Marvelous Marlborough

I have lots to share about Day One of the Lucinda Green clinic - but first, I have to talk about the marvelous weekend I spent at the Marlborough HT. First, the weather could not have been better - I think we really deserve this after all that F$*!&*! snow.

I heard they had about 115 horses come out on Saturday to school the XC course - I think 100 of them were on the course at 10:00 when it opened! No joke. A few months ago, my mom went to see my little cousin compete in a surfing contest. Apparently when the "right" wave comes up, a mass of surfers paddle like crazy to get on that wave - they get points for picking the "right" wave as well as for how well they ride that wave. Anyhow, afterwards my mom said she had terrible images of riders out on a XC course, waiting for the right jump to show up (as builders and designers dodge around the course setting up this jump and taking down that jump)... and when the "right" jump shows up - all the riders charge! Saturday was a bit like that! Although, thankfully, the jumps all stayed right where they were placed.

Sunday was another amazing day - and especially because my two students rode like stars! I could not have been more proud! Adrianne finished in 2nd and Debi finished in 3rd in the BN division - and both of them (and their horses!) were all smiles! Debi and I spent the winter really addressing some basic training issues with her horse's jumping, and wow - what a difference! Debi has really worked her tail off, and she deserved this ride more than anyone I know! And this was Adrianne's first completed HT, so to bring home a pretty red ribbon sure is a nice way to start her competitive eventing debut!

Debi & Roxanne eating up the XC course!

Marlborough really had a hard time getting entries and volunteers this year. I think they ended up with almost 80 entries (they had about 100 last year). And, if they were short on volunteers, I couldn't tell. In fact, the volunteers were some of the best I've come across in a long time! Everyone was so efficient, accurate, kind, and seemed to be totally enjoying themselves. THANK YOU! Except, to the volunteer jump judges who disappeared (unclear if they went on break, left the show, or what) with their score cards! AGH! We waited for probably close to 2 hours for the jump judges to be tracked down and their scores recorded. That sucked. And, while I'm complaining about volunteers - this one is just shitty. Apparently 8 jump judges didn't show up on Sunday - this was AFTER they had used their volunteer free schooling passes the day before! Anyone with horses knows that emergencies happen. But, 8 emergencies sure seems like a lot to me. I don't know how many jump judges were supposed to be there, but I'll guess they had 20 lined up. 8 out of 20 jump judges - that's a pretty high percentage to find themselves in full-on crisis emergencies that would prevent them from doing the time they had already been paid for! Really folks, that's crappy. I hope Marlborough puts up pictures of these individuals at the fall HT - like bad check writers.

But, that aside - Congratulations to Debi & Adrianne for superb rides and ribbons to match!!

Adrianne & Tori zipping off to the last (there is just something cool about galloping along power lines, isn't there?!)!

Waiting for those rogue jump judges to bring back their score sheets....