El Sueno - Part 1 of Who Knows How Many!

I am home! What a great weekend filled with time spent with my mom, dancing, lots of riding, and making new friends. I had a total blast at this year's California Dressage Society's Central Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC) and El Sueno's Championship!

Details to follow, but yes, that is a last place ribbon (groan), a 5th place ribbon that wasn't last place, an exciting 2nd place ribbon, and an awesome championship ribbon!

On Friday night, the show management provided a pizza dinner and drinks, which was a great way to visit with old friends and make new ones. Mom and I had a great time and felt very welcome. 

Delicious CDS cupcakes!

On Saturday evening, The Ventura County Chapter (VCC) of the California Dressage Society threw a fantastic barn party! There was wine (lots of it!), dips and veggies, wraps, fruit, and other goodies. 

For entertainment, VCC brought in a great guy to lead us in line dancing and square dancing. We had the most fun learning those dances. Several times the caller joked about our lack of coordination and poor sense of direction given that we ride dressage. Most of us couldn't tell our left from our right or our toes from our heels!

Photo borrowed from the Ventura County Chapter of CDS - Mom and I are in the middle row, last two "dancers" on the right.

My mom might have had even more fun than I did! She's quite social and had no trouble meeting everyone in our barn row. She even made some new friends that I'd never met before. On the way home, she told me that she felt as though she'd learned so much about dressage that she'll be better able to understand some of the technical stuff that I write about (such as it is!).

Mom, Speedy G (sporting his CHAMPIONSHIP neck ribbon), and me

There is a lot more to share, of course - you know me, but I'll leave you with this tidbit: Suzi Kuykendall, the show manager (and super nice lady), draped my Championship ribbon over my chest and told me to wear it proudly. I walked down to the championship ring to say goodbye to Chemaine, my now, out-of-town trainer, and Jen, the VCC Chairperson. 

Hilda Gurney had just finished her Grand Prix Championship ride on Wintersnow. As she walked by us, she noticed my championship ribbon. Stopping Wintersnow for a moment, she paused and congratulated me. I felt pretty honored that someone of her experience would take a moment to congratulate another rider even though she must have been still busy recovering from her challenging ride. Thank you, Hilda Gurney; you made my day!