Peggy Porter
Well-Known Member
My first experience at a CDE was wonderful! After the four hour haul to Edinburgh, IN, I settle Sundance Kid in his stall, and attend the driver's meeting/fish fry dinner. Next I bum a ride and tour the marathon course and hazards. At this point, I am having SERIOUS doubts about this whole thing being a good idea!! Not only is 5.5K alot longer that I had imagined, but there is a hill in the second K that seems to go straight up about a million yards! My new-found friends all assure me that this is really fun and that I really can do it, but I am really stressing at this point. After a restless night in the trailer tack room, Saturday morning dawns bright and cool, with a nice breeze and low humidity. It's going to be a great day for driving. After tending to Kid's breakfast, I do some shopping at the Camptown Harness tent. Marjean is very cordial, especially since she is not yet officially open. I pick up a beautiful patent number holder and a marathon card holder, and make plans to bring Kid back for a fitting of the Freedom Collar. I am scheduled for the first dressage slot after lunch, so I pass on the sloppy joes in the event tent, and harness, hitch, and make the safety check on time. I perform my dressage test exactly as I have been practising it- WRONG!! Our judge, Mary Ruth Marks, is very nice explaining to me the error of my ways, I correct the course, and complete the test. I scored mostly 6s and 7s, with a comment of "nice pony" and "good basics". YAY! I even got a 9 on presentation, so I guess we at least looked good!
We are 4th out of 5 after dressage. Cones is a nice, flowing course, with only one tricky cloverleaf type section and a nice wooden bridge option.
We have one ball down, but a few time faults, because I am a little concerned about wearing my horse out before the marathon phase. I am really not sure if I have conditioned him enough, and more than a little nervous about that big hill! We have now dropped to 5th after cones. Back to the Camptown tent, where Marjean fits Kid with a demo Freedom Collar and tells me to drive around and test it out. I like the way it fits with my wooden pleasure cart, but I have also brought my new CDE cart from Itebte. After swapping carts, it's back to Marjean for more fitting. She graciously offers me to use it on marathon Sunday, and even punches a new hole to fit it properly. She also loans me some longer breeching straps, because the footmans loops are really far forward on the Itebte. I can't get over how generous Marjean is! Kid takes a nap in harness while we are discussing the fit and finish of the Itebte (which attracted quite a bit of attention), and then I put him away for a well deserved break. My good friend Jan and I tour the marathon and hazards twice more, then it's off to dinner with her husband, Dave. Jan was originally planning to compete also, but due to some issues with her young mare, has decided to come as a spectator. Lucky for me! She was my groom,my advisor, my header, my cheerleader, and my therapist for the weekend! Next year she'll be sure to bring her horse-it will be alot less work! After dinner, I spend about an hour in front of Kid's stall coloring the hazard diagrams and practising my planned routes. Some nice quiet time with my little guy. After an almost sleepless night, I make the decision to stick with the cart I have driven for several years, and put the Itebte back in the trailer. There will be lots of time to tweak the fit and get used to the way it drives, and I need the comfort level of the cart I am familiar with. The butterflies in my stomach are the size of Boeing 747s! The sun is up, the weather is cool, and the VSE go first out on course. I check in early for section A, and chit chat a few minutes with the other VSE whips and the volunteers. Everyone is so friendly, and they all tell me how much fun this is, like a nice trail drive in the country. I am still freaking out, thinking about that monstrous hill! Then it's our time to go, we are counted down, and on our way. Section A is uneventful (I remember to go through each gate), we pass vet check, and head to the start of section E. Another short wait, then the countdown, and we start off at a nice ground covering trot. Kid really enjoys trail driving, so he's very happy to be out in the woods. We approach the first hazard, his ears go up, and we drive it just like I planned! YAY! Back out to the trail and next up: the dreaded hill! As we exit the woods, the hill looms straight up in front of us, with a trail going both left and right at it's base. I can feel Kid ask "left or right, Mom?" and I answer "Get up, babe!" I swear I hear him say "Oh, s*@t!" just before he scrambles up the hill! YAY! The rest of the course flies by, we drive each hazard as I planned, and I am having so much fun that I can't remember if I did every hazard. After about 4.5K, Kid starts to get tired, so I let him select his own pace. We accumulate a few time penalties for 2 minutes over, but we do FINISH, and we trotted the whole way! Flapping tarps, whirling pinwheels, flowers, blowing flags, apparent dead-ends, super-size hills... nothing fazed my little guy! I am soooo proud of him! I cross the finish line screaming "we did it! We finished!" After a nice cool down walk back to his stall, I return the Freedom Collar to Marjean and order my own custom one. She's one smart saleswoman, I tell ya. Kid gets a new black betathane halter, and Jan and I head to the water hazard to watch the big guys and the four-in-hand splash through. Then it's time for the competitor's pork chop dinner and awards. I get a big pink ribbon, and I keep saying "we finished" like it's my new mantra. Have I mentioned how proud I am of my little home-trained horse? Unfortunately for him, I am totally hooked on this sport, and am eagerly awaiting our next chance to compete. Our motto then will be "Go hard, or go home!" So that's my story, aren't you sorry you asked??
