I had a great time Saturday at the Plantation Field Horse Trials helping some friends fence-judge on the cross-country course. We got to see beautiful horses and some amazingly graceful and athletic riders who made it all look so easy.
Because you're right there on the course, you can hear the riders talking to their horses while competing, urging them over the fences and lavishing praise on them when they get it right.
I felt like I was auditing a master class in the sport of eventing when a former competitior hung out with us for a while and described what separated the good riders from the great riders -- things like their focus and control, how they moved, how they held the reins.
At one point between riders, we watched one trainer walking her student through the course. She advised her to keep her eyes focused straight ahead, on the far-off woods, rather than looking down toward the ditch she'd be crossing.
The sky was overcast and there was a cool breeze for most of the day, except for about 45 minutes when it was uncomfortably hot. But the contest organizers kept bringing us cold water, which was very nice.
As a bonus, in the afternoon we got a great view of the Stealth Bomber as it made three passes over the field as part of the New Garden Air Show. When it was banking to the south it looked like a giant angle-iron in the sky.
Towards the end of the day, we heard the hounds next door at the Cheshire kennels, baying for their dinner. And I for one was pretty darn hungry myself after a long day outside.
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