On Saturday, not reluctantly, but with a bit of trepidation, I competed in my first horse show since I was about 12 years old. All in all, the experience was incredibly rewarding and not nearly as traumatizing as my memories of childhood show experiences. My horse (okay, the stable’s horse, but for those few moments he was mine), Cezar, was an absolute dream—he listened, he collected (that pretty thing horses do with their heads, also known as “on the bit”—you’ll see this particularly during dressage shows), he was calm and sweet and perfect. And to make up for all the near-misses of my childhood, I came out of the adult intermediate division as Champion (two 1st place ribbons and two 2nd place ribbons), although I should add the caveat that there were only three people in my division. Still, I could have gotten third. And, as one of my fellow riders pointed out, if we had ridden in the Open division instead (considered more advanced) we would have gotten our asses kicked by 13-year-olds! The jumps in my division were slightly shorter than I’m used to jumping during class (only about 2 feet), but I think it’s probably a good thing to start slow. Maybe when I show again in August or September I’ll take a risk and join the Open division…

A few pictures, taken by the lovely April who, despite the fact that she claims she can’t use my digital camera, took some great shots.


Such nice head carriage...I think Cezar's my dream horse.


I know, it's a tiny jump. But don't we look pretty going over it?