Oh this is FUN!!!
So, the weekend of Working Equitation in Aiken has arrived! I gave Dan a bath last night and let him dry tied to the trailer eating hay while I organized the trailer and finished packing. I made him wear a sheet overnight.. the unicorn one too! Ha. I added insult to injury. ;) But he was clean this morning so winning! I finished packing and then Judy and Teller were on their way so I put Dan in the little area between gates to eat grass while we waited. He got all upset and prancy but luckily Judy arrived before he got too rowdy.
He LOVES Teller because Teller is a big goofy gelding who likes to play and doesn't take offense to Dan's gelding games so they got along great. In fact, because Teller was so non-plussed about Dan messing with him, Dan quit messing with him. They both just chilled and ate their hay on the ride to Aiken.
We got there and got the boys in the stalls. Only I quickly realized that none of the stalls had a proper latch... just a sliding bolt and the open dutch door. Oooof... Sure enough Dan pretty quickly started to open his door. Sigh.. I am surprised it took him this long to learn that trick but not surprised that once he figured it out, he wasted no time employing it. So... I had to finagle the door with lead ropes and bucket ties. And later I realized he was chewing on the wooden cross on the front of the door so I sprayed it with OFF bugspray to help deter him. And then I hung his hay net over the door like they do at the racetrack and him and Teller happily munched and he stayed in and the door didn't get any further damage. Phew! 
We let them hang out for a bit to drink and pee while we got settled and then we pulled them out and walked them around. They were both a bit up so I ended up putting Dan's western bridle on for the clinic. But he was great!!! We warmed up in the dressage arena and even cantered a little bit both ways. He picked up both leads and was pretty happy. For the clinic, we were with Teller and another girl on her cute coming 3 year old quarter horse. The horses all did great and we learned a lot. We did all the obstacles that we were going to do in our "show" the next day and got to play a good bit. Dan was happy and mostly relaxed and he didn't stick his tongue out at all. Phew!! The only thing he got a little upset about was the backing up, but I kept it as happy and soft as I could and didn't insist and rewarded any try.
After that we put the boys back in their stalls to settle and eat some hay. Liz had come to watch so we hung out with her and came up with a game plan for the rest of the day. I parked the trailer and unhitched. And then we fed the boys dinner and picked stalls. We decided not to walk them around because we didn't think they needed to and it was crowded and not much grass and they seemed content. Judy drove the truck to eat with her friend Katherine and then met us back at Liz's. Liz drove me to Publix and we got salads and snacks for dinner. Then we got to her house and took the dogs for a walk in the woods. It was lovely out there. Then I got in the shower. We hung out and had dinner and then headed to bed. I was beat! By then I had a migraine and had taken a pill so it was kicking in.
We got up in the morning and Judy and I headed back to the farm. Dan was still in his stall! Yay! We fed them and cleaned stalls. Dan and Teller were both eating well, drinking well and seemed happy and content. We took them for a little walk and then it was time to get ready! We "tacked" up. Ha ha. I still don't have my saddle and got to warm up. The warm up was in the obstacle pasture because the dressage arena was only big enough for the arena and a 20 meter warm up circle. The boys were a little anxious so we walked a few laps together before we split up and started warming up. We didn't get a ton accomplished but it was enough. Then we headed over to the arena for Judy's turn. It was her, then another girl and then me, so we stayed for moral support for her and she stayed for us. Once the girl had finished her test I was able to go in and warm up a bit more in the arena. They took awhile writing notes so it gave me some time. Dan warmed up nicely. Then it was our turn.
We did our test, which was fun. It's basically a walk trot test with a reinback, two halts, and a fun 5 meter tear drop thing at the walk. Dan was a super good boy. He felt nice and although he wasn't super bent and supple, he was pretty good. Our first circle wasn't quite a circle but that was my fault. And our reinback is tentative. But I was quite proud of him and thought he did well! We ended up with a 68 I think!! But... they were very generous and it wasn't licensed judges, so... But regardless, that put us 2nd out of 8. And her comment at the end of my test made my whole weekend! Even better was later when she came over and told me how it was such a joy to watch him trot in our test. He was so forward and happy and we were harmonious! Thank you God!!! I just want him to be happy and comfortable!
They got a little breather in their stalls and we had lunch and then got to "walk" the obstacles. Then it started raining a bit. I hitched the truck up between storms and then we got tacked up for our Ease of Handling rounds. Somehow I went before Judy this time and as we walked out to do our thing... Dan started to hesitate. I told him that Teller was going to be right there and that it was his time to go out and strut his stuff and show everyone how amazing he was. And he took a breath and was like "oh yeah, let's do this!" and marched out. We settled our garoccha pole how we liked it and then they finally rang the bell. We saluted and then started our round. And he was PERFECT!!! We trotted the whole thing, except the parts you had to walk. We did the single slalom poles, to the bell. And I managed to halt him exactly in the right spot this time and he didn't help me ring the bell. HIs back up was a hair tentative and slow but not too shabby. Her trick of "ask, release, ask, release" was helpful. And we walked into the bell corridor which helped too. Then we trotted off to the garoccha pole and he nailed it! We managed to get the pole, spear the ring, and replace the pole without it bouncing out or breaking gait! yahoo! Then we trotted to the switch cup and halted from the trot in perfect position. Then we did the livestock roundpen with a turn on the haunches to change our direction. Then we did the gate and he was pretty darn good for that. I forgot to slide my hand so I made it a little harder for us and he was nosing it some, but we still managed to do it pretty darn well. Then we trotted to the bridge and walked it smoothly and then, I even added a little turn on the haunches to salute the judge, although she totally forgot to watch for my salute and only caught the end. I was soooo proud of him! No tongue and he was working off my seat aids for most of it.
Dan's Ease of Handling Round (Here's his video, because it's too long to post)
I got off and fed him cookies. And all the cookies because he knew I had more and wouldn't quit mugging me. One of the auditors came up and told me how it was a pleasure to watch our round and how we "showed them how it should be done". Awwww. And I got lots of good comments about my hellhat. "Thanks, I made it!". :) We watched Judy and Teller's round and... I'm so proud of her. Teller was a turkey and tried to buck her off at the single slalom. She put him in a spin to stop it and they did an 8 spin rodeo before she got him stopped! I thought she might get off but she rode him through the whole course. Empathetically... but she didn't let him get out of it. She gave him his confidence back and he did most of the obstacles. He was struggling with the gate so she let him just sit and breathe and then moved on. And he did most of the obstacles really well and they finished on a great note. So proud of them!
The ponies got more hay and hung out while we packed up. Then we loaded them up and cleaned their stalls while they hung out in the trailer. It was just way easier that way. They were great hauling home and then Teller loaded right up in his trailer to do his last 20 minutes home. It was a super fun weekend and it was so relaxing and laid back. It was fun to hang out with Judy and I know Dan enjoyed Teller. And it was great to hang out with Liz and have a sleepover with Grace and Chloe! And... it made my heart so happy that Dan and I found something that is fun and seems to be enjoyable for him too! I dont' think it'll tax his body too much either. And.... we didn't wait for scores but they emailed me a copy of our score sheet the next day and... DAN WON!!! Hee hee. The intro division, but still.
So... now we're registered with the USAWE organization and have signed up for a proper schooling show at Jumping Branch Farm in May. It's show one of a three show series and.. it's a buckle series! Hee hee. We're gonna try and win a buckle! Although I'm sure the competition will be tougher there.
The girls were anxiously awaiting his arrival. They missed him! And... I made sure to tell Funny NO KICKING when I turned him loose!
