4 days, 8 rings, 13 fully-occupied barns, couple dozen
completely sold-out hotels in Lexington, 50-90% chance of rain each day, 680+
horses, and 1750+ rides. Those are just some of the numbers from the 2014 Region
2 GAIG Dressage Championships! It's definitely the biggest horse show I've ever been to!!!
I’m sure the poor organizers are overwhelmed with this
monster show. The Championship class entries are exponential considered to any
of the other Regional Championships this year. Training level AA has 70
entries! And first level AA (that I’m riding in) has 65! Even one of my
freestyle championships has 25 entries—which is absolutely unheard of for
non-FEI level freestyles.
There are only ribbons
for the top 8 places, so those ribbons will be elusive for the majority, and
well-earned by the few who manage to snag them. Fractions of a point are bound
to separate placings at the lower levels. I rode in a class of 50 last year and
didn’t manage to place, even though 2nd place was only .2% above me.
I’m wishing I went to the Region 1 Championships in NC this past weekend, because
those were nice small classes that were much easier to place in!
My chunky blue-collar horse and I are definitely planning on
bringing our A-game to this show, especially since he’ll thrive in the busy
atmosphere. We’ll have to compete against pros on fancy warmbloods in our
freestyle classes and then against other amateurs fiercely batting for a $2
ribbon (they’re the neck ribbons, so more expensive and prestigious than the regular
$.50 ribbons we attack like a TV in Walmart on Black Friday ;)) in the Adult Amateur
classes.
 |
| The BHB at a couple months old showing his well practiced game face! It's still the exact same today, just a smidge less adorable! |
I’m volunteering to help run the show between my classes and
strongly encourage any other competitors to volunteer any extra time they may
have. And if you’re bringing a husband or parent, you’re pretty much required
to volunteer them to keep them occupied ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment