El Sueno - Sunday's First Test

There's more? Yeah. How much more - I have stuff to do! Two more posts after this one. How long was this dang show anyway? Long!

I was finished with both of my tests by 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. Once Speedy was put back in his stall, there wasn't much to do but spend the day watching all of the other riders do their tests. It was a day well spent, but it was also quite tiring to sit out in the sun for so many hours.

On Sunday, my rides weren't until 3:00 in the afternoon, which meant that I spent another day pretty much sitting around watching everyone else ride. I did lunge Speedy and take him for a walk which required another bath, but that only takes so long. By the time I needed to saddle up, I was over it.

I had no enthusiasm, although I was trying very hard to bring my energy level up. I ate lunch, drank a coke, walked briskly, even so, I was pretty lethargic. As I entered the warm up, my stable core and strong upper body from Saturday were noticeably absent. Instead, I found spaghetti noodles attached to a bowl of Jello. I tried to shake it off and pep Speedy up, but he was feeling my low energy and happily went along with it.

Sarah, from Eventing in Color, had sent a text saying that she was popping over for a quick visit. She was scheduled to arrive in time for my first ride, but then I discovered we were running ahead so I walked over to the covered arena for my ride without getting to see her. I was hoping a visit from Sarah would give me a little adrenaline rush.

I greeted the judge, gave her my number, and head down the outside of the court waiting for her whistle. I entered at A, saluted, and tracked right at C. Right at that moment, Sarah came walking up quietly, just in time! I gave her a big smile and got that little bit of a boost that I needed.

I continued on with the test, but Sarah's dollop of energy must have run out because as I was doing my free walk, I heard the whistle blow. Seriously. How can you go off course while walking?! I was so focused on getting a better, more forward walk, that I continued straight on to H instead of turning right toward M. You know you're tired when you get lost while walking! So, that gave me a two point error.

After that little hitch in our giddy-up, everything else went okay. As I did my final halt and salute, I felt a little disappointed about the test. We had ridden it so well the day before that I was hoping to do at least as well. Sarah, being the supportive friend that she is, insisted that it looked lovely.

The afternoon break followed my test, so Sarah and I spent some time catching up and laughing while I waited to do my second test, which was one ride after the break. Her visit recharged my batteries and perked Speedy up as well. He can be such a pest! Sarah was on her way home, so she had to leave before my last ride of the show, but her visit gave me the energy to finish out the day with a positive and energetic attitude. Thank you, Sarah!

After I was finished riding my last test, I went up to the show office to get my score sheets. When I saw the score for Training Level Test 2, I was shocked! Even with the two-point deduction for the error, we still scored a 66.071%. Again we had no 5s, and we even earned a 7 for the stretchy trot! Overall, ten of the sixteen scores were 7s or higher!

Tomorrow, the final test ...

I am loving all of these 7s!