On the first day of the show we had two rides (classes). The first was at 9:00am and the second at 9:50am, which meant that I had little time to regroup between rides.
Two of the girls fed for me at 5:30am so that I could get an extra half hour of sleep. I planned to lunge Meyer at 6:30am to loosen him up before getting on him. The lunge went well. Then I gave Meyer a little time to himself and then got him prepared for the show. For those who have known me for a long time, yes I had someone else braid him up. I'm wondering how much longer I can pull off having someone braid for me ;).
In warm up I felt good, but definitely a little tense. When I previously showed, the first test of the show was always my worst, as I came in a little tighter than usual. In the warm up, I could feel I had a horse to ride but I could feel that Meyer didn't trust me completely as I had only ridden him 7 times. His only previous experience with male riders was a few years ago with some "rough" cowboys on him. I could tell he was somewhat apprehensive with me on his back the past week and today. I could feel him expecting me to be rough with him. I knew that getting him to trust me was the key.
I rode Second Level Test 1 for the first ride. The outside of the ring we showed in had some grandstands, flowers and other "scary" things and Meyer immediately began looking around and getting a little tight. I was thinking, "Meyer just give me a chance to ride this". The ride went well considering how little I had ridden him, and that the last time I was in the show ring was August 1997. We did have one little blow up coming into the right lead canter and in one of the canter serpentine movements. Each time he threw his head up and slightly reared. Calmly I brought him back and continued on. What was completely embarrassing is I forgot a circle in the canter and went off course. In that circumstance the judge rings the bell and tells you where you went off course. You then pick up where you went off course and continue the test. This was the first time I had ever gone off course (I think); and how appropriate for my first ride back.
We scored a 57.8% and finished 5th in the class.
After the ride, I knew I needed to ride with more relaxation and to trust my instincts. We took Meyer back up to the stables for a moment so that he could get a drink and relax before I got back on.
I did a short warm up on Meyer for the second test and I could feel a more relaxed horse under me; as well as being a more relaxed rider. We rode Second Level Test 2. We put together a much more complete ride including a better connection between horse and rider. I could begin to feel more comfortable in the ring and began dialing in a mental focus that I could ride the most optimally at. I could also feel the horse starting to trust me more. We scored a 63.8% (0.2% from a qualifying score) and finished 2nd in the class.
Coming out of the ring, I knew I could ride this horse very well over the next couple of days, and that this comeback is something I really wanted.
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