September update

You ask what we did in September, I can say it in one word, horses.  The entire month was all about horses. Sophia competed in four back to back weekend shows. This meant we were at the barn more hours than I can count. We started the month with the Labor Day In-house show. The show team even had a bake sale for this one. She rode Maverick for most her classes but she rode her favorite pony, Ella, for the pairs class. Ally and her won second in the pairs class.  Sophia rides with several very good friends. They all support each other. It is so nice to see them work together.

We then went to the September MOHS event. Sophia rode Maverick again in this one.

The next week was the schooling show. Sophia even helped clean up some of the fences for this one.

We ended with Sophia's first dressage show. Her coach, Angel, has been asking her to try it. I love dressage. It is all about you and the horse and how you communicate. The students go into the ring one at a time and perform a standard test. The judge then gives a score and feedback about each element on the test. The feedback is immediate and detailed. Dressage is also much more "constrained" so it makes me calmer when I watch her. Don't get me wrong, dressage is hard on the rider. The movements are precise and you must be communicating with your horse in very discrete ways such as moving the reins in your hands or slightly moving your leg.  Sophia did great with a score of 67.5.  She will take the same test, Intro A, again in November.  She rode Keegan for this show.

Warming up with Keegan

Sophia's friends came out to cheer her on.

That is all to report. We didn't have time for much else.