We had quite the exciting week at the 2010 Del Mar National April 27th through May 2cnd. The week before the show my trainer Teri and I decided that we should try to get her horse Wynsum in the show so I could take him in the Junior classes. He's for sale and she wants to market him as a Junior/Young Rider horse so she's having me campaign him and try to qualify for Nationals. If we didn't get in this show we would have to go all the way to Utah in June to participate in the required third qualifier, which would have been much more of a hassle. At the last minute we got him in the show, so I knew I would have double the work, which I was excited about! haha They were both training really well and I thought we had a good shot at doing well, but I did not foresee the hidden gremlins in the indoor arena...

We arrived on Wednesday to get the boys settled in and unpack all of our things. It's amazing how much stuff you can have for only a couple of horses! They were both well behaved and I was feeling ready to show. On Thursday (Chance's 8th birthday!) we went through the vet inspection, which ended up being pretty exciting because Chance and Wynsum both thought that meant it was time to leap in the air and run around. Chance also got to participate in a warm-up test to acclimate him to the ring. It went pretty well but since it was only a warm-up test I took the chance to school him a little bit so we ended up with a few mistakes, but still got a 62% and a blue ribbon for Chance's birthday! (I didn't tell him he was the only one in the class.) Friday morning started off busy as I prepared for my rides. Chance went first and unfortunately for me when he got in the big scary indoor arena he decided their was a monster hiding in one of the corners. He actually had some really nice work but he also added in three big spooks on movements worth twice as many points as some of the others. We ended up with another 62%, which wasn't really that bad considering his silliness! I decided that he must have gone back to the barn and told Wynsum about the boogie man because he spooked at the exact same corner in his test and ended up with a 61.7%! Out of six riders they placed 3rd and 4th, right in the middle of the pack. I knew that there must be something I could do to prevent them from spooking because all of the top horses are really excitable and frisky but their riders manage to control that energy and put it to good use. After talking over strategies with Teri that night and I was ready to try again the next day for our last rides.

Lucky for me changing a few things and focusing on controlled power really helped! Wynsum went first and had a beautifull test and scored a 65.7%, winning the class! Chance was much better behaved, too, I'm guessing because when Wynsum came back to the barn he told Chance that he didn't need to be afraid of the arena again. We had a few little mistakes and there are some things we need to clean up, but our test was good enough to get a 64.7% and fourth place, but better yet, he didn't spook! Yay! haha Overall I was very pleased at how things went and this was the best Chance has ever felt at a show in the warm-up, now we just need to work on getting the same thing in the show ring, which will come with time and experience. He's come such a long way since last year and I'm so proud of him. They have both been training really well and if Wynsum hasn't sold by then I'll be taking them both to the Flintridge Dressage Show in California at the end of May. It will be our last show before the Junior Championships so I'm going to do my freestyle on Chance to gain a little more experience riding to music. All in all it was a fantastic weekend where I got to catch up with old friends, meet new ones, and learn a ton! :)

~Catherine~