The long awaited RAAC post

ST, Final & Pat Adams of Yarra Yarra

Sorry, sorry! I know I've been delinquent in my post but we've been sooooo busy.

The RAAC was a total blast! It was held down in Menlo Park so we thought, "ahhh Bay Area, the weather will be wonderful and cool." NOT! It was sweltering! Although it was only 90 (we're used to 100) it was humid and muggy. Ewe! I'll take 100 and dry over 90 and muggy any day. RAAC stands for "Regional Adult Amateur Championships." It's like a primer for the CDS & USDF Regionals, a championship show on a smaller scale. Last year was the first year it was held so we figured, "why not check it out?"

Happy hour in the Quidditch Cup field
We arrived on Friday afternoon and set up camp in the big open field that was the horse stabling and trailer parking. Scott thought it looked like the Quidditch Cup scene from Harry Potter. I have to agree, it did! Just picture 4 rows of horse stalls in a big open field surrounded by horse trailers back in a little valley. Very cool! So we unloaded Final, got his stall all set up and decided it was still too hot to ride. We found a market down the road that had a wide cheese selection, lots of beer and English shortbread biscuits to boot! So we picked up some snacks and headed back to the "field" where we sat in the shade of our trailer and had happy hour. It was delightful. And yes this is the reason I can't loose that last 15 lbs - I love cheese and beer. I would be very unhappy without those two things.

Once it cooled off and I was "happy" after mmmmm beer, Mr. Final and I went for our warm up to check out the arenas. In true Final fashion, he didn't care much about being in a foreign arena, although the woods surrounding the Quidditch Cup field were super scary. Lions and tigers and bears oh my. We don't have a lot of trees where we live, so forests are FREAKY! But he got over it and went on his merry way. He felt super so I was very excited about the prospects of the weekend. Just hoping it would be cool for our rides on Sat morning and then Sunday afternoon.

A "happy" warm up.
Saturday morning was a little hectic. I didn't ride until 11 and I took a little too much time getting ready. Final doesn't need much warm up (20 min tops) but I forgot his show number, then I forgot we had to walk all the way around everything to get to the warm up, then the water trucks came in to water, etc, etc. So I got a little uppity and so did he. He's a very sensitive horse so you have to keep your feelings hidden from him. So I had to lie to myself that everything was okay so he too would believe the lie.

Luckily the warm up went well but I didn't even have enough time to trot, so I warmed him up at the trot as I was circling the outside of the court before they rang the bell. When I got into the ring he felt great through all the trot work. Then came the canter. He totally took over like a possessed beast. At least that is what he felt like. I felt like he was careening out of control and I was just hanging on for the ride. His pirouettes felt like rodeo spins, I was sure he didn't get one single clean change because it didn't even feel like he had feet. Luckily Scott said it didn't look bad. After a quick video review, I determined Scott was right once again. He's very astute at this horse show stuff. And he was right about the score as well - 64% and 1st place. That is awesome for Final who just until last year didn't have a clean change in him let alone 3 tempi's and 4 tempi's. Eva and I joke that if we ever want to go pro, we'll open up a facility that specializes in flying changes. We now know every trick in the book!

Sunday presented a whole different concern - we rode at 4 pm in the heat and humidity. I wanted to work on a few things before the class but I had to be careful not to wear out my partner. Because of my angst, Final was once again a bit uppity. And I was having a very difficult time lying to him. The warm up went ok, but he was definitely tired. And there were two horses in my class that I knew would be hard to beat so I was going to have to go for it. All was well until the extended trot when I went for it and he cantered. Eva said he was really going too. Bummer, I got greedy and it didn't pay off. And then came the canter tour. Again, the beast from within came running out of him. Only this beast was tired and hot so this time the pir's really were rodeo spins and the changes really weren't clean. The winning ride was a 70+%, reserve was a 66%, but we earned a respectable 62.9% which placed us third overall. Not bad for our first RAAC, rodeo spins and all! More lessons learned, more dirst under the boots and another notch on the belt - maybe someday I'll get this down to an exact science... not likly!

70.9%, the Pewter Loving Cup and Amigo's first outing

4th level Pewter Loving Cup perpetual trophy

It finally happened! After a year and a half of riding the para tests, I was able to secure a 70.9% on Eva's horse Final! At Pebble Beach no less! This is a huge milestone for Team MP, even though MP didn't get to participate. Although I'm sure she's happy her wingman Final pulled through.

I have to say that the test felt amazing. It was flawless and Final was spot on with everything I asked. You may remember that I'm riding Final right now because his mom (Eva) became a "human" mom two weeks ago when she gave birth to Isabella Beverly King. Even though she is new to the whole human mom thing, she still made it down to Pebble to watch her boy Final go and boy did he go.

The "Tri-Wizards Cup" according to Scott

In addition to the 70.9%, Final also won three 4th level classes, secured almost qualifying scores for championships AND won the Pewter Loving Cup class. The Cup is amazing (Horse-show-husband calls it the Tri Wizards Cup because of its size) and Final and I will have our names engraved on it. Very Cool! You can watch the winning ride here.

The weekend proved to be yet a third milestone, where Amigo (aka Adonis) had his first big boy outing and was shown by Katey Augsburger at training level. Turns out that he was bred to show and wasn't even phased by a big show like Pebble. He even won one of his classes and scored 8's on his gaits. Not bad for just coming 4! Amigo has been at Ellen's being ridden by Katey for the past two months. As you can see, she has done a fantastic job with him! You can watch his video here.

Amigo's first test in his first show

Team Eckstein was large and in charge with 8 horses and seven riders showing from training level to fourth level. Ellen had full days, but we all did really well and hopefully lived up to the Team Eckstein expectations! Thank you Ellen!!

Final's debut as an FEI Para Dressage Horse!

I was extremely fortunate this weekend to ride my good friend Eva's horse Final at the Golden State Dressage CDI. This was a large show with many good judges so I was honored to be loaned such a wonderful horse to fill MP"s shoes.

This was an important show not only because of the caliber of judges and horses and riders, but because members of the Canadian Para Dressage team also came to compete. In fact, I ended up showing against one of the Canadian Paralympians.

The first test we rode Saturday was the grade IV team test. Not my favorite. I hate the med canter on the 20 meter circle and this test has two of them. Ick. The test went smoothly, but I got really nervous but Final was a good sport, he tried his hardest at we pulled off a 65% even with a few mistakes. It was good enough for first place, so we'll take it!

The second test was much smoother. No mistakes and I felt like we really clicked in the test. Plus I had two judges and that always creeps me out. Can't get away with much when they can see you from two sides. We were able to secure a 68% on that test and another first place. Luckily Final got to go home, sleep in his own bed and get ready for Sunday and the dreaded freestyle.....

The week prior, I rode Final to MP's freestyle - twice. Now, granted, I had only shown this freestyle once, so riding it with another horse who is good at different things, no easy feat. For either of us. In the warm up, Final was exceptional. Doing everything I willed him to. But he was tired. We had asked a lot of him the past week and he needed a day off. So when we got into the ring, it kind of hit him like a ton of bricks. He got backed off and went into shut down mode. So the freestyle was a little bit of a mess, BUT we managed to pull off all of the required movements without mistakes, but our collective marks suffered because the freestyle was difficult and we didn't quite have it together. So our score ended up being not bad - a 67%. Could have been much worse and I think Both Final and me deserve huge kudos for being ballsy enough to even go in there a wing it. A little practice and he'd be a freestyle fiend. If we could only get a tu tu on him.....

For the second test, I knew he was done so I made a game plan to just monitor his strides and steps, but not push him at all. I would be an active passenger, but I would let him decide how much or how little. The result - a near flawless test. Sure it could have had some pizazz - but if I were at the world cup I would have been beside myself to have a test that nice. And the judges thought so too - they gave him a 69%!!! You can view the test here.

So turns out Final has just been dying to become an FEI Para dressage horse - who knew!! Eva was so generous to let me ride him, and I feel so lucky to be ABLE to show a horse like him. He's a blast to ride, and he is such a go getter. I hope I'll get to show him more often until Eva's back in the saddle!!


Day two - looking good

Bad news, good news, more bad news and maybe light at the end of the tunnel.....

It's been an interesting couple of weeks in the world of Team MP. I've been dreading this post, but now I have some really good news to report so it will be easier than I thought. I'll start with the bad news and work up to the good news.

Two weeks ago MP had a minor colic scare. It turns out it was ulcers so we are treating her for the next month and are very confident she'll be back to normal soon. At the same time she went lame. This horse has not taken a lame step since we got her last Jan, so this was very out of character. Because of the ulcers, we gave her the benefit of the doubt and figured she wasn't feeling well and needed a few days off. We were wrong.

After a lameness exam that suggested she had either pulled a check or suspendory ligament, I took her into UC Davis for an ultra sound. Low and behold she had a check ligament injury. So this means 3 months of walking only as well as icing, poulticing and careful management. She will fully recover and be ready for competition this summer, but Chicago is not possible for her.

This realization has been pretty devastating, and I've been trying to stay upbeat, but its hard when your partner that you know so well and love so much is not going to be your partner for one of the most important competitions in your career. To ease my guilt and depression I have been spending a lot of quiet time with her. I have taken to reading her books while I ice her, letting her "groom" me and play with my hair and we we have moved her up to the barn so she literally lives underneath us. I think she likes seeing us all the time too. Seeing her big brown eyes every morning gives me the most wonderful warm feeling to start my day.

With all of this going on with MP, we have had to concentrate on the rider side of this equation. Three months off would not be good for my riding skills and condition. Plus, if I do not show in Chicago, the WEG dream may be through. But as soon as I started to think my hopes and dreams were crushed (not to mention thinking I might just sell the horses, but an Aston Martin and travel for the next few months) a glimmer of hope sparked onto the scene.

My friend Eva - you know THE Eva from all the posts last year - is very pregnant and has gotten to the stage where riding is a bit difficult. We all know that she'll probably still ride anyway, but she really shouldn't be on a horse and I think her husband would agree. So she had asked me if I would help her keep her horse in shape while she takes it easy until after her little girl is born. But with no horse to ride with Ellen or show, she offered her horse Final first for my lessons last weekend with Ellen, then for the Rancho Murietta show this past weekend.

My first ride with Ellen on Final was shaky. OK, it wasn't just shaky it was a disaster. He wanted his mom, I wanted my Moneypenny and neither of us were on the same page. We worked through some of it, but we needed more time to see if we could communicate. Luckily his mom was standing nearby so as soon as he was done he could go running back to her arms! The second ride with Ellen was better. It was like we both had the night to digest reality and both came back ready to work with each other. He was very willing and I tried to be as respectful of his feelings as possible. Plus his mom was still there in case he needed saving.

After this second ride, we decided that he could fill in for MP at the upcoming Rancho Murietta show. This was on a Sunday, so we only had three more rides to get to know each other AND pull together a freestyle. Yeah, sure piece of cake.

Our rides through the week went great. Each ride getting a little better and easier. Each day both of us becoming more attune and more willing for the other. And his mom was very happy and proud of him. It was really fun to see his confidence change within the week, and nice to know that he was starting to trust me. Showing was going to be fun....

I'll do a separate post on the show that is only about the show because he was so fantastic he deserves his own post. We also have video and pictures. He was such a trooper and even though he was exhausted from the week of riding (he's been on paternity leave for a few months now) he tried and tried and tried and exceeded all of our expectations. We got the feeling he was pleased to fill in for MP and show everyone what he was made of. And he qualified himself for Chicago.

So now there may be a glimmer of hope for Chicago, but its not a light decision that Eva has to make. It is no small thing to send your horse half-way across the country even with a friend you trust. I would be honored to ride a horse like Final in Chicago, but not unless his mom was fully comfortable with him going that far. He's a special horse and Eva is a dear friend of mine and one of my strongest supporters. She will do what is best for her horse, as she should. If it doesn't work out for Final to go, I am now confident that I will get another opportunity to get my WEG qualifying scores even if that means going to Europe. I have learned from this experience: "Don't give up, just roll with what comes at you and stay focused. The rest will fall into place" No matter how pretty those Aston Martin are.