The Horse Show

I had my second and final show of the season on Sunday.

My sweet Lillypony has been out with a popped splint so I started riding Super in my lessons in preparation for the show.

Super is a 20-something AQHA gelding with points in Hunter Under Saddle.  You wouldn't know it to look at him when he's packing along the lil'uns, but that old man knows his job and remembers the good old days. He was Junior's neighbor so I know him pretty well.  His people are very nice, too. I like to call him Super-man.

Super-Man tells it like it is...

It's a hunter/jumper barn so it's all-English-all-the-time, in fact I think there's only ONE western rider left in the barn... even the BO sold her last western saddle last week.

I showed in four classes: W/T Equitation Pattern, W/T/C Equitation Pattern, Adult W/T Flat and W/T/C Flat.

We won both patterns, which was pretty cool.  Here are the patterns!

Walk/Trot Eq. Pattern

W/T/C Eq. Pattern

After the show the judge told me I "mastered the pattern" so that felt good. Not sure which one she meant so I'm going to pretend she meant both.

I was 2nd in the Adult class of 4 and DFL in the WTC, which isn't surprising since it was against almost all lesson kids.  There were 7 in the class and Junior's OP (on his new horse!) and I tied for 6th. In addition to my TERRIBLE sitting trot, I also failed to set him up correctly for a trot to canter transition and he picked up the wrong lead.  We had been schooling walk to canter transitions but not trot to canter so I messed it up..... RIGHT in front of the judge.  Oh well.

My friend SF (actually the former BM from the barn before this one) has been riding the BO's horse, Scooby, so we had to capture the first time we got to show together.... who knows if we'll have the opportunity again!

Seriously, I fail at the sitting trot which is embarrassing because I ride western.  I think the difference is that with longer western stirrups I can open my hip angle and sit deeper and in an English saddle I feel like I can't get my weight down. Something to work on, I guess!

Ohai, Scooby!

It's Quarter Horse Congress Time!!!

It's October in Columbus, Ohio!  That mean's the Congress is in town!

Since 1966 Quarter Horses have been gathering for what is now the largest single-breed horse show in the world with 20,000 entries in 2013. This year's Novice Amateur Western Pleasure has the highest entry count at 176.

I will be visiting several times this year and will be giving you all the highlights from the non-exhibitor's perspective.

Yesterday I met up with B and A (A owns a cutter named Cowboy and board's at B's place) to watch some cutting and do a little shopping.  The Trade Show doesn't officially open until the 7th, but most of the larger retailers such as Rod's, Chick's, Cashman's, Sean Ryan, etc. were up and running.  I didn't buy anything yet... but I've got a list as always.  I did find this plain little work saddle.... 'cause crystals under my thigh seem like a great idea.....

If you are willing to give out an email address, you can watch all three arenas streaming online.

iequine LIVE Streaming Here!

For more information, visit the Congress website: Quarter Horse Congress Website

I'll post more after my next visit!

Introducing.... Kevin.

Friends, I would like you to meet Kevin.

His name isn't really Kevin.  His registered name is Assets Until Dark and his barn name was Knight and is now Austin, but B's taken to calling him Kevin and for some reason it's grown on me.  Maybe because I think of that giant bird in UP.

He's a 10 year old Quarter Horse, and was a stud until about three years ago. He bred mares.  That fact would have freaked me out, except that he is a perfect gentleman.  I rode him on Tuesday in the arena with a mare in full-blown heat.  He didn't even look at her.  Looks like he's a gelding through and through.

I haven't sticked him, but we think he's about 15.1 at the wither.... you may notice he's a bit... downhill.  That fact would normally bother me, but he doesn't feel heavy on the forehand at all.

He's a Western Pleasure dreamboat.  By far the best little loper I've ever had the pleasure to sit.  He's been shown in reining, horsemanship, and hunt seat equitation.

As with all new horse & rider combos, there's a learning period where there's some half-hearted boundary testing and there's some groping in the dark for buttons supposedly installed.

I love having something to work on.  With Lilly I spent my time just trying to get her to go up a gait, and honestly I didn't get too far until I grabbed a crop and put spurs on, which made me feel like a failure, but I'm over it.  With Kevin, I've been working on finding buttons, most of which are right on the surface, a few of which are not as glow-in-the-dark.

For instance: The Elusive Pivot.  I can only get him to pivot on the outside hind.  That's not right. Time to study and see if I can figure out how to correct that.  The irony that Junior sometimes forgot which foot to pivot on is not lost on me, nor is the very obvious possibility that it's just something I'm doing totally wrong. Most likely operator error.

Stay tuned for more about Kevin, and more about the rescue saddle I mentioned in my last post.

Cool little sock.

Hi, Handsome.

Diary of the Overanxious Horse Owner: The Reboot

I started this blog because I bought a horse.  I had wanted a horse for as long as I could remember.  I was excited and freaked out including having a panic attack in the truck while my trainer and I drove him back to our barn.  I started this blog as a way to "vent" and to verbally process what I was going through as a first time horse owner.... a very nervous and anxiety ridden first time horse owner.

And now, on what would have been our 6th Anniversary, I'm still just as overanxious, but no longer a horse owner.  Losing Junior is still fresh, even though it's been almost nine months.  It's better now, of course, but there is still a hole in my heart that will never fill completely.  I have a near constant urge to hold his face, to let him snuffle my hair, to go with him on all those adventures we had planned.  But I'm a realist and those are simply things I don't get to have.  The unfairness of it all feels like a vice on my chest, but letting go is getting easier as time goes by.

So what's with "The Reboot"?  Well, it's time to make one more step in moving on, by rebooting this blog and focussing on the future instead of the past. You may have noticed a new look to the blog site. As painful as that is, it needs to happen.  He wouldn't want me to dwell on the past.  It's still going to be the same blog, but I'll be doing less mourning and more doing.   I'm going to try to avoid bringing everything back to Junior, but I guarantee everything I do that has anything to do with horses makes me miss him.  I'm not going to change the name of the blog, though.   I'll be a horse owner again someday.

For starters, I'll tell you about the Horse Show!  It was just a barn show like we did last summer, but our barn shows are so much fun and have ribbons and a real judge.  I think they'd be considered "schooling shows".   I count this as a pretty good milestone, although I did require a kleenex later in the day when Junior's Other People and I were reminiscing.

I showed my Lillypony in Walk-Trot Equitation Pattern and Adult Walk-Trot Equitation (rail only) and we won both of our classes.  I still have difficulty getting her to do upward transitions when I ask for them, but I learned that spurs and a crop sure help... oh ponies.

I am also doing a half-lease on a horse!!! This all happened very quickly and somewhat by chance. Here's the tale:  I sold my western show saddle (Uh, the one you spent so much time finding?  Yeah that one.) so I decided to try an old saddle my friend was trying to get rid of, just so I would have something to ride in until I decide what my next real saddle will be.  I asked B if I could ride Zip in it for a minute to see if I liked it.  She happened to have a horse coming to her farm so she could try him for a client of hers.  I took one look at the horse and wanted to ride him.  If I had been ready to be horse shopping I probably would have bought him right there. Instead I got to ride him and I finally understand the phrase "I could lope this horse all day" means! Her clients decided to buy him and keep him at B's farm while they get to know him and take lessons.  Then after winter they'll take him home to their house.  While he's at B's, or at least until I get sick of him (HA!) I'll be riding him three days a week.

Sporting my "new" 30-year-old rescue saddle.

So that's what we'll be doing for now.  Here's to looking forward.