When it was almost time for my first test, I started to get super nervous. I got on Kilo and he seemed pretty fidgety. I'd also seen him in the ring before though on other riders and he looked very slow and tired, so I knew I'd have to work to get him to pick up the pace a little bit. When it was finally my turn (I was the fifth to go), the bell rang and I did my test. Right from the start my center lines weren't straight, which I knew and tried to fix later. I was mostly worried about getting him to move forward, which he actually didn't seem to have much of a problem with. I was happy with the roundness of my circles and Kilo's overall pace, so that was good. I did have some problems with the transitions though. I almost didn't make my mark for a trot to walk transition, and I went into a trot too early for another. Overall though, I was happy with my performance. After you finish your test pattern you walk up to the judges stand on your way out so they can give you some comments. The judge told me that I had a nice consistent pace throughout the test which was good, but that after my free walk I had not tightened my reins enough so they were too loose the rest of the time. I took note of that because obviously it would be helpful to remember for my next test. After that I walked out of the ring and another rider started her test. Once all the other riders went, it was time for the next class.
This time I was seventh in line to go, so I had to wait a while in the ring. I just sat on Kilo and let him drink water while I talked to my family. Then, finally, it was my turn again. This time I walked up on the outside of the ring so I would be closer to the entrance when I started, and Kilo would not stay still. Luckily, the bell rang pretty fast and I started my next test. Again, my center line was crooked. For some reason Kilo kept wiggling off to the side. Other than that and the fact that I cut some corners a little, I thought this test had gone a little better than the last one. Which actually makes sense, because now I was a little more used to Kilo and could control him better. My final trot down center line was really straight, and when I walked up to the judge again she complimented me on it which was nice. Again, she said that my overall pace was consistent but that my reins needed to be shorter even though they were better than in the previous test. Obviously I know how important that is now!
I exited the ring again and waited for the other riders to do their tests. Then it was time for the equitation class. They split up our division into two groups, so that each group had about five riders in it. Basically, the judge would tell a guy standing next to her what she wanted us all to do, and he would call it out. It was really difficult to be in the ring with four other people. Even in my lessons it's hard. I kept getting really close to the back of someone's horse so I would turn around to avoid that and end up right behind another person's horse. I definitely didn't take as much care to those turns as I should have. Anyway, some of the commands were simple things like "walk" and "posting trot" and "change direction", but then the judge through in "two point", which was a little harder, but then she threw out "sitting trot" which completely caught me off guard. I've never even practiced that in a lesson before. Basically I sat down and tried my best not to bounce up and down too hard. And let me tell you, it takes a lot of thigh muscles to stay in a relatively stable position in a sitting trot. I was very happy when that was over, needless to say.
After a couple more commands we were told to line up, and then it was the next group's turn to go. Someone else was riding Kilo so I just stood off to the side while the went. When they were done, those of us who hadn't just ridden were told to go line up with the others, even if we didn't have a horse, so I walked to the center and awkwardly stood between two horses. Then it was time for ribbons to be given out. I tied with another girl for fourth place in the first class, which I was okay with, although I'm not going to say I wasn't a little disappointed. For the second class, I got a second place which I was very happy with. Then for the equitation I got another fourth place, which I wasn't too surprised about. At least I got a variety of colors to go with my blue ribbons at home. :) Overall, even though I didn't place as high as I would have liked, I was really happy with my performance on Kilo. Considering the fact that I hadn't ridden him in a while and how little practice time I got, I think we did pretty well. :)
Overall it was a good day, and I'm thankful to all my family members that came out to support me. I hope they enjoyed coming and I'm definitely hoping to participate again next year, hopefully with a little more practice beforehand.
yay! <3
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