Moqui Meadows Horse Trial with Ferriana

Years ago there used to be full horse trials at Moqui Meadows in Johnstown, and this year the incredibly hard working Erin Contino resurrected the event!  It worked out best to have dressage and showjumping Saturday at Tomora Training Center (who also had hosted full horse trials in the past but no longer has a cross country course) while cross country was scheduled at Moqui on Sunday.  

Because of my back issues and subsequent nerve pain I was unsure whether I'd make it to the show, but I was able to go on Saturday.  Ferriana loaded like a champ into the trailer, and we drove to Greeley as soon as it was light enough out that I could see the horizon.  I can't drive (or even be a passenger) in the dark because of the effects of the old brain injury, but it worked out that I had enough time.  We arrived, checked in, and I got her out of the trailer and tacked up in her dressage gear.

Warmup for dressage went really well.  Ferriana walked around the show grounds to get to the warmup area like it was all a very interesting trail ride.  She warmed up nicely, walking, trotting, and cantering calmly and in a balanced way.

 

When it was time, we headed over to arena 2 to start our test.  Ferriana had a beautiful, balanced, rhythmic trot down centerline, we turned right at C, then in the exact same calm, balanced, rhythmic manner she hopped right out of the dressage court.  She obviously thought we were doing cavalletti work when she saw the short little white fences, and jumping is her favorite thing.  I immediately felt my heart sink, stepping out of the arena is a technical elimination and there was no coming back from all four legs totally out of the arena.  

The judge was kind enough to let us ride through the test anyway to give Ferriana the experience and clarify that she was NOT to jump out, but of course it wasn't scored.  Afterwards I went to the show office and asked if I could ride the rest of the phases, and they graciously did allow me to do the jumping portions, since refusing to jump was not the problem...

Later in the day we did show jumping.  The warmup arena was quite hectic with so many horses and riders working in one place, but I was incredibly proud of how Ferriana handled it.  She spooked several times as larger heavier horses pounded down the rail towards her, but mostly she looked to me for what to do. 

Ferriana was brave and forward to the fences in the warmup arena.

 

The green oxer in the warmup gave a few horses pause, but Ferriana handled it well, minus one funny approach.  

By the time we got to the actual show jumping arena, Ferriana was jumping quietly in the warmup and had walked over nicely.  We entered the arena, saluted the jump judges, and proceeded over the first fence pretty nicely.  

 

Things got much bigger after that.  Ferriana clearly thought the jumps were much larger than they actually were, and she launched over everything with at least 18" to spare.  Somehow I managed to stay on!  Some of the photos had hilarious pictures of the audience, the spectators looking terrified and the jump judges laughing at how big she over-jumped everything.

In these photos of Ferriana doing the red fence, I was amazed that I managed to land in the saddle despite how much air I caught when she over jumped like she did.  A real testament to keeping your eyes up and landing with your feet underneath you!

This next series of photos over the green and yellow jumps is interesting, too.  Ferriana was a little confused because of how they appeared, so she launched over and was crooked.  We did get there in the end, but wow.

These photos over the red, white, and blue fence show how Ferriana does a "pre-jump hop" with her hind legs so that she can really push off the ground to clear the actual fence.

 

 

 

This is the last fence in the course.  Ferriana lauched her way over this one as well, another good reason to keep my eyes up and my leg under me!

It was all good experience anyway, and Ferriana didn't know that she wasn't being scored.  Unfortunately, the following day I was having too much nerve pain in my leg to do cross country with Ferriana.  It's not surprising, after analyzing the show jumping round from Saturday!  I was also quite fatigued from the nerve pain and the decreased energy reserves I have anyway from the old head injury.  Since discretion is the better part of valor, and I much prefer to be safe and live to compete another day I didn't ride cross country.  

It's always a difficult decision to withdraw from completing a horse trial, but this sport is dangerous.  I have to take into account the many factors which affect my ability to ride, particularly fatigue and nerve pain, and ensure that I make good decisions to keep myself and my horses safe.  There will always be another event or cross country day to enjoy, as long as I make good decisions and only ride when I have the best chance of remaining safe.