Not the best of times - moving to "Plan B"

Well, the excitedly anticipated trip to Lamplight can now be politely filed away under “learning experience” – as opposed to “total bust”.

Remy traveled well, and I got word from Kim (the best groom there is) that he settled in nicely on Wednesday at the show grounds. I made the 300+ miles (roughly 500 km) trip through Michigan and parts of Indiana to Illinois, to find myself outside of Chicago, smack in Suburbia. Not where you would expect a huge show facility. The place certainly looks lovely, very well maintained, with meticulously manicured grounds. Unfortunately, Remy was less impressed, and when Judy took him longing Thursday morning he was quite the handful.

Not the best of starts, and it would only go downhill from there, as it turned out. Friday the heavens opened and the water in the longing area was so deep I couldn’t possibly work him there. Judy recommended we scratch first class to have more time to work him later (when hopefully the ground would be drier). Alas, no such luck! For the afternoon class we went straight to the warm up arena, not too thrilled having to go by a lot of grading equipment and maintenance trucks. My usually so settled Remy became pretty much rattled and started to buck in the warm up, which made me get off and scratch my class.

Saturday I was determined to get through this. It was a team effort to get us to the warm up arena, as both Remy and I were covered in mud from longing. While I cleaned myself up, Kim and Nancy took Remy for a quick hose down. He had longed beautifully, so I was hopeful for the things to come. All went well in the warm up arena – that is, until a clothes rack from the vendors lining the arena fell over with a big thud. That got Remy rattled and he bucked. Right before we had to go in for our test. We made it to the judges box – and then he bucked and bolted, jumping the rails and heading for home. I gathered Remy and my wits (rather shaken), and when the judge nicely asked if I’d like to try again I said yes. Well, we made it down the center line – and came not to a screeching halt but to another huge bucking and bolting session before B. Once I got him under control all I could do was excuse myself from the ring. That was that.

Good news: I didn't hit the ground. Bad news: We never got to ride a test the entire weekend! Not to mention that I really, REALLY don’t want to re-live the years of agony I had with Saumur. My confidence was severely shaken. Luckily Judy had a plan (as always!): She will ride Remy at the next shows to give him more confidence to deal with the unexpected (and to correct him when needed). Remy will stay at Topline for training until the end of August, so summer ‘remedial’ school it is for him. I won’t have time to lick my wounds, though, there is a freestyle waiting to be finished with Saumur. Saumur was really happy to see me back last night, and I’m happy that I can give him more attention again. Admittedly, my focus had been more on Remy lately, so it’ll all work out (or so I hope!).

By the way, a note on horoscopes: I checked mine for fun before leaving for Lamplight, and it read “you will have wonderful experiences on the weekend, with lots of fun”. Well, if bucking and bolting count as “wonderful experiences and lots of fun” then yes, the horoscope was right on!