Oak Rise – 2

So, I went against my better instincts and took Robbyn up on the ride to Oak Rise this past Sunday. When I got up on Sunday morning and heard the pouring rain outside, I nearly called her to say that I wasn’t going… but then I remembered Christina was stuck going to coach Elena and I couldn’t leave her alone with them all day. So, I went.
The good thing is once we got there, it did stop raining. Plus, we parked close to John’s barn and I got to hitch Sky to his trailer for the day. The bad thing was that it was a bad day to be associated with Majestic Meadow and although I was lucky enough to be able to separate myself from them, Christina wasn’t.
Let’s start with the bad stuff… that way it’s more fun to get around to the good stuff.
Christina and I got there early with Elena, who leases Colorado so Colorado would settle in. Christina tried to get Elena to walk him around and get him acclimated, and it seemed to be going well for a while. Robbyn came back with her daughter, Cassie, and a student of theirs with two other horses and all seemed to be fine until their first class. I watched the class in horror as Colorado overall acted ridiculous and behaved poorly going around the rail. Elena did the best she could but barely made it out of the ring with her 6th place ribbon…. Then Lily (Cassie’s three year old) nearly knocked the ring steward over when she went to accept her ribbon… SO EMBARESSING!
Christina basically got bullied into riding Colorado in the practice ring for Robyn, and finally got him around, but she convinced them to scratch him from the rest of his classes. Cassie had an out of control horse which everyone seemed to want to ignore – she was cantering in the practice ring, which is against the rules, and when I tried to tell them so I go attitude from both mother and daughter. Then, Lily got out of control in not one but TWO of her classes, but Cassie managed to get Reserve Champion anyway… that chapped my ass.
When Robbyn tried to finally leave, she had a flat tire on her trailer, which was a fiasco. It took over an hour to get it changed and for her to pull out with her first round of horses, which was actually a good thing (which gets us to the good stuff) because Christina and I got to hang out in John’s barn for his BBQ while we waited for a ride for the horses. It was a good way to relax.
And now for more good stuff – Sky rode fabulously and I think I did ok too. We got 4 of 5 in equitation (I was so robbed, but whatever), 2 of 5 in pleasure, 2 of 3 in Discipline Rail and 1 of 3 in Trail – the last of which got us another PAC point! I was very happy with how I rode and I think that Sky did great too… and that’s all that matters.
It’s funny because I knew that’s what John would say when he got to the show when I told him about my equitation class and how I thought I rode well but didn’t place great – I could hear it in my head but it was so great to hear him say it too… I think Sky and I are both getting more confident. I’m getting her goat lately, like when she doesn’t want to go in the ring at the end of the day or into the woods for a trail ride like she did to me last week – I’m beating her every time lately and she gives up more and more easily. We’ll have to try the water crossing again soon!