Mr. Fancy Pants

Butterball and I had a fun extended weekend. We unintentionally put together two of three phases of an event but in a new order. There is zero media from any kind of action, but I did take many, many pictures of the golden pat of butter hanging out. 

We went to Majestic Oaks on Friday with Ms. GY and her guy. Butterbal was, once again, just a delight. Even with his nemesis, the tires. He's found this jump just incredibly spooky, stopping 20-30 feet out to stare before finally jumping it every other time we've been. This time we jumped it on the first go, not pretty, but still an improvement. One of my favorite things about this horse is that once he has learned something won't eat him, he seems to remember (in direct contrast to darling Ben who thought a specific jump panel at JT's was going to kill him every single time). 

We looped around doing 4-5 jumps at a go before taking a break and moving somewhere else on course. We played with a few training fences as well once things were going swimmingly. And he was great, tackling the training roll top to water to novice corner like the wonderful boy he is. Happily, all our changes were there too. 

Palisade, the ground drops away from the backside in a more impressive way in person. He was so good and clever to this, waiting to the base. 

Mane taming in prep for the dressage show the next day

We didn't do a ton since we were headed to a dressage show the next morning. But it was enough for me to feel comfortable planning** to send in my entry for the May event there. 

So GOLDEN

I used to do the North Florida Dressage Association (NFDA) schooling shows all.the.time as a teenager, but hadn't been since then. I thought it would be fun to return and essentially wanted to practice some dressage tests and hear how perfect my pony is for a relatively low cost. Plus my sister in law was showing and it's always nice to have friends at shows. 

So Saturday morning I bathed the poor pony at 7:30 with a pocket full of treats. He doesn't like getting hosed at the best of times and 55 degrees and no pre heating workout didn't help. The other issue is that our hosing spot is a tie up high in a tree over grass and dirt. Normally this is fine, but when you're trying to get a moving pony's stockings white, it matters. Jokes on me though, for some reason he had loose poops that morning, so the hind stockings were spattered brown/green by the time we arrived at the equestrian center. 

The show was at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center, which was another appealing point for going. The Equestrian Center is a little over an hour from us, the same distance as the Florida Horse Park where the Ocala dressage association (STRIDE) holds their shows. It was an easy drive over after his bath. When we arrived, I left him in the trailer, moseyed by the show rings and found the office with no difficulty. Fortunately our number was in the "nice" pile meaning we'd sent in all our documents and payment correctly, so I picked it up and went back to the trailer to get pony out for a bit of a hand walk. 

Most handsome, but spot the poop splatters on the right hind

The grass IS always greener on the other side of the fence

He seemed relatively settled, so I found my sister in law while we were walking. We chatted for a few, and then BB and I went back to the trailer to get tacked up. 

11 usually IS his nap time 

Something caught his attention. Ermagerd he's cute.

Beautiful details on the saddle literally highlighted by the sun/shadow contrast here

I got on about 25 minutes before my first class, training 2. He warmed up like the professional he is, then I had 15 minutes to my class. When will I learn. He's honestly easier at shows than at home. So we took a walk around the barn and then started back up again when the rider before us went into the ring. He had a few moments of sticky I don't wanna and then went back to work. Good boy. Our test was accurate and pleasant, but lacking sparkle. I guess the judge felt like pleasant and consistent was good enough since we ended up with a 72% which put us in first in the class. 

As usual, the canter was the weakest part of the test. We did get a 7 on our left lead T-C transition and a 7.5 on the C-T transition both directions, but got 6's for the canter circles. And 6's for both centerlines. The final halt we were left of centerline which is easily fixable, but he was against my hand in both. The entry was abrupt because I was staring at the letters from the nearby small arena and almost missed the mark at E-B to halt. This led to him almost rein backing as we stepped off into the trot again, but I barely stopped that, leading to the crookedness as we departed. 

He got sponged off afterwards, then got a chance to pee before getting back on the trailer for some more hay under his fan. 

Classic picture

Noms

I watched some short stirrup divisions at the HJ show that was going on and ate some food before heading back to get him tacked up for the second test.  

His little face melts my heart. Especially when accompanied by the nicker he did as I walked back towards him

I wised up and gave us just 10 minutes to get ready for the second test. We did do quite a few canter transitions in that time though, focusing on me moving my back but not driving with my seat through the transitions and the canter itself. 

Then we headed in. The judge stopped me as we were giving them our number and said "It's Mr. Fancy Pants again!" She asked about his breeding and shared that she had bred her hanoverian mare to a welsh stallion and adored the cross as well. The test was again pleasant and consistent overall. The canter work had helped some and we got 6.5s for both our circles this time. Our centerlines also improved. 

Good enough for a 73% for first in the class and high point amateur for the day. 

Thinks ribbon pics are stupid

Hiding his face and refusing to show off the ribbon

Back home a couple of hours later and staring at the other horses while posing

Everyone decided the bareback hack to the barn was the perfect time to gallop up the field as well. Worth his weight in gold, he kept all his marbles while they did that. 

Bestest boy

While I did get told by several people in warm up and the judge how perfect he was, which was most of my stated goal, we should've done first level. I was worried about doing lengthenings and leg yields on cue, but the large arena gives adequate time for preparation, and we both would've been a bit more entertained with those additions. Honestly, the training level tests were a bit the antithesis of what JV has been telling me - always be doing something. And changing tempo is pretty frowned upon in the test, so the diagonals, circles, etc. there was a lot of time for both of us to kinda zone out. But overall it was a fun day with my best bud. 

**Planning to send in my entry meant I got as far as the payment screen then gawked at $330. I texted a few people then made a plan to volunteer at the event and then school the cross country the next day. What I've been discovering this winter and spring is that shows are the most fun when done with friends. So that's what I've been prioritizing. Butters doesn't need the show ring experience at this point. And I'm not trying to qualify for anything this year. Which means we go for fun, and I've slowly been figuring out what makes things the most fun: positive experiences that challenge us a bit done with friends.