Oklahoma can have some really lovely weather in November. Fabulous fall light and temperatures cool in the morning warming up nicely into the 70's. That's what we had last weekend for the Heartland Drill Competition at the Claremore Expo. The team (Marilyn, Lauren, Ashlyn, Allison, Anna, Roxy, Ivy, and Alaina) gathered on Friday evening for our 6:00pm rehearsal time and the girls ran through all their drills - in the big indoor arena. Several of the horses were a little fresh but, overall, they did well. Final decisions were made regarding which girls would perform each drill and final costume details were completed. Then, since it was still balmy, we washed horses. Sister really looks good clean. Dirty? Not so much.
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| Alaina and Ivy dressed for Madagascar |
The competition started at 8:15am with opening ceremonies performed by the Heartland Drill Team - they were inspiring with each member carrying a large American flag.
Then, to work preparing for our first drill,
Dynamite. Lauren, Roxy, Ivy, Alaina, Anna, and Ashlyn wore mostly black with a red TNT sash topped with curly smoke fuses. Mario was pretty excited at the beginning, jigging in circles when he was supposed to be standing and Patriot was a bit chargey. But, overall the drill was pretty good. The judges had a double dose of dynamite since the team just before also used the same music - hold the matches.
Next on the schedule was the
Classical Dressage Drill complete with classical music. The girls were in their hunt attire including white gloves, white leg wraps, white pads and white stock-ties. Ivy and Alaina were both sitting out. The drill went really well and compared to other performances the team stood out both musically and visually. The team used the drill to demonstrate some classic dressage movements including shoulder-in, leg yields, and turns on the forehand.
The music for the
Madagascar Drill was "You got to Move it, Move it." The girls wore their black outfits with different bright-color leg wraps/pads for each horse. Several horses were spooked by the booming beat from the speaker overhead and which resulted in a couple of pattern breaks. This was not their best drill and the girls used their improvisational skills when patterns were broken. Still, it could have been worse - no one fell off.
The last performance was the
Gypsy Drill which included the most elaborate costume and was the best drill of the day. The horses and girls were mostly settled down and the pattern went well. The costumes were really well recieved (hand made by our Beth Bassett).
Other teams took glitter and extravagant costumes to the next level. But I admit that I want to ride in drills too. So, who is game for an adult dressage drill team to compete next year? YaYa!
