Because our warm-up away in the grass meadow was so successful earlier in the day for First 1, I decided to go back again. Windy does not respond well to crowded warm-up spaces, so I thought my decision was best for her brain. All was going incredibly smoothly until one other horse decided to join us in this HUGE space -- it was a palomino. Go figure, Windy does not like blondes AT ALL. She would catch sight of 'Blondie,' slaaaaammmm her brakes on, and catch some serious air. My gal was telling me Blondes definitely do not have more fun, phew!!!!
I was absolutely exhausted from riding Windy in the warm-up, that I thought to myself, that I had better start swimming once I get back to MD....I need more strength!!! After our first ride in First Level, where she reared so unexpectedly, I asked Chuck why he never took any pictures of her being a pill. He said that he gets so surprised and concerned that he just stops shooting -- I asked him to capture some of those moments -- that is why I have the above 'stinker' shot to share with you today. There truly is something not right with MY make-up, that I find Windy to have such an appealing sense of humor?????
Chuck & Juliana (with very big eyes) called out to me in the meadow that I 'was next in the arena'....I checked my watch and still had 7 mins left before my scheduled time....so we kept riding. As I rounded the route to get down the lane, and then into the actual show ring (it was a normally 2 min walk), Juliana was ready to give me a lead on the rein -- NOPE, Windy was having NO part of that help!! So, I very anxiously said, "if I was smart, I'd scratch right now so as not to ruin our year end average, but I am truly so ticked off with her at this moment, she is gonna have to deal with life and listen to me in that ring!" So, I squeezed hard and held on tight as we unintentionally passaged our way down the lane to enter the ring. I knew pulling any respectable test off was a complete crap-shoot, but I was determined that I could, at the very least, control and teach her a lesson. And, I trusted my favorite horse of all time to step up to the plate and prevail......after all, she is just like my Lester once was, I've dealt with this before!!!!
I do not recall having to ride Windy so strongly, EVER.....but, I put my legs on and my contact was firm.....I put her in well beyond our 'base line acceptance to the aids' then I have ever before. Quite to my surprise, she very tensely (in my opinion) rose to the occasion. All feet did what I asked of them and at the end of the test, both Windy and I were met with huge smiles from our crew watching the test....."Wow, where did that come from," they asked me. No one could see the tension that I felt but I'm OK with the reality that I masked it well?? And I am seriously OK with the fact that Windy definitely learned a lesson -- the lesson being that she should listen to her moma, ME!!!!!
After my complete story of this riding experience, I am beyond proud to report that we received a 67.4% to take 3rd place out of a very large First Level 3 test!!!! And, back in our tack room, we all got a very HUGE LAUGH over the judges collective/summary/final remarks space. Her words EXACTLY are as follows: "Steady ride. Too conservative - Take some risk and show off this super quality horse." All 6 collective scores were a 7.0. OMG -- this is truly when everyone must take judging in perspective.....after all, my famous last comments about judging is....they only see you for 3 mins out of your life. CLEARLY, generous judge HAD no visual experience of what our warm-up looked like.....my very silly mare was trying to KILL ME, after all........LOL!!!! And that test was the most aggressively I have EVER ridden her....HAH!!!!
I wish I had more great stories to provide from our showing on Sunday, but I scratched Windy for the day. Our goal of producing high scores and qualifying for First Level USF/GAIG in FL had previously been met, and honestly, I just have no enjoyment riding in the rain and cold windy temps these days....Sunday was a total down pour. But, most importantly, Windy did prevail when I asked her to.....she gave me as much focus as she was capable of for our second ride and I love her all the more for trying to please me.
For all who have enjoyed this expansive story of my Windy's performance, please take note of this last canter shot, posted here. I know it to be my favorite photo of Windy, taken to date. Stay tuned as to why this photo is going to be the talk of cocktail parties at Thornridge for years to come..........
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