Draft Horse Show and Other Things
The draft horse show was pretty great. It was a bit smaller than last year, I think, but so was the venue. I also think that the fact that last year it was the first time for the show was a bit more of a draw. It could also be that we hadn't quite hit rock bottom with the economy either.
Chris posted some pictures on our website
(A week ago) Friday morning we loaded up Panda and Zetahra and headed over to Horseshoe park where the show was being held. We figured we had an hour because everywhere that I had looked said that the show started at 10.00am. After settling Z and Panda in the stall I went off to take care of the volunteer stuff and was told that the show was to start at 9.00 (i.e. NOW) and we were first up! They would wait for us, but we'd better hurry. Neither Chris nor I were terribly happy about it and I changed as Chris tried to hurriedly brush out Z to make her look somewhat presentable ... she was still a bit of a mess.
Zetahra whinnied and pranced all the way down to the arena and we did our class. Z did fairly well in the little trot-out to the line-up, but getting her to stand still let alone square was quite hopeless. The other filly in the class was a yearling (they combine the weanlings and yearlings) and a purebred Belgian. Needless to say we didn't win, but by virtues of the small class we placed second.
We were given a class list/order of go, which showed that we didn't have any other classes that day. We had been running on the assumption that the classes would go in the same order as last year, but not so! The riding classes were sprinkled in with the hitch classes, which actually makes sense as it gives the big hitches time to get all their horses together without having a lot of dead space, but it would have been really nice to know the order of go before the morning of the show!
Since we already had Panda there I changed out of my show shirt and jacket and tacked her up. I figured I might as well give her a chance to check out the place so we didn't have to come in entirely unprepared for the class Saturday. She was tense and rather vocal. The vocal factor is new since she had the foal. I sure most of her tension was related to Z being there and hearing her, but not being able to see her. I managed to get her in a descent spot and put Panda up. I took care of some volunteers and watched some of the show with Chris before the lunch break when we took Z and Panda back to the house. We watched the rest of the Friday classes and ended a fairly long day.
Saturday we didn't have a stall (had we known about the schedule we would have paid for stalls on Saturday rather than Friday and just taken Z down) so we did everything out of the trailer. Unfortunately Jed got his halter caught on something on the trailer and when he jerked his head back the stitching popped and his halter came right off. Fortunately he didn't go anywhere. We were able to call Chris' parents to bring a spare halter, but in the meantime Chris put the bridle on Jed and held him.
We discovered that Jed has quite a few fans! Several of the people in the ADHMA have worked with him. Audra came by and loved on him and shared some stories (yesterday she e-mailed some pictures of him at the Arizona State Fair and other events). If he ever disappears there is a fairly lengthy list of people's backyards to check!
David held Jed while Panda, Chris, and I made our way to the arena for the class. I was a bit nervous, but tried my best to remember to breathe, which resulted in keeping a running verbal conversation with Panda. I was a little worried over the canter transition, but it turned out I didn't have anything to worry about because the judge never asked for it! We were asked for a walk, slow trot, and extended trot. Most of my work in Panda focused on keeping her attention on me and not on all the "wild people" hanging on the fence. She didn't seem terribly bothered by the banners, just the people whom she was sure were going to jump in the arena and get her. It was a bit difficult trying to keep her in a slow, relaxed trot. When the Judge asked for the extended trot, however, she was right there and surged forward. It was a bit tense and probably not the most beautiful and correct extension, but there was definitely a difference between the two!
Coming into the center the Gypsy Drum cut us off, but it was actually a blessing as it helped ensure that Panda made a smart, square stop. The judge went down the line asking each one to back. Panda was light and responsive and unworried by his presence. I chatted a bit with the lady on the Gypsy Drum next to me as they made their final decision. They call the class from last to first and as I sat on Panda I heard the first person called. Excellent, we weren't last. That's better than I had hoped. Then the next name was called. Funny, I didn't think we did that well. Another name was called ... O my ... we won? We won!
Panda was pretty surprised as well, though not because we placed first. The ring steward approached with the blue ribbon blowing in the wind, arm outstretched and it was a bit much for poor Panda! She spun and skittered off, I brought her back around. The steward tried again, and she cantered off again. I don't recall how many more times we did the little dance, but the ring steward realized what was going on fairly quickly. He folded up the ribbon and I asked him to approach her shoulder quietly and rub her a bit with it before handing it up to me. That did the trick and I was able to tuck the ribbon in my boot and do our little victory lap, which ended in serpentines back towards the gate to ensure I maintained some control and tried to bring Panda back down from her cloud of worry.
I was greeted and congratulated by Chris, my mother-in-law, mom, and some of my students who were able to make it. I was quite happy that my students were able to make it and actually see me perform. An added bonus that I was able to do so well for them. Many of them haven't really seen me ride and I think for them and their parents I think it might be a bit of a confirmation that they're getting quality instruction to see that yes, I do know how to handle a horse (not that anyone has ever questioned it, but I am well-aware that some gauge success by ribbons).
We had to shuffle off for a tack, clothing, and horse change as there were only two classes before I was up with Jed. I do want to note that I kept my headgear the same. I wore a helmet for both the English and Western class. I don't ever ride without one. I like my head. Chris and Marty took care of the horses while I changed in the tackroom. Once Jed and I were properly attired I hopped on and Mom and Marty attacked me from both sides and tucked me in (the shirt was just long enough to be tucked in, but short enough that the process of mounting pulled half of it loose). Jed was a good sport for it, Panda probably would have had a melt-down (she really is a good mare, she just isn't sure about those wild people. Bicycles? No problem. People pushing strollers? Just a mild concern. A lone person without any object or sensible equine to keep them in line? Well, that's something else entirely!).
Jed and I warmed up outside the arena (no warm-up arena, all the other arenas were occupied by the Festival of Horses clinics and things that were going on). He had his head up and was quite alert. He got a bit hot and fresh when the teams came down, especially when he saw his former teammates heading into the arena. You could tell he wasn't terribly happy about being left out of the hitch! How dare they leave him behind! They were missing a horse! He whinnied and did a little buck, he straightened out a bit when I growled at him to knock it off, but he was still a bit high on himself and trying to get the attention of his old team.
When it was our turn to enter the arena he was still a little worked up and half thought about pitching a mild fit again, but thought better of it. It was quite an effort to keep him walking until the judge asked us to trot and there were a couple jigged trotting steps in there. After a loop or two around he settled in and realized that he was actually being asked to work, which made a massive difference in his ability to focus and responsiveness to my aids. I was able to settle his trot down for the slow trot and he extended fairly well. So well in fact that we ended up passing several people. Our final pass we came behind the Gypsy Drum again (ridden by a different person) and I felt Jed focus in on the strange flowing white thing trailing behind the Drum horse. Of course I knew it was just a tail (though I do admit it was quite the tail, dragging about a foot along the ground!), but Jed seemed transfixed by it and his trot became slower and slower and slower until he broke to the walk. I guess I wasn't quite paying attention like I should or else I would have pushed him forward and kept him going!
We went in and lined up and Jed and I placed fifth out of the group of six. The ring steward mentioned that I broke gait and that's okay. Emma and her dad cried foul, and a couple others thought we did better, but you're judged on what the judge sees, not the crowd and I was still happy with 5th. Of course, Jed doesn't really move like a Western Pleasure horse either, heh. He was still very much in the hitch-type frame with his head up and an active, thrusty gait. His extension was a bit hard to sit and I can't recall if I ended up posting or not, which might have also counted against me *shrugs.*
At the lunch break we took Jed and Panda back to the house and fed ourselves before loading Panda up again and heading back. We still had the barrel race to do. I was now in just jeans and a t-shirt with my normal schooling helmet, a lot more laid-back than my other two outfits (and a bit more comfortable, except for the jeans aren't quite as comfy as breeches, but still...).
Panda and I were the second to do for the barrel race. I could tell that she was utterly baffled and bewildered by the whole thing. I have never asked her to do anything like it before so it wasn't the neatest or tightest run to say the least! She only broke to trot once at the first barrel, but we swung wide on all of them (wasn't about to rip her face around or beat her into the turns, it was just for fun after all and seriously folks, draft horses and barrel racing? who would think it to be serious business?). The final barrel we skirted around towards the announcer's booth before managing to zero in on the gate. Unfortunately they had the barrels set a bit close to the gate so as I tried to push Panda up for the final run she was looking at the gate with her body saying something like "You can't expect me to run through that!" The last one to go was a mule and it skunked us all with a 17 sec. time (Panda and I got around 27 sec and I think the second-placed horse got around 25 or 26 sec). I'm sure had I actually, y'know, practiced for the barrel race we would have done better, but again, all for fun and fourth out of five isn't bad.
I cooled out Panda and enjoyed most of the rest of the show from her back. Muss and her husband were able to make it and got to see the barrel race and we chatted for a bit while we watched. Panda did quite well with all the people, she only had a minor issue when the four-up hitches were coming into the arena and some 50 people started streaming towards the arena. Poor thing thought they were all after her. She actually did really well, just shuffled her feet a bit before realizing that they really weren't out to get her. She also tolerated people petting her and had one little kid walk right up to her and try to pet her nose (he was a little short to reach). Exactly what Panda needs, more experience around people and realizing that no, the wild people aren't out to get her.
I detacked her during one of the class breaks and she, Chris, and I watched the final two classes on the quiet side of the arena.
A long two days, but it was good and I'd do it again. I hope to start showing a bit more (which wouldn't take much), but I have no desire to do more than the little one-day shows (except for the draft show, but that's just once a year). EVAHA has four little one-day shows each year and I think it might be a good thing to do a class or two at each one. I'm not a gung-ho show fiend, but I do think it's good exposure for my horses and if I have students that decide they want to show I need to have some idea of what I'm doing!
In other news we have our old farrier back ... I hope. He's due today so I'm waiting for him to show up. In the last year his wife has had a stroke or two, a couple heart attacks, and ended up with a couple of stints in her heart. After seven or eight months of not hearing from him we got word that his wife is doing much better and he's able to get back to work. YAY! The other farrier wasn't bad and he was a good guy and punctual and did his job, but I wasn't quite happy with the way my horses' feet started changing in the last two rotations. If you have a good farrier you might not notice a difference in the first rotation after switching, but I've started noticing some flares and shape changing, specifically heels starting to disappear, that don't make me terribly happy.
With Kevin back (and hoping he makes it today) I plan on asking him to teach me how to trim my own horses. I know I won't be able to have Kevin do my horses forever because I'm sure he'll stop shoeing long before I find myself horseless (which will probably be never...). So in the meantime I plan on educating myself. I already know what good and bad trimming/shoeing looks like, but I've only ever trimmed one hoof in my life and it's high time I learned how and became proficient in case I come to a point where I can't find a farrier who does a good job. I'd still pay him like normal of course. It's not me trying to get a deal, it's me trying to get an education.
In other news... I don't quite recall what else I was going to say. Yesterday Chris, Marty, and I went through and organized things for the garage sale. We priced most everything and there is a surprising amount of stuff that we're selling, especially once you itemize it all! We did manage to sell something yesterday while we were sorting so technically the sale is already a success!
Now I think I need to go and rotate some laundry and try and finish this commission before heading out and fussing with horses until Kevin gets here.
Chris posted some pictures on our website
(A week ago) Friday morning we loaded up Panda and Zetahra and headed over to Horseshoe park where the show was being held. We figured we had an hour because everywhere that I had looked said that the show started at 10.00am. After settling Z and Panda in the stall I went off to take care of the volunteer stuff and was told that the show was to start at 9.00 (i.e. NOW) and we were first up! They would wait for us, but we'd better hurry. Neither Chris nor I were terribly happy about it and I changed as Chris tried to hurriedly brush out Z to make her look somewhat presentable ... she was still a bit of a mess.
Zetahra whinnied and pranced all the way down to the arena and we did our class. Z did fairly well in the little trot-out to the line-up, but getting her to stand still let alone square was quite hopeless. The other filly in the class was a yearling (they combine the weanlings and yearlings) and a purebred Belgian. Needless to say we didn't win, but by virtues of the small class we placed second.
We were given a class list/order of go, which showed that we didn't have any other classes that day. We had been running on the assumption that the classes would go in the same order as last year, but not so! The riding classes were sprinkled in with the hitch classes, which actually makes sense as it gives the big hitches time to get all their horses together without having a lot of dead space, but it would have been really nice to know the order of go before the morning of the show!
Since we already had Panda there I changed out of my show shirt and jacket and tacked her up. I figured I might as well give her a chance to check out the place so we didn't have to come in entirely unprepared for the class Saturday. She was tense and rather vocal. The vocal factor is new since she had the foal. I sure most of her tension was related to Z being there and hearing her, but not being able to see her. I managed to get her in a descent spot and put Panda up. I took care of some volunteers and watched some of the show with Chris before the lunch break when we took Z and Panda back to the house. We watched the rest of the Friday classes and ended a fairly long day.
Saturday we didn't have a stall (had we known about the schedule we would have paid for stalls on Saturday rather than Friday and just taken Z down) so we did everything out of the trailer. Unfortunately Jed got his halter caught on something on the trailer and when he jerked his head back the stitching popped and his halter came right off. Fortunately he didn't go anywhere. We were able to call Chris' parents to bring a spare halter, but in the meantime Chris put the bridle on Jed and held him.
We discovered that Jed has quite a few fans! Several of the people in the ADHMA have worked with him. Audra came by and loved on him and shared some stories (yesterday she e-mailed some pictures of him at the Arizona State Fair and other events). If he ever disappears there is a fairly lengthy list of people's backyards to check!
David held Jed while Panda, Chris, and I made our way to the arena for the class. I was a bit nervous, but tried my best to remember to breathe, which resulted in keeping a running verbal conversation with Panda. I was a little worried over the canter transition, but it turned out I didn't have anything to worry about because the judge never asked for it! We were asked for a walk, slow trot, and extended trot. Most of my work in Panda focused on keeping her attention on me and not on all the "wild people" hanging on the fence. She didn't seem terribly bothered by the banners, just the people whom she was sure were going to jump in the arena and get her. It was a bit difficult trying to keep her in a slow, relaxed trot. When the Judge asked for the extended trot, however, she was right there and surged forward. It was a bit tense and probably not the most beautiful and correct extension, but there was definitely a difference between the two!
Coming into the center the Gypsy Drum cut us off, but it was actually a blessing as it helped ensure that Panda made a smart, square stop. The judge went down the line asking each one to back. Panda was light and responsive and unworried by his presence. I chatted a bit with the lady on the Gypsy Drum next to me as they made their final decision. They call the class from last to first and as I sat on Panda I heard the first person called. Excellent, we weren't last. That's better than I had hoped. Then the next name was called. Funny, I didn't think we did that well. Another name was called ... O my ... we won? We won!
Panda was pretty surprised as well, though not because we placed first. The ring steward approached with the blue ribbon blowing in the wind, arm outstretched and it was a bit much for poor Panda! She spun and skittered off, I brought her back around. The steward tried again, and she cantered off again. I don't recall how many more times we did the little dance, but the ring steward realized what was going on fairly quickly. He folded up the ribbon and I asked him to approach her shoulder quietly and rub her a bit with it before handing it up to me. That did the trick and I was able to tuck the ribbon in my boot and do our little victory lap, which ended in serpentines back towards the gate to ensure I maintained some control and tried to bring Panda back down from her cloud of worry.
I was greeted and congratulated by Chris, my mother-in-law, mom, and some of my students who were able to make it. I was quite happy that my students were able to make it and actually see me perform. An added bonus that I was able to do so well for them. Many of them haven't really seen me ride and I think for them and their parents I think it might be a bit of a confirmation that they're getting quality instruction to see that yes, I do know how to handle a horse (not that anyone has ever questioned it, but I am well-aware that some gauge success by ribbons).
We had to shuffle off for a tack, clothing, and horse change as there were only two classes before I was up with Jed. I do want to note that I kept my headgear the same. I wore a helmet for both the English and Western class. I don't ever ride without one. I like my head. Chris and Marty took care of the horses while I changed in the tackroom. Once Jed and I were properly attired I hopped on and Mom and Marty attacked me from both sides and tucked me in (the shirt was just long enough to be tucked in, but short enough that the process of mounting pulled half of it loose). Jed was a good sport for it, Panda probably would have had a melt-down (she really is a good mare, she just isn't sure about those wild people. Bicycles? No problem. People pushing strollers? Just a mild concern. A lone person without any object or sensible equine to keep them in line? Well, that's something else entirely!).
Jed and I warmed up outside the arena (no warm-up arena, all the other arenas were occupied by the Festival of Horses clinics and things that were going on). He had his head up and was quite alert. He got a bit hot and fresh when the teams came down, especially when he saw his former teammates heading into the arena. You could tell he wasn't terribly happy about being left out of the hitch! How dare they leave him behind! They were missing a horse! He whinnied and did a little buck, he straightened out a bit when I growled at him to knock it off, but he was still a bit high on himself and trying to get the attention of his old team.
When it was our turn to enter the arena he was still a little worked up and half thought about pitching a mild fit again, but thought better of it. It was quite an effort to keep him walking until the judge asked us to trot and there were a couple jigged trotting steps in there. After a loop or two around he settled in and realized that he was actually being asked to work, which made a massive difference in his ability to focus and responsiveness to my aids. I was able to settle his trot down for the slow trot and he extended fairly well. So well in fact that we ended up passing several people. Our final pass we came behind the Gypsy Drum again (ridden by a different person) and I felt Jed focus in on the strange flowing white thing trailing behind the Drum horse. Of course I knew it was just a tail (though I do admit it was quite the tail, dragging about a foot along the ground!), but Jed seemed transfixed by it and his trot became slower and slower and slower until he broke to the walk. I guess I wasn't quite paying attention like I should or else I would have pushed him forward and kept him going!
We went in and lined up and Jed and I placed fifth out of the group of six. The ring steward mentioned that I broke gait and that's okay. Emma and her dad cried foul, and a couple others thought we did better, but you're judged on what the judge sees, not the crowd and I was still happy with 5th. Of course, Jed doesn't really move like a Western Pleasure horse either, heh. He was still very much in the hitch-type frame with his head up and an active, thrusty gait. His extension was a bit hard to sit and I can't recall if I ended up posting or not, which might have also counted against me *shrugs.*
At the lunch break we took Jed and Panda back to the house and fed ourselves before loading Panda up again and heading back. We still had the barrel race to do. I was now in just jeans and a t-shirt with my normal schooling helmet, a lot more laid-back than my other two outfits (and a bit more comfortable, except for the jeans aren't quite as comfy as breeches, but still...).
Panda and I were the second to do for the barrel race. I could tell that she was utterly baffled and bewildered by the whole thing. I have never asked her to do anything like it before so it wasn't the neatest or tightest run to say the least! She only broke to trot once at the first barrel, but we swung wide on all of them (wasn't about to rip her face around or beat her into the turns, it was just for fun after all and seriously folks, draft horses and barrel racing? who would think it to be serious business?). The final barrel we skirted around towards the announcer's booth before managing to zero in on the gate. Unfortunately they had the barrels set a bit close to the gate so as I tried to push Panda up for the final run she was looking at the gate with her body saying something like "You can't expect me to run through that!" The last one to go was a mule and it skunked us all with a 17 sec. time (Panda and I got around 27 sec and I think the second-placed horse got around 25 or 26 sec). I'm sure had I actually, y'know, practiced for the barrel race we would have done better, but again, all for fun and fourth out of five isn't bad.
I cooled out Panda and enjoyed most of the rest of the show from her back. Muss and her husband were able to make it and got to see the barrel race and we chatted for a bit while we watched. Panda did quite well with all the people, she only had a minor issue when the four-up hitches were coming into the arena and some 50 people started streaming towards the arena. Poor thing thought they were all after her. She actually did really well, just shuffled her feet a bit before realizing that they really weren't out to get her. She also tolerated people petting her and had one little kid walk right up to her and try to pet her nose (he was a little short to reach). Exactly what Panda needs, more experience around people and realizing that no, the wild people aren't out to get her.
I detacked her during one of the class breaks and she, Chris, and I watched the final two classes on the quiet side of the arena.
A long two days, but it was good and I'd do it again. I hope to start showing a bit more (which wouldn't take much), but I have no desire to do more than the little one-day shows (except for the draft show, but that's just once a year). EVAHA has four little one-day shows each year and I think it might be a good thing to do a class or two at each one. I'm not a gung-ho show fiend, but I do think it's good exposure for my horses and if I have students that decide they want to show I need to have some idea of what I'm doing!
In other news we have our old farrier back ... I hope. He's due today so I'm waiting for him to show up. In the last year his wife has had a stroke or two, a couple heart attacks, and ended up with a couple of stints in her heart. After seven or eight months of not hearing from him we got word that his wife is doing much better and he's able to get back to work. YAY! The other farrier wasn't bad and he was a good guy and punctual and did his job, but I wasn't quite happy with the way my horses' feet started changing in the last two rotations. If you have a good farrier you might not notice a difference in the first rotation after switching, but I've started noticing some flares and shape changing, specifically heels starting to disappear, that don't make me terribly happy.
With Kevin back (and hoping he makes it today) I plan on asking him to teach me how to trim my own horses. I know I won't be able to have Kevin do my horses forever because I'm sure he'll stop shoeing long before I find myself horseless (which will probably be never...). So in the meantime I plan on educating myself. I already know what good and bad trimming/shoeing looks like, but I've only ever trimmed one hoof in my life and it's high time I learned how and became proficient in case I come to a point where I can't find a farrier who does a good job. I'd still pay him like normal of course. It's not me trying to get a deal, it's me trying to get an education.
In other news... I don't quite recall what else I was going to say. Yesterday Chris, Marty, and I went through and organized things for the garage sale. We priced most everything and there is a surprising amount of stuff that we're selling, especially once you itemize it all! We did manage to sell something yesterday while we were sorting so technically the sale is already a success!
Now I think I need to go and rotate some laundry and try and finish this commission before heading out and fussing with horses until Kevin gets here.