OK, we weren’t in Belgium and there was no war to be won or lost.
But still, what can I say: We won our own personal battle at Dressage at
Waterloo Autumn Classic. I had signed up for one day only, trailer in, ride two
classes, trailer out: No muss – no fuss.
The show secretary was very accommodating, giving us ride
times in the afternoon, 3:05 and 3:44. In the morning JP and I took the boys
for a relaxing jaunt through the woods, then loaded up and off we went – me barely
keeping my mounting panic under wraps. Luckily it turned out to be a very small
show, nice and relaxed, just what we needed. Brandt met us at the showgrounds,
primarily to act as moral support and “security blanky” meaning should things
go south he could hop on Remy.
Much to my surprise (sometimes I do surprise myself!) I was
calm, and after the briefest of warm-ups off we went. It really helped that the
judge (a FEI 3* judge no less) seemed very sympa. 2nd 2 went well,
so well in fact that I scrambled to dig out a $10 bill and asked Brandt to hoof
it to the show office so I could enter the next class as qualifier for next
year’s regional championships. And yes, despite “unfortunate expensive mistakes”
(judge’s talk for unauthorized flying changes) in 2nd3 we did a good
job and indeed got our qualifying score. Talk about relief on so many levels!
JP pointed out that my warm-up really was not sufficient,
and we could have done even better with more prep. Yep, I know that, but I just
wanted to get this thing over with. JP was happy nevertheless (of course, he
was happy - he didn’t have to deal with a crying wife and/or out of control
horse), and strutted off to collect the blue ribbons and yay, more wine
glasses.
So, I guess we were following in the footsteps of famous generals:
The Duke of Wellington and General von Bluecher (for non-history buffs: They
won the battle of Waterloo in 1815). Better polish that old Coat of Arms!
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