Another busy day here at Pau for Joe and I. Joe decided last night to ride Intrepid (Don) a bit before his 11:30 test, so we agreed that an 8:30 ride would be perfect to get him going and would still give me plenty of time to have him glamorous for his dressage ride. Eight thirty comes and goes, as does 8:45, and finally at around 9 Joe saunters into the barn, tea in hand, ready to ride. So off he goes to ride, comes back about forty minutes before he needs to be on again, and hands me the horse like neither of us have a care in the world. Meanwhile, I’m spinning like a top trying to figure out how to break land speed records to get this horse braided and halfway clean in a seriously short amount of time. Miraculously, we managed to pull Don together and he put in a lovely test for Joe. Joe attributes his nice ride to the Starbuck’s coffee he had this morning, I think it was most definitely Don’s supplements that did it.
After Don’s test, I took a quick lunch break at the competitor/groom’s cafeteria tent while Joe rode Cam. Note to American horse show organizers: delicious free food keeps riders and their grooms VERY happy which always makes for a better show.
This afternoon I wheeled the four star course while enjoying Joe’s commentary about the fences. In particular, I remember a gigantic brush fence that is literally as tall as Joe and his comment “Well, you’ve just kind of got to get them to it.” Nothing to it, obviously. Meanwhile I’m grinding my teeth and trying to figure out how to get my hands on some anti-anxiety meds and I don’t even have to ride it!
The rest of the evening was spent getting the horses comfortable and situated and getting everything set out for tomorrow morning. Let’s hope we can keep things running on time tomorrow, so as to avoid any grooming catastrophes. Keeping my fingers crossed that Camie will put in a good test for Joe tomorrow!
Nobie
No comments:
Post a Comment