Rubicon- Some Days Just Aren't Your Days

You learn quickly enough in the sport of eventing that some days are great and some days just need to be forgotten. Unfortunately, our Rubicon weekend could stand to be forgotten!

The week didn't start out great when Vernon pulled a shoe, did some damage to his foot, and was foot sore until Thursday. After some debating, it was decided that it was better to regret not taking him than regret taking him. So, Vernon got left behind on Sunday morning.

Zeke and Alfie were both ready and able, and their owner and rider Curran was looking forward to getting back out on Zeke (who missed most of the spring season with a broken jaw) and riding his young horse for the first time. Things started out well enough with Zeke, who did an ok dressage test. Curran and Zeke put in probably their best show jumping round to date, jumping clean in sticky, slick footing. Everyone was high on Zeke's remarkable show jumping performance, but sadly, it didn't last. Rider error ended in elimination. Zeke and Curran made the long walk of shame back to the trailer.

Alfie was up next and in between some very naughty shenanigans, did a stellar dressage test! Yay, Alfie! Show jumping went back and forth between brilliant and naughty, but ended well with a few jump penalties and some time. Unfortunately, Alfie didn't want to play once down at cross country, and made his opinion known loud and clear when he deposited Curran on the ground in front of the first fence. The walk of shame was walked once again.

Thankfully, Curran has an eternally positive outlook, as well as a wicked sense of humor, so while the day certainly did not go at all as planned, he was able to find bright spots. Zeke, who is notoriously hard to show jump, just about jumped out of his skin. And Alfie proved that he is very capable and gave his "dad" his best dressage score to date.

The icing on the cake was a driver side tire on the trailer shredding about five miles from the barn on the return trip Sunday afternoon. Thankfully, we know the road very well, and were able to limp the rig down the road another half mile to a wider shoulder and long straight away. Having the tools to get the job done helped make the job go quickly and smoothly, and we were back on the road in short order. Needless to say, everyone was very glad to be home on Sunday afternoon.

And while the weekend was forgettable, we are excited at what seems to be a new and improved Sundown! Sundown had gone away for a couple of months, for the purpose of finding him a new job and hopefully getting him sold. Well, he couldn't quite settle in the new job and the market being bad sent him back home. He has been doing great flat work at home, and on Monday afternoon quietly hacked out with a large group of horses without any thought to some of his old antics and meltdowns. Something about his time away from home seems to have given him a new outlook on life. We're very excited to see if maybe we finally have the horse we saw in him two and a half years ago!

Next up, Seneca!