In the Money???

Yesterday morning was the wrap-up of the Nairobi Fair horse show.

Joya and I placed second in the Division II show jumping (80 cm) and in the Novice Combined Training (which is scored on results in a preliminary dressage test from the previous day, and the 80 cm jumping).

That was a great result for us -- though due to a scoring error, not as great as we'd thought. The announcer called us as the winners in combined training, then had to take it back! Bummer.

My ribbon was blue though -- here in Kenya, the winner gets red. I assume this is a British thing. 

Joya was just flying over the jumps. When I saw how easily she was going over at 80 cm, I put us down as a last-minute entry in the 90 cm class. That's a height we haven't jumped since before the long summer break, and one we haven't jumped very often ever. It still looks pretty big to me.

And she did great. We only had one rail down, at a jump right in front of a huge crowd of kids. She hesitated, then I gave her a kick and she did a sort of kangaroo hop over the fence. I almost fell off, but she kindly stopped until I could fight my way back into the saddle, then off we went and finished the course clear.

It's a good thing she stopped. There's a new rule this year that falling off your horse means instant elimination. Last year, you could fall off once, remount, and continue.

The experience made me feel that at least one of my goals -- a clear round at 1 meter -- is within reach, knock wood.  Still, those 10 cm are somehow quite a bit bigger than the ones between 80 and 90. Something for the physicists to figure out.

On the other hand, my dressage goal seems quite far away...though we won the preliminary class, our score was nowhere near what is required for 60 percent.

Our results netted us 700 Kenyan shillings in prize money...that's about $8.50. But when I went to the office to collect, I was told I couldn't get my prize money unless I could produce my passport!

Whenever I win any prize money (which has happened only twice before) I hand my meager winnings to Peter, since without him I would not be able to function at shows at all. He braids Joya's mane and tail, keeps her gleaming, keeps her fed and happy, sits with her in the trailer, holds the reins while I fiddle with my stirrup leathers. Also, I've been teaching him to use my camera, and he took these pictures.

So, I felt morally obligated to give Peter 700 shillings, even though I didn't get it from the show organizers. Which is just another example of way the horse riding life will come up with new and creative ways to eat your money.