S: Situation. Princess and myself qualified for the Pickwick Medal Finals that was to take place at the Strides and Tides Horse Show, Sonoma Horse Park, Sept 13-14, 2014. Wow, fun. Then I looked at the details of the show schedule. Round 1 Saturday morning at 8 am, round 2 on Sunday morning also starting at 8 am. So far, pretty standard. But what is this, taking place in the Grand Prix arena?
B: Background. Princess and I have never shown in there, not even walked in there. Do the jumps even go that low, only 3'3" as opposed to the usual starting height of 4 feet and up for the regular jumper events in that particular arena? Fun or nerve racking, take your pick. Some horses in the medal final circuit are retired grand prix horses with a second career. This is not sour grapes, but those super talented horses walk in the ring with a "wake me up when it is real" attitude written all over them.
A: Assessment. We were awful. But better round by round. We did have an opportunity for a Pickwick warm up on Friday. Princess went into total alert mode, accommodating slowly to the new environment. Hmm, would have preferred a little speedier adaptation; we were not on the moon surface after all. She pretended she was glued to the ground. 'If I keep all four feet firmly on the ground, then this nightmare will be over soon.' Not so fast, sister. Remember, this is a jumping event? This realization came slowly to my charge, but eventually sunk in.
R: Recommendation. Ride hard. Have the confidence enough for both of us. And if given the chance, borrow a retired grand prix jumper for the event. Kidding (sort of). Here are some pix of the event for your enjoyment. I am proud of my girl. And she can never again say 'but I have never been here before' and I am confident she will step up to the plate and do her best. Carrots given generously.
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| 1 meter jumpers. Curiously no rubs |
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| The Skinny (fence, not me) at the Pickwick Finals in the Grand Prix arena. I should have told her it was only 3'3" not 4'3" |
