Rocking Horse Horse Trials . .Taz BN

This past weekend, March 6-8 was Taz's debut at a Recognized Horse Trial and I couldn't be more pleased with him. I'd taken him to a few local 3 phases last year for Elementary level stuff, and while he tried his best, he was not very confident to canter round the cross country track and jump everything in his path. AAHHH what a difference time and training makes! He was a superstar in every way: from a gentleman in the warm-up . .careful, bold, obedient, focussed . . to the start box . ."let's do it!" to the way to pricked his ears and locked on the every joint I pointed him at. He peeked only at the Chevron (we don't see many up north . .note to Wally: build one!) and balked a tad at the water, which came up very fast after a fence and a tight turn . .but through it he went and on the next obstacle. While he was winded after 1800 meters, he still had plenty left in the tank. He was as pleased as I was. The only slight technical difficulty was mine . . .rider error!! After jumping fence 14 I realized while cantering toward home, that hey! there's a fence 15 out here somewhere! Not wanting to miss it, I called out the nearby spectators . ."where's jump 15??" and they pointed. . bless their hearts. . . .so errrt . .I turn , see the coop . . .slice it like a pizza pie and cross the finish line. woo hoo. Only to hear my name on the PA : "Cori Nichols please return to the XC Finish Line" where I was met by a very friendly TD, who reminded me that "Outside Assistance" is forbidden and grounds for elimination. OUCH! In my moment, I forgot completely! So I asked if I might still be able to Show Jump the next day, since it was the pony's first outting, and Yes, she said, after clearing it with the PTB. So: note to self: walk the course as many times as possible, be sure you can ride in the dark!

Next day was Stadium: Taz was super . . .cantered around in a lovely balance, within the time allowed, and didn't peak at a thing. Moved up when asked, steadied when asked . .fluid and calm and keen. Video shot shows great action with his knees up to his eyebals over the oxers, but literally just sort of stepped over the verticals . . need some gymnastic work to sharpen up his front end. Next stop: one more BN event before moving up to Novice. Treated him to a day of lounging in the pasture today and a reflocked saddle from the ENGLISH SADDLER who's down here for the winter from Providence.