On Friday I headed over to Hidden Lakes- a facility that is only  about 5 minutes from my barn. The plan was to do a quick school on Friday before the schooling show Saturday.

It was SO HOT on Friday with the sun beating down on us that we literally did 15 jumps in our lesson and that was it. Two warm-up fences, a full course, and like a half course. It wasn’t perfect, but we got a feel for the ring and called it due to the extreme heat. Rio was pretty looky and up, but listening well so I was really happy. He had never been to this facility before, and at the shows we normally go to he has several days to settle in as well as pro rides before I show him. My trainer and I were both impressed by his behavior. I think it’s just another testament by how much he has grown up lately.

The show started off Saturday morning at 7:30 AM with nice cloud coverage and a breeze. Of course it didn’t stick around for my division though! We did the 2’9, which is the highest this show offers.  By the time my class rolled around the sun was out again. I went around 11:30 and I swear it felt like 100 degrees. I was worried about how Rio would handle the heat. So far, he has been sweating well this summer (thanks True Sweat!) but I worry it could stop at any time. Thankfully, he did amazing with the heat and handled 3 over fences rounds and a flat class easily.

I was very happy with our rounds. A bit more excited then usual,  Rio listened well and came back when I asked him. I think I made a lot of good choices (no crazy long spots!) and he fit in the add step every time I asked him. We made all the strides every round and didn’t have any truly rough fences. At the end of our warm-up round we didn’t complete the change,  but it was a very poor set-up on my part. He landed 95% of the leads the rest of time and got any other necessary changes. He is so much straighter these days, I think I can credit that for landing our leads.

I feel confident that if this had been a multi-day show Rio and I would have both settled a bit more and continued to put in strong rounds. He is coming along so well, I really can’t  wait to see what the future brings for us. Since things are really heating up we probably won’t show again until the fall. Fingers crossed I can squeeze in more show this fall then I managed this spring. Until then, I think we will pull back on the jumping and torture ourselves with poles/cavelettis and more flatwork. I also want to try to trailer to some trails for some light trail riding.