Built for Power, not Speed; Taking on the Show Jumping Ring

Spa Day before the Show.

We came. We showed. We (didn't) get rained on. Hip, hip, hooray! But seriously, it was an awesome day. I couldn't have asked for a better partner to jump around brightly colored fences (read: the total opposite of what we usually jump) and work on our skills inside of the ring...which is definitely a rarity.

All of our classes were Table II.1, aka Clear Round classes, where placings were decided on jump faults + time penalties. We had the option to do Table II. 2.b, where there is a jump off and the show was offering money back, but owing to the fact that this isn't Madison's normal job, nor are we 'built for speed', I chose to stick to the clear round classes.

Waiting in between classes and giving me the best side-eye.

Quite honestly, I didn't even start to think about adding in a little speed until our last round (2'9" class), but that was more because of a) the jumps getting bigger/wider, b) Madison was getting tired....and maaayyyybeeee a tiny bit of competitiveness on my part going up against actual show jumpers...which promptly bit me in the you-know-where when I asked Madison to take fence number 8/9 at a steeper angle than I should have known better to, and she promptly said 'should have tried that last class-I'm tired now.' and we ended up with a refusal, which put a damper on my clear round streak I had going-but I totally take the blame for that one.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

We still managed some very respectable placings for the day, and I couldn't be prouder. I also feel like I learned a lot from this horse show-it was probably the first time that I competed in real, honest Jumper classes, and I'm really looking forward to going back in August, and I can work on sitting in the turns, finding my distances more consistently and keeping a more consistent canter throughout the course. Oh, and I'm also not wearing a coat next time. As much as I'm partial to my Kerrits soft shell coat with custom buttons, it was an extra layer that I definitely didn't need on a humid, albeit cloudy day.

Special thanks to Blue Ribbon Awards and Gifts run by Jack & Andrea Highsmith for helping the Foxboro team get outfitted on short notice with fancy new saddle pads with the barn logo on them. #2legit2quit