Well...the first one is down and by most standards I would say it was a success! We competed at Novice level, which means the jump height maximum was 2'11". (Normally, I would not have choosen this height at our first eventing, but it was a schooling event and I knew that the height would probably not be at the maximum.)
Our dressage was decent, I would have been happy with more forward movement and better canter transitions, but overall we did well, scoring a 37.8, or 62.2%. Not terrible, this score put us in first.
(I will admit now it was a small event, only 3 people in my division, but like the previous show Pass and I went to, I'm not really competing against others, more than creating a positive experience and working to improve.)
Next was stadium. This was the portion I was most nervous about considering Pass and I had never done a whole course of fences above 2'6". However he jumped around like a pro, finding most of our distances without a problem. We did have one refusal, but I will ignore it as all 3 horses in the division refused this fence, due to a pole that was laying in the grass (which was kind of tall) at an angle sort of in front of the fence. I know Pass saw it and just jumped sideways like "what the heck?!?"
Finally, we got to go out on the cross-country course. He had recently schooled this course, but I was surprised to find that some of the larger obstacles were being used. We ended the course with 2 refusals.
One due to his bright idea of coming up to a ditch with his nose in the air (he should know you can't see anything doing that)...it was no wonder the ditch just came out of nowhere!
Our other refusal was basically a lack of communication. This skinny brush came about 5 strides after a large Trakhner placed over a ditch. I really drove Pass to this Trakhner because he had been a little questionable of it when schooling. When we landed we were flying and didn't quite make the right hand turn to the brush. Needless to say we scooted around it and I have to admit I may have been hanging off the side of him.
We finished a little over optimal time (probably due to me having to pull my fat butt back into the saddle)...but was otherwise successful!
Today, Pass goes on Dreamhorse.com. Hopefully I can find him a home soon! Everyone cross their fingers! Pass deserves a loving forever home :)
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