*Gun Smoke's competitive
debut at Pine Top Farm  |
On
Saturday, January 26, 2002, Jill Mooney rode *Gun Smoke in the Open Novice division of his first U.S.
horse trials. His first-EVER dressage test was certainly one
to make us all proud. He demonstrated his willingness and ability
and received some very nice marks and wonderful comments from
the judge. He showed his greenness in stadium with a very fun
and entertaining, yet clear, round and crossed the finish line
with no penalties for the show jumping phase. Cross-country was
a bit slow, but Jill rode conservatively, to be sure to give
*Gun Smoke a confidence building first-time out. By the time
I saw them on course, at jump 5, they were moving along as if
this was an every-day affair. He jumped all the jumps with ease,
including the bank up & down, the ditch and water, but the
time penalties for X-Co left him with a 6th place finish. I could
not have wished for a better performance or a nicer week-end!
I traveled to the event with my friends Carole Moss, Elizabeth
Hardison and Sharon Cannon. Although the morning was quite nippy,
the afternoon turned into a most pleasant 65 degree sunny January
day. The competition at the event was of excellent quality and
the show, as is to be expected at Pine Top, was very well managed
and the facilities were perfect. *Gun Smoke was very well behaved
as he soaked in all the excitement and atmosphere. I was very
impressed with the number of people who seemed to know him or
had heard of him, even before coming to the event. All day long,
people approached us about his breeding and just to get a chance
to admire him up close. He is quite an impressive stallion and
we are most blessed that he came into our lives:- |