Friday The Thirteenth – Horse Show Day 3 – Sept 13

Since our Day 1 classes went well, Jane and I did not show on Thursday. I took Bart to the ring early for some flatwork, and Jane went for an afternoon trail ride with Derry. We went to the horse show to watch our friends, though I was not active with the camera. I did some work at home in preparation for the new deck, which will start next week. The sunset last night was spectacular.

Eddy really enjoyed going to the show yesterday, but when we are riding, he requires too much attention, so he must stay home.

Friday the thirteenth lived up to its superstitions, alas. The day began with Jane’s lovely little Clover (age 15) suffering a self inflicted eye injury after eating her breakfast. She probably scratched her face and caught her third eyelid on a dewclaw.

That meant taking Clover to the vet, where she had surgery to repair the trouble. It was a huge stress for Jane. I took Derry and Bart to the horse show. Which reminds me, Jane’s truck malfunctioned on the way home on Tuesday, so both horses are traveling with me this week. The news on the truck was financially painful, and it will be in the shop until the middle of next week, adding to Jane’s bad fortnight (remember she had Covid just 8 days ago, meaning we missed our preparation horse show).

This St. Louis National Charity Horse Show is not very big. Particularly the jumpers are light on entries. But that only makes for long waits, because of ring conflicts. With more horses, the conflicts do not stop all the action in a given ring. I distracted myself from nervousness and worry by taking some pictures. It is strange being so old that many of these pictures are of people I knew as youngsters (like Katie, who rode here in high school and is now married and is a Physician Assistant at prestigious Washington University Barnes Hospital).

Well, now for the bad news. Eventually, the 1.0 meter Adult Jumper class began. Bart and I were third to go, and the jumps looked quite big to me. I have not jumped courses since last year. Kris prepared me as best he could. The course design was good, but challenging, in that the final line was quite scopey. Somehow, Bart jumped around double clear. There was luck involved, and generosity on the part of Bart, who coped with a rather ragged ride. Friends had come to watch and cheer us on, which was nice, but added to the stress.

Jane and Derry just did not have a good day. They jumped around clean, but not as smoothly as usual, until the final jump, which was an oxer (a spread jump). Derry stopped and Jane was launched over her head, demolishing the jump with her body. In the melee, Derry lost her bridle and ran wildly around the ring. I was so shaken that when I caught Derry I could not figure out how to put her bridle back on. I had seen Jane get up and walk, and soon she was there and took control of fixing the tack. I don’t know how she was able to walk away from that wreck. At our age, falling and being able to get back up is a victory of sorts. But no fun.

Jane is the bravest person I know. She got back on Derry and Ali schooled them over a few jumps. They will go back in the ring tomorrow in the .95 meter class to regroup. On with the show…

Clover is home and safe, and I am hoping that Jane will not be too sore tomorrow.

Horses showing is a rollercoaster ride indeed, and this was a rough day. Better day tomorrow, we hope!

Be safe, be well. Be tough, be lucky. Slava Ukraini! Peace.