August 7th 2009

Calypso: we went on a bareback trail ride. He was for the most part good. He got a little fast and wouldn't listen until I made him listen

I taught a lesson today and it was frustrating. I wanted things to go well because the girl had cerebral palsy and it is kinda her form of therapy. Juliet wasn't behaving too well. The girl tried really hard, but between her having a weak hand and Juliet being a brat it didn't go that well. The girl did use her weak hand a lot which was impressive. I made sure to be wicked positive. After Juliet started being better, we went on a walk. Juliet proceeded to get spooked and jump a bit. It startled the girl :( I just felt really bad about it :-/

August 6th 2009

Great day today! I rode very confidently. 

Jack

Open: we picked up the wrong lead walking into the gate. After that it was great.

NEHC: We won! Our course was almost perfect. Our bending 7 was a little tight, but not bad at all! 

Marcus:

THIS: we had to work really hard to make the 5 work because I went in fast to a very steady line. It didn't look too good :-/ we tested 3rd and ended up 3rd. We had to canter directly to a two stride, halt, and sitting trot out. It was pretty easy. 

Central Equine: It was pretty good overall. Not the neatest, but not bad. We tested in 1st place and remained in 1st. you had to canter directly to fence 1 and trot fence 2. Halt and back up. We did it effortlessly. I was so relaxed. 

USEF: great, but i missed a lead change because I bent him out too far to ask for it. 

Macclay: I had a trot step with Marcus' hind end, so I thought I blew it. The rest of the course was pretty good. Not horrible, but definitely not my best. I ended up flatting and placing 2nd. I was surprised. I thought the course sucked. 

Overall, I tried to remain confident and relaxed. Obviously it worked! Now I am qualified for all I want to qualify for :)

August 5th 2009

Jack: he was fresh! We had a couple incidents of him rearing, but we worked through it. I was in a good mood which helped me stay focused and not get aggravated. 

Calypso: He was a little pokey, but fast. We worked through it by doing lots of transitions. 

August 2nd 2009

Jack: Our THIS medal was awesome! I fixed all of my mistakes. Did all the numbers and rode very well. He was pooping on the way to a jump so I gave him a jolt. We missed the distance a bit, but other than that I was happy. We ended with a 76. 

Calypso: We did the Eq as well. The Maclay round was set up like a final level course. It was a solid 3'6"  There was a triple, 2 jumps without standards and many bending lines. Mark and Christie seemed nervous for me to do it. Calypso and I did so well! We got all the numbers and almost all the distances. We got close to the coop jump and got jumpery at some points. Overall, I was very happy with it! The USEF did not go as well. The first two jumps were good. We went to the triple bar and Calypso jumped the shit out of it! We landed a little too close and had to gallop to make the 7 work. Between the footing and not moving up in time, he couldn't really make it over the combination. We took a nasty fall. It seemed like he was going to flip over. I bailed and half fell half jumped off. We were both ok. I kind of needed that to get over being nervous. Overall, I was sooooo proud of us! 

August 1st 2009

Jack: We did a level 1 course. If it had been in the Eq ring, it definitely could have been a winning round. Everything was so smooth and perfect. 

Calypso: We did a low children's course. We were the fastest time, but I didn't keep him straight to a jump, so we had a rail down. Other than that, I was so happy. It was fast, sharp, and effective :) 

July 31st 2009

Jack: Our level 0 was great! We went through it smoothly and effectively. The level 2 course was great until a bending line. I didn't bend out enough and got there in 5 1/2 instead of six. After that, it was great! 

Calypso: Our level 0 was very confident. We went very fast in the jump off, and our first round was smooth. We ended up 2nd out of 40! Our level 2 was even better. We went fast and didn't miss at all. We got all our numbers too! We ended up 3rd out of 80 :) 

July 30th 2009

Cash: He was so good! We were late or missed a couple lead changes. Other than that, our role backs were neat, I didn't lean with my shoulders, and I got all the numbers :)