Finn is Sold

It was not planned at all and was rather a shock.
After Champs I was very very sore. On the Monday I had shooting pains in my hips and a very stiff sore back. Coralie my trainer has said "Judith he's way too big for you. You need a smaller narrower horse" With the level of injuries I have it is just so hard for me to keep Finn forward and straight. I pondered it for a few days and had my usual lesson on the Thursday where he went amazingly well. We were doing shoulder in to half pass back to shoulder in, simple changes. He was forward and awesome and I thought No way can I sell this horse. I will never own one like this again. Several people had known about Coralies thoughts and on the same night as my lesson someone phoned and said they wanted to come look at him. I nearly threw up! But as it seemed that fate was also telling me I needed to sell him I went ahead and let the person come to see him. As it turned out they liked him and made plans to buy him. I was devastated. Long story short which I will not go into the person pulled out of the sale. I was so relieved as it was not the sort of home I wanted Finn to go to. Several days later Shirley came to look at Finn. She rode him loved him and said she wanted him. Shirley has ridden to Grand Prix but has not ridden for a few years since coming to NZ for work so he was the perfect horse for her to get her feet wet again. And the best thing is that she is local so Finn would be staying in the area. 2 days later I delivered Finn to his new home at The Friesan Stud in Muriwai. He is the only bay horse there amongst all the lovely black Friesans. Shirley said she was not interested in competing anymore but now thinks she just might. So I will look forward to seeing him out and about. Shirley is 6 ft 4 so a much better size for him. Pic of Shirley and Finn.

Waitemata Dressage Champs

WOW is my first impression. The fields are the strongest I have seen. Full of very very fancy Imports and well bred imports. Finn looked like a rugby prop in a feild of Ballerinas. But donot estimate the rugby prop. He beat a heap of those fancy pants horses. First test was the Challenge. He did the best test I think hes ever done. Right up until the last few horses we were 3rd. We ended up in 7th and the best of the non warmbloods. In fact there was only 3 non warmbloods in the class of 30 so not a bad result. Saturday was not so great. I had a German Helper here who was the laziest thing known to mankind. I had an early start so had to hop to it to get ready. I was bathed in sweat and had drips running down my face by the time we loaded. She stood watching me looking completely blank. I was seething and once we were in the car I told her off. Of course that did nothing for my calm prep for 2 dressage tests. Finn was a bit lazy today and as I was tense I did not ride well. We finished just above mid feild. Sunday my helper stayed at home. I did not want her around me at all. I could do the job quicker and was far more relaxed without her hanging over me and making me angry. It paid off and we once again did a really good test. Not quite as good as Friday but still good. We ended up 3rd overall in the Amateur Division and if there had been a prize for the best non warmblood Finn would have won it. The Saturday result cost me reserve Champion. Blast it.Just goes to show it does not pay to have someone around you that makes you really tense if you want to do well at a show!

Auckland Dressage Champs

Champs for me was a very mixed bag. We had an absolutely terrible journey to the grounds through very high volume Auckland traffic with bumper to bumper traffic in places from roadworks and trucks roaring up behind us the whole way. Finn was in a lather when we arrived at the grounds. When we arrived we found the new grounds for the Auckland/Manukau Dressage Group still very raw and scary. Rock hard packed clay from all the recent earthworks, lots of machinery still around, open drains with water in them having to be crossed to get to the arenas,and rattling generators just made things just a little more trying. Its going to be great when its finally all done but in the meantime its makes for a distracting environment. Finn was very tense and due to the ground being so hard I had a 8 minute warmup for my first test. He actually warmed up nicely but when it got to our first canter in his test he spent the whole time handstanding. 61%. Finn did not want to load for another journey in the traffic so we had a little altercation before he finally decided to load. Fortunately the traffic although busy was not as bad as the morning. Saturday we had a 10am start and the traffic was nice and easy. On the hard clay this morning and with a judge who hates Finn. Finn was still tense and after our counter canter had a little disagreement where he actually thought he might like to leave the arena. A very harsh and undeserved 59.5% but I have come to expect this from this judge. The afternoon test was on the grass again and this time judged by UK judge Mary Robbins who does not miss a trick. I was a bit freaked to say the least. He was a pretty flat and was really feeling the ground by this time but Mary saw the good and rewarded is with 4th place and 64% with the deserved comments of a little earthbound! :) Sunday just the one test and for this one finally on the Cushionride. Finn was finally calmer today but a bit tired. I was pretty happy with the test. His second canter was hollow but overall it wasn't a bad test. The scores were pretty close and we were not far off a placing on 62%. So overall not the results we would have liked but Finn being a suspicious beast and not being good on hardground (Being a clumper) it was as good as it was going to get. Next weekend its back to Woodhill Sands and a soft surface so hopefully we will have a better result.

Our few minutes of Spring yesterday.

Bad News

Well the bad news from me is that I am now in plaster! After 4 weeks of hobbling around and still barely able to put weight on my left foot to rise to the trot I decided I had better go see the Dr about it. I came out in plaster. It seems that when Finn jumped on my foot he managed to break two bones. No wonder its been so painful! So now I am completely out of action. I am still able to get around enough to lunge both horses a few days a week but thats about it for them for a while. Sadly my achilles specialist is thinking I may need be put in a moon boot for a month on that leg too so when my next appointment comes up in 2 weeks I may be in plaster on one leg and a moon boot on the other. Now won't that be a pretty look!
Good thing is that its winter. I was tossing up about doing the winter series anyway so now the decision has been taken out of my hands. My achilles has been giving me a lot of pain since January and has really affected my riding so maybe its time to get it sorted properly. Sadly Pumpkin was really only starting to work well again after his long break and now will be off again! Not what he needed.

Waitemata Dressage Autumn Day 2

Finn has almost recovered from his clipping ordeal. Hes been tight and tense in the back for the days after but by comp day he was nearly 100% again after 3 daily massages. This was to be his first reg Novice start and we decided to do the Prelim 1.5 as our last prelim and as a leadup to the relatively easy Novice 2.1. Don Diego the reigning Prelim Horse of the Year had the same plan so we were up against some stiff competition. I was pretty pleased with the Prelim test. He was just a little heavier in the hand than I would have liked but good enough for 3rd place.
The Novice test had some seasoned Novice horses in it as well as a few newcomers like us and Don Diego. It was a pretty pleasing test with him still getting a bit heavy and tense and we were very happy to finish in 4th place. We just have to get some more strength in his trot and we will be away. Because Finns tests were running late I had to really fly to unsaddle Finn and saddle up Pumpkin to be ready for being first up in the Elementary. Pumpkin does not like rush and our hurried half hour warmup told in our tests. My leg was also really starting to give me hell and sitting trot was murder. He was 3rd in the 3.5 but with only a 56.4 %.
5th in the 3.1 with 57.2 Horrible percentages! Theres still lots of ground to make up with Pumpkin to get him back up to speed again. Hes still tending to dive on the forehand as hes still not regained his strength. The plan is to get him out to do some Showhunter so hopefully that will help out with his restrengthening.

81.7% OMG

Last Sunday I took Finn and Pumpkin to the Waitemata Dressage Day at Woodhill Sands.
It was Pumpkins first outing in 5 months and Finns in 3.
I did not expect much from Pumpkin as hes only really been back in work less than a month and had yet to regain the required strength for an Elementary test.
What I did not count on was his excitement at being out again! His tests were exciting to say the least. The collected trots were non existant but the mediums were stong and huge. The medium canters bought about sproinging all down the long side! It was all a bit of a laugh really and he scored the worst scores hes ever had. Oh well. To be expected really.

But Finny really excelled himself. He got the best score hes ever acheived 81.7%.
I was pretty excited with the 75% he got at Auckland Champs but never have we got 81 in a registered competition. Move over Anky! :) His first test was pretty ok but he was a bit tense and tight in the poll. We scored 66% for third place. He had relaxed more for the second test for the huge score. We even beat the horse that was 3rd Overall at HOTY. Granted that one did win the first test though but we were not that far behind him!

Finn has continued to amaze me this week. I decided to run through one of the Elementary tests that Pumpkin had done last weekend and he nailed it. I reckon he would have got a better score than Pumpkin. Not that it would have been hard with Pumpkins yehaa antics!
So its onwards and upwards from here. Next comp will be his debut at Novice. Unfortunately they have the 2.5 scheduled which is a bitch of a test so I will just do the easier Novice and the harder Prelim on the day.

Jumping For Joy

Recently we had Jo from Poland and Rob from Ireland to stay. They put Pumpkin and Finn through their paces.

Judith Does JUMP!! Evidence!!

Well here you go. Judith actually jumps. What was she thinking?? It took a glass of Champagne and much urging. It was the first time Judith had jumped in a competition (if you could call it that??) in 10 years! The jumps were a huge 70cm at the most and you can see that Finn is making such a huge effort to make sure Mum is holding on tight (look at his ears - Are you sure you are OK up there mum??? ) Judith on the other hand is overdoing it somewhat. I wonder what Dale Pederson would critique this as??? Haha. And we were third in the Walk trot canter Jump. See you at the next Olympic SJ?? :)

Auckland Dressage Champs

Its very annoying that I cannot get these pictures to publish in order but this is the famous run out. To the left my nice canter circle, above, The shoulder popping as we come around the corner and the third, The Famous I am leaving! All caught on film by my son. Not funny at the time but funny when I look at the pics and see how it happaned.


Our first test was an absolute cracker. Finn felt brilliant. He was soft, forward and obediant. I knew when I finished that it was a beauty. When my score went up I was over the moon. 75.385. At that point we were in first place and I was very excited. But of course some of the better horses were after me and we slipped to 4th place. I was pretty chuffed at that as there were some very nice horses in the class. We had an hour and a half break before the second test and I warmed up conservatively. The ground was rock hard and it was hot. He was a little less soft than the first test but Ok. We started our first canter circle and all good and then the shoulder went out and next minute he was jumping out of the gate at A. I sat outside the gate in absolute horror. I have never ever had a horse do that to me before! Norty norty Finn. I had absolutely no idea what happaned until I saw the pics my son had taken. Evidence! Its really clear in the second pic that his shoulder popped and I did nothing to fix it. All my fault. Lesson learned!!!!
Sunday we had an early start and this was our Challenge test this time on the bark arena. Finn was warming up nicely and I had 5 minutes to go before my test when an official came onto the bark and stopped me in the middle of a canter and bawled me out for being on the bark too early! WHAT?? Apparently they were running late and I was supposed to know that! There were only 3 horse in the warmup and one of them was the horse before me. I was not supposed to be in there until she had started her test. How the heck were we supposed to know that they were running late. I was really upset and Finn picked up on it and started to jack up. He completely tensed up and refused to go forward. I had 5 minutes to calm down before my test but it was gone. We went into the arena Halted at X and ran backwards at a rate of knots, we then turned left instead of right. My head was completely in another space. The rest of the test was abyssmal with lots of mistakes and a huge amount of tension.
Berlyddy Bitch that did this to me. 51 % Ouchies. Even the judge said It was entirely uneccessary of the official to do this to me. It completley ruined my test. Of course I should not have got upset but she really went on about How I was supposed to know they were running late! How I have no idea. There were no announcements.
Oh well write that off and get on with the next test. I had 4 hours to calm myself down and it took me at least two hours to get over my fury!
For the last test I hardly warmed up at all. Finn was really feeling the ground by now and was tired. It was all I could do to keep him going forward in the test. 64 % and 9th place out of 31 so not too bad really.

It was great to catch up with Shiwon and meet her lovely boys Da Vinci and Gosh.

Waitemata Dressage Champs

Sorry no pics. Took Camera with a flat battery :(

The verdict on Pumpkin on the vets visit on Tuesday was no Champs for him. He still had a 0.5 lameness and although that was likely to resolve by Saturday it would leave no time for working beforehand so scratchies for him. It was going to be up to the Mighty Finn to keep up the side for us. He was still not up to his normal self so I did not hold out much hope of greatness and on Thursday both of his hindlegs were like balloons. Oh Shite I thought Looks like no horses for Champs. My suspicion of him getting too much sugar and protein from his feed and spring grass was confirmed. I had been weaning him off the sugary feed but he had been on a grassy paddock and the sugary spring grass had got him. So it was off the grass altogether now. Much to his dismay he was locked in his yard with hay and just a little pick at night on a small bare bit of grass. I iced his legs like mad and he stole the magnetic boots off Pumpkin and I spent the next two nights twirling on the rosary beads. Friday verdict was Yes I would start him but it was probably going to be hit and miss. We would do our tests and see how it went and scratch on the day if necessary. Saturday dawned and the legs were much reduced but still a bit puffy.
He warmed up like a unfulfilled employee who had been out on the booze the night before and had to drag his backside into work. He shuffled through his first test with no real mistakes but totally lacking any motivation to do anything but just get through it. A score of 57.5%. I jumped off him for a bit before my second test and
gave him a bit of a break and then climbed back on hoping for the best.
I only warmed him up again for 10 mins and hoped he would have some gas left in the tank to get through it. The wee rest had obviously lifted his spirits as he came down the centre line like the Finn I used to know! Sadly in the third movement I had a slight brain fuzz and instead of turning left at E and doing a 20 m circle at X I started my 20 m circle at E. Arrgh. We started that bit again but he had lost a bit of the joy we had from the great start. Never mind. I did not think the rest of the test was that brilliant but apparently the judge did and scored us a 66.9 %. We got 8s for the first two movements at least. That gave us 5th Place.
Back home for more leg icing and mag boots and the hope that the later start the next day would bring a bit more improvement.
First test on Sunday was a stunner. I was smiling very widely when I came out. I had my Finn back again. I have not felt him like this in weeks. Clearly being off the grass was making a huge difference. The judge liked it too and scored us 68.4% for 4th place. But seeing the score board and who we had come 4th to made it even more special for us. All the three above us were very fancily bred imported or imported semen Warmbloods. To come 4th on my carthorse was very special. :)
Last test was the Challenge and I had great hopes. I wanted to be in the line up in the prize giving! This was the only test on the grass and we were second to go.
Its the area behind the main arena and where all the X country fences are. The only time hes ever been in this area before was to jump X country. His eyes were on stalks and he was grinding his teeth so loudly I am sure everyone could hear him from 10 m away. The horse before us was going absolutely nuts and demolished the arena before retiring. Oh shit now it was our turn. The judge was in a box so she would have been able to hear his teeth from there! We did our best to hold it together but he was really really tense and it was not our best effort. He broke in his lengthen and was quarters in on one of his canters. But we made the line up for the PrizeGiving managing a 5th place. All in all I was absolutely thrilled with my boy. Hes been so erratic for the past few weeks with sugar and protein overload and I think I now have it sussed. Pity I had not twigged earlier and kept him off the fresh paddocks as well as cutting out the sugary feed. So from now on its bland food, hay and bare paddocks for this boy!

Woodhill Sands Dressage

Today was Pumpkins first registered competition since August. Its amazing how time goes. I was absolutely rapt with his first test. He was a bit messy in one transition from freewalk to medium walk to canter transition. He knew the canter was coming and resisted into it. His stretchy trot circle was not as good as I would have liked either but all in all a good test. The judge liked it too and placed him first. By the time the second test came around he was a bit over it. It had been a long day for him hanging around since early morning waiting for his turn and then a gap between tests. His second test was no where as good as the first one. He hopped and resisted in one 10 metre canter circle and was starting to really dive on the forehand at times. He was hot and tired and getting shitty towards the end. Not good
enough for top spot this time but still second place.
Finn unfortunately was not having a very good day. Hes been spooky and a bit over reactive for a couple of weeks. I think the batch of Asia Mix is to blame. Its really dark and looks to be so full of molasses. His white nose has become stained orange theres so much in it. I think its just one really mollassy batch and its clearly way to sugary for this soul. Time for a diet change me thinks. His first test was abysmal. He was resistant in his transitions and I really struggled to keep him straight. His second test was better and he managed to pull off 2nd place. So not a bad day all in all. Next weekend is WRC Dressage and the following is Waitemata Dressage Champs. I need to get Finn and his sugar highs sorted before Champs.

CTR Three

Last Wednesday was the last of the WAR CTRs. I had a great partner in Karen who with her lovely Arab/QH mare had done a 60 km the weekend before. Karen set a cracking
trot pace which Finn had quite a job to keep up with. Because he was a bit tense and excited he would not lengthen his trot to keep up with Karens mares power trot so cantered to keep up. We felt like the Massive heaving couch potatoes trying to keep up with the lithe athletic Gym bunny. Fortunately in the second half he got the idea and relaxed so we were able to JUST keep up at the trot. We came in with just two time penalties and a line heart rate of 60. After his half hour rest period his heart rate had dropped to 36BPM. And we won! Wahoo. I was gobsmaked. Tracey came in with a HR of 57 and resting rate of 36 but had more time penalties so she came in second. Karen was third. Berluddy hell. Both Karen and Tracey are professional Endurance peeps and I beat them on a hefty Irish Horse. Go the Irish. Such a versatile Boy. :)

Just a little pic here of Vanessa giving Henry a lunge.

WRC Dressage

As Pumpkin has been out so long I decided to forego the registered Dressage at Clevedon and do the Unregistered WRC day instead. It was a great chance for Pumpkin to get his feet wet again and its just as well we did it at an unregistered day because he was horrible. He was falling on the forehand through the transitions horribly. Not nice. and falling on his nose. Judges comments - Lovely Boy but just struggling a bit today. No kidding! He still managed a 3rd and 4th but not our greatest moments. Being an unregistered day I decided it was a chance for Finn to have a go at Novice. Pity his first test was the horrible 2.3. Its a test I absolutely hate and would rather ride most of the Elementary tests rather than it.
Finn did an admirable job though for 62.08 %. The second test was the much more flowing 2.1. He flew through this one with the greatest of ease. Pity about the rider though who did not know the test and got 2 course errors. He still managed to get 2nd in it though with 70%. Go Finny.

The Boys kicking back at Home

Dressage Days 4 & 5, CTRs, Sebs Big Day Out

Its been a Long time waiting for this update to be done.
Pumpkin had a relapse with his abscess and missed the final two days of the WHS Dressage Series. He only came completely sound last weekend so theres lots of catch up to do. We had planned to go to the Dressage at Clevedon on the 4th of next month but have decided that we will pass on that and do the Unreg WRC Day which is on the same day. It will be a chance for Pumpkin to get himself back into the swing of things and I thought it might be a good opportunity for Finn to have a crack at Novice. Finn did the 1.6 on the last day of the WHS series and nailed it with 69%. Its the old Novice 2.1 and it rode really well. So its time to get our feet wet with Novice. We will continue to do the season at Prelim of course but play at Novice at the WRC days.

Last week was the WAR CTR 2 and as Pumpkin was still out of action we decided it was a good chance to take Sebastian for his first Big Day out. The week before he went for a hack down the road but apart from that hes never been ridden outside of the gate so going to the big Forest was quite an adventure. Because I was going to be going fairly quick with Finn Vanessa paired up with 2 others who were going to be going at a more sedate pace which suited the fact that Seb was not that fit.

As it turned out the two they paired with were complete fruitloops. It was reported that Seb was the sense of reason amongst the two nutters who were spinning spooking and generally being stupid. He was completely composed and did not bat an eyelid at the best efforts of the silly fools.
They came in only just a little over time recovering at 42BPM which I was absolutely gobsmacked at. For a young horse on his first outing in strange surroudings and with strange riding partners it was absolutely brilliant. Had they come in earlier he would have placed. Gotta love the laid back boy.
Finn finished in 4th place with a heartrate one beat over Sebs!

Awful Weather, Getting Lost on the CTR & WHS ODE

The past couple of weeks the weather has been absolutely revolting but its not stopped us getting out and about. Last week we went to the Riding Clubs CTR in Woodhill Forest. Unfortunately we got horribly lost so ended up just having a bimble around the forest. On Saturday Vanessa our current HelpXer from the UK rode Finn at the Woodhill Sands Mini ODE. She'd not jumped him until a few days before so it was a bit of a baptism of fire but they both handled it very well. The course was all portable jumps set up on the sand as the grass areas resembled a paddy feild. First up was the dressage test and apart from a couple of minor oopsies it was a good test to end up in second place. Then the showjumping which was clear and straight into the Crosscountry. There were 8 jumps set up and you had to jump the compulsory 8 numbered fences and then 2 of choice. The bigger the jump the higher the score.
Vanessa started out on a the little Intro option for the first fence and then was away jumping the Training options. She was very pleased to finish 1st overall. Finny is such a star.
His coat has come right now and hes put on heaps of weight but this weeks Pumpkins turn to be 'off' Hes been a bit shortstriding for the past week and I thought there was an abscess brewing. Despite poulticing what I thought was the offending foot nothing appeared and there was no heat anyway. Baffling. Today James came to reshoe him and upon taking off the shoe found a teeny tiny little blackhead under the shoe. I was on the right side but it was the back foot not the front one I had been poulticing Doh!
There was just a teeny bit of liquid coming out so it was soaked while the other shoes were put on. He then put on some Keratex Nail hole disenfectant onto the hole and reshod him and presto no more shortstriding. Instant success. This weekend is Woodhill Sands Dressage Again. Pray for a nice day for us. We have been drenched on for all but one of the days thus far. Pics of the ODE will be posted once my Handy Dandy Picture poster person comes back from a business trip. Silly me relys on him so much that I still don't know how to put them on the 'puter!

Woodhill Sands Dressage Day Three. Pumpkin does his best test ever !

Finn has been suffering from a case of the 'Winter Blues'. He pulled back a couple of weeks ago and was still suffering from some tightness in his neck and back.
Then he inexplicably lost alot of weight and developed a skin condition. He was miserable and manky looking and hardly fit to be seen in public. So out came the lotions and potions and he had the right royal treatment of daily massages, extra feed and even a worming to try and restore him to his former Star self !
He was responding well and starting to look like his former self again but still had
some residual back tightness and was tending to twist in the neck.

Pumpkin has been feeling the effects of the new grass growth and has been a monumental prat. Hes been like a madman on speed with no brakes. Efforts to restore some regularity and rythmn tended to end up with him getting extremely tense and pulling like a train. We had a lesson the day before the competition and he did his absolute worst. For 45 minutes he pulled,leaned, threw himself on the forehand in transistions and kicked out at the leg. I was in absolute dispair. I was aching and exhausted. Had it not been a lesson I would have just given up and thrown him back in the paddock! Bastard!!!!

So competition day dawns with me feeling not so confident. First up was Finn. He had been fabulous in his lesson the day before but he had left his best work at home.
It was a very mediocre test with me just teasing him along. We finished in 5th place. The second test was pretty much the same as the first with a 4th placing. Pretty ordinary but expected.

I joked that because Finn has obviously done his best at his lesson the day before and done pretty ordinary tests that Pumpkin who had been a prat needed to pull it out of the bag and do well. I did not really believe my own spin but Hey You gotta Keep the spirits up some how. Well Blow me down if he did not pull one out of the bag! It was the best test he has ever done. Soft and completely on the aids.
Where did that complete Prat from yesterday go?? I was smiling from ear to ear. The judges comments said it all ' Horse seems to be enjoying showing off what he can do" 2nd Place!
Unfortunately I blew the second test. I did not know the test and as a result was tense which made Pumpkin tense too. I was so mad at myself that he had done such a great first test and now I had let him down badly. We managed 5th place.

Woodhill Sands Dressage Day 2

After the bad week of nursing the sick ewe,feeding orpaned lambs and a very sore back I did not hold out much hope for today. :( Finn was first up and right from the minute I got on him things were not good. A lack of work all week had not put him in the frame of mind for competition. He was so behind the leg,leaning on the bit,crooked and just downright not in the mood. His first test was very ordinary and he managed a 5th place. The second test he had just given up entirely. It was all over the place. 13th place. How embarassing!
Pumpkin was up next and was surprisingly not too bad considering his lack of work all week. But he seemed to have completely forgotton how to do travers so we had to do some last minute schooling. So in our first test we had lots of travers (at every gait) offered even though it was not called for. :( Pretty ordinary test all up though for 2nd place. The second test was a heap better and we managed to do both travers very nicely for 7s. Another second place so he at least made up for Finns bad mood. The back held up reasonably well with me well primed with painkillers but in the rider comments on one test the comments were riders back lacking suppleness. Hardly suprising really. Lifting 80 kg sheep is not recommended for back health!

Woodhill Sands Dressage Day One

Today was the first day of the Woodhill Sands Winter Tournament. It was Finns Debut as a registered horse and Pumpkins second Elementary start. It was the most crappy rainy horrible day but we trucked on regardless expecting to get soaked. Finns tests were first and it absolutely pelted down during our warmup but stayed bright for both of our tests and amazingly stayed fine for the rest of the day. After Finns exciting day jumping yesterday I found the brakes were rather faulty. Non existant in fact! I dispaired of finding them at all but when it was my time to do my test I just thought Oh well here we go. We entered the arena and the Finn Star came to the fore. Ok he said No jumps involved. I know what to do and the Brakes miracuously reappeared. He was still however a tad stronger than he should have been. He did two pretty outstanding tests and won his second test and was 3rd in the first one. Great percentages too of 68.2 and 65.2. There is nothing more satisfying than starting a fresh new registration book and being able to add 12 of the possible 14 points available and $60.00 prizemoney! A great start for his career as a dressage horse. Pumpkin decided to be Mr Cranky Pants half way through his warmup. He was squiggly and resistant. He did two very ordinary tests and I found out when I got back to the float why he was so cranky. He was busting to Pee! Stupid boy. He got 3rd in both tests by default of the fact that most of the good Elementary horses decided to stay tucked up in bed away from the rain!