[drivingpairs] Arizona CDE

Well,

I did it I am even more crazy then I was a month ago in Febuary:-)  My pair
carriage was still not done for Arizona this last weekend so on Monday of
last week I emailed the organizer and said can I switch my entry from
Intermediate Pair to Intermediate Tandem:-)  They said sure but I had to do
dressage in a 40 X 80 arena...   So I hauled 639.2 miles to Coolidge AZ.
(but who's counting)  got there in 12 hours.  Not bad...  Arrived on Wed
night.  Thursday hooked the boys up and went for a drive practiced the test
for the first time ran through it twice.  Drove around a bit more and put
them up.  I was happy to pick up a groom in AZ Pat Conway who has many years
experience and has driven a pair before.  Friday morning a storm started to
build with 35 mph winds and clouds.  A squall came through rained and hailed
(this in a place that hadn't seen rain in 143 days) That quit and it was
just windy.  I didn't go until last 4:30pm.  I got hooked up went out to the
practice arena where the dirt was blowing so hard you couldn't even see.  I
wore my helmet figuring it wouldn't blow off.  I watched Merrie (list
member) drive her test with her pair of ponies and she had a great test.
Those ponies are hard to beat so glad I have horses:-)  It was my turn so I
drove the boys around the arena so they could see the judges stands,
spectators (everyone was out to see the tandem) in the wind.  The whistle
blew and I made a 20 meter half circle to enter the arena.  My main goal was
to not knock over the chain and to not yell at my leader the whole test.  I
succeeded and had the best test I have ever had....  That was cool.

After dressage Jay Hubert came by and fixed my tandem keys I had them
buckled in wrong.  Oh well..


The predicted rain storm came for Saturday.  Cold, wet, muddy clay.  We all
still went out.  (Hazard 1 they had to modify)  they shortened it to 2 gates
because the covered wagons were partially collapsing in the wind and rain.
I made my time on Section A.  Very happy.  On the walk I was a bit late but
considering I was last out on course my wheeler had to do a lot of pulling
in the mud.  My leader was in draft for the whole walk section.  Section E.
Was the hardest thing I have ever done in my driving career.  Cold wet reins
and hands.  I had no feeling left in my left hand.  And I was driving
hazards not designed for multiples.  I got the boys through every gate and
only had the wheeler step over the leaders trace once.  I have to hand it to
my groom she said should I get down and fix it or do you want to finish the
hazard like that.  I had her get down.  This hadn't ever happened to me or
the boys in our short tandem experience.  After hazard 3 my groom quit
telling me our time on course.  We were so late.  I think 4 pickups were
following me around the course (it was raining so hard by now all timers
were sitting in trucks)  I did have alot of honked horns as I finished each
hazard.  I think the volunteers just wanted to go home:-)  There was one
hazard (Single tree hazard - a tree circled with post and rail fence about 3
circles) for those who have been to coolidge and it had a gate in the inside
and you had 2 choices right or left  (I had a hard time last year with a
single horse)  some how I got through the gate.  My leader went right left
right left as I wiggled my wheeler and the carriage through.  I kept yelling
to the leadere "JASPER Wrong WAY"  and he listened and would switch
directions....  After marathon.  We had to have our truck towed out so we
could go to the hotel to clean up for the competitors dinner.:-)

Sunday was absolutley the most gorgeous weather.  The rain was done (2.21
inches) and the wind was still there but not so constant or fierce.  Just a
normal wind.  They simplified the cones course because of the soaked footing
and I had competitors asking me how much I had bribed the officials to make
a tandem friendly course:-)  It drove nice and I managed to go clean (real
happy tandems get an extra 10 cm though)  I had a few time penalties but
overall not bad.  I managed to stay under 200 points over all.

It was a fun event as always.  The Goree's are great hosts and it was fun to
see some competitors from CO, Utah and Texas that we don't get to see very
often.    And many people from this list were there also.....

Happy to be home
Diane Kastama
(Arroyo Grande, CA)

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