Hey everyone
I am back from South Farm and it was awesome and at the same time not so awesome. My dressage wasn't very good- only a 36, which was so so. There was just no energy in the test and it was mostly do to me and Red being lifeless. Cross Country on the other hand was great. I walked the course with Emily, and she let me use her watch which helped immensely. I could monitor my time much easier than on the old analog watch. I came in at 5:00, and the optimum time was 5:15, so it was perfect. Stadium was hard though- the course was odd. They had this plastic jump that many people were knocking down. Red knicked it, but then again he is always a horse to rub rails, but not usually knock them. There was also a strange turn to a Swedish oxer, which once again Red rubbed.
I had no stadium faults, and came in fifth in the Horse Trial, but the point was for me to go clear Cross Country so I could get an affidavit for Nationals, which I did. This means that I only need to get one in the spring to be on the Nationals team!
Now I have to shift my focus and get ready for the rating which is one week from today. This rating is highly contrasting from my last rating, which if you remember reading on here, I was very nervous. This one, however, I feel extremely confident and comfortable with the whole test. Our rater will be Linda, who if you remember, was the clinician at the D3-C1 clinic. This is a huge advantage because I know exactly what she's looking for.
I hope to write again once more before the rating and then after to give a follow up, so keep an eye out for those blogs later this week.
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