horses and seagulls

In October, I competed in my very first horse trial.  Horse trials are different from the shows I've done since I was a kid- those were typically a jumping or flat class that was judged on either the horse or the rider's performance.  Recently, I've gotten into eventing, kind of a triathlon for riding.  There are three phases: dressage, stadium jumping, and cross country.  Dressage is on the flat and judged on the accuracy and performance of a prescribed test.  Stadium jumping is over about 10 jumps in an arena, with penalties for going over time or knocking rails down.  Cross country is over natural obstacles on a longer course in fields and woods and such, with penalities for time.

Jimmy has competed in the highest level of eventing in his younger days, and I entered us in the lowest  divison. :) It's always good when you're super nervous at a show for the jumps to seem small.  Anyway, rather than getting unnecessarily super detailed about everything, here are some photos from the photographer's site.

Beau's photography skills

smiling because I'm finished!

I finished 6th, so I was pleased to be in the ribbons on my first time out! There were lots of professionals in my division, and I saw later I was 3rd among the amateurs.  Yay for horses.

Speaking of event pictures... check out this shot of Beau at the Seagull Century!

Beau went with some guys from our ward down to Assateague and fought head wind and wild ponies for several hours.

Beau's awesome post race hair, with little ridges where the air vents are in his helmet.

Next up is the Mistletoe Half Marathon with my sister in Winston-Salem, NC.  On Saturday, Page asked if I had done a long run that day, and it occurred to me I have done absolutely zero preparation.  Oops.  Let's see if I can squeeze in some training in the next 4 weeks.