Bonus Post - Eventing Bingo

March 15, 2017

Bonus Post - Eventing Bingo

Emma gave me some interesting Bingo cards for her contest - click here to see.

I was all set to make up a story when I realized one column was already real!!

Column O on there reminds me a lot of my last show with Lexy, our second jaunt through training level where we ended up 5th.

Okay I lied, there is one square I'm gonna say is fictional. The fictional square is 'Judge's Comments: Harmony'. If you know Lexy you know I would never ever get this comment. Ever. I love Lexy a lot, she's an amazing cross country horse and riding her is like wearing my favorite pair of jeans but she is no dressage diva.

Exhibit A for active in the freakin' mouth

Exhibit B for bobbing head

Exhibit C for contact... the inconsistent kind.

However that test DID go reasonably well, for us. Our lengthenings are frequently... not really lengthenings. So while the judge didn't say it was harmonious, the red mare stayed in the ring with all four feet on the ground. I'm gonna go ahead and give myself that square.

Once we got through the Sandbox of Hell we went on to stadium where there was minimal head flailing and trantering lead changes, and maximum poles staying up. I had one of those moments where I questioned what the hell my trainer had me schooling at home because these looked tiny despite being at the tops of Flora Lea's silly small standards.

Then came the best part, the cross country. It was changed very little from the recognized show so it was a beefy training course, including my own personal kryptonite: THE STEPS. I was absolutely cacking my pants the entire coursewalk. I actually couldn't keep my mind on most of the course after the steps because I figured I would splat into them and it wouldn't matter.

I can't tell you how many times I've fallen UP these.

Joke was on me though. I took my coach's advice to 'ride like I knew what I was doing'. Channeling my inner WFP I galloped up to those steps and in a few hops I was past them. I immediately felt so relieved I thought I might fall off.

The rest of the course was going so well, I decided to take the option at the water. There were two banks for the training level horses, and they both led to a set of chevrons out of the water. I had the option to take whichever bank I wanted, depending on how I felt at that point.

Well, I felt like the master of my domain after the steps so I boldly cantered to the big bank like an idiot. Lexy's an old prelim horse. She knows whats up. She's a professional.

On our way to the water.

We got to the edge of the bank and she launched off it so hard I thought we were going to reach orbit. We've schooled there dozens of times and she has never jumped like that off a bank. Of course I landed, lost both my stirrups, and had to make a sharp left turn so we didn't miss the out jump at the water. I somehow stayed with her, flapping my extremities to keep her moving, and she nailed the out because she's the hero I don't deserve.

By the end of the course I was exhausted, and I narrowly piloted her to the last jump. She had another good girl moment and bailed me out of a very long spot even though my reins were a foot too long and I had massive chair seat because I was tired.