Ballarat Dressage Champs

Goblin has just arrived home from a big outing to Ballarat dressage champs this weekend. He was travelling with the frequent flyer, Gamble and together they looked after each other and performed really well. Goblin was competing in the associate 1A and 1C, and Gamble the 2A and 2B. Goblin had 1 test first thing in the morning and the 2nd mid afternoon, so he had time in the middle to have a nanna nap and get focused for the final test.
The 1A test went waaay better then I expected. We were in the bottom arena at Ballarat and it can be a bit distracting as there are horses warming up on the hill above him. I was expecting him to be a bit 'looky' and not focused on me, but I was very suprised! He did a super test, one moment where he lost balance/concentration for the 2nd canter, but apart from that he was super! He scored 64%, I was stoaked! When final scores went up, we missed out on placing by .4%! Aghh! Soo close!
So as I rode Gamble's 2 tests, Goblin chilled out in the yard, annoying one of his buddies next door - Goblin was trying to pull his neighbours hood off, and the neighbour was trying to lick Goblin's face. Was quite entertaining to watch!
The sun was out and quite warm, and by the time it came for Goblins last test we were all quite snoozy! - so much for being focused! The 1C test was average...! It was what I expected him to do in the first test - not concentrate on me! He was looking everywhere but where I wanted him! There were some nice bits, but it felt very sloppy to me. I was a little disapointed, but really, he is a baby and this was the biggest event he had been to. He didn't do anything wrong, just was more interested in what everyone else was doing but me! I didn't wait for scores, so will hopefully find out in a few days how we went.
The boys and I packed up and headed off that afternoon, and stayed with Vanessa at ESB. Both boys were quite tired after their adventure, so slept very well. We then completed the rest of our road trip this morning, and they were very happy to see their paddocks! Below are a few pics taken off the video of Goblin his his first test.