Rocking Horse Fall HT 2015

Volunteering for events is always fun to me.  Making this even more fun is that I get to see my pony while I'm there, it's home base, and I didn't have to get up at 4 to be on time for the briefing (just 6:30).  So I loaded up, gassed up (the truck and myself), grabbed the "new" camera (that I bought in June) to see if I could make that work, and headed on down the road.

I arrived at RH with plenty of time, went to the barn to say hello to the pony, who simply pricked her ears at me to say hello but refused to come to the front of her stall.  If there is no food offered, there is no affection given.  I said hello and good luck to one of my fellow team members, and headed to the pavilion to pick up my assignments.  I was assigned for the whole day.  For Intermediate, I was at the first water (7AB), then for the rest of the day I was at the end or the beginning on single fences.  Any excuse to be there watching riders is a good one for me, though.  

I went back to the barn to see if I could catch any of the others, and Trainer was coming back on the horse she was riding in OT.  She was very happy with her dressage test, although not confident about scores.  The prelim riders were up next, followed much later by the Novice and BN riders.  I said hello to all the puppies, and headed off to the course.

Intermediate 7AB table to water to table

Intermediate rode fine through the water.  The main issue was maintaining pace through the water to be able to bounce out over the second table.  I had no riders with issues at this fence.  Actually, I am happy to say that, other than some sticky spots, I had no riders with issues at any of my fences.

Prelim fence 3

Decorations at Prelim fence 3.  It was Halloween, after all!

For prelim, I was at fence 3.  Not the most exciting of fences, but a very large one that came a pretty good distance from fence 2.  Riders had to gallop and then get a good set up before the fence, without losing the impulsion.  There were a couple riders that either set up too much and flopped over it, or didn't set up at all and flew over the top of it, getting jostled around a bit, but nothing major.  For some, I think it was a wake up call that they needed to start riding the questions now.  And those that hit this with a good canter out of stride were rewarded with a beautiful jump.

Training fence 1

The first fence is always an interesting one.  It affords the opportunity to watch the warm up, and placing this time means I got to see warm-up, first and second fences, as well as the finish.  This fence rode sticky in a lot of cases, partially because it was fairly close to the start, on an up-hill slope and a bit of a right turn.  If riders got a good pace going and managed to package it to the base of the fence, it caused no issue.

Novice fence 16 (last fence)

For Novice I got the last fence of the day.  By this point, these horses were tired.  It was a fairly direct inviting fence with a straight shot to the finish.  It was interesting to see the timing techniques as people came to the finish.

Beginner Novice fence 13

This fence was 3 to the end, fairly inviting, but I have to admit the BN division often gives me heart palpitations.  Not sure if it's because of the riding, or because I know what it feels like to fall off over these fences, but it makes me nervous.  This was heading up to the ditch in the woods, and many riders brought their horses down to the trot after this fence in preparation for that.  It was also right after the "sharks teeth" fence that was put in the fence-line in the woods.  That fence caused a few issues, and one incredible save, but this one was a forward straight fence.

Starter fence 3

And this was my last fence of the day.  Fence 3 for the starters.  This was a small division (4) and we had one fall at the next fence (rider remounted to walk to the barn), but from this starter rider's eye, they were not the smallest fences.  Sometimes they can look pretty little, but these were pretty much what the division called for, a true start test for riders and horses that are just beginning.

All in all, this was a great event.  The staff is always wonderful.  There were a bunch of brand new judges, which was great to see. The fall event is a great time to get your feet wet in judging, as it's a smaller show.  Come January and the Winter shows, it will be no holds barred again this year!