So we are now on the clock and counting down to our first real entry at A.  Thirty two days, tick tock, tick tock.  The show is at HITS Commonwealth Park in beautiful Culpeper, Virginia (http://www.hitsshows.com/culpeper/index.html).  Ike will debut at Intro Level and try all three Intro tests offered.  The beauty of these classes is there is no need for me to register Ike with USEF or USDF to enter these classes…horse registration is not cheap (but nothing with horses really is).  We get the licensed show atmosphere and judges at a slightly less expensive rate.

This show venue is one of the closest to the barn, so we can spend the night before at home and return home right after the show.  Can you imagine being 3 years old and having your mother leave you in a strange place by yourself?  Perhaps I’m being a bit overprotective.  There will be plenty of future shows that will have sleepovers with his new neighbors.

This venue was also the place where Ike’s “older brother” reached the pinnacle of his dressage career (said with sarcasm dripping from my tongue).  We achieved a 78% one a Intro test and came home with a Champion ribbon from the 2009 USDF Adult Team Competition.  The highlight for Cigar was getting to do a victory gallop.  The dressage test performance was just a means to the end.

Hopefully Ike will want to achieve a similar result and look forward to achieving similar results in the other levels.  Stay tuned.