December 21, 2014

RIP GDHT

I just learned this morning that the Greater Dayton Horse Trials (Area VIII), will not be held this year.  That's all of the information I have, so I'm hoping that someone who lives close enough to Twin Towers Park to school there (Amanda!) will comment with additional information.

Greater Dayton Horse Trials was the site of my first event...which was also my first rated event...which was also the first time I ever jumped in a show...which was also Connor's first time jumping in a show...which was also our first XC round together. Go big or go home, right?  Wrap up post.



This SJ round was truly a clusterf***, as it was Connor's first time jumping flowers and both of our first jumper round.

Leg position so good despite the fact that I don't have a stirrup.  Connor jumped most of these from a complete standstill...and we finished double clear.  Shrug.

The fence where we had the Coming to Jesus moment where he realized 1) what XC was, 2) that, yes, he needed to jump all the fences and 3)  That this was kinda fun.  He accelerated away from this fence gaining confidence by the stride.

When we had an actual Dressage saddle...sigh...

I'm sorry to see any event in my area go away, but especially this one.  Adios, GDHT!

16 comments:

  1. Boo :( Looked like a beautiful venue too.

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    1. It was a pretty good one. We were able to back the trailer up to our stabling and leave it there all weekend, which was definitely the best part about the venue. I wish we could do that at every event.

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  2. oh no sad to hear this :(, the place looks lovely! i'd love to ride somewhere like this.

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  3. Aw, sad! You get really attached to special show grounds.

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    1. Definitely. I don't think the facility is closing, at least that I know of. I hope they don't close it.

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  4. Super bummer to hear a show won't be held the next year, particularly when it holds a special place to you! But just now I enjoyed going back and reading about yours and Connor's first show! I can completely relate to that nervousness about the unknown and how the horse is going to react to new things. Are you and Connor feeling better in that respect? (I really need to go back and read all your show recaps!)

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    1. I'm glad you liked it! I'll put together a post of our show recap links if you'd like. I do feel a lot better now, but it's because I know him, and I have a good idea about how he is going to handle certain types of questions, plus he knows his job more thoroughly. That first XC especially was a huge unknown, because even schooling XC doesn't prepare you for actually running XC. I literally felt him mentally mature underneath me as we went through that course at Greater Dayton, fence 4 was the turning point in his XC career.

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    2. If you put together a show recap post, I would definitely read it! I hope the same confidence comes for me and maggie over time!

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  5. Sad! Never good to lose shows/events/venues.

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    1. I agree! We lose a lot more than we get new ones.

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  6. A lot of the dressage shows around here are on the brink of going too. I am actually thinking of showing some hunters with Sydney next year because of it. One of the farms that hosts two shows a year is up for sale, and the other person that hosts two shows a year is handing her farm over to her daughter and nobody really knows what is going to happen there. Last I heard a lot of the boarders were very concerned that the farm was going to go private and that they were going to get kicked out. Shame as they have a really, really amazing grounds and arena.

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    1. I hate hearing that it's happening in other areas too. I would especially hate to have to switch sports due to a lack of venues, good luck!

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  7. aww boo! at least you'll always have the memories? ... and maybe something else will pop up in its place?

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    1. I don't know enough about why it's gone to know if that will happen or not, but I hope so!

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