Southern Pines II Play by Play

What an exciting weekend Southern Pines II turned out to be.  I am working on this blog on our way home from the event and I will say again I am SO fortunate to have the friends, coaches, and support I do.  Without it, none of this would be possible.  My husband Tom played a huge roll this weekend in not only helping me get Frankie to Megan’s in the early morning hours but also in driving me to and from North Carolina. 

We woke up at 3:15 Thursday morning to get Frankie from her paddock at Donamire and drove her to Megan Moore’s farm.  Tom transferred all my stuff to Megan’s trailer as I unloaded her from my trailer and put her on Megan’s very large, very nice, 6 horse head to head trailer.  Huge kudos to Megan for driving this beast of a trailer!  She even took a slightly longer route to Southern Pines in order to give the horses a smoother ride than the mountains of West Virginia would have provided. 

Tom and I left as soon as I got home from work and arrived at the hotel around 1:30AM.  My Mom had arrived earlier in the day so Tom slept in and my Mom took me to the Carolina Horse Park early the next morning. 

Frankie gave me one of the best dressage tests she is currently capable of.  I made some changes in my lateral work the week before and was able to use the tools Wayne has given me INSDIE the ring.  I am thrilled and we continue to move in the correct direction.

Jan Byyny and I walked the course at 10:30 Friday and it was my first look at the course.  Again, she was very helpful in discussing this course, in detail, with me.  It was a very different course than Frankie and I have been around.  The course was mostly wooded with big jumps, technical combinations, and lots of terrain!  

Fences 1, 2, 3, and 4 were great to get you going and Jan cautioned me not to be too helpful since these fences were designed to let the horses make a few mistakes and get it together before the BIG ditch and rail at fence 5A.  Oh, 5A- I looked at this question and the option they gave the Advanced, several times.  It was HUGE.  I'm not going to act like it was not a big deal.  I walked up to it and was thinking, “Are they serious?”  I decided to try the direct route but knew the option if I needed it.  Luckily, although we left a couple of feet long to it (not ideal on an already MAX Advanced spread), Frankie is so athletic she quickly sorted herself out and had her eye on the B element that was 2 strides away.



My Mom finally sat down as we talked about this fence for quite a long time.

 



The next question was 7A, B, C.  It was a SKINNY house, 9ft to a drop; turn left in 4 or 5 strides to a right handed corner.  Jan cautioned me there to not be dedicated to a specific number but to hold my right rein off the drop and ride the corner off my eye.  Frankie went in 4 even though perhaps the 5 would have worked there too.  We had a small discussion about it on our way to the next “breather” fence before 2 large tables-(thank you Pine Top for preparing me for ANY tables or corners I will encounter this year)!

Next, we had the coffin that was two skinny houses on an angle over a ditch.  Looked “easy” enough compared to some of the other questions however; the “C” element was on such an angle that it seriously jumped you almost right into the woods!  Luckily, Frankie saw it and understood the question as we came out of the turn.  After that, we galloped up the hill, weaving through trees, to another table that jumped out at you before a galloped down hill to the first water. 

I later learned that the water had about 250 spectators there but oddly enough, I saw and heard nothing, only the splash of the water.  I think the biggest change I have noticed about myself over the last year is my ability to understand what is happening under me.  The water was a big drop in, that walked 3 strides across the water, up the bank, one stride on an island, bigger drop back into the water, 3 strides, up another bank, 9 ft to a skinny oxer/ log jump.  She was amazing!  I was very happy with my canter into the water but she felt like she stuck slightly on the landing of the “A” element so with that first landing stride being a bit short, I knew the 3 strides would not be there so I waited for the 4 that WAS right there.  Frankie jumped boldly up the bank, across in 1, and powered over the rails to drop back into the water- I knew that 3 strides WAS there and she bounced out easily.

From there we jumped 2 big tables before a run through a barn structure, gallop out, veer slightly right to these houses that were so angled you could have almost ran along parallel to them.  It came up FAST!  I did not have the line I envisioned when we galloped out of the barn and it walked a LONG strided one but I held the only line I had and Frankie jumped right through.

After that we had one of the only flat gallop stretches to another big rock table before the next combo.  It was here where I gained a good education about my canter.  This “A/B” combo was two skinny brushes, the first one, straight up, on a mound, to a three stride AND a 90 degree turn right to another skinny brush that was trimmed to help put you on the run out line.  Jan warned me that I needed to almost be trotting- I should be going THAT slow…  I thought the mound and the straight up part of the question would hold her a little so I was not AS slow as Jan wanted.  As Frankie POWERED over the brush and ½ way down the mound, eating up one of the 3 strides I had to turn, I knew I could not get it done although I gave it a good effort!  This mare is smart and if she does not see and understand, she won't attempt it.  I love her for this and it is this characteristic that I know will keep us safe.  I cantered around and picked up “B” as I was thinking… next time, I’ll be slower! (I later learned that Saturday morning, yes the morning of XC they announced over the PA- one time, that you could circle there without penalty.  Well, we were in the temp stalls so we could not really hear anything and the starter did not tell me either.  I am disappointed I did not know this because I would not have tried to get it done but you live and learn and bottom line is I need a slower canter.) We had two more fences, one through the sunken road then another trakkaner that was an angled tree over a large ditch. 

From there we headed to the second water.  Megan Moore had seen a few, not very good go’s here so she came to warm up to talk to me about it and the difference in the canter to this water as opposed to the first water.  At this water I needed a little more pace, but since Megan has been at all of our events this year, she reminded me that did not mean run.  This water was an airy rail (on frangible pins) one forward stride to a brush/ drop in, 3 strides to a corner in the water and gallop out.  Well, people were getting 3, 3 1/2 , and 4 there.   I came in a little bold but it worked out because she landed out from the brush drop and the 3 was there for us.  We galloped away from the corner up to another large trakkaner and on home through the finish over a nice final jump. 

With so much of this game being mental, I was totally tested this weekend.  After watching two OI horses in a row fall at their first water, our second water, and hearing, “loose horse” more times than I can remember, I was a little more rattled walking out to XC warm up than I have been in a long time.  They finally pulled the OI water off the course and I am glad Jenn did not have to attempt it.  The horses were NOT reading it right.  As for all the falls in the advanced, they seemed to be scattered.  The ditch and rail was being misread by horses too and it caused problems in the OI and the Advanced.  Megan deserved an “R” there instead of an “RF.”  She stepped off of Nemo after he banged himself on the OI Ditch and Rail- it was not a rider fall.  Megan did the right thing by Nemo and errored on the side of caution.  They are both fine and he jogged 100% Sunday morning.

It seemed liked FOREVER before I was able to show jump Sunday afternoon .  We literally had the ENTRIE trailer packed except for what I needed to show jump scattered on the ground outside my stall!  The OI went early then over the 2 hour break the show jumping course was the arena for exhibitions for the now gathering crowd.  I took a picture of the course map and texted it to Craig.  He called me and we had a virtual course walk discussing the distances and where I may have trouble.  I was unable to catch Jan’s course walk as I was up getting ready since I was in the ring early.  Megan walked the course with me and asked me if I had ever jumped in front of a large crowd.  It occurred to me that I had not jumped infront of a crowd this size- ever.  Megan talked about where Frankie may feel distracted and where getting to rail for a good line may be almost impossible.  We also talked about warm-up and how it would be crowded- something Frankie does not deal well with.  We decided the plan for warm-up would be to get in and out as quick as possible.  Since Megan, Jenn, and I all ride with Craig, we are really able to remind each other of what Craig would want us to do.

Although I had 4 rails down, they were all mine, all fixable, none of them catastrophic, and she felt GREAT after XC which is SO important to me.  Usually once things start going a little south, they unravel quickly but this time, I was able to make changes and by the last line- the triple to the 6 stride, I had sorted it out.  That is huge for us. 

We were out of the Carolina Horse Park in less than 30 min after I show jumped and Megan got all the horses home safely.  THANK YOU to everyone for such a great weekend.  My Mom drove almost 10 hours to cheer me on this weekend and Tom did more than his part, luckily he was able to get in two really good golf games while we where there!  Jenn let me borrow her groom, Christine, and Megan, Andrea, Hannah and Dorothy were all great and super positive the entire weekend!  I appreciate all the texts, well wishes, and FB messages.  Frankie is a very special mare and I am lucky to have her in my life.