Fun in the sun

Today I drove up to DevonWood (where my header photo was shot). My primary purpose was to watch Julie compete on Debbie's Thoroughbred mare Ivy for her third USDF Bronze Medal score, which she earned handily, along with second place in the Third Level Test 2 class. I was able to get some good photos of them in the warm-up as well as the show ring; I'm going to burn them on disks for both Debbie and Julie. Here is a small sampling:

My second objective was shopping, but there were no vendors. :-(  For that I'll have to return in two weeks for the USDF Region 6 Championship Show, but I did get to admire some lovely horseflesh and chat with some old friends. Then I specifically watched some First and Second Level rides with Julie, figuring out what to enter if we go to the Dressage Can Be Fun show next month. We decided on First Level Test 3 as a warm-up, followed by Second Level Test 2; Julie is confident that we can polish up our simple changes for the latter by then. We just need some rain to be able to school in our home arena, and a couple lessons with Julie. After watching the competition at a recognized show, I don't think we'll be out of our element in a League show at all!