ADT #2 Wow

When we reached the arena for cones, there were a few people lined up around the edge of the grass to watch. There was a few couples who hadn't seen any such type of competitions and boy were they in for a treat. Jim had laid out another challenging course, that apparently tripped a couple of us up on cone 3.

My friend Sharan had completed her course and unhitched her mare so she was standing by to watch and cheer us on. My daughter Robin was my 'gator and she went to stand with Sharan since gators are only required in the obstacles. The pony before us was finishing up and when it was our turn, I trotted Kat into the arena on the grass and could tell he was ready to GO! We trotted towards the start/finish line, halted and saluted the judge and were ready to go. I kissed to Kat and encouraged him on and off we went.

Thru the start/finish and headed to #1 a multiple in a line the width of the arena. This was a breeze since you weave thru it like running poles in a gymkhanna. Kat had picked up a canter and since the cones are set wide enough for horses with their carts, we whipped thru them with ease. Cone #2 was dead ahead and as I kissed to Kat to keep him cantering along, it was like all of a sudden he hit another gear that I. didn't. even. know. he. had! What a Rush! He took off like a SHOT! The only thing I could think of was HO-LY HELL!

Kat was still under control but we were hauling ass, balls to the wall and running like hell. It's like my pony's tail and feet were on fire. We shot thru 2 so fast that I lost track of 3 and went the wrong way around 12 to get to it. We weren't lined up like we should've been and took 3 down but there was no time for looking back or worrying about it. We lined up for 4, when I realized I was sitting on the right headed into a left turn. I had to slide over on the seat to make sure our left wheel was going to stay on the ground as we went thru it.

It was a mad dash on to 5, 6 and so on. Kat was running and we were Smokin Hot as we went thru 7 and 8 at the far end and looped our way around. It was about then that I told him, "I know you wanted to run, but DAMN!!!" BLASTING thru 9, 10 and 11 I still had a slight hold of him and wasn't really encouraging him and said "You can slow down some." Yeah, slowing down was NOT on his agenda for cones. Banish the thought!

We rocketed thru the the course at crazy speed. I know I kept telling Kat easy, easy, easy, and was trying to slow him down, but still allowing him to run. I never once asked for anything more from him, instead I was hoping for a little less! I have never felt him run like that before and had no idea he could even go that fast. After we crossed the finish line I let him keep going and circled him around to make an extra lap of the arena. He did ease up and started to slow down and I even considered letting him make another lap to help him regain his mind, but he came back to me and eased into a trot as nice as could be.

Jim had stepped down off the bed of his truck and was waiting for us. He knows I always come back to hear my time and assess the damages (penalties for balls down) so he was ready with what I wanted to hear. He had this strange grin on his face as we stopped so I could shake his hand as I always do and thank him for another awesome course. I knew we had wiped out #3 in a big way and that turned out to be the only one. Jim was grinning when he said, "You guys did it in under 2 minutes." I asked what the time allowed was. "3 minutes." Our time was 1:59.62 seconds. That made me think again HOLY CRAP!

There have been times we were dang close to going over and getting time faults, so to be that far under? WOW! For all of his speed and whipping around on the course, Kat wasn't even breathing hard at all. In fact he was ready to go again and didn't want to stand still. He may have been able to do it, but I wasn't about to ask him for it. I was still just amazed at his speed and how easy he was to handle thru everything. I'm not sure if anyone got any pictures and if they did, I wanna see them! I'm not sure if the people watching were ready for that, but they sure got to see some action! Lol

Later when I checked the board, we had the fastest time in the cones for the day. The next closest was one of the mini's with a time of 2:03.2 seconds. We were the only entry to do it under 2 minutes. Had I not missed #3 and lined up for it the right way and just let him run, not asking him to slow down at all, I have no idea how fast we could've done it or what our time would've been. I'm not even sure I want to find out.

I know that as we move up, the cones will be narrower and time will still be a factor. As long as he's under control and responding, I can get him lined up and aimed at the cones like he should be- asking for or adding more speed will never be a problem. He sure proved that! I'm still reeling a bit from his performance, even now almost a week later. I have been asked if there is pony racing, if we are entered in the upcoming Kentucky Derby and a host of other similar questions because of his speed on Saturday in the cones. He's definitely a little adrenaline junky and from now on I may have to channel my inner Formula 1 driver for the cones courses. Sheesh!