our first "competitive ride" a JP!!! Aug 3 & 4

I'm so nervous the day we leave for Wickham that I can't eat breakfast or dinner..

Kaaren brings the horse trailer and drops it off so I can pack my gear in while she's at work. We plan to load Kizz up and head to her place to finish packing and then leave as soon as she's off at dinner time.

Dinner comes and we load up in the rain. I really hope it doesn't rain all weekend! We get to her house and finish loading everything up and load up Odin. It's a lot of stuff to take for 2 people and 2 horses for a whole weekend!  We arrive after a 2 hour drive, to a beautiful spot! it's a huge field that has a lake at he bottom, there are already probably 15 horse trailers with little pens around them filled with horses..

We unload the fencing and set us up! Kizz and Odin go in their pens and we set up the rest of the gear. We head up to the main house for a bit of supper, but alas we were too late and it's all gone! boy will I eat next time no matter how nervous I am!! hungry later is much worse :S

Kizz looks around and checks everything out, but doesn't seem to nervous. We take them for a little walk to eat some grass and check everything out . He's pretty excited but behaves. We put them back in the pen later and go meet some of the ACTRA members. I meet a few really nice people who make me feel very welcome! I miss my kiddos and hubby already though! :P

It's raining and supposed to continue for the night, so we sheet the horses, and we go to bed and I try and get some sleep!

Saturday comes and Kaaren gets ready to go on her 30 mile CTR. It's all very exciting but I really can't just sit and take it all in, as Kizz is yelling and making a huge commotion over Odin leaving him. He runs around and acts crazy in his pen. I tie him to Kaaren's trailer to give him a chance to calm down while they all ride out. Kizz being the brat he is, scratches Kaaren's trailer with his teeth!! Luckily the ride manager Jennifer told me I could fence Kizz in her fenced in pasture while the other horses are gone. I keep an eye on him all day while they're gone, while he runs and screams most of it... (about 1 hour of running and screaming and 1 hour of trotting and occasional yelling)
 I put on a brave face and have a drink!!

When Kaaren & Odin get back we bareback down to the lake for a swim.. I get dunked as Kizz gets in too deep for his liking and bucks 5-6 bucks on his way towards the shore.. I of course stay on until he gets to sandy area and lets out a really good buck.. But I grab him and take him back in the water , a lady grabs a pic of us in the lake after words :)

Sunday - our ride day!!-


Pre vetting he is whinnying and won't stand good for the vet to check him. He does fine at the trot out though.


We go down and I tack up and immediately he is so much calmer than he's been. He immediatly settles once he knows we are going out riding! Easy to tell he LOVES this! 



We walk up to the judges to be checked and mount. He stands quietly.  He even lets me lift and pull his legs forward (something he dislikes)

A nice lady Carrilee takes some great shots of Kizz and I for me and shares them with me! :) I LOVE having pics to look back and remember ! (I also love seeing how happy Kizz looks in the pics!)


We mount up with the mounting block. He is perfect.  We walk off down the road with Odin & Kaaren. He is acting just like at home! Most of the trail he is just like normal. Only times he acts differently is when a horse comes up behind us. He keeps swinging his head around looking both sides. He never really settles with a horse behind us (other than Odin) we trot on ahead on some of the trail! At almost halfway (7ish miles ) he trots up a big hill happily.

We get to halfway and he's calm and happy. I loosen his saddle, We drink and have electrolytes  and give him a break. The bet checks his HR and its good. 45. We mount back up. He isn't as inclined to stand for me to mount but it only takes 2 tries. Not bad :

Kizz & I behind Kaaren & Odin, leaving half way 

The way back it's the same as the way in. He's very good! He goes right through the muddy spots even first !  I notice on a few rocky spots he is feeling sore when we step on rocks. So we slow down. As soon as we get to good footing he trots on ahead. He is great! We catch up to some other horses and he's a bit dancy but ok.

Vet check after goes well! He trots out nicely.

We get 4th place for trail horse and 5th for novice rider.( I believe!) it all went so fast! I had a blast!! Can't wait to do some 50's!!! CTRs are next on my plate. The JPs are a bit slow for us I think!
















Kaaren giving Kizz some electrolytes Saturday evening after his 30 miles of running in the fence while the CTR went out! 
Was pretty exciting doing the JP , my very first EVER! but now I know 14 mile JPs are not our cup of tea.. way too slow for Kizz and not enough of a challenge for us!  hoping we can get out to a CTR before the year is over! and also hope we are ready for one!! I'm feeling so good and confident about mine and Kizz's riding relationship!! this is CRazy exciting!!


here's a link to a video a lady did up of the JP, the last two pictures show Kizz and his Barn Braids tack well too!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZP3bX0p07Y&feature=c4-overview&list=UUM5x8kDWOXVuzWF4g4qpjeA

have an awful look on my face, but Kizz looks pretty happy! :)

we are #12 :)