When I bought Chili four years ago, she was a lanky, awkward filly with donkey-sized ears. But she was curious, forward and had a big, springy step. I liked these qualities, and hoped my goofy little girl might eventually make a decent event horse.

Last weekend, we competed in our first event, or horse trial, together. It had been at least eight years since I last competed in an event, and it was Chili’s very first. I couldn’t be more pleased with the results.

Eventing is like an equine triathlon. Dressage tests a horse’s obedience and correct way of moving, while show jumping tests its athleticism and speed. Since dressage and show jumping are sports of their own, it’s the third element — cross-country — that makes the sport so much fun. It’s the phase of an event that every rider looks forward to.

Cross-country courses are spread over kilometers of ground, and riders have to guide their mounts over “natural” looking obstacles. Some courses have horse and rider splashing through water, jumping up and down hills and across ditches. In show jumping, jumps will fall if a horse knocks them, but in cross-country, jumps are solid and unforgiving.

While we were driving home on Sunday from Cedar Run Horse Park, located outside of Collingwood, I had to smile.

Chili had been all the horse I could have asked for and more. We weren’t perfect, and we certainly didn’t have a red ribbon, but we had a great experience behind us.

Our dressage test wasn’t nearly as good as it could have been, or at least my dressage test wasn’t. Chili did everything I asked for — I just didn’t ask for all the right things. Some of our circles were a little square, and transitions from one pace to another, that should have been instant and collected, were slow and loose. I’ll take full blame for all the errors we made here.

My goal going into our show jumping course was to ride forward over all the fences and keep all the rails up. Knocking down jumps, and refusing to go over them, add penalty points to a team’s score. While Chili was brave and honest towards all the jumps, she did knock a few. At home, we normally train over fences that have some spread to them, because it encourages proper form. At the event, there were several upright fences, which are traditionally more challenging because horse and rider have less room for error when taking off. Now I have a better idea of what to work on at home.

With two out of three phases complete, I could hardly wait to tackle the cross-country course.

I had walked it on foot twice and knew exactly what to do in order to get over all the obstacles. Most of them were straight-forward and inviting, since, at lower levels, courses are meant to build confidence in inexperienced horses.

There were a few challenges though, like a three-jump series in a dark, wooded area complete with tight, twisty turns, and a jump located only steps after a monstrous upward climb.

Chili was her usual bold self, and literally flew around the course, jumping everything flawlessly. At starter levels, there are minimum time requirements to promote safe riding. Although it didn’t feel like we were going that quickly, we ended up riding the course 85 seconds faster than we should have. A slew of penalty points were tacked onto our score as a result, but it was probably the most fun three minutes of my life.

Chili seemed to like it, too. Every time I looked down, her ears (which she did grow into) were pricked forward as she eagerly looked for the next jump. Considering some riders didn’t make it through the entire course as a result of refusals or falls, I’m thrilled we crossed the finish line without any jumping problems.

Even though our rides were far from perfect, I got what I wanted from the event. Chili and I both had fun, and she demonstrated a clear interest in the sport, and even showed potential to compete at higher levels.

Four years of working together, a summer of specialized training and weekly lessons have been entirely worthwhile.

I couldn’t be more proud of my girl.

Jenny Jelen is the lifestyle and entertainment reporter for Northern Life.