RhineStone
Well-Known Member
We had a great time at Walnut Hill, Aug. 11-15. It was a 14-hour trip for us, so we were able to complete it all in one day. During our stops, Alax would look at me like, "Are we there yet?!"
We got some cool stuff in our Welcome bag: a bottle of wine, a Walnut Hill towel, a horse magazine, a WH print that I am having framed, and some WH cookies!
I showed in the Small Single Pony division, because they don't have VSE for singles. We had Progressive Cones first, and I went clean, but so did a whole bunch of other people because they run it in the stone dust arena instead of the grass I am used to. Driving Progressive on grass is MUCH harder than stone dust, so it basically comes down to fastest time at WH. On grass, you drive it pretty slowly because VERY few people get through clean with the vehicle being jostled around on the bumps and lumps in the grass. I didn't want to drive too fast and knock a cone and totally put myself out of the ribbons. I ended up in 6th of 15, but I got a ribbon!
Then, a couple of classes later was Reinsmanship. I wasn't happy with Alax's test, but we made the cut and finished 2nd! I was ecstatic! Chad videoed those classes, so I don't have still photos. I hope to get them up on YouTube soon.
The next day was Scurry (non-divisional), and I used my Meadowbrook style cart under a different number because it is lighter. I couldn't get Alax to pick up "5th gear" without popping a shoulder and they were calling canter penalties left and right. We did get a 5-sec. canter penalty, so we ended up out of the ribbons. I still like this photo!
Kyle drove in the practice arena after my Scurry run. He had a great time and a number of people asked if he was showing in the Junior division. I'm glad he didn't, as those kids were tough! (And much older than Kyle...) Kyle is still an awesome driver for his age!
Friday was Cross Country. They let you practice driving through the water hazard on Tuesday, so Alax bounded right in the water on Friday. This was from practice. Chad couldn't get close to the water hazard during the class. I have the "Hyperbike" look, trying to keep my feet dry!
I took Kyle with me on Cross Country to run the "countdown" watch while I had the "countup" one. They have two water hazards, the edge of the pond above and an upstream creek crossing. There are other built in obstacles, like a gazebo to drive past, an arbor to drive under, and a covered bridge. Their CC course was a lot of fun. I ended up finishing 1.5 seconds off the ideal time (one too many half-halts), placing 3rd!
Saturday was Pleasure Turnout. I wasn't thrilled with our Turnout class being last, and having to get all gussied up again, but oh, well. We had plenty of time to get cleaned up after CC the day before. We got 6th in that class and most everything that beat us was bigger ponies with double-stitched harnesses and lamps, so I was OK with that. And I think the judge saw Alax's couple of canter steps in the Strong Trot. I forgot to smile the first round of the class, too! I had groomed for a lady in the Bonneted Phaeton classes, and I got into the "habit" of not smiling as grooms don't smile! I had to tell myself, "I hate doing this..this stinks...this rots..." just so I wouldn't smile around the arena with all the spectators big grins staring back at us! It didn't occur to me to smile in my class until I saw Chad videoing! Duh!
In the end, we finished 3rd in total division points and one of only two competitors to place in all four division classes! I was pretty happy with that considering that I was concerned about getting skunked against all those bigger ponies at Walnut Hill!
It was fun to meet a whole different crowd of competitors. We even met or saw some people from this forum! The different turnouts there are worth going to see! So many carriages, so little time!
Myrna
We got some cool stuff in our Welcome bag: a bottle of wine, a Walnut Hill towel, a horse magazine, a WH print that I am having framed, and some WH cookies!
I showed in the Small Single Pony division, because they don't have VSE for singles. We had Progressive Cones first, and I went clean, but so did a whole bunch of other people because they run it in the stone dust arena instead of the grass I am used to. Driving Progressive on grass is MUCH harder than stone dust, so it basically comes down to fastest time at WH. On grass, you drive it pretty slowly because VERY few people get through clean with the vehicle being jostled around on the bumps and lumps in the grass. I didn't want to drive too fast and knock a cone and totally put myself out of the ribbons. I ended up in 6th of 15, but I got a ribbon!
Then, a couple of classes later was Reinsmanship. I wasn't happy with Alax's test, but we made the cut and finished 2nd! I was ecstatic! Chad videoed those classes, so I don't have still photos. I hope to get them up on YouTube soon.
The next day was Scurry (non-divisional), and I used my Meadowbrook style cart under a different number because it is lighter. I couldn't get Alax to pick up "5th gear" without popping a shoulder and they were calling canter penalties left and right. We did get a 5-sec. canter penalty, so we ended up out of the ribbons. I still like this photo!
Kyle drove in the practice arena after my Scurry run. He had a great time and a number of people asked if he was showing in the Junior division. I'm glad he didn't, as those kids were tough! (And much older than Kyle...) Kyle is still an awesome driver for his age!
Friday was Cross Country. They let you practice driving through the water hazard on Tuesday, so Alax bounded right in the water on Friday. This was from practice. Chad couldn't get close to the water hazard during the class. I have the "Hyperbike" look, trying to keep my feet dry!
I took Kyle with me on Cross Country to run the "countdown" watch while I had the "countup" one. They have two water hazards, the edge of the pond above and an upstream creek crossing. There are other built in obstacles, like a gazebo to drive past, an arbor to drive under, and a covered bridge. Their CC course was a lot of fun. I ended up finishing 1.5 seconds off the ideal time (one too many half-halts), placing 3rd!
Saturday was Pleasure Turnout. I wasn't thrilled with our Turnout class being last, and having to get all gussied up again, but oh, well. We had plenty of time to get cleaned up after CC the day before. We got 6th in that class and most everything that beat us was bigger ponies with double-stitched harnesses and lamps, so I was OK with that. And I think the judge saw Alax's couple of canter steps in the Strong Trot. I forgot to smile the first round of the class, too! I had groomed for a lady in the Bonneted Phaeton classes, and I got into the "habit" of not smiling as grooms don't smile! I had to tell myself, "I hate doing this..this stinks...this rots..." just so I wouldn't smile around the arena with all the spectators big grins staring back at us! It didn't occur to me to smile in my class until I saw Chad videoing! Duh!
In the end, we finished 3rd in total division points and one of only two competitors to place in all four division classes! I was pretty happy with that considering that I was concerned about getting skunked against all those bigger ponies at Walnut Hill!
It was fun to meet a whole different crowd of competitors. We even met or saw some people from this forum! The different turnouts there are worth going to see! So many carriages, so little time!
Myrna
Last edited by a moderator: