Brigadoon

Event number 3 for Dakota was Brigadoon, a nice local event at the end of May. This was her first event where she has previously been and trained so I was feeling confident that she would be confident.

OH and I set off with 2 horses and eventing dog  in tow not too early for a change! Dakota was already plaited as she is a bit of a fidget, but with a few hours between my dressage tests I was going to plait Coolie there. Super groom had a sleep in and met us there.

On the way I noticed Dakota trying to bite Coolie under the stallion divider, but didn't think too much of it. I unloaded them to find Coolie with a blood nose, a fat lip and and a number of bite marks on his face. Dakota was in lots of trouble!

Poor nose!

I cleaned him up but was worried that it might start bleeding while I was riding, which would lead to elimination. So I decided that I would hop on to check before I plaited him. But first Dakota had dressage and show jumping.

The night before I had had a lesson on Coolie and made the most of having an arena with lights at my disposal and rode Dakota straight after. So she may have been a little bit tired when it came to our dressage warm up! She was very calm and responsive, working well over the back in a good frame. The warm up arena was busy but it luckily doesn't bother her too much, and I given myself plenty of time. Too much time it turned out, as she was so responsive from the start.

When we went over to our arena she tensed up a bit and started running. I have to really remember to relax my hand when she does this, as my go to response it to pull right back which makes her more tense. We entered the arena and she did a nice little test, far more relaxed than York, but still not relaxed enough. It had a few nice moments and we didn't canter where we shouldn't have.

Looking the part for dressage

Next up was her show jumping. With not much time between, I went back to the car, swapped saddles and headed to the show jumping arena to watch a few rounds as I knew I had missed the course walk while I was riding. It had rained a lot (for WA!) leading up to the event and the grounds were very slippery. The course had some interesting lines and I knew I'd have to keep her together to go clear.

Super grooms cleaning stud holes

The warm up arena was boggy, wet and very busy. There were a few rather 'expressive' horses so I kept the warm up short to avoid anything drastic happening, especially as she can get rather forward jumping. If the warm up allows I like to do a lot of trot to halt transitions to get her listening but sometimes its just not possible.

After watching a few rounds, it was clear that the boggy arena was taking it's tole, with very few clear rounds. When we were up I trotted in and picked up a bouncy, together canter. She popped everything nicely, not getting to rushed or slipping to go clear. I was very pleased with her! She was starting to redeem herself.

I went back to the float and swapped horses. I put Coolie through his paces, getting his heart rate up enough to see if his nose would bleed. Luckily we got the all clear so back we went to plait him up. Typically that's when it started to rain, so we both got a little damp, but his plaits were neater for it!.

I hopped on again and warmed him up. Our lesson the night before had been a much needed tune up, so I focused on getting hum subtle and on my position to help him out as much as possible. He warmed up reasonable well and we headed over to the arena ready to go. Coolie has a dislike for slippery surfaces, and our arena was slippery! So our marks weren't great as he was more tense as a result with a kick out during a canter transition for good measure I was a little disappointed but I did everything my coach and I had discussed and felt there was an overall improvement.

After putting him away, we got ourselves some lunch and headed off the walk the XC. Eventing dog (Caspian) was very enthusiastic and sprinted around the course, jumping all Dakota's jumps and generally having a great time. I don't think he realised we had to walk another 6kms!

I was happy with both courses but was pleased Coolie would have his studs in.

One happy dog!

The next morning we were all up early to be back at the event at 7. Dakota had her XC first up with Coolie's show jumping round not long after. Super groom studded Coolie and both horses were tacked up.

Dakota jumped clear around her course, feeling very confident, and loving the gallop stretches. She was a bit wobbly into a smiley face plank jump, and some wine barrels, but she was game and listened well. She came home 3 seconds over time. I was thrilled with her.

Flying over the first fence

After cooling Dakota down with the help of super groom, I hoped on Coolie and headed over to his show jumping. I had to jump out of order due to a clash, but a scratching meant that I had just enough time to warm up before I slotted in. The course was even more slippery than the day before, so I rode cautiously. We hadn't used studs before but Coolie learnt to trust them quickly and we only had one rail down, due to me not rising him forward to the fence. We got a fair bit of time but it was a twisty course and I didn't want him to slip.

Looking like we know what to do

We had a good break between my final ride so Super Groom and I watched a bit of XC while OH timed the show jumping. It seemed the ground was holding up well.

After some lunch we went back and got Coolie ready for XC. He warmed up well and was feeling good over the fences. I planned on keeping it steady, not worried about time as we weren't anywhere near placing! He was fast out of the start box, but I had put my reins down a hole on the gag and it made a huge difference. He sailed confidently over everything, jumped straight into the water and galloped around the course to rack up a bit of time. He was the best around XC he had been for a while and I was glad to have my XC machine feel so well, he was barley puffing.

Look, I so pretty!

I cooled him down and hosed him before handing the reins over to super groom to keep walking him while OH and I went to the lower grade presentations. Dakota had placed 6th in a huge class. I am so proud of her, she even won a prize! The Accidental Eventer is proving that she may not be so accidental.

Clever girl!