July 26, 2011

The show has begun! All of the horses are now on lock down at the park. There is fencing surrounding all of the barns to strictly regulate the people and horses that come in an out of the stabling. Competitors, trainers, grooms, and owners are required to wear photo identification to enter the stabling area. They are attached to the same lanyards that were used for the 2010 World Equestrian Games.

(2011 Region 5 Juniors)

Trot ups for the dressage teams were today. All of the region 5 horses passed and are ready to compete tomorrow! Cookie has been doing well. Although he was particularly difficult during yesterday's ride, but we ended on a positive note and worked through a lot of our issues today and had a much better ride. He has been fairly energetic here in Kentucky which can on occasion manifest itself in micro tantrums... nothing terrible, but not anything I would want in any of my tests this week. This extra energy however is also giving Cookie some extra competitive edge which we'll need if we want higher scores! It's a bit of a catch 22 so I'll need to be extremely attentive during our tests and ride every stride, being careful not to push him over the edge, but also not playing it too safe and taking a lower score for a lackluster performance.

These are the saddle pads we won from Horseshow.com for the video submission contest. The Region 5 Junior team is pictured here in our team trot up outfits. 

I am very excited for the team test tomorrow. These scores will be used for the team results only, and the lowest score of the four riders will be dropped. A mandatory ban has been placed on riding coats for tomorrow because of the heat wave. It's unfortunate but necessary. I'll post about the team rides tomorrow as well as my own and hopefully it's good news... Wish us luck!!