Alpine Preview, 2016

Right after school ended, I headed to Cle Elum, Washington, to show Milo and Doc at Alpine Preview. As usual, I did both ponies in the rated ponies and Milo in the 2'6" open low hunter. First schooling day was pretty good, Ruel came to school us and all went well. On the first day of 2'6," schooling went super, Milo was fabulous, and we ended up winning one class and getting third in the second over fences round. I'm super proud of how we did because it was out of 18 entrees, including professionals, and the judge decided should Milo be on top. The second day of schooling 2'6", we came out with a second and a third and we didn't do the flat. I was sitting where our tent is set up, and I see my trainer bike down with a champion in her hand, and she points to me and says, "good job," and I was so confused. We ended up champion in the 2' 6" schooling hunters!

The next day, equitation started, and it did not go how we wanted. We cantered in for our warm-up hunter, and it went pretty well, we ended up second; but then, we went for our equitation over fences, and we started with two beautiful jumps, and we turned the corner for a bending line, it was raining and windy, and Milo saw something from the corner of his eye and spooked to the right, past the jump. He did that two more times, and we were excused, I was devasted: but it happens to everyone, and not every round can be how I want it to be. Next two days, hunters. First hunter day went awesome; Milo jumped everything, got third in our under saddle, and was super rideable; we walked back with a first, second, and third. Second hunter day went great as well, we got second in our first classic round with an 80, second in our second hunter round and first in our second round of the classic with a 79, winning the classic. After points were calculated, Milo ended up Reserve Champion in the pony hunters!

Doc and I didn't have a quite as a successful show, but he was equally excellent, we did the schooling 2'3" but didn't place in any classes due to some missed lead changes. In our first hunter round, we had a couple missed lead changes, but he didn't try to pull through my hands at all, a huge improvement! The second hunter round, we got all our lead changes, but I held him back too much to the single oxer, and we chipped it badly, but he was excellent with his lead changes! In the under saddle, he got a second under Malena Delgado, thanks, Malena! Overall, Alpine Preview was a considerable improvement for Doc, and I could not have asked more from him.

Pacific Northwest Hunter Jumper, 2016

Doc showing off his toes to nose jump

This show was my first show while leasing Milo and his and my very first time in the rated ponies. We showed in the medium ponies and, boy, it sure was fun. Our schooling days went a little rough as I was a little nervous, and Milo was pretty excited to be at a show. We had some beautiful jumps and some not so beautiful jumps but it all led to a rather successful weekend. Friday, our equitation and model day came along, and it went pretty well for Blue Heron Farm ponies, Doc won the model and Milo and I won the equitation over fences, and we won the equitation on the flat; in our other equitation over fences, we got fourth as we had some minor mistakes. We ended up pony equitation champion at our very first time in the rated ponies! For hunters, we had some small errors, but we had some beautiful rounds, and in one of my final hunter rounds with Milo, we scored an 82, the highest score of the ponies that weekend, I was so proud of my pony. In the end, we got pony hunter reserve champion out of eight beautiful ponies.

I also had What's up Doc "Doc" at this show for his first time in the rated ponies. He jogged in for the model and was stood up beautifully by Malena Delgado. The judge came in and looked the ponies all around, and Doc was put first in line, winning the model. I had only been riding Doc for less than a month, so he was still firm and quick to jumps; we also struggled with our right to left lead change. Doc only made it into the top three once more that weekend, getting second in the hack under Malena Delgado. After all, he's not the most seasoned pony out there, but once you have things figured out, he's a fun pony to watch and to ride. Our courses weren't perfect, but we had some beautiful moments and some impressive jumps, and that's what we will take away from this show.

I had a lot of fun at this show, and one thing I particularly enjoyed was the two stride in every hunter course; I haven't done many two strides at home, so to have one in all my hunter courses was fun! The ponies were phenomenal for this show, and for the first time in the rated ponies for all three of us, I think we did rather well and that this show was hugely successful. I learned a lot, and the ponies learned a lot, and it was an excellent start to our horse show season! Thank you so much, Jimi Norton, for letting me ride and show What's up Doc. He truly is a wonderful pony. As well as a congratulations Erica Smedley and Riviera for reserve champion in the .70 jumpers. Thank you to everyone who helped me with my ponies and helping me with double-duty! Of course, thank you to my trainer, Tara Devlin, and Ruel Johnson, for letting me show such an awesome pony and for keeping me the best I can be.

October Classic, 2015

Milo knows a camera when he sees one

This particular show is probably one of my favorites of all the shows I've done because of how I got there. I was lessoning one day, and my trainer, Tara, beckoned me to talk to her. I went over, and she asked if I would come to this show with our barns flashy pony, Milo, for his first show with a junior rider. Of course, I wanted to go, so I asked my parents, and they talked about it with my trainer, and I ended up being able to go. I showed Milo in the short stirrup, and we had much success in the equitation, winning every class. I had only ridden this pony consistently for the two weeks before the show when my trainer offered the awesome opportunity. I admit, In the hunters, I did not ride my best as we had some missed lead changes and rider errors. Overall, I was happy with how we did as we were short stirrup equitation champion, and we had some solid rounds in the short stirrup hunters. This show was a learning opportunity and a great one with that.

This show was rather fun as there was a costume contest and a pumpkin carving contest to top off all the horse fun. Hana Hemingway, from our barn, won the costume contest when she dressed up her big gelding, Pharlee, as a dinosaur, it was amusing to watch! There was some concern at the beginning of the show as we came on Friday morning. Milo had somehow cut the skin right next to his eye, and we were fortunate he didn't cut his actual eye. We weren't sure how he would go with it, so we hacked him in the morning, and he was perfect. His eye didn't affect him at all, and we showed in the equitation that afternoon. Congratulations, Jada, on winning her equitation on the flat! I want to thank my trainer, Tara Devlin, for letting me have such an excellent opportunity on such a beautiful pony who is full of potential.