Wow! It has been a LONG time since I have posted! Can you tell how busy I have been?!?!?! Sooo much has happened since late winter, I don't even know where to begin! To start, Scooby has come out of winter great! Fresh as always, but settled within a few weeks and ever so happy to have a job again. We have four Horse Trials under our belt since the first week of April, and while we have not 100% hit our groove in all three phases on one given day (isn't that the story of all eventer lives!!!!!), he is a jumping machine and SUPER confident! He has been spot on! Dressage is back on track also. He is typically very solid in Dressage, so having two scores in the mid-high 30's has been a bit of a disappointment. We had some bicycle distractions at MCTA last weekend, but hey, not excuses!!!! He was back on at Plantation this weekend and scored a 32. I scored my first ever 9 (I hope to have many more of those!) and despite a little buck during our extension at the canter, he was near perfect! We still have to work on our trot extensions in hilly footing, but given the circumstances, I am very happy with him. Definitely some room for improvement, but overall awesome and good enough to put him in third after Dressage. Show Jumping in a compeitition atmosphere is still a work in progress, but I believe it is beginning to come together for us. Scooby can get a little sloppy in the Show Jumping arena (excitement can get the best of him and his focus at times. Jumper shows here we come!). However, this weekend at Plantation, I don't think I have ever seen soooo many problems on a Training Level show jumping course. I felt that the distances on the lines were very unfair to the horses (hey, just my opinion!). So although we still have a lot of work to improve our showjumping, he was not far off of everyone else. Cross country was great again! Did I already mention that Scooby is a cross country machine?!?! Besides his pasture time, it is what he lives for! He has become so bold that I rarely even have to tap him anymore. I think he gets insulted when I do tap him! There was a big, airy log drop into the water, and although he is very solid jumping, I always ride more aggressively if I think it could even be remotely needed. So even though he was locked onto the log drop, I gave him a tap about 3 strides out (just to be safe!). It was definitely not needed!! He just cruised over the log into the water!! Wooohooo! That's my Scooby!! He finished very fresh and in fourth place. Being that we are looking to move to Prelim in the next month, I have been moving much faster on our last two Training cross countries, and finishing very close to the speed fault time. We have been very comfortable with it, so although time will not be of concern on our first couple of Prelims, it is good to know that we are quite happy and confident at the speed. I'm super excited for the rest of the season! Fingers crossed that things continue to go very well for us!!!!
I think that April/May have been the busiest months I have ever in my life had!!! In addition to Scooby competing regularly, I also had to balance getting married in Cape May on April 30th ( yes! After 8 and a half years, we finally took the plunge!!!! It was awesome and such a wonderful weekend with our families!). During this time, I was also going through the lengthy selling process of my beloved Darby. He has now moved on to his wonderful new home and I am soo happy with where he is and who he is with. He is being loved and doted on daily!!
Saying goodbye......Definitely bittersweet! I will miss looking at that gorgeous boy daily...
It was very hard saying goodbye to Darby. I get tears in my eyes just typing this, but it is what I worked so hard for, and the sense of pride and accomplishment is amazing. Re-training off the track thoroughbreds is a lot of work, and when people think they are riding a green horse because it is only a 2'6" jumper or a Beginner Novice Level eventer, try riding a horse that can not even walk a straight line without falling in or out. Now that is a green horse! It is what I live for though and I love changing these horses lives. I also love seeing how happy they make their new owners. This is part of an email that I recently received from D's new owner:
Hi Becky,
Darby is just a sweetheart! It is so stressful to buy a new horse especially when you've had a bad experience in the past. So far, he is just wonderful. I look forward to seeing him and riding him whenever I can."
Soooooo Awesome!!
This is what makes it completely worth it! A very happy and proud new owner!
So like I said..... a lot has happened recently!!!!!! The craziness is not over yet though!! I am in search of my new baby/babies, and I am leaving for Bermuda on Sunday!!!!!!!!!!! I am very much in need of a week on a cruise ship! R and R.....and some martinis of course!!!!
Prince William and Kate do not have anything on us!! (April 30th)
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