First competition with pair done!

24-26.4 we were competing at Ypäjä Equine Collage in Southern Finland. Caravan car, trailer and a second car with trailer headed South and we drove ca 450 km to Loimaa and Loimihaka riding&driving centre where we had hired boxes for the ponies Ivanhoe and Paulette. For Ivanhoe it was a familiar place as we competed there last autumn with him.

It was very windy when we arrived to Loimaa!

Of course we had had a pit stop at Seinäjoki and Hööks horse equipment store where I bought some nice leather head collars for yearling foals to have on shows and all Shetland and Pony sized head collars of a model I know suits very well in Shetland heads :) Ponies also got new boots to cover front hoves at marathon, sadly the only color I could live with was red, no green or brown or even black available.

Competing ponies :) Doesn't they look great!

The competition was shortened to a two day challenge so at Saturday we first drove the dressage. I thought to give the ponies a easier day and spare the hard training outside the competition paddock so I drove very calmly and not too demanding. Of course we then got comments that the pace could have been better but after all placed second with 68%/51points which I was so proud of, good work my little ponies!

I just had to buy a few photos a photographer had taken of us in dressage...

The class we competed in was a novice class, so any part of the team can be a newbie, the pony/horse, one of the ponies/horses in pair/team or the driver - in our case we had permission to participate because of Paulette who has not competed in driving before. One can participate in novice class until one has won once the whole three part competition or until one has two placements in total in any parts (dressage, cones or marathon).

 

A very happy driver and handsome ponies after dressage

Directly after dressage we drove the cones. That was challenging as in the beginning of the course there was a few very very thight turns but we managed to turn in time, then again in the end of the course there where long ways from cones to next ones and there I couldn't have them trotting as fast as one would wish as Paulette likes to gallop and it is a thin line to balance on to keep her trotting. In easy classes in combine driving in Finland it is not allowed to gallop. Still we drove a clear round though it was just the third time ever I drove cones with pair!

We then packed the ponies and harness&carriage in transport and drove them back to Loimaa headquarters (ca 18 km), had lunch and relaxed a bit before driving back to Ypäjä for checking the marathon course. Three of the four obsticles where fine but one started with such a tight turns that I really thought we would crash in the competition :D

 At Loimihaka they have a minipig called Mikko, Ivanhoe has seen him and took it quite calmly but Paulette did not know what to think, to be terrified or curious??!

So Sunday came after rain all night and the competition arena started to look a bit heavy for small ponies, but off we went on marathon which in this easy class is only the B part with obsticles (no A part in the beginning). First obsticles was in a birch forest driving around birches and I can tell you that after the first gate I had now idea of between which two birches the next gate was not to talk about the rest :D of course I knew approximately where to drive but somehow I just saw a loooot of birches. Thank God I was driving a pair and had Marko as groom so he had easier to give directions than me looking around with two ponies of which the other one was again all the time trying to gallop which again made me concentrate of keeping her in trot! After all we made it and continued to number two which was the hard one...

I really had to take walk, as it was so tight but we made it through without any parts dropping either as there where small balls on the obsticle. Number three was again birhces but also with a wooden carriage and some other wooden constructions so I think that one we cleared quite nicely. The last one was poles and a small building to drive through, I was a bit concerned if the ponies would go inside the building but they didn't even question it and again nicely cleared this last obsticle. In the end we had nicely time to walk to the Finish line and ponies seemed to recover very well though the course in the end was already very slippery, wet and muddy due to rain. What an amazing feeling to have one dream come true, driving a pair in combine driving competition! In marathon we placed third as well as we had in cones and with the second place from dressage we placed totally 2. with 6 other competitiors, which where all big horses and ponies - and only singles against us! I am so proud of my little driving ponies and they worked so well the whole weekend! I just love them <3 Next I'll try to write what happens after a competition when you get home...