The final day of the show started with a bang. Literally. There was a big lightning storm and a tree on the cross country course got hit. There were some loud boomers. But the show must go on, and thankfully it passed quickly.
The stadium course was my favorite ever, by far. Purely because the jumps are Harry Potter themed and I LOVE Harry Potter.
It was so fun. We had to walk the course twice just because the first time, M and I were geeking out over the cool jumps.
I was overall very happy with our round!
We had one bummer of a rail down, but I was super happy with our round! He tripped pretty dramatically in the turn to 3 (I don’t think the video does it justice – for a second I thought he might go all the way to his knees!), and then our focus and balance was out of whack. It just felt like he kind of didn’t have his feet under him or the striding quite right, and he just stumbled over the jump. Oh well. Everything else felt smooth and so fun.
We ended up with a pretty light blue ribbon for 10th place in our first Novice!
My goal for the weekend was to finish and feel happy with how I rode. I definitely accomplished those things! It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t always easy – we certainly had our mishaps in dressage and with no timer in cross country. But I am happy with how I rode, and I learned a lot!
On to the next!
Centered in the Saddle 
That’s legit the best showjump course ever.
I wish more venues gave out ribbons to 10th! Everyone in our area only does to 6th, which is a real fucking bummer when you’re the person who’s always somewhere between 7th and 10th. LOL. The light blue is pretty!
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Esp since you only get one ribbon for 3 phases!
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For real! 😂
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It WAS the best ever! So magical!
It was super fun that they did ribbons to 10th! That’s not typical around here either but this show had really pretty ribbons for all the places! It was great!
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I was so happy to see your pics of all the jumps in stadium. I saw the eventingnation article about this event and was like YES! But they barely had any pics! Your round was great, that trip would’ve thrown a wrench in anyone’s SJ flow.
Pure curiosity here – is there a different benefit to having the hind boots on with the elastic across the front vs. having the elastic/closures across the outside of the foot? May beats the crap out of her hind boots when we jump, so I am always looking for new ways to protect those back legs.
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I’m glad you liked the pictures! It was so cool, I don’t think they do the jumps justice.
As for boots, to be honest I’m not sure! I know sometimes the boots like Duke has on can irritate some horses and actually make them kick out a bit if they’re not used to them wrapping around their fetlock, whereas other styles protect just the inside of the fetlock. These are my trainer’s boots and her horse that I’m leasing so in this case I just use what is available – but now I’m definitely going to ask her about it!
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If those jumps disappear, they are definitely NOT in Texas! That is the best stadium course ever!
And congrats on completing your first Novice!
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Thank you!! And I won’t tell anyone if those jumps suddenly show up in TX as long as i can come down and jump them 😉🙊
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That is the coolest showjumping course ever! I’m a huge Potter nerd. I’ll definitely have to put this one on the list for next year. Although I’ll probably be too distracted by all the cool jumps to ride well haha
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It was a really great event, and the jumps were just amazing!
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OMG that course…i love it and wish all events had courses like these! OMG……i would probably be off course just by sidetracking the jumps LOL Geeking over them.
CONGRATS on finishing and placing 10th. One event did up to 10th and i got a 7 or 8th and it was purple one time and i was thrilled ha!!
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It was slightly distracting because they were so cool! 😂
And thanks! It was so much fun and I met my goal of completing a Novice – the pretty ribbon was just a bonus!
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OMG best stadium course ever. My inner HP nerd is freaking out about why I can’t have ALL of these jumps. LOVE THEM!! Your round certainly looked good! An unlucky rail, but you two jumped all the things! Congrats!
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Literally the best. I don’t know how anyone could top this course!
And thanks! It felt pretty good most of the way, though always things to improve on!
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O. M. G. Those jumps. I need them. In my life. Like wow, I paid zero attention to how your round went because my brain is fully full on how awesome those jumps are.
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Right? Fully full on awesome jumps!! I think my favorite was the chocolate frogs but i don’t know, they were all amazing!
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Good job! And thanks for the photos of the jumps. They are fabulous!!
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Those jumps are awesome and you guys look great! Congrats 😉
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Thanks!! I really want those jumps now 😂
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I’m impressed with the amount of detail in those jumps! Dang.
And congrats on a great show. You and Duke make a great pair.
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It was seriously incredible! I could’ve looked at them all day!
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Those jumps are freaking AWESOME! Congrats on placing in your very first novice run — that is awesome!
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