Stupid Pony-Picture Time!

Will not enjoying dress-up time before getting turned out

The first time I took Will in a jumper class at nearby Lakeside Arena, it wasn't exactly pretty. Will had no issue clearing the jumps themselves, but we wasted so much time leaping and rearing between the fences that I don't even remember if we made it over all of them. My dad (and perhaps Team Riley's #1 Fan) kindly said that Will was "not as smooth as Riley," and more "up and down," but I'm pretty sure what he really meant is that Will looked like he was trying to kill me. 

Thankfully those days seem to be behind us. Will's only acrobatics in the jumper ring lately have been clearing the rails, slicing the jumps, and turning on a dime. He didn't do too shabby at November and January Lakeside and this past weekend we braved the nasty rain to bring home another Schooling Jumper division champion ribbon, a 1st, and a 6th. If I'd balanced him better it'd probably be two 1sts, but I'd much rather have that lesson drilled into me over the winter at schooling shows than at a horse trial where it really counts. 

In the mean time we're going to keep up with our exciting and ongoing game of dressage bit roulette and hopefully work on moving back up to 3'6" courses (as soon as I convince myself the height I jumped all last year is not scary). February Snowbird is in a week and a half and with all luck there will be more dumb dress-up pictures to post on the blog!