Today was FUN! I slept in a little bit. And then did a few little chores and then went to get Funny for our ride. I decided to take her to Ashland to do a fitness day. Laura got in my head a little bit about it, even though I KNOW that we'll be fine.
So we tacked up and headed out on the trails. As we were walking past the arenas up to the show office she saw Caroline's car and got all snorty. And then Caroline popped out of the shed and she almost spun and bolted. Chill girl! Chill! Once she realized it was Caroline she was fine. But then she was snorting at all the things.. the tent... the sign about photos... I just kept talking to Caroline and let her settle. But then she stuck her nose up and sniffed the tent and then grabbed it with her teeth, which just shook the post holding it up enough that it knocked the sign over, right at her feet. Luckily she only twitched and then was fine. Okay... let's just move along now! Before we destroy something or I fall off. Ha ha.
So we headed out to the woods and did our ten minute warm up walk. I decided I would try to mimic Roads And Tracks day to a degree and see how she fared. So we walked to the lake and crossed the dam and then I picked up the trot. It looks like we have to do about 2 miles in phase A and we have 10-16 minutes to do it. I don't know if that means we have 16 minutes max and the goal is to come in a little early to have more time to chill right before steeplechase or they haven't set the actual times yet. So, we set a timer and decided to trot our 2 miles. We had to walk a few spots becaose of terrain but we managed to get our two miles in about 14 minutes I think. Which... felt a little odd to me because she trots about 4 mph, so... we should have been quicker than that. So maybe I did something wrong. Math wise. Or maybe we walked too much. Anyways, if we have 16 minutes to complete it, then we're still good, even with walking. And I didn't do any cantering, which is allowed, so...
After that we took about a 3 minute walk break and then I picked up a canter/hand gallop to stimulate steeplechase. I believe our track is only 0.7 miles, but we cantered the whole mile track, minus the tiny section we had to trot through because of terrain. If I did the math right for that, we should have been okay timing wise. But now I can't remember what I timed and how I did the math so I'm not sure. But surely she can canter between 470 and 540 mpm.
So then for phase C we have to do about 3.4 miles and have 15-35 minutes alloted. (assuming that's what the omnibus means). I may have done the math wrong because I couldn't quite remember how many miles phase C was, but I am pretty sure we did 2.7 miles in 18 minutes with a decent amount of walking. Looking back now, I think I miscalculated and only did 2.7 miles instead of the 3.4 I needed to do. Doh! Oh well. If I have 35 minutes allowed, we would still have been fine with plenty of time.
So then we were in the cross country field so I figured we would do our "ten minute" box and just chill and then go jump some XC. But Caroline and Davis were out there so I ended up chatting with them and I have no idea if we waited 10 minutes or 20 minutes before we did things. Probably pretty close to ten minutes if I had to guess. Caroline had a banner up on one of the jumps and asked if I wanted to jump it for a photo. OF COURSE!! So we did. And then we chatted a bit more and then I walked her down to the banks for practice. I probably should have gone straight to some jumping from a true competetion day practice prep, but oh well. We walked up and down the baby bank and then tried to go down the middle bank. She went right off it. Yay! Good girl. So then we walked up and down it twice and then walked over to the single bank and tried to walk off. She said NOPE!! Even from a walk. Darnit. So we went back to the middle bank and did that again and then came back to the solo down bank and she hesitated but went. And then did it braver a second time. So then we trotted down the middle one and then trotted up towards the solo one, walked, and then she picked up a baby trot just before and trotted off. Good girl! So then we cantered off and did some jumps. I did the sharkstooth and she was totally fine. We did the fake ditch and wall, the trakehner on the tree line, the bgi table with flowers on it, and the big roll top. I was going to do the training course in it's entirety but because I was talking to Caroline I didn't get a chance to walk and figure out the course, so... I just picked a few and did them. We then went to the water and she did the banks in and out just fine! Even the down bank she did without any hesitation without even going up it first. We even did the bigger down bank with the log on top. Not the hanging log one, but the slightly bigger one. We played with the banks coming out of the water too and she was good. So then we jumped some more jumps, including the ramp. And then I jumped the up bank on a combo and then we did the bigger up bank in the line! Not the biggest one, but the big one. We walked up it first, which is scary. That thing is tall. And then she dropped off it just fine. Yay!! So then we did a few more jumps and then I did the combo which was a house to the up bank and I let her canter it. And eeeks... she and I both are not good at cantering up banks. We can't quite judge our distance and she took a bit of a flyer but she made it. But then when we tried to trot it, she got so tight to it, and that was scary too. I guess more practice. We played a tiny bit more and then we headed down to the lake to cool off. Because of course i had to pick the hottest day of the week to do fitness day.
She walked to the lake and went in and splashed! She didn't even try to roll. She just pawed some water and looked at a few things and then marched out. Good girl! We had a nice quiet walk back to the trailer. And then I got off and put my tutu on and put her fly boots on her back feet and got back on. Because I wanted to make sure we were okay with our costume tomorrow. And she was quick at the trot but not any quicker than usual really. Ha ha. She didn't seem to mind, so yay! I got off and she got a nice rinse and a liniment bath and got to munch on some hay while I cleaned tack.
Then tonight when Nancy came to check her saddles, she stood perfectly still and quiet in the cross ties. Even when we both walked away to add some flocking. Which is extra nice since Dan had ripped the cross tie off the wall before her and made it ricochet off my skull! Nancy said that both her saddles looked good but had just settled a tiny bit and needed a little fluffing. Yay! Good deal. :)
Tomorrow, we'll do our two dressage tests and have a nice hack. And, while I don't think I did the roads and tracks exactly as it'll be, I think we're fit enough. Or will be by Nov 16th. :)
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