On Friday we loaded up the trailer (and my new car!) and took off to the next provinces capital city, about a 3 hour drive away. It was a long slow drive but we ended up arriving around 11:30. Once we got our stalls set up, and tack out of the trailers/trucks it was time to go eat! Our show team takes eating seriously! So we went out for lunch and then visited the local tack store. I picked up an english show pad an a new solid black western show pad.
After lunch and shopping we went back to the show grounds. They are located right downtown, and are part of the local standard-breed track which always makes it interesting when trying to show a light horse who has never seen a trotter or pacer!
By this point there were more horses there so we tacked up and rode for about an hour and let the horses get used to the ring. Its an indoor much like the local skating rinks that are used for the county fairs and much like the first show's arena that I showed Lucy in.
The first day was to be the Appaloosa day, with classes held from halter to games being held all day. I rode in the morning and for a bit at lunch just to get her out of her stall. There was a plan for a battle of the breeds competition that night but no one had entered up until that point. Silly me said yes when pressured, and then spent the next 3 hours getting Lucy ready to show.
The classes were halter, english pleasure, western pleasure and 'mail route', a timed trail class.
So I don't know our placings for each class yet but I'll tell you how they went. Halter went good, Lucy stood square and well with her ears up lol. I had a team of people show up to help me do a tack change to english, boost me onto her back and send me into the ring. Sounds great right? NOPE!
Got Lucy into the arena and every time I tried to do more then sitting trot I had a brat of a pony underneath me! I knew my saddle was in the right place but she was NOT happy. I finally got her to canter one direction but the other direction only resulted in bucking! And me in the english saddle. Thank god for full seat breaches and the new balance I have! D was standing by the in-gate and as I went by him I cried 'I broke my pony!'. Well apparently it was loud enough for most everyone around to hear it, and those who didn't passed the word on.
However everyone there knew me and everything that has happened in the past 7 years, so when the class started, and Lucy magically began to behave herself they all cheered when she loped the bad direction without even a head toss!
We did figure out that we might have gotten the saddle too tight right before I got on, so when we did the tack change for western my friend walked her for a couple of minutes once she tightened the saddle while I got my chaps on.
Our western class was very good and Lucy was awesomely consistent. Then came our trail class, it was complicated, and everything was set at the minimum. We had to pick up 'mail' jog into a box 1 and 1/4 turn, jog out and over 6 poles, lope a pinwheel of 5 poles, weave though cones at a jog, over a raised pole, over the bridge jog to the gate, do the gate and then drop off the mail.
It was a difficult course for our first trail class but Lucy was a super star! I only wish someone had videoed it. I was so happy with her She even loped the pinwheel!
I don't know yet what our placings were in each class but we ended up 3rd over all. That's me and Lucy second from the left.
1 comment:
I love classes like that! Sounds like a lot of fun.
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