Final lesson of the semester= epic cross country adventures!

For the last PE lesson of the semester we got to go out to the cross country field!
My favorite schoolie, Popeye was a SUPERSTAR and he totally wants to be a little event pony!
He was VERY enthusiastic!





Unfortunately little Popeye is off to camp and cannot be play event pony....

Nashville to Kentucky

IHSA Nationals unfortunately were the same weekend as Rolex.

So I went to Nationals and the parents went to Rolex.

We left school Tuesday afternoon but competition didn't start until Thursday...

Wednesday was a schooling day, and like every other day, the MHC crew was in the arena before anyone else...

So when we weren't watching schooling we napped...

Most of the team classes were on Thursday- so after flying to Lexington, KY, Wed, my parents drove the rest of the way to watch me ride!

And even though the general consensus was that I rode awesome, and before first place was announced Bob Cacchione point and winked at me, I walked away ribbon-less. Like a few other riders on the team we were not what the judges were looking for.

As the weekend went on the ribbons trickled in: Cap'n Petts placed 3rd in Open Flat, Kim took 5th in Walk-Trot-Canter, Bridget was 6th in Walk-Trot and Cassie was 4th in Open Fences... Landing us in sixth place overall.

We did have a few riders qualify individually and they did awesome! Tripp finished 8th in Intermediate Flat, Lorin was 5th in Alumni Fences, and Emme WON Walk-Trot-Canter!!!

We had a ton of fun at the show, but when competition was over Saturday we had other plans!
We were after all in Music City!

On our way back to the hotel to get ready for some line dancing we drove past the area of town that was hit worst by the recent tornado.

At the show the was a fundraiser to help some of the families that lost their homes in the disaster...

Meanwhile back in Kentucky...
Bonner Carpenter and Acapulco Jazz only added 11 time penalties to their dressage score on cross country...
Gina Miles played Games with the Prince Phillip Cup Pony Clubbers...

Bruce Davidson was all smiles watching Buck leave the start box...

and Lucinda Fredericks and co. won more stuff than they came with...

Lets hope next year Rolex and Nationals are NOT at the same time!

Last stop before Nationals for the Eq team...

Before heading down to Tennessee we went up to Dartmouth for an unofficial IHSA show. This was the last opportunity to ride in front of a judge before we left for Nationals.

We had to wake up before the sun so we could get up there on time but we got to take a bus (instead of vans) so sleeping the entire drive was totally an option!

Lucky for us, it was a wonderful opportunity to get out some bad luck! Three or four people lost a stirrup on course, we had many incorrect leads, and even a few wrong diagonals!

But we had a ton of fun, and our walk-trotters DOMINATED!

AND while the Eq team was putting on the final touches at Dartmouth, the Dressage team was in Ohio competing at Nationals! Trying to defend the Champion status earned last year proved to be difficult. The team pulled out a sixth place finish at the end of the weekend.

Zone Finals

Hosting Zones presented a whole new level of chaos than hosting a regular show for either IHSA or IDA. There was no room for error, everything had to be perfect! We spent all week preparing the horses and the barn. All the riders (those who qualified individually and the eight selected to represent the team) rode at any spare moments and even the not so spare moments. Regular PE lessons were cancelled to give the riders the extra rides.

Before long the big day was here. The four best teams in the Zone piled into the arena as did countless individual qualifiers...

Horse draw was set...

Gift baskets were out...

The ring had been dragged...

The National Anthem sung...

And soon enough my class was up! (Collegiate Cup Novice Flat) I ended up drawing the one horse (out of four) that I have not had the opportunity to ride before: Panama, a horse from Stonehill College. He was a tough ride but we placed second.

And with team riders placing no worse than second all day, MHC won!

Meanwhile, over at UMASS, the MHC Dressage team was competing in the last show of the season. MHC Dressage clinched the regional title, again, and secured a spot at Nationals!

OHIO AND TENNESSEE HERE WE COME!!