Last weekend Simon and I took part in the Sizzlin Summer International Pairs competition. Since it was pairs and not a team competition, team Old School broke down into pairs. Hooking the two fast ponies together, Linda and Carol Ann represented as Old School and Kim and I, making up the slower end of our team, geared up in Green as pairs team Shenanigans.
Simon and I teamed with Gwen and Kim
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography
The competition started Friday evening with the first session, and Simon was hot. During warm up he was hoping around and getting a little light in his front loafers. He plowed through a bending pole and when I hoped off to fix it, he popped his tail up in the air like an arab, and puffed his nose, blowing out it in ticks, and pranced in circles around me. Totally out of character. Kim hoped on him and took him for a few laps around the ring, and that took the fire out of him.
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography
Kim and I had a great time riding together, and we tried to push some of our skills a little faster than usual (like placing the orb in Windsor Castle race at a canter). Unfortunately we were not as accurate as usual, and our ponies really were the slowest out there. In the Speed Weavers race, I went first and Kim went second. On the Old School pair, Carol Ann rocked up and back and Linda was on her final pole home as their second rider, as Kim was hitting our first pole as our second rider. No faults, just no speed. Our lack of speed was collective between Kim’s mount Gwen, and Simon, but sadly, it really radiated from Simon. Carol Ann commented during the final session that he “looks like he is out on a nice hack”.
Carol Ann and Linda representing Old School
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography
We rode two more sessions on Saturday, and a final one Sunday morning. Linda and Carol Ann cleaned up with Old School taking the win in our division ahead of the wicked fast Canadian duo, team Rehab. Kim and I ended forth, and left the ring with big smiles and a new bottle of fly spray as our prize. Carol Ann was riding her second pony, Finn, in the intermediate division and her partner had to bail for the final. So Simon and I stuck around to fill in as a HC pairs team, School Bullies, and get in some extra practice. Simon had already done his fair share of work and taken part in 4 sessions, but he is fit enough to handle a 5th with no problem. So we enjoyed the extra time on the equipment.
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography
It also became apparent that Simon fit right in place in the intermediate division. Granted we were in the B final, he still kept pace quite fine with the majority of the ponies, and his good breaks and my agile skills proved to be perfectly adequate. Teamed with Carol Ann and Finn we would have had a very respectable finish if we had been scored.
In conclusion I left the intermediate B final, with a bag of pony treats Simon was indulging in, and in thought that maybe Simon should be my intermediate pony.
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography
Blue Ridge Pony 