Panache was pretty unhappy about warming up in a crowded warm-up ring. He gets spooked by horses that come too close so I had to be creative with my warm-up to ensure he had room. He was then quite tense for First-2 due to the berms around the ring that he thought might want to eat him! But, to his great credit, despite the tension he really listened to me. More to the point, he took comfort in the support I offered him (many small pats, even during the test) and I could feel him relax as the test went on. To my great happiness, he earned a 71.4% for this test which was good for 2nd place!
He then had an hour to rest in the stall I rented for the day, so he had a nice roll (ugh, shavings in braids!! LOL). It seemed to help him unwind because he was even better during our brief warm-up for First-3. And during the test itself, he was attentive, on the aids, and a joy to ride. Here he is mid-test:
- Panache EA: First Level, test 3.
- 2017Sep10 CADORASilverChamps_Pan1.jpg (72.13 KiB) Viewed 19146 times
That test earned at 70.0% and a 1st place ribbon. I missed out on being Champion of the division by a very small margin, but it doesn't matter to me. We were the only horse-rider team that broke the 70% barrier for both of our tests! And, there were only three scores in the 70s for the entire day; Panache & I had two of those scores (the woman who beat me in First-2 had the third 70+ score). That's the second show this season where all of my scores have been in the 70s at First Level, and that's never happened to me before!! I'm SO chuffed, and SO SO pleased with Panache!
Here we are with our 1st & 2nd place ribbons, and the top ribbon is the Reserve Champion AA First Level ribbon:
- 2017Sep10 CADORASilverChamps_Pan3.jpg (72.24 KiB) Viewed 19146 times
We were then asked to hang around until the final awards presentation at the end of the show. I wasn't sure why, but it's because we had the 2nd highest score of the day and earned "Reserve Grand Champion" along with a really nice fleece cooler:
- 2017Sep10 CADORASilverChamps_Pan5.jpg (144.94 KiB) Viewed 19146 times
When I think about Panache as that gangly, awkward, rain-rotty long yearling back in 2012, I hardly could have imagined that he'd come this far. I put all of his training on myself, including backing him, so this means a lot to me. He's a super horse with a wonderful brain in his head. I'm so lucky to have found him back in 2012! Yay, Pan!!
