National Cavalry Competition

I was hoping that this post would be my annoucement that I was going to the National Cavalry Competition (click on current events on left hand side bar) in September.....on a horse! Unfortunately it is not to be this year.

I was going to borrow a CHAS horse named Glory. Glory was my mount a couple of years ago as an outrider for the artillery team and she is incredible. She's the only mount in CHAS that isn't a Standardbred. We think she's some sort of Arab/Quarter horse mix. She has no fear, neck reins, jumps, does gun fire and cannon fire, sword work, and if you want to do that all bareback - no problem! I knew that me and this awesome little horse could do very well, if not win our division at this year's National Cavalry Competition at Fort Robinson, Nebraska.

It was imperative that this event be stress-free for me - after doing Tevis, I just wanted to relax. This is also one of my only "true" vacations I take - a road trip with sightseeing and hanging out with my Dad. Glory was easy because she already knew everything (no training needed, no reflection on my training abilities), and since she wasn't my horse I wouldn't be as stressed about every little thing when it came to travelling from CA to Nebraska with her.

Six weeks before the event I called Fort Robinson to reserve my stall for the event. Can you believe that they were all full? I tried contacting the Cavalry association to let them know that the stalls was full, and to see if there was alternative stabling arrangements. I have not gotten an answer. To tell you the truth, I'm a little surprised that there's no more room - it will be interesting to see the level of participation this year compared to last year - I would have considered last year as a small event (compared to "typical" horse events I attend) but maybe that's pretty normal and that's what they planned on this year.

I finally had to conclude things were not working out smoothly enough to do it. It had to be easy for it to happen and now it isn't - My weekends are typically full and the weekend I had planned to go pick Glory up, I couldn't because I didn't have an answer on the stabling - not sure when I can schedule another weekend. I also need enough time prior to the event to get a Coggins, proof of WNV, and a health certificate done - not to mention some practice sessions!

So in conclusion - it would have been fun to bring Glory and cleaned up (*evil smile*), but on the other hand, I have the license to relax even more because I don't have any regrets about not being able to bring a horse - I tried! I don't get to travel much out of California, so I'm really looking forward to the road trip. I had a GREAT time last year. Fortunately, I have so much on my calendar, it's hard to get disappointed when something doesn't work out - For the rest of this year I'm looking forward to dressage lessons, schooling dressage shows, 1-2 more endurance rides and then the 2010 AERC season starts! How exciting!