This might seem a little foreign for most other registries, Dressage Championships along with most breed National shows happen at a "central" location (usually Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky etc) but the Sport Horse being such a popular division has warranted a rotational Nationals, which actually allows people who would otherwise be unable, to travel to a National show at least once every other year.
So in 2014, the year we went Reserve at Region V, Nationals was on the West Coast in Nampa, ID at the ID Horse Park. This was a lucky break for Halo and I, as our coach Kat DeVol and one of her other clients Darsie and her horse Phil were planning on making the trek. With a bit of planning and a LOT of scrounging and saving, both Darsie and I were able to make plans to be there.
Now, it was not cheap. I spent well over $2000 to get Halo there for ONE class. So if our class didn't go well, I was basically throwing that money down the toilet (insert positive comment about how the experience was worth it here--and by the way, it was).
So. We made the 10 hour drive to Nampa. Left REALLY early. Did I mention my horse had only been hauled about 5 times, and NEVER more than 20 mins at a time. So she hops right on the trailer, and off we go. We stopped to pick up Darsie and Phil and on our way.
On the road again!!
So after a very long, boring, uneventful, but still nerve-wracking (oh, did I mention both me and Darsie are hyper-anxious about our horses...like bad?) trip, we made it! We got all set up and both horses went right to eating and drinking like good little ponies.
Halo settled right in. It was quite hot when we got there, but it was cooling down very fast (Nampa is sort of desert-like).
The next day I took Halo for a walk around the grounds, had a nice lunge and then grazed a bit to help her settle. Did I mention my one class was on Friday and it was Tuesday we hauled in? (Darsie's horse is under saddle and his riding classes began Weds afternoon so we wanted to give him plenty of time to settle).
Early morning Philbert with an IG philter.
We had lots of time to walk around and see the sights. Which turned out to be great for our confidence and trust in each other. We had a few lessons in hand from Kat, just to really tweak and perfect our running style.
We did some grazing (in our fancy sparkle bell boots of course).
We watched some horses go out in the dressage rings. We call this "contemplating our future".
Here Halo and I are waiting our turns at the little ring they have for letting horses move around a bit. Sort of a free lunging ring. It is a really nice thing to have at a long show like this.
We also spent a lot of time in our stall, just chilling. It was so hot and we had not anticipated the horrible flies (apparently late summer is when they hatch, and the warm weather helped them to come out). We were told to get big box fans (Wally World, here we come!), which would help with the heat, and also help keep the flies out of our stalls. Halo was not sure about the fan at first, but quickly realized it was quite refreshing.
Not entirely certain, but I think she might've believed she was a super model...??
Now onto the results. Darsie and Phil had some absolutely FANTASTIC rides in huge classes, and came away with two National Top Tens, one of which was actually a 3rd in a very large, very competitive Sport Horse Show Hack class.
Phil, Darsie and our coach Kat DeVol after Darsie's 2nd Top 10.
As stated before, Halo and I only had one class. So it was sort of a do or die sort of situation for us. If we screwed up, or the judges didn't like her, or whatever, we would be on our way home with our tails tucked.
We got all braided up and cleaned (we ended up forgoing the bath because Halo was terrified of the wash racks, and they were concrete floors so I was worried she would hurt herself) off, we headed up to the ring. Only to be told it would be another 45 minutes before our class because they were running behind. Of course, my horse had grease on her face, and hoof oil on her feet, so now I had to put her back in her shavings loaded stall. Cue meltdown. Seriously. I was so ready to just get out there and do the thing that I totally melted down when I was told I would have to wait our turn.
Here's hoping we don't see this before our Nationals class!
One of my old trainers was there and very kindly offered to show her for me, I think she took my meltdown as nerves (and rightfully so!) I didn't even blink, I said no I am determined to do this! Our good friend Todd patted me on the back and told me that it was fine, we would just clean her back up when the time came. And the time came. And we cleaned her up. And Kat raced up to get me in my class, and then had to run down to the dressage rings to help Darsie and Lindsey (our classes were going at the same time). So I was on my own for the results. Oh, except for some AWESOME barn friends who drove all the way out JUST to watch our class and turn around and go home!
And the results are in....2014 Reserve National Champion 2yo Arabian Fillies Sport Horse In Hand!!!
I think the thing that made me the most proud is we actually were first on one card and tied for third on the other. So the Hunter and Dressage judges both liked her very similarly. That, and we beat the very nice filly who beat us at Region V, along with SO many other nice, nice fillies. PLUS the winner was from Al-Marah who have very nice horses and always clean up in hand. AND I was, I believe, the ONLY amateur handler. Which means I was the only non - professional (trainer) showing my horse.
What a show!
