Jack of all trades

What happens when you take this:

To a jumper show?

He lights up like it's the Fourth of July, grabs the bit, and has a blast.  We did 2'3" and 2'6" courses just for fun and a change of pace.  It was 90* out which really didn't help our speed but he loved getting out to do something different.  On our last course I was able to get right up off his back and let him cruise between fences with that steady, balanced canter we've developed.  His first course was a bit shaky while he figured out what game we were playing but each course got more forward and more confident.  He keeps this up, I'll have to rethink taking him into the equitation ring.  He was hitting his distances in the related lines and happy as a clam.  Slow, but happy as a clam.  A jumper he is not but we took all of the inside lines and kept ourselves out of trouble with the clock.

Super fancy show horse right here

Seriously, all the inside lines.  If you can canter a 10m circle, there's all sorts of inside turns that open up.  Every inch counts when your pony is kind of slow.  I will admit to making faces and struggling a bit in the warm up with my jumping length stirrups.  It's been awhile.

And then I take him out to do this.

Level 2 Tests 1 and 4.  He was sore on Saturday after his jumping efforts (the fences are 2'6", you do not need to put in an extra foot), but his massage therapist was out to put things right and he had his game face on for our show on Sunday.

I really can't complain about this horse's versatility.  He's pretty game to try whatever I toss at him so long as there are cookies in my pocket.  I like to keep him guessing and keep all three saddles in rotation. He gained a couple of new fans this weekend with his incredible ability to sidle up to people and convince them that his ears need scritches.  I'm trying to remember a course or a test and then I look down and realize Theo has abducted yet another stranger to shower him with praise and love.  How does he do this?

He managed the somewhat spooky indoor and got a 67% and a 70% from Lynn Palm.  That got him the champion ribbon for adult ammy at the level (just 0.5 behind the professional showing at our level on her stunning QH).  We got an 8 in our collectives for harmony and Lynn said he looked like an absolute blast to ride.  She's not wrong.

And so ends our crazy June of showing.  We now drop off into the July break.  We've got despooking next weekend, then a real break while Theo gets his joint injections done.  We'll do one show on the 20th to support the local western dressage community but that's it.  We're going to chill, absorb all of the feedback from the past six weeks, and tune some stuff up.  Or sip margaritas in the heat, one or the other.