Sorry no photos due to Brenda not having a groom or anyone to take photos of her!
Brenda got wild and took TWO horses to Championships without any help! It was a bit of a wild weekend, however they ended on some good results.
Nova went to only his 3rd show with Brenda at Championships (showing 3rd level). They had a good test on Friday for a warm up and earned a solid 67.750% and a second place in the class. Unfortunately the excitement of the championship warm ups got to him on Saturday in his HUGE USDF Championships class and he had a bit of a meltdown in the ring. He’s been nothing but a gentleman until now, so it was a bit unexpected. The show quickly went from hoping to be competitive to schooling him through the big environment to get him used to it as much as possible. Their CDS HOY class on Sunday went better with a completion, but his score was much lower than his usual due to tension. Now we know we have more homework to get him used to big environments, but we are proud of him for what he did produce and look forward to showing him in 2026. He’s a lovely horse capable of excellent scores and we know we’ll see those next year.
The wonderful little Willa went out against a bunch of fancy warmbloods (as she always has to)…this time at 2nd level. Her Friday test split the judges with one giving her a good 66.9% while the second judge seemed to be seeing a completely different test *shrugs*. They ended up in 3rd in the USDF Open 2nd Level Championship, which is fantastic either way. On Saturday, Willa was showing against the big kids (warmblood stallions) and had a tired rider after the Nova shenanigans earlier in the day. She earned a respectable score and placed 7th in the CDS HOY 2nd Level class.
All in all it was a good experience, however Brenda has learned her lesson and will bring a groom next time!
