Today was "Pro" day. This simply means that the classes offered today were the classes in which the Professionals (our trainers) rode our horses. Some of our riders had "low" rounds, which is a round that is judged and awarded ribbons but does not count for any division points. Corey was exciting to watch as she piloted around the horses in the beautiful Grand Hunter Ring. The ring itself calls for a shout out to the show management team. An extremely large field, with trees dotting the interior, and a rough natural jump that is just plain fun. The lines are set to gallop, not set on any particular number of strides. The handy hunter had a hand gallop and Corey turned on the afterburners with Janet Weaver's Moonlight Sonata. A class he 'handily' won, by the way!
Corey aboard Janet Weaver's Moonlight Sonata in the Grand Hunter Ring
Some of the girls division's did start. Amanda's Modified Junior/Amateur 1.10m jumpers had a class today and Amanda began the division with a bang, winning the class. Melani and Ana also had rounds. I haven't heard how they finished except I heard Melani's name called in 5th for one of her jumper rounds. Ana's round looked great and they went clean, with just an itsy-bitsy time fault. (This was a warm-up class to get them in the ring, I believe). The weather was a bit too cool to duplicate yesterday's river swim by some of the riders. (see photo below, courtesy of Lisa Kerslake). However, the cooler temps were quite a refreshing change after the extreme heat.
Below: one of the stunning work-of-art stall cards created by Ana and Julie Sanborn. Each one was unique!
Our busy trainer, Corey.
Ok, somebody help me identify this cute Amazonian creature!
