The main one is: Am I insane? Do I really want to drag my horse and husband for an hour and a half to participate in a competition that will last less than two minutes, then drag them back home?
If I asked Hudson's opinion, she would say she would just as soon stay home and eat grass, WITHOUT her grazing muzzle, if you please.
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| "Whatever." |
Even though I host this blog that helps Twin Tiers equestrians keep up on the horse-related activities in our area, I don't actually get out to that many, myself. So going out to one is a big deal. We never get used to it.
But, despite the doubts and worries, I knew last year when I watched the hunt races that I wanted to compete in them, and if I let that chance slip by, after working on conditioning Hudson all summer, I will feel like a big weener.
When it comes to Hudson's performance, I'm hoping for the best but expecting a glitch. The glitch is that Hudson tends to stop all forward movement when a strange horse passes her. This could make for an interesting race. Since most of the people I know stopped racing their horses on the trail when they were teenagers, I haven't found someone to race against during Hudson's training. So Hudson won't know what the heck is going on at all.
Despite these concerns, we venture forth. Today is her last day of conditioning, and I'll take her for a gallop around the "track" we created in a field at the top of the hill.
This route we take isn't quite a half-mile, but it's all uphill, so I think it makes a good facsimile of the distance we will ride on Saturday. It's also interesting, because it contains three hair-pin turns, and if you have ever taken hair-pin turns on 1500 pounds of horse at full gallop, you know what interesting is!
So, wish us luck, and maybe I'll see you at the finish line -- if Hudson doesn't stop all forward movement somewhere on the course!
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