CDI Thermal successful!!

Just got back from the CDI Thermal in Southern California...the show went really well for me! This was my first CDI in over 10 years, so it took a bit of adjusting...ended up with a 61% in PSG with some mistakes and a 64.5 in the I-1 with a much better test! I rode the trot a bit too quick in the PSG, to keep Escorial (aka Monkey) in front of the leg (the arena was a small claustraphobic tent and he backed off considerably when I rode him in there before the show), plus I had mistakes in both lines of tempi changes. For the I-1 I slowed the tempo down and rode more cadence. Plus I cleaned up the canter work and got my tempis. I was very happy with the result! Especially O judge Volker Moritz liked the change, he gave me a 59 in the PSG but bumped it up to a 65.5 in the I-1.
The young horse Charismatique did his first outing at Third level (having done first level last year) and earned a 64.5 and 65.5 in two tests (plus a 60 in his last test, when he was tired and had more mistakes!). I was very happy with him too, he was a bit overwhelmed early in the week by the busy show grounds and was crazy when I rode him. He tried to run out of the warmup at one point, and refused to walk at all earlier in the week...I finally just got off and figured I would try again the next day! As is typical of hunter/jumper shows, there were golf carts, motorcycles, people, horses, jumpers, cars, etc, etc going every which way! Luckily he settled by the time the show started, and my tests went very well.
I actually stabled with Megan Jordan, a hunter/jumper trainer from Oregon (until the CDI). The hunter/jumper crowd knows how to have a good time! I also sold Zimbalist NBF at this show as a hunter. I bought ZZ as a yearling, and after backing him myself, went on to win several high point awards at training level on him when he was a 4 year old. He won the High Percentage at Devonwood one year with a 75%. Although he did well in dressage, and was a good dressage horse, he is a fantastically talented hunter, and had some very good placings in the tough hunter division in weeks 1 and 3. Another former horse of mine, Lovely Lola (renamed Lolita), was mid-circuit Level 6 champion in the jumper division. Megan bought Lola from me when she was a 5 year old, and she has turned into a fantastic jumper. She won several (very) large classes in levels 6 and 7, some with 70+ horses in them.
It was also awesome to watch some of our country's top dressage combinations vie for a spot on the WEG team. The GP competition was intense and very, very good. It is very inspiring to watch people like Guenter, Steffen, Adrienne (Lyle) and Sue Blinks ride.
Definitely a show I would love to attend again! Weather was awesome, mid 60s to 70s pretty much everyday, and some awesome competition. I also watched the CSI Grand Prix in the Indoor on Saturday, which was incredible too. All around a great show!