Let me preface by saying I have never had so much fun at a horse show!
Yesterday was our county's semi-annual 4-H fundraiser show. Our club always goes with a bunch of horses and riders. First off, our kids did great! One little girl, who had only been riding for a month or so, won her novice division, and all our kids rode great and had great attitudes. They were just awesome, with great attitudes, cheering for each other, willingly sharing horses and equipment, and otherwise generally made our barn look good.
And as for the pony...my horse, who is usually a total rock star, decided to be a total PITA for some reason-hollering his fool head off, never settling...and capped it off by pulling a shoe in our first under saddle class (we did net nice ribbons in model and showmanship first), so his day was done early. So I figured it was NBD, I'd just help the kids and enjoy watching, but my BO offered to let me show one of the school horses in a division that nobody had entered.
So here we were, the horse at his first show in like 12 years (he had sat in a field for most of that, doing nothing, and just came into our lesson program) and a rider who has ridden him exactly once before the show. Oh, and he's GAITED! (He's a Paso Fino) I had never shown a gaited horse but figured we'd go in, have fun, and gain a little experience for him and provide some comic relief from my end. Well, the horse was a complete rock star! He wasn't perfect, but he probably made up for more of my mistakes than I did his. I found out I couldn't use my leg on him the way I do my hunter, but boy was he responsive to my leg and seat. He carried the day, won his first class, and we got a second and a fifth in the eq. classes (Not bad considering I was a total newbie!) and reserve for the day (OK, it was out of two, but actually, we SHOULD have gotten champion since the rider who won did it on two different horses and for some reason that got missed when they added the points).
And, because there was no expectation on my part of performance, I had more fun that I've ever had at a show-it was a total blast. I accidentally got a true paso fino-which is sort of like a piaffe, except they gait in place. I don't think I'd give up the "regular" horse, but I really enjoyd a new breed and discipline! Thank you, Zeus, for being a wonderful teacher and for reminding me how much fun showing is supposed to be!
Yesterday was our county's semi-annual 4-H fundraiser show. Our club always goes with a bunch of horses and riders. First off, our kids did great! One little girl, who had only been riding for a month or so, won her novice division, and all our kids rode great and had great attitudes. They were just awesome, with great attitudes, cheering for each other, willingly sharing horses and equipment, and otherwise generally made our barn look good.
And as for the pony...my horse, who is usually a total rock star, decided to be a total PITA for some reason-hollering his fool head off, never settling...and capped it off by pulling a shoe in our first under saddle class (we did net nice ribbons in model and showmanship first), so his day was done early. So I figured it was NBD, I'd just help the kids and enjoy watching, but my BO offered to let me show one of the school horses in a division that nobody had entered.
So here we were, the horse at his first show in like 12 years (he had sat in a field for most of that, doing nothing, and just came into our lesson program) and a rider who has ridden him exactly once before the show. Oh, and he's GAITED! (He's a Paso Fino) I had never shown a gaited horse but figured we'd go in, have fun, and gain a little experience for him and provide some comic relief from my end. Well, the horse was a complete rock star! He wasn't perfect, but he probably made up for more of my mistakes than I did his. I found out I couldn't use my leg on him the way I do my hunter, but boy was he responsive to my leg and seat. He carried the day, won his first class, and we got a second and a fifth in the eq. classes (Not bad considering I was a total newbie!) and reserve for the day (OK, it was out of two, but actually, we SHOULD have gotten champion since the rider who won did it on two different horses and for some reason that got missed when they added the points).
And, because there was no expectation on my part of performance, I had more fun that I've ever had at a show-it was a total blast. I accidentally got a true paso fino-which is sort of like a piaffe, except they gait in place. I don't think I'd give up the "regular" horse, but I really enjoyd a new breed and discipline! Thank you, Zeus, for being a wonderful teacher and for reminding me how much fun showing is supposed to be!
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