Perry National Draft Horse Show & Nat Drive

[Cielo Azure]

Well, the National Drive (wet, wet, wet) and the Draft Horse show (wet, wet, wet) are finished. They were definitely the grand finale of the year, in terms of horses! We had fun at both venues, although both were wet (did I write that already" But understand, this whole year in Georgia has been wet, to put it mildly...

My son and a friend (representing the "pit crew"), also shot some video and stills of Robert and I driving and riding. The show was a blur but later, I went back and reviewed the footage and edited it to make the following videos:

The first video is a hitch cart class, featuring my husband, Robert and GTs Joanna, a four year old mare and this was her first show. This is definitely NOT a "pleasure class" but it is the type of driving that this mare was bred for and she loves it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9PrhT66J2Q

One is of Soleil, a four year old, homebred mare. I drove her in a draft pleasure class and then Robert rode her in the riding classes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_FhWr9s1HI

Both mares started driving this summer, so their education is not "complete" but I am pleased with what they gave us. It is always stressful and exciting for all of us showing in the big state fairs but they did great.

Oh, here are photos of Joanna at the National Drive:

My dear friend, who is 23, informs me that I am at the pinnacle of steampunk fashion (I just love that term).
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/Orderpage.aspx?pi=04SQ00ZB4Q0007&po=7&pc=16

Anyway, if you aren't all totally bored of video, this was our fall finale.

[Cartfall]

Beautiful mares both. Congrats on a great show. Really enjoyed both

Can you explain to me the difference in the two classes--I noticed the first one was full draft harness whil the second one in carriage harness (carriage collar vs the large draft collar).

The first mare with the docked tail, did you have bells on her or was that just the metal parts of the harness jingling? Lovely sound. Also --were those braids on the first mare? Lotta of work.

The second mare :cool:who you drove and your husband rode is a very nice mover. Remember I am a light breed rider and driver!;)

Thanks for sharing.

[Cielo Azure]

Beautiful mares both. Congrats on a great show. Really enjoyed both

Can you explain to me the difference in the two classes--I noticed the first one was full draft harness whil the second one in carriage harness (carriage collar vs the large draft collar).

The first mare with the docked tail, did you have bells on her or was that just the metal parts of the harness jingling? Lovely sound. Also --were those braids on the first mare? Lotta of work.

The second mare :cool:who you drove and your husband rode is a very nice mover. Remember I am a light breed rider and driver!;)

Thanks for sharing.

The draft hitch cart class is a traditional class, it is walk, trot, reverse at the diagonal and back. The registered horse must be high stepping, have on traditional draft horse show harness (including the housing) and be correctly presently. A lot of the class is judged on draft horse hitch type but there is a real art to getting the horses to move out like that. Joanna moves like a piston, up and down. Very impressive but she is no dressage horse! She came to us very hurt as a two year old and was put out to pasture/rehab for over a year to heal. She had baling wire get wrapped around a back fetlock joint and who knows how long it was on her. It literally took a year for the wound to close. That is why we only broke her to ride and drive this summer (as a four year old). She is completely sound now.

The draft harness attaches to the cart with chains, these are what you hear in the video. They do sound cool but I don't even notice them anymore!

The braids are called a mane roll. It is a four stranded braid (two of the strands are fabric). It is again very traditional and a real pain to do in the middle of a show! But is is impressive. If you scroll down this page, to the bottom photo, there is a photo of Charles with a mane roll.
http://www.cieloazure.com/charles.html
Here is a photo from 1905+/-. This was a very famous hitch (the Armour hitch). Note the mane rolls, docked tails, scotch housings, similar type of harness, and the hitch wagon is the same as people use today.
http://www.cieloazure.com/1900.html

The draft horse pleasure class (this one was open to spotted and crosses too), is supposed to be more of a pleasure class BUT the judge is the same hitch judge as above and a lot depends on how well educated he is about pleasure shows and how much he is going to give for points on breed type. At the bigger shows, there tends to be more educated judges. My horse, Soleil, would have placed much better than 5th (you can tell sometimes how a judge is watching you) but she got resistant going into the trot when all of the judge's attention was on us (videos don't lie). Sigh. It is hard for these young horses calm and focused sometimes when showing in those big arenas. I was lucky to get fifth (but at least my placing showed that he liked what he saw otherwise).

The horse in the pleasure class is Cielo Azure's Fleur du Soleil (homebred) Yep. She is a pretty special mover. She can modulate her gaits from a slow trot, to working trot, to an extended to a fancy hitch trot. She moves VERY true and has an exceptionally pure canter. I own her full brother, who moves the same way. They both do very well in the halter ring too. I just gelded him (he is three), with the idea that they will make an extraordinary pair. I plan to show both of them in driven dressage. Soleil has been training in ridden dressage on and off for the last year and a half. She is a handful though. Smart as they come and always willing to express her opinions! Can you tell she is my baby? As her mother was, she is truly a beloved horse around here.
http://www.cieloazure.com/soleil.html

Anyway, sorry for the small novel and thanks for giving me the opportunity to brag.

[Yip]

Very nice! Even if I didn't love your horses, I'd still watch your vids for the wonderful music.

Yip