Southern Pines and The Fork

The plan all along was for Syd to just do the dressage at Southern Pines because all he needed was a run at The Fork before Rolex. JR would run at both. They were okay in dressage but I didn’t feel like I got their warm-up timing just right--too much on JR and too little on Syd. Sometimes I just don’t trust that I’m going to be ready to go on JR! I liked the changes to the cross-country at the Horse Park and had one of my best runs yet on JR. The course was a bit more flowing and forward thinking in the beginning, which made it easier to ride forward. I had the last rail down in the show jumping, but with all that rain I was really pleased with how he jumped. If I’m able to let go a bit, he doesn’t jump quite so high in the air and the round is more flowing. We ended up 6th. We headed home late Sunday. It rained the whole way, until we got about three-and-ahalf hours from home, when it started to snow. It was the worst drive with horses I’ve ever had and definitely scary. It was really nice to finally get home, though, even with three inches of snow on the ground. Tom was awesome about getting everything ready for us at the farm. He and Adolfo cleaned up the barns, picked up everything from the winter and Adolfo even pressure-washed the barn. By Wednesday we could cross-country school the young horses headed to Morven-- Dyson in the Training and Luminati in the Preliminary. Dyson had a small disobedience at the water and Luminati did his first Prelim and didn’t really have a counter-canter yet so his dressage wasn’t the best, but he was great in the jumping phases.

Both Syd and JR prepped well for The Fork and I was lucky to have Mom fly in to help me. I always look forward to this event, even though I’ve never had the best luck there. The weather on Thursday wasn’t great, and my results weren’t either. Syd performed his normal steady test in an absolute downpour Thursday afternoon and I was pleased considering. JR went Friday after lunch. He warmed up well but right before we went, the two boys who were picking up the tests from the judges decided to run out of the ring right in front of me. JR stopped, stood up and freaked out! I tried to move on but he was quite tense and inconsistent, and our score reflected that. Both horses were amazing in show jumping and jumped clean. I felt I rode the best I have this year, so that’s always encouraging. And then cross-country. Experience is something you get right after you needed it, right? I thought the new coffin was a great exercise but I chose the wrong canter for it. I got eliminated on both horses at the out. I think my horses are careful and could have been more in front of my leg. I did get to go back and school after the event.

I’ll need to be better at Kentucky. My plan is to school triple brush coffins at home, then go to Fair Hill and run around the Advanced with both horses. If they’re confident I’ll still go to Rolex. If not, I’ll go to plan B, C or D.