2013 Show Season Recap and Recent Updates

It has been over a year since I posted. So here are the main points from last year's show season as well as recent updates.

Since our first shot at beginner jumpers at the IEHJA Fall Festival 2012 went so well, Gigi and I continued to show in the beginning jumpers division throughout the 2013 show season. We showed at Pepperglen Farms (Norco, CA) , Parkside Horse Shows (at Ridge Riders Arena: Covina, CA), and Horseshows U.S.A. (Norco, CA) We did very well!

Our first Beginner Jumpers show of the season was in February in Norco at their big city arena the George Ingalls Equestrian Center. This was our first time showing at this facility. I was very nervous, as this way only my second time showing jumpers EVER, but we managed to end the show on a good note with a second place in the Power & Speed round. We had rails down in the other rounds. Here we are after the show:

Horseshows USA at the George Ingalls Equestrian Center

We went to two of the three shows in the Parkside show series and we ended up end of season Reserve Champion for the series! At Parkside we took home Champion in the first show of the season and Reserve Champion in the second! Gigi was awesome! Here we are taking home lots of blues and the Championship at the first Parkside Show of 2013.

Champion in the Beginner Jumpers at the April 2013 Parkside Horse Show

Here is our Power & Speed round from the first Parkside Horse Show back in April 2013.



We also showed in the Beginner Jumpers at Pepperglen Farms. Prior to the Pepperglen show, we trailered in for a day of schooling. We played around with some interesting jumps: including the bank jump in the middle of the main arena and this triple bar that Gigi felt the need to soar over:

Gigi took flight over this 2'6 triple bar liver pool

My leg slipped back a bit over this jump because I wasn't expecting her to over jump it by 3 feet! The jumper courses for the Pepperglen show were EXTREMELY challenging. The most challenging combination was a jump up onto a bank, over a vertical on top of the bank, down the bank, then over a natural fence.

Below is one of the videos from that show, the tricky combination is near the end of the video. This was the Power & Speed round. We had a rail down (the vertical on top of the bank) and also failed to pass through the timers so we got DQ'd. MY BAD! It was still fun though.:



In summer 2013 I moved Gigi to a stable closer to my house due to on going car issues. We moved back to the first barn I had her at: Anaheim Equestrian Center (aka Rancho del Rio). Lucky for me they started doing a show series there! Last year they didn't have a jumper division so we just did the Low Jr/Am Hunter division. We were only able to make one show in for the AEC 2013 show season. We managed a 1st in the equitation over fences for the division. It was kinda nice to wear a hunt coat again.
 

Our new/old home at Rancho del Rio

1st in Equitation Over Fences

They did add jumpers to the AEC shows this year for the 2014 season, but the low division is 2'9! That is way higher then we are used to showing at. Beginner jumpers is only 2'3. At the first show this season was at the end of March. We filled some flat classes in the Rusty Stirrup division and did really well! Gigi has historically not been good in flat classes, she tends to get too fast (hence our switch to jumpers). I think it helped that he hadn't done any jumping yet for the day, so Gigi was fairly calm for the two flat classes, we ended up taking Champion for the Rusty Stirrup division! The jumper division was 2'9 and although we only showed at 2'3 in our previous jumper shows, we gave it a shot and hoped for the best, here is the video:



We had a refusal near the end of the course, but honestly it was my fault. The turn to the jump was tricky as the fence was not far off the rail. I didn't prepare her enough for the jump. Oh well, as they say, better luck next time! The next show is at the end of May, I think we may forgo the jumper division, as 2'9 is a wee bit high for my poor arthritic 19 year old mare! I think we will try our hand at hunters again, and go for end of season champion in the Rusty Stirrup division.

I promise to post more this year!!!