Horse Illustrated Magazine

Before Dexter got his abscess, I had entered a spring event. Usually the weather is terrible in early April, but I decided to take my chances since I was itching to get out. By the time it was determined Dexter wouldn’t be able to go, it was too late for a refund. However, my fabulous trainer, Megan, was nice enough to offer me one of her horses to ride!

The mare’s name is Roofie, and she had 2009 off from competition for “maternity leave.” She came off the track in late 2007 and showed successfully throughout 2008 up to Novice. They put her back into work over the winter, and I’d always admired her beauty and natural ability. Needless to say, I was thrilled to pick up the reins! The only tricky part was that I had only about one week before the show to get to know her. Since we’d both gone Novice before, the fact that my entry was for Beginner Novice put me more at ease.

Normally I’m not a fan of gray horses because they have a way of finding as much dirt as possible, but this one is always very clean. We had a chance to take a couple of jumping lessons before the show so I could learn her buttons, but it turned out I needed to learn how to hold on for her HUGE jump! She really likes to clear things by a mile, which I am not used to!

Anyway… the show was really fun! Our dressage score was OK, but the division was full of professionals so we didn’t place very high (although I’m convinced with more than two days to practice dressage it would have been better!). Show jumping was a blast, because I knew she was “allergic to wood” and would jump nice and clear. But the reason eventers event is for one reason – CROSS-COUNTRY! I was so excited to get back on course after a horribly long, cold winter. Roofie has a lovely gallop that was easy to ride with a perfect takeoff to every jump. We both had tons of fun. To cap it all off, the weather all weekend was perfect – sunny and in the 70s.

Do you like to show? Have you started your season yet? Click “submit a comment” below and let us know!

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