Last weekend, Sherry and Poznan had a great showing at the Flintridge Horse Trials (March 12-13). They must have had tiger's blood in their veins (last Charlie Sheen reference, I promise), earning an amazing 24.5 in dressage. They had a couple of time faults for having a bit too much of a stroll through the country side during cross country, but that's just the way they roll. (ok, THAT was the last Charlie Sheen joke... probably). All in all, they ended up in first place, adding another blue ribbon to their collection. Sherry showed in one of the hybrid classes that Flintridge offered, meaning that she rode the dressage and stadium jumping phases at one level (in their case Novice) and the cross country round at a lower level (Beginner Novice). These classes are a great way for both horse and rider to build their confidence at a sort of in between step,. More people really need to enter these classes to support the effort of keeping our sport safe and fun for all levels of riders.
Brent also got a chance to work on his latest invention - stirrup cam! Figuring that the helmet cam doesn't effectively translate how exciting a cross country course can be, he placed this tiny mini digital recorder where it can catch the up close and personal view of the jump (frankly, a view none of us hope to have!). Haven't heard how well it worked but Brent's attitude is if at first you don't succeed....Carolyn treated herself to a little bit of winning attitude as well, buying a Hit-Air vest to wear at all the shows and schoolings she knows she and Junior are going to in the future. Even magical Vatican assassin warlocks (ok THAT really is the last Charlie Sheen-ism) don't bounce so good against hard objects and the Hit-Air vest is an air vest that instantly expands when you become involuntarily separated from your saddle (aka fall). In the spirit of e-Twisters hanging together, she's loaning it to Sherry for the event at 3 Day Ranch this coming weekend (March 18-20). Hopefully we'll never learn if it works or not because we won't need it....
The most exciting thing about the weekend though was seeing Sherry and Poznan just continuing to get better and better. Ok, there were a couple of chuckles as, quoting the judge, they "staggered to a halt" but their score also reflected a 9 for a canter transition. They looked really amazing in all three phases and we're keeping fingers and hooves crossed for a great show for both Sherry and Cappa this weekend.
