The XC clinic that didn't have any XC

So shiney!

I am alive and well from my out of state adventure, and so is miss Bacon. Though my body has realized that things aren't exciting anymore, the adrenaline has worn off and I am sore and worn out. You are also probably wondering about the title of this post. Well, it is true. Stupid Utah rained most of the night Friday night, and rained all night Saturday night. Which ruined the footing and made things unsafe.

Hey Bacon. Remember the race track?

The plan was to jump show jumps on the terrain the first day and come up with two courses that we would like to ride twice each for Sunday. The two earlier groups (me included) worked completely on the terrain with the show jumps. The later groups did a little actual xc things to make sure all of their horses could do ditches, water and banks. After my group finished up, Bacon and I took a stroll with another new friend to make sure we could still do ditches, banks, and water.

Weeeeee

We could.

We strolled all around the facility. It is very pretty there, with the mountains surrounding us, but also a very distracting place for a horse. The course is in the middle of a race track, and also on the side of it. There were soccer games going on right next door as well, and trains going past or hitching up to other trains. Plus, frogs galore in the water. Bacon was delivered late Friday night in good shape and went straight to eating her dinner. The next morning, I tacked up and we strolled out to the infield.

Skinnies are for the birds.

She was a bit nervous and tense, but still really good for all that was happening. Our last xc adventure was the beginning of last October, so it was all very exciting. I was made to go first in the group after our warm up (damn you S) and we were to choose four lines to jump the jumps on the different terrain. There were skinnies, oxers, verticals and such in a wonky circle-like shape. Since Bacon was a bit strong, I choose three of my lines coming up the hill and one going down. She was awesome.

The mountains make for an epic background.

More skinnies. And trains.

Use that butt Bacon.

We didn't have any stops or run outs. I didn't fall off or have an asthma attack. We were game for all of the jumps and trying to have the right kind of canter and pace for each of the lines. We switched it up and she told us which jumps to jump and strung some things together. Saturday was just a blast. After watching my other friends go, we walked around the facility and came up with our courses for Sunday. Some jumps I put on my course were large and questionable but I figured we could do them. Unfortunately, that plan was ruined on Sunday...

All smiles.

Pick your leggies up.

Much shine.

Probably my favorite part of the pictures. The many faces of this kid.