St. Nicholas 2DE

by Karai Marcani.

Let me start off by informing you how freaking cold Wisconsin is. It is COLD. I don’t know HOW Veerle and her crew live up here through the winter. I almost froze just riding here for two days!

Anyway, yes, we (that is, all of the Legacy crew, pretty much, since it takes a lot of us to handle the whole eventing string) are in Wisconsin, at Valiant Equestrian Centre. We’ve just wrapped up the Saint Nicholas Two-Day Event and found out our final placings, and I was shivering so badly that Lauri told me to come inside and warm up before we all load up and head out. So I’m blogging for you! First time ever!

Lauri’s royally grouchy right now because of how poorly all of our upper-level competitors did. I blame the cold, but of course Lauri loves cold and snow so much that she wouldn’t dream of incriminating it in that matter. Even always-cheerful Journey pinned his ears, swirled his tail, and trudged his way around the show jumping course, taking rails down in his wake… I really think it’s just too cold here. Our horses are used to the PA weather, where it’s barely below freezing and we’ve only had three inches of snow so far this season!

Speaking for myself, I am not disappointed with today’s results. Beauty and Betrayal and I did the Beginner-Novice, and it was a blast. We all take turns showing Beauty, because she is technically Haylie’s horse and Haylie is not old enough to show in recognized events yet, so Lauri wants her to have as much experience with as many riders as possible before Haylie takes over. As far as I know, Haylie will start riding when she turns 13 (next year!), and I’m hoping I will get a few more rides on Beauty before that happens. She really loves to event, and is visibly frustrated by the slow pace and low jumps that she encounters at BN–but she’s such a sweetie that she won’t do anything more than swirl her tail and jump higher than necessary. We took first overall for our level, and Anna and Keeper finished a respectable fourth.

I also rode Bakari at Training, as usual. To no one’s surprise, Bakari was as miserable as any member of the string (she’ll take any excuse to be a brat), but she’s such a trooper that she still performed to her normal level. We finished first. Andrea and Truth were third, and Lindzey and Boston landed seventh.

The Future Event Horse class was a little… embarrassing… at least for me. Kersey (Kirsdarke) has discovered his inner “big stallion” and is experimenting with it. He hit a growth spurt over the summer and is nearing 15 hands (as a coming 2-year-old!!), so he’s incredibly awkward, which doesn’t help his looks OR his coordination. He’s started paying more attention to things other than his handler, which leads him to lose concentration, which leads him to trip, which leads him to spook, which causes a burst of excitement that he has a hard time settling down from. Lauri’s not concerned, so I’m pretty sure she considers this normal for a yearling stallion. It’s just weird to me because he’s always been such a chill dude… but hey. He’s still decent to handle and nowhere near dangerous, so I guess we’re all right. Needless to say, we finished last in the class. To rub it in a little more, Lauri and Zee (Azereos L–who isn’t having the same behavioural changes as Kersey, though Lauri says it’s just because Zee was born an idiot and if he got any stupider he’d implode) took second behind Derian and Lorelia’s first.

Finally, I took Bakari in the Young Event Horse class, where she made it very clear that she was done for the weekend. She’s always a brat and I’m used to it, but I was truly shocked in the dressage test when I asked her for a canter transition and she bucked. Aria’s Legacy-bred mare Tzigane took first in that class, and Anna and Keeper got third.

Needless to say I am thrilled that it’s time to load up and head home. I will never think Pennsylvania winters are cold again!!! My only complaint is that we’ll be back up here soon for more trials. Sigh.

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