Who says Curlies can't Jump?

Okay, I have just returned from our last Recognized 3-Day Event over in Rainier, WA at the NW Fall Gala and Open Championships with my amazing Curly stallion, Traveler and WE DID IT! I have pix to follow - none right now, but I will post again when they get emailed to me. I also got the whole she-bang on DVD and it will come in the mail in a couple of weeks.

The first day was dressage - we rode under the O'Neal Farms barn with the Olympic level instructor, Karen O'Neal, and she coached us through the whole event. Worth every penny. I just tried to relax before the dressage test and enjoy the experience - that I was there, with my Curly and able to compete at such a high level. Usually we place down on the list in dressage and work our way back up during the rest of the events. However, this time we received our best score to date for the Novice level and it was very competitive with all the other riders. I placed 7th! in dressage!!!! I beat a bunch of other people!! I was shocked and amazed and received my highest score ever on a test in the "free walk".

I joined a team to compete in also at the Novice level and one my team members was the Olympic level horse, Mateo, who was ridden at the event by his owner at the Novice level. The owner and I became great friends and we had a good time supporting and encouraging each other throughout the whole event.

The next day was cross-country. The reason I get up in the morning - 4 minutes and 51 seconds of total exhillaration. My coach instructed me at the 30 second count-down at the starting box to get him "woken up". Traveler is a pretty laid back horse and because we need the speed to both jump the jumps and complete the course on time - I spent 30 seconds shaking him up until he was super-charged. She told me that this would make him a little crazy to ride, but to get him jumping out of his skin and ready to take on the fences.

And it worked. We shot out of the starting box like a provebrial bat out of .... and hit the first fence with no hesititation. The two horses in front of us had a hard time getting within 20 feet of the first fence. By the 3rd fence, Traveler had it figured out and it was smooth sailing.

We were instructed to take the water ramp at a trot because it's safer and many horses will canter up to the water and slam on the brakes - exit rider stage left into the water complex. We came up on the water and I am yelling "trot, Traveler, trot! or we will get in trouble" and thankfully he came back down to a trot and entered the water, we picked up the canter and jumped over the log and out of the water.

The hardest jump was a combination with two large "bunkers" with two strides apart. He really has to be moving to get the striding right - it's not set for a Traveler size horse and he did it! After that jump I knew it was going to be alright.

We literally tore around the course with me riding on the neck like a jockey between fences to make time. I think I shared once with you, that I was told Traveler would never make time on a cross-country course. And this was a really long course and by goodness we were going to make time. He took the jump on the downhill perfectly and I had a hard time reining him in as we galloped down the hill and to the next fence. The course opened up and we spent the last minute in absolute perfect harmony zooming around and taking fences. It was beyond fun, beyond exciting and truly an awesome experience.

We had a flying finish and were greeted with a chorus of cheers!!! My instructor was concerned that I went too fast - isn't that a laugh - but when the results came in we were double clear. I was 4 seconds away from having a time fault for going too fast! What a hoot and they said it couldn't be done! Now I will have to wear a watch to make sure I am doing the course at the right speed.

Everyone said that it was so amazing as you could see how happy Traveler was to be jumping - they said you could see that he absolutely loved it. And I have seen that in horses on course before - you can just tell that they are loving every minute of it and in their element. Karen told me that she doesn't really see Traveler as a "beautiful" horse - cute, yes, but not really beautiful. And I can understand when you compare him to the huge, sleek, black horses that typically Event. But she said, as he was galloping and jumping - he was truly beautiful.

After cross-country we moved up to 4th place!!!!!!!! I have never been in the top 5 before.

Okay, the last day. Stadium jumping. We usually take a rail in stadium which will give us 4 penalty points. I absolutely wasn't going to take a rail in stadium - our placings were so close that just taking one rail would have knocked us down to 6th place. So I worked on getting myself "psyched" up for the last event and the instructor and I work on getting Traveler "super-charged" again. On our practice rounds Traveler hit the oxer hard with his legs and my instructor said, "good, he will remember that when he does into the ring". And he did. We jumped 2 feet higher over every jump and took every one perfect - no refusals, no rails and on time. Traveler was definitely supercharged, but he was hunting the fences and all I had to do was show him which one to jump and we were over.

As we passed through the finish flags I stood up in my stirrups and cheered with the crowd - we did it! We actually did it - two days with absolute perfect scores! The crowd loves the underdog - and Traveler was the talk of the whole event. We are either famous or infamous - I plan on making bumper stickers that say "Who says Curlies can't jump?"

We placed 3rd! in the Novice division - and believe it or not, because we placed in the top 4 at this specific event we qualified for CHAMPIONSHIPS. Next year Traveler will be competing against the best of the best. Who would have thought!

Traveler and I had our picture taken with our ribbon, awards and with my instructor and she will be posting all the winning horses on her website - at O'Neal Farms. I bet she never thought she would have a Curly stallion posted on her website.

Our team came in 1st and we received a nice blue ribbon for that.

And to top it off, today is my birthday. Best birthday present ever! Stay tuned for more pix than you would ever want to see of Traveler.......