idea there was a fence just a few strides away here, so I was happy with my decision to trot. |
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| Again, peeking. |
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| But he isn't going to touch it! |
Bending line to 6:
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| "We're going right..." |
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| "...really." |
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| Gratuitous cute. |
Fence 7:
I don't have a picture of eight but I do have a picture of us cruising to it:
And then cruising to 9:
On the last fence, number 9, we really started to click:
And then we got done and everyone told him what a good pony he was, and he had a moment with his breeder:
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| "I'm a good boy!" |
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| Good pony! |
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| And then his braids were taken out and everyone fawned over his curly hair. |
We ended up finishing 4th on our Dressage score of 31, if that tells you anything about how tough the division was! I was there to knock the rust off and see if we are ready to move up, and I think I got my answer. Starter is starting to get boring, now it's time to make 2'6 the new norm. Pony power!
He Jumps SOOO CUTE. You guys totally rocked it, man you rocked all week!
ReplyDeleteThanks, it was a crazy week!!
DeleteAdorableness!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wild ride! Nice knees :)
ReplyDeleteMine or his? Haha. He is a wild ride, but that's why I like him. Not a kids' pony.
DeleteThat last picture is just too cute! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha thanks, I just left it that way too. Too cute to wet down and brush out.
DeleteOmg too cute!! His fro hair is awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great? I just left it that way too, I was laughing to hard to want to brush it out.
DeleteAh, I LOVE that picture of him over the gate, so freaking cute!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Wish it was in focus but you can still see the cute!
DeleteOMG he's so adorable! Love that form o/f, he knows his job!
ReplyDeleteThanks! He's always done that so I think it's more self-preservation than anything, but one way or another, good qualities for an event horse right? Haha.
DeleteI love his curly hair picture! SO adorable! Congrats on a great weekend! BN will be a piece of cake
ReplyDeleteThanks! Hope so, we're rocking 2'0 but not quite sure of ourselves at 2'6 yet so I'm a little nervous.
DeleteYah! How exciting.
ReplyDeleteHe is the best!! Congrats!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE his jump! You two are such an awesome team. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! He's my little buddy!
DeleteGo, Connor, Go! Love the gratuitous photos<3
ReplyDeleteThere are more where that came from, for once!
DeleteSo cute!! And the knee to chin action is impressive :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! He's definitely getting the hang of that these days.
DeleteLove those careful little knees!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Makes me feel better about XC fences when I see his jumping pictures.
DeleteHe's the cutest little show jumper ever! Such a trier and I love how he obviously HATES to hit a rail.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Those donkey ears in the flying rail photo pretty much tell his whole story, don't they? Haha. I think it's why he puts his nose down to look at the fence before takeoff, just to be absolutely certain he won't hit anything.
DeleteBut gosh, he's adorable!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, and agreed!
DeleteHe's so cute O/F! Congrads on a nice round, well-ridden!
ReplyDeleteThanks! You always tell me cute pony pictures are the way to peoples' hearts.
DeleteAwesome!! Love all the cute pictures. :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat job Jen! Fantastic first show of the season!
ReplyDeleteGreat job Jen! He does have awesome tight knees and is really just totally adorable in every way. I'm so glad you got pictures!!
ReplyDelete