We looked at the schedule and realized that her barn was hosting two IEA competitions in January. After reading about competitions, we also realized that the brunette twin would be busy helping with horses and doing other things to keep the teams on track.
The brunette twin looked at the IEA schedule and found a December show not too far from us. We talked to her coach, who sent in the proper paperwork with a proxy coach request.
The morning of the competition, the brunette twin was so nervous. She could hardly breath as we walked into the office to register. I told the office person that we had never participated before. She was incredibly helpful throughout the day.
The brunette twin thought she was only competing in a flat class. We discovered she was also jumping when we registered. We had plenty of time to watch other classes compete so we understood the competition's rhythm by the time the brunette twin mounted her horse.
I never worry about the brunette twin when she's on a horse. She's such a natural rider that being on a horse is her natural posture. In her first competition, she nearly made it through the jumping course when she pulled her horse back from the last jump. On her second attempt, she cleared the cross rails easily. I asked her what happened and she said that she thought her horse was going to fast. If she jumped it the first time, she was going to fly over the horse because there was very little room after the horse jumped. I was really impressed. In the split second between the two cross rail jumps, she assessed the situation and decided to make a second attempt rather than risking harm.
She placed fourth in the jumping class. I have to imagine that she would have placed higher if she hadn't made the second attempt. It was a good start to her competition career.
For her flat class, the brunette twin placed sixth. She was quite happy with her first competition. It was a great experience from start to finish. Now she was ready for the two day competition at her barn.
