Duna Showing August of 2009

On August 8, 2009, Duna attended her first dressage show of 2009.  I had just finished braiding her when I heard our name announced as "on deck"; I wasn't even changed into my show clothes yet!  As it turned out, they were a full twenty-five minutes ahead for my class.  We arrived down by the ring with enough time for a five minute warm-up, and then it was show time.  Although Duna was worried about her now three-month-old colt, Papale, waiting for her all by himself outside of the ring, she tried very hard to do what I asked of her.  Although there were a few bloopers in the test, Duna received a score 67% in Intro A.  Her second class was in a different arena, which was flooded from a storm that had ripped through the night prior.  As so many horses had refused to even enter the area due to the "lake" that had formed at A, a rail was taken down at B for riders to enter.  However, Duna is a trooper and I knew she would go through the "lake" without causing a fuss.  However, stopping coming down the centerline proved to be an issue as she wanted to keep going to get to Papale;)  She was a bit more nervous about her baby boy during this ride as Papale had to wait for her outside of the ring, which was next to the warm-up arena, and she had a harder time picking him out in the crowd.  I was able to channel her nervous energy into a lovely forward tempo, enough so that the judge gave her an 8 on gaits and gave her a score of 75% overall!  It was a fabulous day; Duna was definitely a star.