Full February Brings March Madness!

Baby Nic learning to canter!

February has been busy!  Everyone has officially gone to high school and done their first show! How exciting!!  On Feb. 11th Nic had his very first big kid lesson off the farm with Bonnie Mosser.  He thought that was great fun! He got to jump his first real course with all the questions, he isn't sure what the question was, he was just happy to get a pat on the other side of every jump.  He is just far too adorable for his own good!

One day that trot is going to be quite fun going down the center line!

The following week nearly everyone went to Hillcrest Farm for their first ever outing; or in Irish's case, her first training of the year.  Aly, Nic and Africa did the beginner novice. Irish was absolutely super the entire time- she won the flat where she tried quite hard and was incredibly obedient and accurate in her test.  Her show jumping was quite good- we just had that "can't miss" kind of day- and as we all know, that doesn't happen often to anyone so enjoy it while you can!  The most fun, was that she was a little dirt bike on XC, she thought it was great fun and seemed to build up confidence during the entire round, she even had a giant LEAP off the drop into the water. She was quite fun to ride all day and did end up winning her division on her dressage score.

Show Jumping is Show Off time for Nic!

Nic also had a super first outing, I could not be happier with him.  He just loves to do anything you ask, as long as it does not require too much energy :).  He was 2nd on the flat with a 34- there is SO much muscle to be built that it's nice to know he can score quite well while not yet having that muscle to really do anything with his body.  He was super for his show jumping and seemed to really get more and more into the XC the further around he went!  Nic ended up winning his BN division- such a fun feeling to have the horse you bought for $1 win his first event ever!


Baby Nic says I LOVE JUMPING!

Aly, the little grey jumping stallion machine, also had a great first outing.  He had a minor baby testosterone moment in the dressage, but still ended up with a 9 and 3rd after his dressage!  He was so much better and more ridable than the previous weekend in the dressage ring, that I could have cared less about our little "moment".  His show jumping was wonderful; you would never know he was just learning anything about jumping, he is such a natural!!!  The same goes for his XC round, he was a bit green (surprise at this first show, eh?!) at the beginning, but then settled into a rhythm and seemed to have a great time the entire time to end up 3rd in his BN division!
Africa also showed her true colors and showed everyone that she really does love jumping more than dressage!  She is quite a fancy little horse when she relaxes, she had several lovely moments in her test and overall, I was happy with how she went.  There is a lot for us to improve upon for the next time, but isn't that always the case?!  She had a great time with both jumping phases- she really thinks its all quite boring!  Little does she know....it is boring because I think she should learn more before it gets more interesting!  She and I disagree about the educational process.....at the moment I'm winning....I have no doubt that she will try to change that!


Just last weekend Irish and Nic headed to Jumping Branch Horse Trials in Aiken to get their feet wet.  Irish went to do the training and Nic to do  the Beginner Novice.  Irish was, once again, absolutely super.  She was 2nd out of 12 on the flat on a 35- I could not be more happy with her.  She, as usual, tried so hard to do what she was asked and I really tried hard too dang it!  I am working quite hard to ride her better and better to help her gain more correct muscle and a bigger step. The show jumping was actually a bit on the tough side to my surprise.  I did have a mini gulp when I went cantering around the ring!  In true Irish fashion, the more I wonder if she can do it, the more she tells me that I am in fact dumb and she can do far much than "just do it".  She jumped a super clean round.  She did the same for the XC, she blasted around like an old pro- the bigger the jumps the better she jumped; that is probably my favorite feeling in the world!  She finished on her dressage score to end up 2nd.  A blue ribbon and a red ribbon on back to back weekends- Go baby Irish- apparently my peppermint bribery has been successful.
Nic was had a good weekend as well.  He was quite tired from the previous weekend so his dressage needed a bit more energy.  He had a great time jumping- he decided that was quite fun, he loves XC.  I've decided he only loves XC because he is just so glad it is slower than the race track!  He did have a baby stop at the water- obviously, I'm really not all that concerned!  He is learning quickly and I am very happy with how we went and how much better he felt than the previous weekend.

Clif's happy ears!!

Most exciting is that I have now ridden the big, muddy, fat, grumpy, dramatic mess of a favorite horse in the world.......Clif ......people....you should know this by now!  He was soooo excited that his ears were up the entire time and he didn't even try to buck me off!  Well.....the first day.  He is now back to being incredibly happy and is up to his old tricks.  He seems to not have caught on to the fact that every time he gets hurt I am riding better by the time he gets ridden again.  Fortunate for me I think, unfortunate for him because he has yet to spend his time off plotting and figuring out a better way to get me off- silly boys, they never plan ahead! 
I hope everyone has is enjoy the great non winter like weather and the beginning of show season!
Best to everyone!
Hillary