Well were home! We ended up having a great show, other than getting screwed over in our halter class. My former boss asked us to enter aged geldings (where I knew I didn't have a chance) but failed to inform me that I then couldn't enter performance geldings (where I did have a chance!)
He warmed up well the night before, other than being a bit of a dink with all of the rain we were having as it splashed down all around the arena. Lucas' former trainer was going to be around all weekend to let me know what he thought of him, but he didn't get to watch our warm up. So the next day we went into our halter class (which I explained above!) good thing was that the former trainer came over and told me how well he looked.
We went in at lunch and rode in the warm up with the former trainer. He gave me a tip or two but there were way too many horses to get anything done. So when we were done the warm up Lucas went back into his stall for a bit until they got closer to our class. I then warmed him up a bit outside then took him into the class (our Sr hunter under saddle)
He was great! We had a nice steady ride with all three gaits in both directions which was a relief! AND we ended up placing 6th under one judge! And we ended up 7th over all :) There were 10 horses in the class (with several pro riders and horses) so I was very happy with that result! Former trainer said I played it safe, and I agreed! But it was nice to get a good solid class under our belt.
So on Sunday we got ready again (it was a 4 day split combined), had a great showing in performance halter geldings, 2 seconds under both judges! There were only 3 in the class but it was still great!
My friend had come up for the day so when halter was over she lunged Lucas to get some of his beans out. (and saved me a little bit of energy in myself). We skip ed the warm up because it was too busy and allowed Lucas to relax for a bit. I took him out to the outdoor about 30 min before our class and although he was moving well, he was a bit of a dink. I had planed to put my hunt cap on before the class but elected to stay with the helmet just because he was a brat. Oh and my class ended up having 14 entries!!
So I said to myself "use it or lose it! prove that you're back." I had found this quoate the day that I left for the show on one of the RA groups I belong to on facebook...
"Through my illness I learned rejection. I was written off. That was the moment I thought, Okay, game on. No prisoners. Everybody's going down."- Lance Armstrong
So that's how I rode.
It was not graceful. I bounced. I jiggled. But Lucas flew.
I did not know the horse that I rode into the ring.
When I asked for more reach he gave it. When I asked for even more, he gave even more. When I twisted the wrong way in our trot to canter transition (I could barley sit his trot) he steaped up underneath me, caught me and cantered on. It was one of the best rides in my life, and the best I've ever had since I got sick.
We had a bit of a fumble into our walk our first direction, it wasn't really prity but it happens. I looked up to see the trainer I rode with 2 years ago half smiling at me over the rail. I smiled back and he just shook his head while still smiling. Considering that he didn't have any horses/clients in the class it was nice to see him there, checking on me.
We finlay got asked to line up and once they handed the cards up to the office I got off Lucas. It hurts my hips to sit still on him. A lady I know from the barn I used to work at ended up standing next to me and Lucas and asked if I was still on some of my drugs, I simply replied back that "if they test me I'll fail" as they had just announced which horses would be selected for drug testing. Her daughter has RA but other than getting on her moms horse for a walk around, she has never ridden since she got diagnosed.
One of the girls from the former trainer of Lucas won the class, most of the placings were more toward the all-around horses. The two top-ten congress horses either didn't place or got 5ths and 6ths under one judge, so it was a tough class. Out of the 14 Lucas ended up with a 9th place over all!
I got Lucas settled for a bit then went out to dinner with some of the girls, then when we got back I gave Lucas his reward. He got to eat grass while I took out his braids :)
All in all it was a good show. Some people weren't happy that I was back with a good horse but the majority were extremally happy to see me again and to see me riding again. It was nice to catch up with everyone and see how all the kids have grown that I helped start on there QH show carrier. All of the parents commented that this year all of the kids that I had started have finaly seem to have come back to being friends again. They had all gone to different trainers, schools ect but this year all seemed to have come back together to cheer each other on no matter which barn they show out of.
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