Final Show Day for Piper

The last day of the big show. Sunday. Unlike Saturday, the rain stayed away. The morning was lovely. (Later that afternoon, however, it was Very Hot & Humid. Uncomfortable riding weather.) But for Piper who only had morning tests, the weather was wonderful.

Training Level Test 2 was our first class on Sunday. I like this test a lot. It flows easily, it allows canter transitions to happen within an area instead of at a letter, and it has trot diagonals which show off Piper's paces nicely. In a schooling show, Piper broke the 70% mark with this test.

However, on Sunday, as we started down the centerline, something happened. Suddenly, he was twitching and pinning his left ear, twisting his neck to escape whatever was annoying him. Amazingly, he tried to continue to pay attention to his rider, but it was difficult for him.

An hour and a half later, he had his next and last test of the show. Training Level Test 4. A 2009 Qualifier. For this, he was a star and I could not have been happier. He pulled off a 67.2%, a mere 0.8% from the Open / Professional Rider's Training Level qualifier score. He earned 2nd Place.

And with that, Piper had completed 5 tests at the NEDA Fall Festival of Dressage, with an average score of 64.18%. Very nice. But more importantly, he grew up quite a bit in the four days. And that was great!

Next stop: MRF Dressage in October for one last schooling show in 2008.