First show of the year! (recap)

Last Saturday we loaded up 3 horses and drove an hour to a new show series in Kingston to compete in the jumpers. This location also holds some of the South East Trillium zone shows, so I figured it would be a quality show, and I was right. The rings were lovely, the jumps were lovely, and the courses were great and flowed really well. Perfect for the first show of the year.

Kristy brought Ozzie, and I rode him in the 0.60m division. Ozzie competed on the A's as a 5 and 6 y/o, but he is now 16, and really hasn't done a whole lot in the past 10 years. Kristy took him to a couple shows last year, where he proceeded to be a complete jack ass. Kristy can't ride right now, so I convinced her to let me take him and see what he would do. He completed exceeded my expectations. He warmed up well, settled in, and when we walked into the ring for our rounds, he was all business. 100% ready to go. He jumped beautifully, gave me auto changes almost every time they were needed, and was just a pleasure to ride. He definitely needs to be jumping bigger next time, but this was a great confidence boost for Kristy to see him go so well, as she can be nervous and that makes him more of a jerk. He took home Reserve Champ for the division, and I was so incredibly proud of him.

Zippy competed in the .75m division. This was his second show, and man, he completely exceeded my expectations.
At his first show, he couldn't be left tied to the trailer because he was rearing and attacking his reflection. Needless to say, I was a bit worried about how he would be this time, but thankfully, he was a complete angel, although he did still stare at his reflection the whole time he was tied.
He warmed up very well and bravely, and had springs over the warm up jumps. We went in for our first round and he was a little shell shocked, and stopped at the first and second fence, but happily went over on the second try. He seemed to understand the game after that, and just got better and better as we went around the first round, and the second and third. He jumped out of his skin over every single fence, and even threw in a bunch of flying changes.
We pulled off a fourth in our second round which was the icing on the cake. His next show will be another jumper show in June, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Michaela (a student) and Cross (Piper's pony) also competed in the .75m. Although they didn't ribbon, I was extremely proud of Michaela for trying so hard. Her biggest issue is her mind, and by the last round, she was actually riding, and man, her and Cross will be so competitive once they put the pieces together! That pony is quick!