Thursday, March 13, 2014

Summer Dreaming

He is the best at planning horse shows
I'm tentatively penciling in a summer calendar. I have done ZERO (nada, zilch) financial calculations to see if any of this is practical and since I don't have my own rig, I will have to chase down rides to all of this.

That said, meet my imaginary schedule for summer 2014!

March 27-29 maaaaaaybe xc school at Tulip Springs (if I feel rich)

April 12 - BSJC schooling jumper show (if weather is good)

April 20 - WSH schooling jumper show (hopefully)

May 10 - Pony club schooling jumper show (should have a ride)

May 30-31 - Hawley Bennett Clinic (need to save up $$ for this)
June 1 - Event derby (local!)

June 7-8 - Mini horse trials (hoping it runs this year)

July 11-13 - Rafter K clinic and Derby (out of town, but I already have a free ride*)

August 9-10 - Hunter/Jumper show (DERBYYYYYY)

August 23-24 - Hunter/Jumper show (DERBYYYYYYY)

September 13 - either local schooling show or H/J show a couple hours away  (who are we kidding, I'm poor)

*I believe "free ride"="I am show secretary", but who's counting?

As I said, I haven't done any math yet. That said, most of the events are pretty local to me which keeps hauling/food/lodging costs way down. Sooo... maybe. Horse show gods permitting and all. My goal for the year is to get Courage and I happy and confident at shows over fences.

He wants to be my derby horse
It sounds like they're going to be running a hunter derby at the August jumper shows, so my reach goal is to be prepared for that. Cross your fingers. We'll see how it goes. It would entail there being a 2'6" or 2'9" derby option to accommodate the incredibly green horse and rider who is new to the whole scene.

I'm a little torn on the issue of event derbies--they have kickass prizes and it's a bucket list item for me to win a year end award. That said, the intro division is super competitive and I'm just not feeling it in regards to eventing right now. If I can afford the end of March schooling and if Courage is really, really good, we might pursue it more. Most of the derbies are out of town and it's just cheaper to stay close. At this point, I absolutely want to get him exposed to natural obstacles and think about going forward, but I'm not feeling committed.

You'll also notice that there are no dressage shows on there. That's because A) The calendar is already pretty full B) pretty much all the local shows are recognized and I hate paying that much to prance and C) I think lower level dressage is mind numbingly boring. Maybe when Courage is good for second level we'll try and qualify for regionals or something.

So we'll see how it goes. I'm pretty excited just looking at this list. Anyone else got their show schedule scoped out?

20 comments:

  1. Ooh, I hope you make it to all the things!

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  2. pfffft, schedule? It just went from 65 degrees to 16. Ha! That said, there's a hunter pace coming up and I want to get Riley to it... then we'll probably start xc schooling. Hopefully our ring will be built in April! Oh, and I have racked up 4 training rides with Emily... woo hoo!

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  3. I made a schedule and then life went HAHAHA and now I'm just flying by the seat of my pants.

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    1. Yeah, I've had those years too. I'm just embracing the excitement for now and seeing how things turn out.

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  4. Woohoo for penciling in plans!
    You guys are going to have a ballin' summer no matter what you end up doing as I'm sure Courage will be the BEST @ summer!

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  5. That looks like a great list and like you guys will gain a lot of experience this summer :) Every time I try to plan something, something happens to keep me from going. Our groom will quit or we'll have a horse in a stakes race, or owners will decide to come for a visit (not that I don't like having them around). Therefore, I'm going to go with my usual 'enter at the last moment' plan and wing it. With my insanely unpredictable life, that's the only way that I get pleasantly surprised instead of utterly disappointed. Sorry, kind of went off on a rant there. Any whooo.... I think it's great you have a plan and hope that you have fun showing off you and Courage's awesomness!

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  6. I am really, really resisting the urge to make a calendar of my own! With everything going on this summer for me, I just don't think it's practical. But everyone else's fun plans are making me green with envy! Haha

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  7. Save save save for Hawley! I've ridden with her a few times, shes amazing if you have the opportunity! Sounds like a great schedule!

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  8. That sucks that there aren't any dressage schooling shows nearby. Such a great chance to get out and get some miles in. The derbies sound like tons of fun though! I hope that finances + rides come together and you're able to get lots of these in!

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    1. >.< I'm sure I could find some. I'm just not interested.

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  9. Great list! Fingers crossed for the Derbies! Funzo!

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  10. I have a penciled in show schedule... you know how that it is. :)

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  11. I hope you make it to all that you can on your penciled schedule. I have mulled over my local 2014 calender already so much I think I am sick of just looking at it and now when I do I just see $$$. I am just planning for the next show/lesson/hunter pace and not any further out. It stresses me out!!!

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  12. This time of year I wish I didn't work weekends... I mean we did get a new part-timer at the hospital who would probably LOOOOVE to work weekends... :)

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  13. Yes I have been pining away at my schedule for months...we still have three feet of snow! Boo!

    Hope you can make it out!

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  14. Sounds so exciting!! DERBIES!!!

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  15. Hawley is worth every penny! Barring that, LOCAL is always such a great value. Especially since at this point of C-Rage's training it's more about quantity of shows rather than quality (points, etc).

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  16. Go get 'em, tiger! Just don't tell your horse, LOL. You know what happens as soon as they find out we made plans!

    While big ribbons are fun, no doubt, at this point, the experience really is the most important, and even more so, POSITIVE experience. One or two low pressure classes at a local gig that go smoothly set the Rage up for success much more than five or six classes trying to fix a mistake in one day or creating a tired horse. And when it comes down to making a trade, training is pretty much always money better spent than competing, IMO.

    Calendars are very exciting and I hope y'all get to have a blast this summer. But I swear to cod, you are no longer allowed to say you are poor or I will drive all the way to Idaho to slap you, ROFLMAO!! I'll send you a copy of my credit card bill in advance. ;P

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  17. The intro/BN divisions at our event derbies are ridiculous too. I think there were 60+ horses in the BN. Yikes! Good thing I wasn't focused on a ribbon this time but I do like ribbons so I'm sure that attitude won't last for long.

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