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July 19, 2021

NDPC 2021 - Thursday

I won't keep you guys in suspense: it was a good weekend.


We (barely!) won our first ever neck ribbon and had a blast with my genuinely large entourage. But it definitely had its ups and downs which will, as always, make for good content!

On Thursday morning, we shipped out right on schedule before stopping at Lisa's house to pick her and my mom up and give Connor one last chance to stretch his legs before the bulk of the drive happened.


My mom also got to meet her new grandpony for the first time!

He's a charmer, that's for sure

The rest of the trip (5 hours total) was uneventful. Connor got off the trailer at the National Equestrian Center, where he'd never been before, walked straight into the stall, drank half a bucket of water, peed, and cocked a leg for a nap. Good pony.

Day 1 selfie with mom!

After how difficult he was to get through the weekend at Waterloo, my big goal for this weekend was to manage his energy levels to the best of my abilities, which I did both through diet (more on that later) and carefully managing his schedule. After bringing him home from Cincinnati the Friday before, my schedule was:

Saturday: 25 minute ride (lots of trot)

Sunday: 25 minute ride (lots of canter)

Monday: 25 minute ride (lots of walk, TOH, suppling, etc)

Tuesday-Wednesday: completely off

Thursday: ship in and school at the showgrounds

The plan for Thursday was to just hack in and around my show ring and warmup, do some stretchy work, but not do anything crazy or even make it a real schooling ride.

That plan changed when I saw the dark, spooky indoor I'd be showing in. This show had four outdoor rings and two indoors, and of course I was set to ride in one of the indoors. I swore off showing Connor in indoors years ago after he lost his damn mind at a Majestic show back in 2014, but there would be no getting around it this time.

The nice indoor, with GGT and bright lights. This ring was alllllllll freestyles, all weekend.


The indoor I'd be showing in, with...dirt. And a noticeable slope to one corner. And really loud exhaust fans. And the warmup was even darker!

So I ended up doing a more substantial schooling ride than I planned on Thursday afternoon until he stopped gawking at stuff and his ears finally flicked toward me. I even had my mom and Lisa sit in the judge's stand to hopefully get his classic "OH SHIT THERE'S A PERSON THERE" out of the way the night before.

Then it was dinner, liquor store run (naturally) and bed!

23 comments:

  1. 🤩🤩🤩 you and Connor are my heroes ❤️

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    1. And you are the best! Mostly, lol. :) :) :)

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    2. I do sincerely hope the overwhelming amount of photos and champagne made up for Fridays lapse in judgement 🙈

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    3. She may forgive, but never forget our terrible miscalculation of what's funny. 😂

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  2. I love how you schooled in your sparkly teal pad!

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    1. I did! If you can't school in sparkles at a pony show, where can you school in sparkles, really?

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  3. Nice to know even Connor has his 'issues;' from the short time I've followed you he has sounded nearly perfect! 😉 Congrats on the good weekend and the neck ribbon; last night I broke the glass that Stella and I 'won' at her first show which made me very sad.

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    1. Haha, yes, he is generally the most perfect boy on the ground, but he's a very tricky and quirky ride both mentally and physically. After 10 years, I've learned how to work around and through most of it though, which served me well this weekend.

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  4. I don't know what was a bigger highlight - meeting Mary and Leah, meeting your family, or meeting Connor! I loved all of it! :)

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    1. UM SAME 🤩🤩🤩

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    2. I'm SO glad you came! And sorry he didn't play ball on Sunday. Next time!

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    3. Oh believe me - I appreciate you saying today's not the day instead of setting Connor and I up for an unhappy ride!

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  5. What a gorgeous neck ribbon!! I'm excited you won one!! I've been to one or two horse shows at that facility with Prince and I think the area you had to show in was where we warmed up... I remember it being SUPER dark.

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    1. Thank you! Yes, it was very dark and just dingy. The main ring wasn't dark at all, it was gorgeous! Wish I was showing in there.

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    2. Yeah I am surprised they actually held something judged in there, I would almost think being out in the heat and sun briefly would have been better!

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    3. Believe it or not, alllllll of the outdoor rings were full! They ran 6 total dressage rings from 8am-6pm every day.

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  6. I'm sorry you got stuck in the worst ring, but it still sounds like you had a great time! Very excited to read the rest!

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    1. It was a truly great time yeah. Can't wait to do it again next year!

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  7. What an awesome experience! I'm looking forward to living it vicariously :D

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  8. :D Neck ribbon!!! <3 Looking forward to reading the rest and glad that they allowed you into the indoor so he could get acclimated!

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