What a fun day at the horse show at the barn today! It was the most relaxed and outright FUN I can remember, mostly because I didn't show ANY Halter or Showmanship, so I could sleep in, and while everyone was fussing and running around in their goofy Showmanship outfits (seriously, would you walk down the street wearing that stuff??), Quzqo got to enjoy his hay in his comfy stall, and I got to sit and watch the show. Once they started with Halter, I went back to the barn and tacked up, and spent about 45 minutes warming Himself up, lunging him, riding, & doing whatever. Was a relatively small turnout for halter (NO pleasure-type entries, because he was being lunged, ha!), so the judges (two...double-judged, double the fee!) zipped right through, and they broke for "lunch" at 10:30.
I only showed in Novice Equitation, Novice Huntseat, and Novice Trail...didn't bother with the cantering class, because I KNOW what Quzqo will do in that arena (it's his home arena, I know where all the spots are where he'll shy, veer, halt, stop, and be plain dumb)(not wasting $8 this close to Breyerfest!). We, or shall I more correctly say, *I* didn't suck totally in Equitation, because we actually placed 4th out of 5 under the lady judge, and 5 out of 5 under the man judge. I don't know WHY, I thought I was doing everything all right. The lady who took 2nd and 3rd told me in the line-up that she got her diagonals wrong...guess the judges didn't see, or more likely, to win, you have to be tall, thin, and ride a slow stock horse!! Three strikes, we're out!
Was about the same for Huntseat, Quzqo was in a "mood" today...not a bad mood, more of a...Arabian mood. Let's just say our performance was not consistent, but he backed beautifully...we placed 5th & 6th out of 6.
Had quite a time before trail, so took him out for a trail ride, up to a meadow where they've mowed it short and put up some ground poles and barrels. One of the obstacles for the trail pattern was a "jump", so I managed to trot him over the telephone pole laying on the ground and we did it perfectly...that was more for MY benefit than his. Confident and ready for trail!
It was a pretty simple pattern really...no backing, no side-passing, no water boxes! We had to trot into the arena, walk over two ground poles, then over the wooden bridge, then over two more ground poles, trot around a corner, trot INTO a box (4 ground poles), spin 360 degrees to the left, walk out of the box, trot and get over the jump (HA, it was like 6" tall!), slow to a walk and exit.
Somehow during the day the word got out that you were supposed to pivot to the RIGHT in the box, not to the left...but the printed pattern on the announcer's stand said to the LEFT. LOL...the three ladies who went before us all pivoted to the RIGHT... A wonderfully HUGE foul-up (made even more sweet because two of them are my friends who had been beating the pants off of us all summer long with their O-So-Perfect stock horses). Quzqo trotted SO nicely into the ring (I'm just thrilled I can do a sitting trot with him now!!), stopped by the poles, stepped over the first two, up onto the bridge, started stepping down into the next set of poles, got upset and JUMPED them, LOL! But we picked up the trot, round the corner and INTO the box! (the first three ladies slowed to a walk and walked into the box...the pattern clearly stated you had to trot into the box!). Coos has an advantage to being so small, he had NO problem doing a 360 degree pivot to the LEFT, and walking smartly out, pick up the trot, and he tried to veer a little to avoid the jump but my outside leg shoved him back on course and we just flowed over that jumps so sweet!! Slow to a walk, and exit!!
There were 9 entries (it was English and/or Western, so there were a lot of crossover entries). We got 4th and THIRD!!! WhooHOOOOOO!!! I know our placing would have been lower if my friend with the paint had pivoted to the left instead of the right, heh heh, her bad. She got 2-5ths. I will say the rest of the non-placing horses were pretty bad...rearranging the obstacles, heh heh. Practice practice!
That's our best EVER in Trail (course we've only placed like three times all year)! I'm so proud of my boy!!! His reward was that we were done by 2:30, and he got to be turned free and naked into his pasture, where he got a big drink, then rolled in the filth, grinding all that lovely dirt right into his show-sheened behind!
I did his mane up in a Continental Braid again, and got TONS of complements!! And this time I at least got to take a picture...slightly blurry, but you get the idea! He's sure got the mane for it, if nothing else!!
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