It was a busy day today at Great Meadows! The first nine horses did dressage on Friday evening, followed by the bareback puissance. After watching Pavarotti’s amazing test I didn’t make it back up the main ring in time to watch the puissance this year, but we watched it last year and I remember being in awe of the gutsy kids who participated.
Woody went in the Great Meadows ring at 8:08 this morning, so that made for a bit of an early start, but it was well worth it to be back in the barn before things got too hot. Erica Seib and her daughter Lauren (aka Woody’s number-one fans and personal cookie makers) live in the area and are also volunteering this weekend – Erica keeps telling me how lovely and cool this weather is for Virginia, but I am very Canadian and find it quite warm! Anyways Woody put in a super test for a 46.9, sadly the last change was a little late, which was unfortunate, as they are usually his forte. However, that’s dressage for you!
After Woody works I give him Omega Alpha Equiselyte paste – it’s both electrolytes and BC2A (branch chain amino acids) to help with lactic acid building and muscle recovery. Normally I just use it after gallops, but here it’s been so hot I’ve used it after every work. So after a nice bath, some grazing (and rolling) and grain for the Woodster it was siesta for horses and humans alike. I can certainly see how cultures in warmer countries get into the routine of starting early, then resting through the hottest time of the day.
Show jumping started at 5:00, so we rallied back into action. I am hoping the live feed will be available on demand so I can rewatch all the rounds, as it is surprisingly difficult to watch despite being right here. Woody’s round was a bit disappointing, having two down. He’s a classic example of a horse who has enormous scope and finds show jumping not really worthy of his attention and can be a tad disrespectful.
I’m looking forward to cross country tomorrow; the footing could not be better and I’m hoping for a successful, safe day 🙂
