Today was Alice's last day at Rancho Pampa. Needless to say the last two days have been full of emotions. We rode yesterday morning, spent the afternoon trimming horses up then went out to dinner to celebrate Alice's last night. Dinner at Kansas was, as always, fantastic but I definitely would have been quite content for it not to have been her last hurrah with us.
Today was riding in the morning again. We tried to take a group to Equus to school but ended up having tire issues that turned us around. So we jumped them all around at home. I was on Nacar and he was a good boy. The jumps ranged in height up to a meter and included two combinations, two related distances and a triple bar. My first course was lacking in rythym and enough forward which resulted in two rails. Plus my nasty little habit of trying to lay out to take a nap on their neck over fences doesnt help him get his feet out of the way. Martin keeps saying if he painting Nacars neck Id be covered in paint after a few jumps. And hes right. I did laugh out loud the first time he said it though. Especially since I consistently get made fun of for gettin paint all over me when Im actually painting. Let alone getting it all over me from riding. I felt the second course was better even with the taller jumps. One rail at the first but clean besides that. Didnt feel like my riding was at its best but thats all on me. The second I get in a ring with eyes on me and a course to ride, I freak. Then have to spend time/energy I should be putting toward preparing for my ride into calming down. Dont know why I get so stressed about it but I do. It has gotten significantly better in the last year but I can definitely tell when Im out of practice. Forcing myself to go and deal with the stress/anxiety makes me better at handling it. Just have to get myself in a position to do it more often. After our little "show"/course/thing I was on Geologo, Picaro and Jour. They were all very good. We got finished a bit early so we set up a free jump arena in the ring to send some through. Garufa, Quantum, Invasor and Kir Royal were all sent through and jumped quite nicely. Garufa in particular was incredible to watch. He and Quantum are in a free jumping competition next weekend so fingers crossed they do well at that. I think they will though.
Spent the afternoon doing the freee jumping then clipping up the series horses for the show tomorrow. After that was finished it was time to drive Alice to the airport to leave. Im so happy for her that she gets to go home, I know shes missed it but life at Rancho Pampa wont be the same without her. Weve been together basically nonstop for almost five months. The fact we can even stand each other let alone hug and cry at the airport is incredible. But we did. Some of my favorite memories here in Argentina are with her and it will not be anywhere near the same. She's probably just now boarding the plane and Im already missing her like crazy. My partner in crime, my basically sister, my mommy Alice and my best friend. Gonna miss ya love!
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