Lumber River USEA Horse Trials 6/4/10-6/6/10

Heather King headed down to the Carolina Horse Park this past weekend for the third recognized horse trial of the year (for us anyway - this time with two horses in tow! Heather and Sunny Side (Patti) competed in the Open Beginner Novice division this time, and Heather and CF Baltic Royal Flush (Cassidy) competed in the Starter division for Cassie's first recognized horse trial ever!

Friday:
We arrived midday Friday, and already the sun was forecasting the weather to come. It was HOT! After getting their stalls ready and unpacking and setting in, Heather rode Patti and Cassie before we all headed out to walk her cross country courses. The beginner novice course was laid out very differently from anything we'd ever seen at the horse park, and the starter course was entirely in the infield of the steeplechase track. Both courses looked like fun and we couldn't wait for the competition to start the next day!

Saturday:
Luckily, Heather had late ride times with both of her horses, and thanks to very generous stablemates who fed our horses breakfast both mornings, we didn't have to get to the show grounds until 8:00! After braiding both horses and watching some of the prelim riders go cross country, it was finally time for Heather to compete. Heather rode Patti first as they headed over to the dressage ring to ride Beginner Novice Test B. They left the ring with a score of 35.7%, which put them in 5th place out of 9. Immediately after hopping off Patti, Heather had to get on Cassie for their dressage test. They rode Beginner Novice A and left the ring with a score of 32.5%, which put them in 2nd place out of 13. With less than 10 minutes of downtime after hopping off Cassie, Heather had to mount right back up again - this time on Patti for cross country! They had a GREAT run cross country and finished double clear! This moved them up to 1st place! Immediately after Patti's cross country, Heather hopped back on Cassidy for their cross country run. The course was actually tougher than everyone thought it would be, with tight turns, max heights, and a LONG optimum time, and in combination with the heat and being tired from earlier in the day, they had one refusal cross country. When they came to the jump the second time however, Cassie had no problems and sailed over it! Unfortunately, their refusal bumped them down to 7th place.

Sunday:
Again, thanks to our very generous stablemates, we didn't have to wake up early to be at the show grounds Sunday morning either. Heather didn't ride until 1pm, so we had a lot of time in the morning to relax, watch other riders go, and walk the stadium course. Finally, when 1:00 rolled around, Heather and Patti entered the ring for the final phase of the weekend. Unfortunately, they pulled one rail, which dropped them to 2nd place. Definitely not bad for her second recognized show at Beginner Novice! Not too long after finishing her victory lap on Patti, Heather got on Cassie for their stadium round. They went double clear, and moved up to 4th place! Definitely not bad for Cassie's first ever recognized horse trial!

All in all, everyone had a great time - horses, rider, and volunteers! We can't wait to go back for the next overnight show!