The Servant of the Horse returns!
What a week it’s been. I went back to work for Lindsay for the duration of the Winter Farewell at Spruce Meadows, and it was great. She ended up being short staffed of the first few days and asked if I could help her out. I jumped at the chance! I started for her on Wednesday, and it was as though I had never left. I fell right back into the swing of things with no problem; packing the trunks for the show, determining what was missing, where to set everything up at the show grounds, schedules for the horses, etc.
Oh how I missed those horses! I was so excited to see Irissa again, and she was actually happy to see me too! She recognized me immediately, and swung up to give me a big kiss right away! She nuzzled me and groomed me with her lips and showered me with kisses because she knows I love them so much. And Smartie always makes a person feel loved; she gave a little whinny when I said her name and was always happy to see me at the show grounds.
Long story short Lindsay did amazing. First show of the season and she cleaned up! She brought two horses: Smartie and Quipa (pronounced Key-Pah), a mare that she got and started showing late last summer. Both horses were in the 1.30m the first day, winning 3rd and 4th respectively. Saturday saw them both in the 1.40m class, where once again Smartie beat Quipa 3rd place to 5th.
Yesterday was the 1.40m Grand Prix. The groom that I was brought in to replace was back that day, so I went just to watch and help out. It was so exciting! There were only 18 competitors, but I was familiar with most of them. Larissa - one of the riders that we used to stable with at Wildwood - was sitting nearby taking 2$ bets on the winning horse from her friends and family. She asked if I wanted in so I - naturally - picked Smartie. Lindsay was sure that Brenda Riddell on Leo 127 would win it, but what kind of friend/groom would I be if I didn’t support my team? Besides, with 2 placings and no rails, Smartie was really impressing me. Fyreuni was on her way to come watch with me, so I phoned her and gave her the list of remaining horses. I only knew anything about two of the horses left; one who had a bad run all week and wasn’t likely to make a comeback when he’s tired on the last day, and Lindsay again on Quipa. I told Fyreuni that in all honesty Quipa wasn’t likely to make the jump off, let alone win (she’s an amazing horse, she jumps effortlessly, but Lindsay hasn’t quite figured out all the gears on her yet, and as such they don’t end up with much speed), so she chose a horse named Cavallo because he had the coolest-sounding name.
Heh, sadly, she arrived just in time to watch Cavallo lumberjack his way around the course to the tune of 17 faults!
It was a Winning Round course, so that means that after the first round, the 12 best rides - no matter how many faults - carry on. Smartie went clear while Quipa had a rail, but it was good enough to get into the next round. In this round the 6 best after adding both scores advance to the jump off. Quipa was clear the second round, but not fast enough to make the cut.
After watching Leo go, I had to admit that Lindsay was right - he and Brenda were jumping well, and with his speed he could beat Smartie hands down. I was a little worried, but held out in the hopes that Brenda would make a mistake and they’d take a rail.
Smartie jumped amazing! This is a horse that used to take rails left and right and not even care, while horses like Irissa and Quipa hit one and launch higher over the rest because they don’t like it. But all this week Lindsay showed off just how much work she’s put into that horse because Smartie was so incredibly careful!
The first 4 horses in the jump off had rails, and one rider even fell off. It was down to Smartie and Leo. Lindsay went in and made a great decision to swing wide instead of going for the inside turn - going for a clear round instead of speed and thus higher risk of a rail. It was a smart decision because all things being equal Leo would for sure be the faster of the two. So it was best to go wide and hope Leo took a rail.
And she did go clear! Then Leo pounded into the ring. They flew around the course, and much to my dismay Brenda too decided to take the wide turn and use Leo’s speed to surpass Lindsay elsewhere on course. It looked to be over until the very last fence. Turns out that Brenda wasn’t able to see Lindsay’s round, and so had no idea that she took the wide turn as well. She tried to make up for lost time and chased too hard to the last fence. Leo just couldn’t get his feet up in time and took out the top of the brick wall.
It was the first time Lindsay ever won a Grand Prix! I was so proud of both her and Smartie, and how far they’d come. It also didn’t hurt that my 2$ turned into 36! I figured for that I could cover Fyreuni's wager since Cavallo let her down so bad!
Turns out gambling really does make things more fun!
Oh how I missed those horses! I was so excited to see Irissa again, and she was actually happy to see me too! She recognized me immediately, and swung up to give me a big kiss right away! She nuzzled me and groomed me with her lips and showered me with kisses because she knows I love them so much. And Smartie always makes a person feel loved; she gave a little whinny when I said her name and was always happy to see me at the show grounds.
Long story short Lindsay did amazing. First show of the season and she cleaned up! She brought two horses: Smartie and Quipa (pronounced Key-Pah), a mare that she got and started showing late last summer. Both horses were in the 1.30m the first day, winning 3rd and 4th respectively. Saturday saw them both in the 1.40m class, where once again Smartie beat Quipa 3rd place to 5th.
Yesterday was the 1.40m Grand Prix. The groom that I was brought in to replace was back that day, so I went just to watch and help out. It was so exciting! There were only 18 competitors, but I was familiar with most of them. Larissa - one of the riders that we used to stable with at Wildwood - was sitting nearby taking 2$ bets on the winning horse from her friends and family. She asked if I wanted in so I - naturally - picked Smartie. Lindsay was sure that Brenda Riddell on Leo 127 would win it, but what kind of friend/groom would I be if I didn’t support my team? Besides, with 2 placings and no rails, Smartie was really impressing me. Fyreuni was on her way to come watch with me, so I phoned her and gave her the list of remaining horses. I only knew anything about two of the horses left; one who had a bad run all week and wasn’t likely to make a comeback when he’s tired on the last day, and Lindsay again on Quipa. I told Fyreuni that in all honesty Quipa wasn’t likely to make the jump off, let alone win (she’s an amazing horse, she jumps effortlessly, but Lindsay hasn’t quite figured out all the gears on her yet, and as such they don’t end up with much speed), so she chose a horse named Cavallo because he had the coolest-sounding name.
Heh, sadly, she arrived just in time to watch Cavallo lumberjack his way around the course to the tune of 17 faults!
It was a Winning Round course, so that means that after the first round, the 12 best rides - no matter how many faults - carry on. Smartie went clear while Quipa had a rail, but it was good enough to get into the next round. In this round the 6 best after adding both scores advance to the jump off. Quipa was clear the second round, but not fast enough to make the cut.
After watching Leo go, I had to admit that Lindsay was right - he and Brenda were jumping well, and with his speed he could beat Smartie hands down. I was a little worried, but held out in the hopes that Brenda would make a mistake and they’d take a rail.
Smartie jumped amazing! This is a horse that used to take rails left and right and not even care, while horses like Irissa and Quipa hit one and launch higher over the rest because they don’t like it. But all this week Lindsay showed off just how much work she’s put into that horse because Smartie was so incredibly careful!
The first 4 horses in the jump off had rails, and one rider even fell off. It was down to Smartie and Leo. Lindsay went in and made a great decision to swing wide instead of going for the inside turn - going for a clear round instead of speed and thus higher risk of a rail. It was a smart decision because all things being equal Leo would for sure be the faster of the two. So it was best to go wide and hope Leo took a rail.
And she did go clear! Then Leo pounded into the ring. They flew around the course, and much to my dismay Brenda too decided to take the wide turn and use Leo’s speed to surpass Lindsay elsewhere on course. It looked to be over until the very last fence. Turns out that Brenda wasn’t able to see Lindsay’s round, and so had no idea that she took the wide turn as well. She tried to make up for lost time and chased too hard to the last fence. Leo just couldn’t get his feet up in time and took out the top of the brick wall.
It was the first time Lindsay ever won a Grand Prix! I was so proud of both her and Smartie, and how far they’d come. It also didn’t hurt that my 2$ turned into 36! I figured for that I could cover Fyreuni's wager since Cavallo let her down so bad!
Turns out gambling really does make things more fun!