I was seriously channeling my inner P Dutty last weekend when I stepped up a level on SpiderWoman.

And yes, for the record, at the show before…….. I fell off her.

In warm up.

The pink is so they can find the body……..

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I cringe a little thinking about how many "move up failures" I've had in the past.

There was the 10 hour drive to my first recognized event in a decade.

Where I fell off at the first fence.

Then the time I tried to move up to Training and got eliminated at the second fence.

That time I tried to go Novice after my coach had just hopped my horse around an Intermediate and he laid all over the 3rd jump with me. As in stopped so hard he laid down.

There were the    47   four or five times where I was entered at Prelim and got to call the show secretary the week before and beg to be dropped back down a level.

They're typically willing to do that for you. You have to be pretty darn convincing to get them to move you UP a level, but down I think is a matter of conscience.

I remember one time in particular the fearless leader saying something like, "Do you think you're Phillip Dutton?! You should not be here! (at a show) You should be at home taking lessons until you know how to ride this one because you're going to hurt him!"

Did I think I was Phillip Dutton…………………….

Well I must have last weekend, because I've done exactly one Novice and one Training on the Spidey beast and for our 3rd show we moved on up to Prelim.

I was telling the Fearless Leader how proud I was for channeling my inner P Dutty.

How at long last, in my many years of Bad Eventer moments, I pulled off a successful move up.

I told the coach I felt like we could have jumped around the Intermediate.

The Fearless Leader said, "OK P Dutty, can we please do one more Prelim?"