NDPC Recap Part: 2

On Saturday I had three people to watch ride and those rides spanned the entire day from 9:50ish am to 5:30ish pm. For a horse show, though, that didn't feel too early and since I'd planned to spend all of Saturday at the horse park those ride times actually worked out.

10 years! It sounds like it was so big this year that next year they may need additional space.
That says a lot since they were using at least four of the
five rings in the KYHP dressage complex the whole time.

I got to the horse park just a bit before the first ride, which was Jen's, after stopping for Starbucks. I'm getting spoiled with  my trips to Seattle where there's literally a Starbucks on every corner and it took me a bit longer to get coffee than I expected so I didn't get there quite as early as I'd hoped. At any rate I had a bit of time to chat with Jen's mom and Connor's breeder before Jen went in for her ride.

I don't want to give away any spoilers but their ride was fantastic! I ended up video taping the ride on Jen's mom's video camera plus I don't like to share pictures of people riding unless they approve them first so I don't have any media but I'm sure Jen will have some to share.

After her ride we talked a bit and then Jen headed back to the barn with Connor while I waited with the other two for a golf cart because #ourfeethurt.



We got back, got Connor hosed off and helped with a scary loose horse situation (everyone was fine as far as we could tell). We grabbed some food and then headed over to the Mustang Makeover to see what was going on over there.

Helping with Connor's bath. He clearly wasn't too fussed by the loose horse.

Unfortunately we would have needed to buy tickets to see any of the demonstrations and we weren't quite dedicated enough to do that but we did check out some of the horses and burros that were up for adoption and walked through the barns.

I got another golf cart ride back and made it just in time for H's ride! I took video again for her and this time the GRP pony filly did really, really well and they snagged a placing for their training level class. I spent some time hanging out with H and the women from her barn again after and then went to do more shopping!

I did a really good job of budgeting this weekend and didn't splurge much other than on coffee. For shopping I just ended up with a set of appropriately pony sized, navy blue polos (no pictures but I'll get some of them on her soon). They were a good price and it's so tough to find polos that fit Katai's dainty legs so I couldn't say no. I also got an NDPC logo grey polo shirt that will work great for schooling shows and clinics. They had a lot of really cute NDPC merchandise this year but the polo was the most useful so that's what I decided to go with. That was the extent of my shopping which is both disappointing and makes me happy haha.

By that point it was around 3:00pm and I was dragging a bit. The weather was cooler than I had thought it might be but still quite hot and humid and it had been a long day in the sun so I decided to head to the Starbucks for some coffee and air-conditioning. I got back around 4:30ish and headed over to watch Emilie ride!

Busy warm up ring

By that point I just couldn't be in the sun anymore so I found some shade that put me a ways away from the ring Emilie was in but where I could see her warm up and ride. She and Crumble looked really, really good and the judge must have thought so as well since, from Facebook, it looks like they made out pretty darn well ;) Emilie is an amazing rider and it was really great to see her warm up and ride her test, it certainly gives me something to aspire to!

After that I pretty much packed up and headed back to the Airbnb. It was great to be back in the air-conditioning and I spent the evening watching Friends on cable (I don't have cable so it was a treat) and spending some time on my computer.

The person taking care of Veggie (I booked through Wag)
took this picture of him modeling the bandana.
I think it may be a bit too big and he clearly doesn't think it's his color.

My flight back on Sunday morning was uneventful and I got home around 2:00. I quickly got an Uber home, drove to Minneapolis to pick up Veggie, and then headed to the barn for my lesson! It was a really great lesson but I'm going to make you wait until the next post to read about it ;)

I had such a great time at NDPC this year and really hope that I can spectate again next year and that in the next few years I can go to compete!!

Misc.

I don't have media very often so I'm SLOWLY spreading
these out over my next few posts :)

Apparently it get's to be summer and I become a horrible blogger. It's only because I'm doing all the things instead of writing about all the things but I really need to try to make time to post so here goes.

The other reason that this post has taken me awhile is that I've been trying to figure out how to make a couple of concise posts that cover everything that I want to talk about but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. Instead you get this one slightly messy post but some of this stuff I really want to document so I wanted to find it some sort of place.

First off, Katai was MUCH better about the trailer for Spring Party (the second show) but there was still some drama. She loaded the way a horse is supposed to (after a decent amount of rearing and drama) by walking into the two horse straight load all the way so that we could get the butt bar up. In the morning she ran back into the butt bar twice but then stood without further incident. On the way home once we got her into the trailer (after a similar amount of drama) she let us put the butt bar up and didn't run back into it. Hopefully it was a good learning experience for her and she won't try running into the butt bar again as she certainly gave her butt muscles (at the top of her haunches since she's short) a good beating. Sometimes HULK PONY smashing doesn't actually work.

I'm right back to practicing and I really want to get her self loading. I actually think this will take some of the fear out of it for her by turning it into more of a game. I started working on it last night and she was already walking 3/4 of the way in on her own. Of course that last 1/4 is the tough part but I'm really impressed that I got that far already!

Second, I really need to figure out braiding. I had her really adorably braided that morning (she seriously looked like a cute little European sport pony haha) but by the first class they were starting to get floppy and I had to pull them before the second. I'm going to try a few things including knotting them in better and/or using waxed thread instead of yarn. She has a tricky stiff and thick mane that doesn't have a lot of grip (even though I used copious amounts of hair jell) so I'm just going to need to experiment with what works.

Still not quite sure why I forgot to
take my hoodie off for this show 

Third, I've started to put some thoughts into what I want to do for shows for the rest of the year. It hasn't come up with Jane yet but I'm going to run this past her at some point and then it may change. However, my tentative plans include at least a couple of the following;

- 8/19 - NRF Schooling Show
- and/or 8/26 Northern Lights Rated Show
- 9/2 - Dog Days Schooling Show
- 9/16 - NRF Schooling Show
- 10/1 - Rocking R Farms Schooling Show

I chose these for several reasons including location since I'm relying on someone else (probably Jane) to trailer me. The other main reason is that I've decided not to invest in joining all of the organizations this year (for a couple of reasons) which leaves me with opportunity classes and schooling shows. Since opportunity classes don't "count towards" anything and are still more expensive, schooling shows are a great option for this year.

The main reason I don't have anything planned for the next couple of months is that I don't want to deal with the heat. Also, I'd like to really work on some of the things that I know I need to improve and since I'm not chasing awards it makes more sense to take a break and establish some of that first.

Also, at the beginning of the year I had planned a lot of rated shows since that's what my barn mate (who was going to trailer me) was doing. However, we haven't been able to get Katai in her trailer so Jane has been trailering me. Yep, we've had two trailers at both of these shows...

From last year's NDPC. Look at that sky!

Since schooling shows are at least $60-$70 cheaper than opportunity classes at rated shows and since I've found out that I have THREE friends/acquaintances going to National Dressage Pony Cup including Jen from Cob Jocky, Emilie from BecausePony, and my friend H with one of her instructor's baby GRPs I'm planning (at this point) to go as well! As a spectator of course :) My plan to not go originally was more because I wanted to do more shows this year but this way I can sort of have my cake and eat it too, plus I just can't miss watching three of my friends ride at NDPC!!

*The first two pictures are by my amazing friend M :) I still don't know how she got such amazing pictures in the indoor although her camera lens is at least a foot long lol

Much Needed Time Off

I haven’t had much time off over the past several years. I graduated from grad school in 2010 and had been working nearly full time through my time in school. I worked full time in retail for a few months after I graduated and then went right into my career. During the last 6 years I’ve only ever had one full week off. I’ve had some 3, 4, and 5 day weekends but other than that one time I haven’t had more than 5 days off in a row. Now I finally get a chunk of time off!!

I’m leaving for KY for the National Dressage Pony Cup on Thursday afternoon and will be off Friday through the following full week. That means that I’ll have 10 full days off in a row.

I’m so freaking excited!

With that being said, I absolutely adore my current job. I’ve had great jobs in the past but I’m extremely lucky that I adore my current job and all of the people I work with. I’ll actually miss them and I know that I’m putting more work on everyone else with taking this much time off. I don’t really feel guilty (I know I need this and my productivity really needs it) it’s just that I’ll miss everyone and the purpose that my job gives me every day.

Oh well, did I mention 10 DAYS OFF!!!!!!!

Will anyone else be at the NDPC at the Kentucky Horse Park later this week? Or, does anyone that lives close want to meet up? It would be so much fun to have a blogger meetup while I’m out there!

Vacation Friday

Friday started out with some boutique and antique shopping.

I found a couple of pretty horse head hooks and a riding shirt.

We got some Chinese food and then headed out to drive on some of the small historic roads.

In the evening we went to Churchill Downs to see some racing! I wasn't sure that we would be able to make it to Churchill for a race but our timing was perfect and last night was the first live racing of the season.

Today is the first day of Pony Dressage!!