Back at the Big Kids Table – Sort Of

      6 Comments on Back at the Big Kids Table – Sort Of
I always thought Preliminary was the level “preliminary” to the upper levels. Otherwise, what exactly is it preliminary to?
But I think some people consider Prelim & up the “upper levels”. That makes sense, because if you divide the levels in 1/2 Prelim is in the top half. 
Regardless of whether Prelim is “an upper level” or not, after my 30 year quest to get to Prelim (and yes it really took me that long) once I made it I felt like I’d finally earned my spot at the big kids’ table. 
There was just something magical about those green numbered jumps that made me feel all grown up.

Yes, I’m a 42 year old woman with a horse I call WonderPony. I’m not much of a grown up in general.

When I ventured off to become the world’s oldest working student, I was promptly demoted from my Prelim days.
It turns out, you shouldn’t jump bigger jumps just because you CAN.
And though I had been competing at Prelim with the Wonder Pony, I was kind of muddling through and just “getting away with it.”
My last outing at Prelim had involved <cough> 5 rails in stadium and some XC lines that involved several extra strides. You know……. it was 5 strides from the jump in the water to the corner out & I put in 7. 
What’s wrong with that?
As a new “full time” rider….. I found out that kind of backwards riding just wasn’t going to fly. 
I’ve been joking ever since my demotion……. about being in “training level purgatory”. 
And then when I got demoted to Beginner Novice on another horse……….
I vowed not to complain about training level. 
I tightened up my belt and decided that training level it was, from here on. And I was ok with that. 
In a lesson a few weeks ago, we jumped some pretty big stuff. It went well. Very well. And when my fearless coach told another student in the group he was fine with her moving up to Prelim I leaned over thinking……..”And??????????”
Which was greeted by silence.

We went to the next show & after a very solid & professional performance at training……..

 I got the “OK to move up.”

I was excited for about 5 seconds. Then I thought I might throw up. 
I had kind of ingrained 3’3″ into my brain for what I’d be jumping from now on. That 4 inch difference started looking kind of monstrous. 
But the weekend arrived, and the Wonder Pony put in a lovely test where we scored a 26.
Oh yeah. Back in the game. 

Next was stadium. 
Stadium is what got us demoted to begin with, and I was sweating it just a bit. 
But we had a near perfect round with just a couple of unlucky rails…..

 and I felt completely vindicated to be back at the level.

Cross country has never been an issue for TheWonderPony. This is a horse with a PERFECT XC record. 

Seriously. 

He’s had over 65 recognized starts and he’s never had a XC jump penalty. 
I decided our “return to prelim” was a chance to debut my new Bad Eventer XC shirt. I bought some shirts, thinking it would be a way for people to know it was me. 
You know, like Boyd and his stripes. 
However, I think the spectacles may be what gives me away now. 
So I’m cruising around my first Prelim in a long time…… and the TD is following me around the course. 
He even followed me all the way back to my trailer!
And no, it wasn’t to tell me how much he liked my Bad Eventer shirt. 
When I first made it to prelim with WonderPony I had TONS of time penalties. Everyone kept telling me to take my hand off the parking brake! 
Well.
Today I took all the brakes off. 
I’ve always been an all-or-nothing kind of girl……. and apparently when I’m not adding strides everywhere……… I’m going dangerously fast. 
Ooooops!!!
We’ll use a stronger bit next time!!
=====================================================================
For those readers chomping at the bit for Learning Lows – Part 4, it’s in the works!

Share with:


6 thoughts on “Back at the Big Kids Table – Sort Of”

  1. Aoife

    I love following your blog, the way you write is so motivational. Makes me want to do better and dream bigger!
    Maybe some day I'll be brave enough to set a goal and reach for it like you are

Comments are closed.