I hadn’t planned on studding up the Baby.

After all it was Beginner Novice, and I didn’t think I was in danger of much slipping at the slower-than-snails-pace I saw in my future.

Then midday it got dark.

And the clouds rolled in……….

the lightning shut down the show for a couple of hours………….

The grass stadium arena became sloppier and sloppier………so I changed my mind about the studs.

The mud was SO DEEP, when I finished my beginner novice stadium round I had mud covering my WHITE show breeches, the top of my HELMET, it was even on my pony’s ear bonnet!!

It was MUD-GATE no doubt!!

It was such deep slop that I honestly didn’t thing the studs had done anything. I remember a clinic a long time ago with some super experienced Olympian who said when it’s deep enough studs don’t do any good because it’s just slop anyway.

But we had stayed upright, with minimal slippage and had jumped around reasonably well.

We were the last to go the next day for cross country. It was nearly 6pm and the courses had had ALL DAY to dry in the sun and they looked pretty good.

I had already jumped around the 1* course  (more on that later) and had……..

As I attempted to mount my baby horse for his cross country ride I had some trouble lifting my leg high enough to get in the stirrup.

Ruh Ruh, this was going to be trouble.

I started thinking about fitness, and realized I had never completely run out of fuel before, at an event.

I was baked thoroughly enough that I decided not to stud up the baby. The courses were dry, it was beginner novice, and I was barely putting one foot in front of the other………skipping the studs was one less physically demanding task on my list.

Then I arrived at the warm up…….. which unlike the course, was still knee deep in SLOP.

The first canter lead I picked up the baby ice skated sideways like a cartoon and nearly slipped over.

Oh yes, Bad Eventer was in the house.

Then my fabulous, and relatively new coach arrived. I don’t think he really understood what he was signing up for when he agreed to coach Bad Eventer.

I was CRAWLING around the warm up in what could only be an 8′ canter stride. He started yelling for me to send him forward.

The baby LOVES to get behind my leg.

So much so that he’s made this particular stunt his trademark.

As the super qualified trainer was screaming at me to go forward and assuming that I was incapable……. due to fear………………..and not my lack of following directions or appropriately equipping my horse……….

I decided it was MUCH better to be a big chicken than STUPID……

At least that’s what I let him think.

Yes, yes……….Bad Eventer strikes again

& after the show I signed up for a 5K to work on that fitness issue.