Saturday morning I was up about 5:30 am. My nerves had not got the best of me and I slept fairly well AFTER I got to sleep. Yes, I was driving the hazards in mind for more than a bit before sleep came. I got to the barn before 7am and as I was arriving, Larry was zooming off on his scooter and Pat was in her truck heading for the hazards. Thankfully, it was not raining. I checked in to make sure everything was fine for DL and she was in a stall. Off Josh and I went to do a course walk and join up with my friends. Yes, Josh had won the honor of being my navigator and it was his initiation into this art form. Christine and he had worked out all the times for us so…
Josh and I walked the hazards together. I showed him where I thought I would have problems. I showed him where I had decided to drive deeper and wider in the hazards to prevent any problems for me. REMEMBER I hadn’t driven any hazards in well over 15 years so I was almost in the same situation as Josh.
Actually, I felt pretty good went we got back to the barn. There was not much more I could do and I had to stay focused on getting everything ready. I got the carriage ready and tapped another whip to the side of the vehicle, made sure the spares kit was in, tapped the times to the back of the seat so Josh could see them and one to the side where I could look down. I checked out the harness and started cleaning DL up for the great adventure. I ‘begged’ another timing watch for Josh and had mine already. The time flew as I got DL ready and in the carriage for our walk over the starting area for our ‘launch’ time. Josh and I hitched and Kirsten tapped the snap shackles shut and we were off.
DL was bright and full of energy. SHE knew what was going on. When we arrived in the start holding area once again everything was behind schedule. I kept DL walking around the tent area since I didn’t think fighting her to stand still was a good thing. Finally we got our five minute warning to head over the start line. It was a crowded and not a good place for the restless pony that I had. After trying to find a place to walk around, I put Josh down to head. Josh did a great job but this was about the longest five minutes of my life.
At about three, I had Josh jump in and we started off at a prancing walk but didn’t cross the start line early. DL was just about pulling my arms out of the sockets as I finally let her trot. While section A did have some nice hard packed sections, many spots had HUGE deep puddles that DL trotted through with speed. I got a tad worried and tried to rein her back and keep perfectly one time. Last year she had been under time and I wasn’t going to do this. We came in at 26 minutes and 55 second in the perfect window of time (27minutes and 42 second max). BUT DL was still full of herself and a tad nervous. Her nerves were not letting herself relax.
The walk section went well and she never broke but we were almost 2 minutes under time. Thankfully there are no penalty points for walking too fast. After we crossed the line and headed for the vet station, DL was extremely antsy and agitated. SHE did not want all those people around her and had problems standing still. We had a little problem with her vital dropping back down NOT because she was not in condition but rather SO wired!
As we took off for the hazards section, I told Josh that I was holding her back and NOT to worry about the times. I wanted plenty of pony at the end of the marathon. After some track work we hit the first hazard which was one of the most complicated for my simple old brain. We did gate A, B, and C just fine but I over shot D and had to circle back.. Not an awesome start but at least we hadn’t hit anything OR driven a gate backwards. Hazard Two was the water hazard. We drove the hazard exactly as I planned and I felt good about the clapping as we left. DL and I were becoming a team.
Each of the following hazards kind of built on each other. Josh was getting better at pushing his weight around from behind. I was getting better about following around the hazards and getting more confidence on WHAT I could do with DL in a hazard. She can be cat in the hazards and make great corrections when her driver is trying to get a better angle on something. Definitely our best hazard was our last hazard. It was a perfect flowing hazard that I did without any checks, loss of my way or confusion. It was also our best time!
When we crossed the finish line we were well over by more than 2 minutes. This did not bother me in the least. I still had a great pony that was supple and willing even in the last hazard. I did preliminary not training and we had done more gates. I had learned a tremendous amount about my pony and my abilities. I LEARNED that I can do this stuff and be competitive. I learned that I can do the hazards with this willing pony that totally listened to me every step of the way. I am the weak link in this whole CDE thing NOT my pony. What more can you ask? OK, I still had cones to survive….Yours, Claudia
Josh and I walked the hazards together. I showed him where I thought I would have problems. I showed him where I had decided to drive deeper and wider in the hazards to prevent any problems for me. REMEMBER I hadn’t driven any hazards in well over 15 years so I was almost in the same situation as Josh.
Actually, I felt pretty good went we got back to the barn. There was not much more I could do and I had to stay focused on getting everything ready. I got the carriage ready and tapped another whip to the side of the vehicle, made sure the spares kit was in, tapped the times to the back of the seat so Josh could see them and one to the side where I could look down. I checked out the harness and started cleaning DL up for the great adventure. I ‘begged’ another timing watch for Josh and had mine already. The time flew as I got DL ready and in the carriage for our walk over the starting area for our ‘launch’ time. Josh and I hitched and Kirsten tapped the snap shackles shut and we were off.
DL was bright and full of energy. SHE knew what was going on. When we arrived in the start holding area once again everything was behind schedule. I kept DL walking around the tent area since I didn’t think fighting her to stand still was a good thing. Finally we got our five minute warning to head over the start line. It was a crowded and not a good place for the restless pony that I had. After trying to find a place to walk around, I put Josh down to head. Josh did a great job but this was about the longest five minutes of my life.
At about three, I had Josh jump in and we started off at a prancing walk but didn’t cross the start line early. DL was just about pulling my arms out of the sockets as I finally let her trot. While section A did have some nice hard packed sections, many spots had HUGE deep puddles that DL trotted through with speed. I got a tad worried and tried to rein her back and keep perfectly one time. Last year she had been under time and I wasn’t going to do this. We came in at 26 minutes and 55 second in the perfect window of time (27minutes and 42 second max). BUT DL was still full of herself and a tad nervous. Her nerves were not letting herself relax.
The walk section went well and she never broke but we were almost 2 minutes under time. Thankfully there are no penalty points for walking too fast. After we crossed the line and headed for the vet station, DL was extremely antsy and agitated. SHE did not want all those people around her and had problems standing still. We had a little problem with her vital dropping back down NOT because she was not in condition but rather SO wired!
As we took off for the hazards section, I told Josh that I was holding her back and NOT to worry about the times. I wanted plenty of pony at the end of the marathon. After some track work we hit the first hazard which was one of the most complicated for my simple old brain. We did gate A, B, and C just fine but I over shot D and had to circle back.. Not an awesome start but at least we hadn’t hit anything OR driven a gate backwards. Hazard Two was the water hazard. We drove the hazard exactly as I planned and I felt good about the clapping as we left. DL and I were becoming a team.
Each of the following hazards kind of built on each other. Josh was getting better at pushing his weight around from behind. I was getting better about following around the hazards and getting more confidence on WHAT I could do with DL in a hazard. She can be cat in the hazards and make great corrections when her driver is trying to get a better angle on something. Definitely our best hazard was our last hazard. It was a perfect flowing hazard that I did without any checks, loss of my way or confusion. It was also our best time!
When we crossed the finish line we were well over by more than 2 minutes. This did not bother me in the least. I still had a great pony that was supple and willing even in the last hazard. I did preliminary not training and we had done more gates. I had learned a tremendous amount about my pony and my abilities. I LEARNED that I can do this stuff and be competitive. I learned that I can do the hazards with this willing pony that totally listened to me every step of the way. I am the weak link in this whole CDE thing NOT my pony. What more can you ask? OK, I still had cones to survive….Yours, Claudia
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