As I've blogged about already . .I'm shipping over to HITS for lessons with eventer Robin Walker (Level IV USEA). He competes his horses in the jumper classes there between events and cross country outtings, so why not join in the fun?
HITS offers Level 1-6 jumpers (start at 3' and height and spreads increase by 3 and 6" respectively.) These weeks, HITS offers a Level 1 at 8 am on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings, so last week we got in on the action. Unfortunately it was one of those chilly nights here, and there was a coating of ice on the trailer ramp at 5 in the morning when I loaded and left . . tough to see in the "daylight" at that hour . . note to self: leave ramp up over night!
I arrived at Robin's barn by 7 . .we hopped in the Mule and got my entries set (HITS has waived any post entry fees to encourage participants . .still looked pretty bust to me) . . .took my Add Slip to the gate-guy ("don't piss 'em off" said Robin), and we quickly walked the course before heading back to get the horses. 10 fences, 2 combinations: both with distances very similar to the SJ round at events. These courses, however, were a bit tougher than what you'd find at a Horse Trial. For instance, first fence is not a ramped oxer headed toward the ingate, but rather, a vertical with no ground rail pointed right at the far corner of the ring:)) The oxers are all square . .height 3' with 3'6" spreads. All doable for the pony, but made more interesting by the course design. . . coupla roll backs, broken lines, etc. The mare was just super . . jumped out of her skin and really didn't have a peak at anything except for all the mini-bikes zooming around the grounds! This week is the final week for HITS Ocala so we'll be headed back likely Thursday morning. HITS Saugerties starts in May and I do believe I'm hooked.
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