Score!

This past weekend I participated in my one and only driving event of the year competitively. I drove my boy Tongaroa in an HDT(Horse Driving Trial) at Clay Station Horse Park. An HDT is a shortened version of a CDE(Combined Driving Trial). There are 3 parts to the event: dressage, cones and marathon. The marathon course is much shorter than the marathon course in a CDE, and all the events take place on the same day. I have participated in 2 other HDT's (last year) but have never actually received a score before. The Big Guy kindly consents to being my navigator for the marathon portion of the event - and we managed to get ourselves eliminated by going off course both times last year (well actually we went through hazard gates in the wrong order or some such silliness).

My point being that we really wanted to earn a score this time. I have been driving Tonga in preparation for this event 2-3 times per week, conditioning him for the 6K marathon. I wasn't able to practice our dressage test at all before the show because of a lack of a smooth enough area in our pasture that wasn't planted in hay. Luckily the dressage test was a very easy one - pattern wise.

Our dressage test wasn't spectacular - but considering it was the first time I had driven that test since July of 07, we did alright. I managed to remember the cones course pattern, but our speed was slow. I knew we weren't in the running for a ribbon, but hey folks, we just wanted a score - alright?!

The Big Guy and I decided to walk the hazards on our own - figuring that we could find our way around the rest of the course based on our memory of the venue. We planned our routes through the hazards carefully - marking our path on the course map, with me trying very hard to pay extra attention to where I needed to turn left or right. We felt pretty good about our course knowledge, and were looking forward to our first official score.

You can imagine our dismay when upon crossing through the exit gate for the first hazard the volunteer judge yelled out "You missed a gate!". ::::::heart sinking::::: I steered Tonga along the route, with The Big Guy asking "So we do the rest for practice?". :::::Sigh::::: Yep - we do the rest for practice and good sportsmanship. But deep down I knew we didn't miss a gate. We planned so carefully - and we followed our planned route perfectly. There was no way we missed a gate.

Tonga was poking his way around the course, and I made the mistake of allowing him to go slowly. The maximum time was 26 minutes - we came in at 33. I asked the steward helping the judge about the appeal process - because I was convinced that we did not miss any gates. She informed me that under no circumstances could we ask the hazard judge - our only option was to wait until the results were posted and then make an inquiry to the show organizer. It was hot and since we were the second team to go there was going to be a lot of time between our finish and the result posting so The Big Guy headed home to pick up the baby.

In the meantime I ran through the course several times and became more convinced than ever that we did not miss any gates. So convinced that when I saw the show organizer walking around - I asked her to double check our score sheet. "I'm not expecting to win - I just really want a score - any score!" She laughed and assured me that the hazard judges were new at this and that she would review all the score sheets. (I felt that I could ask her because it's an informal show - and we were not likely to place). She thought it was hilarious that I was willing to accept any score.

When it was results time, the show organizer came out and told me "You not only got a score - you got a ribbon!" I was pretty excited to say the least - I figured we were waaaaay out of the ribbons with our slow times at cones and marathon. When the announcer read off the placings for our category he did not announce my name. Whaaa? My pal had an outstanding dressage score - the best of the day and she got first place. Another person took second and that was it for our division.

After the awards ceremony the organizer asked me how happy I was with my ribbon - and I just looked at her quizzically. My first place winning pal came over and asked me what was up - she thought I was getting a ribbon. I told her that I thought so too, but no ribbon was awarded to me. She asked the show organizer who looked at us stunned and called over the announcer. He had made a mistake - I did end up receiving the third place ribbon1 Hooray for us!! Not only our first score as a team - but our first ribbon too! Now I really wish I could participate in the October HDT - but since we'll be packing and getting ready to move it's just not possible. Our show season is over - but look for us next year!