Today things got serious as everyone prepared to ride their first test of the show. Ride order times were picked by the chef so Dalyce went first at 8:06 am then Megan at 9:50 then me at 11:56 and finally Monica at 2;30pm. Dalyce started off with a very respectable test and a score of 61.9% We were happy she was able to ride in the cool of the morning because she has been finding adapting to the heat more difficult. Megan then went in with the composure of a pro and scored very well with a 64. She was definitely the least nervous of all of us and said that compared to eventing she couldn't die out there! By the time my ride came up we were well into the heat of the day and a temperature of 35C.
An hour before my ride time Mom and I went to the trailer to get changed and put up my hair with the huyndreds of pins it needed to stay in place. When we arrived back at Nukes stall to tack up I was horrified to find the stall full of Vets! We had been treating Snookey for a gucky eye for the previous few days and Jan had noticed that it had started swelling over the previous hour so she made an emergency decision to have the vet in to look at it and flush the tear duct. Of course Snookey was not volunteering for this and had his head in the rafters while they tried to put the tube into his nostril. We were literally minutes away from my tack up time when they successfully unblocked the tear duct and I have to say I fell apart and had a good sob in the change room I was so nervous. Monica and Mom consoled me and in the end Snookey was back to normal for my ride. But the whole thing was too nerve wracking for my liking and I definitely don't recommend emergency Vet interventions minutes before your dressage tests!
We tacked up in a hurry and went out to the warm up ring. After the vet drama I felt very calm and I had a super warm up. Mom and Jan stood by the warm up ring with a large pail of ice water to sponge Snookey as he needed it. I was so keen I trotted down the ramp and all the stewards were screaming at me to slow down! Although I felt good about my ride Snookey was spooky and we had a few bobbles in our test so I was disappointed in my score of 63.575 After our test we were rushed to the steward for inspection through a large set of fans and misters and water. In the end Snookey and I coped well with the heat and we felt all our preparations had paid off.
 |
| During my test. (Jackets were waved) |
 |
| Walking out |
 |
| Name on score board before collective marks |
 |
| The amazing stewards who hand us water! |
My team was sitting in 3rd for most of the day. We new that if Monica had a good ride we could have a medal. Monica had a very steady ride but finished with a 65.05 which out us fourth! We lost the team medal by .8 of a percent. We are all disappointed but really 4th is still ok!
The opening ceremonies were after all our rides today! It was very weird! We stood out in the sun for like an hour not being able to hear the announcer! But we got pizza after so all is good :D
Tomorrow I ride the individual test at 10:47. I need top 15 to continue on to ride my freestyle. I was 23rd today..... I can do it!!!!!
Wish me luck,
Monika
No comments:
Post a Comment