This takes deep thought and consternation. Think of all the reasons why NOT to go to a horse show when it is raining. The immediate reasons come to mind. That rain is water falling from the sky. It meets the ground and turn perfectly respectable dirt into mud. That mud is churned up by horses hooves and turns into something resembling brownie batter but smelling much worse. That you have visions of the uncomfortable act of falling off, not onto soft clean carefully maintained footing but the aforementioned brownie-batter-turned-plankton-incubation-nursery of the Western World. Regular falling off is an ego-bruising experience. Falling off into one foot deep brownie-batter-but-smelling-much-worse earth is a game changer. I brought three complete outfits just in case. Fortunately, I did not need to use them.
Hugh, Lindsey, and I braved the storms of the greater Sacramento area to attend the capital City Horse Show and Rudy Leone's Equestrian Center this week. Hugh rode and schooled six horses, and slogged through classes Wednesday and Thursday. I arrived Thursday to rain and thunder and rising water table. Earth met the aquifer and was loosing ground. Every hoof print became a spring, a font of water, a wallow, a stink hole. I become less enamored with the place with every inch of precipitation. But then, of course, I reminded myself, life begins with water, droughts are tough and, and finally, just get over it.
So we went to work. All horses instantly became water masters. Forging the large river just to get from our barn "N" to the schooling arenas was a challenge. Princess, who does not like to get dirty, tried to place her feet on the least muddy ground available, but eventually accepted defeat. Schooling over fences was like figure eighting over liverpools. Getting in to the arena was a cross country challenge. On our first round, Princess was so distracted that she barely saw the fences in time to jump. Not a pretty sight.
On Sunday, I changed tact and assumed a "just get over it" attitude. I told her: if Noah's arc was going to pick you up, it would have been here by now. But until you see the gangway, please just do what I say. Gallop through the mud and jump the jumps. And so, for three rounds on Sunday, we did just that. Adult Amateur 3 foot hunters, second, third and fifth places -- nice consistent rounds with no nonsense and no playing around. There were no excuses for the unusual circumstances. That was fun.
Other notables: Capote competed in his first Hunter Derby. He was probably knocked out of the ribbons by the famous "Capote Rap". He knocked a rail so loud it was heard in Vacaville, it registered 1.9 on the Richter Scale. Duncan McFarlan told Hugh he needed luck like that in the Grand Prix, being able to hit a rail that hard and not knock it down. Lindsey and I blamed the mud. See below for more mud details. Summer horse shows are going to be a dream.
Great job. you are very brave but irrational. My favourite area is a soft sofa, a good book and a strong martini.
ReplyDelete