May 31, 2016

Ahhh I am already behind in my blogging of the 2016 MGAA season and its just getting rolling!

Mid-Atlantic #2, May 7/8 was held at Grange equestrian Park in Centre Hall, PA. This is a new addition to the MA series.  Hosted by one of the MA organizing duo teams, it was added to the schedule this year as a fund raiser for the MGAA Equipment Fund!  So the profit goes towards equipment.  It was originally going to be at the fairgrounds in Sussex, NJ but there was a scheduling conflict causing the move to the Grange Park.

It was an awesome competition, as expected. It rained at night, but was nice during the day.  Unfortunate the rain flooded the ring.  The footing was still decent, but there was standing water on top.  Not so nice for the ring crew, getting off the pony, or putting equipment on the ground.  By Sunday, even the cones were starting to float.  The race list was modified to eliminate races that involved things needing to be picked up from the ground (ie. Socks, tools, hula hoops, etc).

The masters division was a good show. This year we have quite a few new teams, with riders mixing it up.  Which certainly makes it more exciting.  Anotha One has come out as a power house, with some of our stronger male players and equally strong ladies.  Another killer team, Renegades has been formed this year consisting of some of our old-hat stand out riders matched up with some up and coming players.  Adrenaline Rush, has shuffled their team roster a bit and is really hitting the field hard.  There is also Buckwild, who moved up to Masters this year.  They have been holding their own and proving that they do belong in Masters.  Previous teams like Punk Rock Ponies, Northern Lights, Inception and Crash need no introduction and are still contenders.  Not much has changed there.

I did not get to watch too much of intermediate during this competition. Sometimes you just need a break to tack up your pony, grab something to eat, or sit down for a few minutes.

Fossils is always a good show, and since it’s the division I compete in, it’s the one that gets the most action on this blog. We ran 8 lanes, and had 7 fossil teams for this competition, so we were able to run 3 cumulative heats for the final placing.  Sometimes this is really fun, being able to count each session and ride in a larger heat.  It is pretty cool to have seven teams going at the same time.  It adds a whole other complex when you look at scoring.  In a well matched competition, no team can ‘take an easy session’ knowing they just need to make the A final.  Its *Game ON* for the whole competition.

This competition was no exception to the point to point and head to head racing this division is providing. Time Flies brought their A game, as always, and were ON as always. My team, Gone Rogue, stayed close in points with Time Flies throughout the whole competition and finished just two points behind in the end.  When total points are well into the 100s, 2 points is such a small margin.  These two teams are by no means the only two riding at the top.  Border Patrol, Bomb Squad and Full Tilt were also major contenders with Quicksliver and Groppits also showing some skills.

My personal performance was ok on Saturday. I was not bad but not my best either.  I felt much more ON on Sunday and felt like my level of play was more at my usual standard.  My team was awesome as always.  Val had to sit this one out so Heather took her place and was amazing.  This girl and her pony are skilled and fast.  Any team will find them an asset.  And, most importantly, Heather was so much fun to ride with.  Her laidback personality really fit with our team, and I would be privileged to ride with her again!

I want to give a shout out to Brinley, who helped me warm up and untack Poe throughout the weekend. She is amazing and took great care of him.  She was a life saver!

My memory is a little fuzzy so Ill leave the competition there. I cannot remember how Masters or Intermediate placed, or how Fossils placed behind my own team.  But it was a great weekend.  And I think the MGAA Equipment Fund got a tidy chunk towards equipment!

Photo cred: D Dungee

Photo cred: J Northington