Last weekend, I was blessed to be able to launch my mini-come-back with my favorite equine partner, Balmullo's Beacon. We signed up for the Jump Start event at the end of Sept., so to help get a handle on my show nerves ,and to see if I could stay in the saddle over the jumps, we did a local combined test. I am pleased to say that we finished 2nd in the Novice division on our dressage score of 34.7 ppts. We lost a few points when his attention wondered to the herd of pasture horses that moved to the rail right beside the dressage arena to graze during our test! I was a bit uptight in general, so I surely wasn't the greatest relaxing influence, but the experience has helped me prepare for our next one. The stadium was a wonderful, flowing and easy to follow course set in a nice big grassy area, so that phase was a breeze.

I am leaving in the morning to school cross-country at the Kentucky Horse Park. I have never ridden there, so am very much looking forward to it:-) Vanessa