First ct of the year!!

Hi everyone! I'm newish here. I have lurked around, but haven't really posted. I have a 6year old OTTB that I got in February that I have been retraining for eventing. We've brought her along slowly and she's progressed well, so I took her to her first local combined test last Saturday. It's been raining non-stop here, so we haven't had much experience riding outside. This was her first show, second time jumping outside, and third time jumping a course of jumps. We entered the green as grass division (18 in cross rails and USDF intro B dressage). She was definitely a little distracted during dressage, and more forward than at home. She was kind of hollow at the trot, but we got an 8 on our medium walk !


Jumping is more her thing and she was quite excited by the idea of cantering around a whole course of jumps outside. So we took the first half of the course at a trot and once she settled we moved into a nice, quiet canter. She was good, but was jumping me out of the tack a little bit. I might try a slightly stronger bit our next time out because she was definitely strong to the fences. This picture was taken by a professional, and was the best shot she got. I obviously need to work on my release.


Anyhow, overall she did really well and we took home a second place ribbon, only losing by a 1/4 of a point. My goal was to finish (not get dq'd) so I was excited she did so well. The show gave me a really good idea of what we need to work on.

After the show we did some cross country schooling. We don't have a course at the barn where I board, and this was her first time out. She rocked the cross country course. We jumped all the green as grass jumps (18 in), all of the starter jumps (2 foot 3), and a handful of the more straight forward beginner novice questions (2 foot 6). All in all we had a great time and are looking forward to our next show!

Nice pics !! Sounds like a great outing for the both of you =]

Awesome! It sounds like you guys are really moving along well!

Congrats on your first time out! Sounds like you have an exciting season ahead of you.

Thanks everyone! We had a blast. I'll definitely follow her lead as to when we should move up, but I'd love to be doing beginner novice by the end of this season/early next. But I'm in no rush.

I've enjoyed reading about some other members' shows. What a talented bunch of horses and riders!