The Journey To Peanut Lake

Quzqo got his feet trimmed back on the 15th, and I suspect they were trimmed too short, because he's been ouchy-footed on gravel ever since. So in order not to discomfit Himself, our latest trail ride was as much woodsy trails as possible. We had a bit of gravel road to negotiate, but that's what soft, sandy shoulders are for!

Last weekend we were on a woodsy trail, and paused a moment so Quz could scarf down some green tasty maple leaves...suddenly he JUMPED backwards and spun 180 degrees and started to bolt back down the trail! I remember hanging off his side and thinking "I MUST NOT FALL OFF!!!" and simultaneously regained my upright position and gathered up the yards and yards of slack reins and was able to stop his headlong plunge into the forest. After a minute or so of discussion that involved another spin, a little half-rear, and much backing, I got him back to the scene of terror, his heart was pounding so hard I could feel it through the leather of the saddle fenders... warily, warily he tip-toed to the side of the path as much as he could and giving the ground the hairy eyeball, crept past the horror...

I never saw what that horror was...there was "nothing" there...if it was still there, it was in an alternate dimension that only horses can see. My theory (judging from the violence of his spook) was that there was a snake on the trail that suddenly slithered off. That'd scare ME too. But it traumatized Quzqo to his core, and the entire balance of the ride featured a psychotic obsession with...STICKS! Any stick laying on the ground was at the least given the hairy eyeball, at worst...a four-legged spook-stop and snort.

But that was last week. This week...horses are related to elephants I think, because yes, sticks were still the Spook du Jour. We were walking down a hill on a dirt road, and since Quzqo's toes were still ouchy, he was keeping to the shoulder where the sand was soft. He got so close to the grassy bank that he stepped over a branch laying slightly in his path, and apparently hooked it with a foot, that dragged the branch underneath him, and (I imagine, because I couldn't see and wasn't paying that much attention) hit his hind legs.

Well, that fat little Arabian shot up in the air and BUCKED a couple of crow-hops down the road, dislodging the branch! I laughed and was glad I had my trail saddle and not the English one I used to use in my younger, stupider days (yeah, 40 is "young"). What a maroon, that horse!

We enjoyed a lovely woodsy ride, other than the stick issue, that soon transfered to a stump issue. I'd forgotten my bear bells, but luckily the biggest animal that we spooked was a squirrel.

It's sort of a boring time of year for trail rides. The Spring and Summer wildflowers are past, and the autumn foliage has yet to make an appearance. There's not a lot of birdsong, just the distant whine of chainsaws as people prepare their firewood supplies for winter. We've had so much rain this summer that the landscape is still a beautiful rich green...a pleasant change from summers past where things are dry and brown by this time. Also noteworthy was the absence of bugs...we missed the mid-summer weeks where the deer flies are the worst, I guess that's one benefit to being lazy.

Today's objective was to ride to Peanut Lake, a TINY little lake about 5 miles from the barn, right on the Michigan Shore-to-Shore trail. It's a gorgeous, uninhabited spot, with beautiful hardwoods and pines, and a nice scenic ride through the woods.

We went our usual route, passing the skeletal remains of the dead doe that terrorized us earlier this year. No beer cans on the roadside to collect for the dime deposit, no dirt bikers, no hunters, a very peaceful and pleasant ride...other than the sticks, of course.

We crossed the wonderful wooden bridge built by the Michigan Trail Riders Association back in 1997....Quz just can't seem to step up on that thing, he always has to LEAP. Usually we turn around and go back to the barn at that point, which is what the horse fully expected. Nope, not today, today we go on, we go up the hill and down the two-track at the top. HA! Let's just say we had a little discussion, with the horse having a different opinion than me, but as usual, I won and we trotted up the narrow tree-lined horse trail.

I love the two-track at the top, it's about a mile, maybe longer, with mysterious off-ramps into the woods, probably leading to the meth labs or pot plots or the orgy groves, I don't know, I've never bothered to investigate. But what's nice is the road is straight, level, with a minimum of spooky things, and one can really get their horse into a nice road-eating trot or even a canter and just enjoy the woods on both sides!

There's a paved main road to cross, and we've been working on his manners at these "intersections" as well as with the cart and harness. Let's just say we need more work... he started walking and swung his hindquarters into the road as the lone pick-up on the road came our way... of course he did!

Across the road the route degrades back into the narrow horse trail (keep your toes in or get them snapped off by a nearby tree!), it's beautiful in there (see photo above), all hardwoods and hilly and windy and full of sticks that must be avoided. Usually we see deer, but not this time.

Well, we got to the swamp at the bottom of a very long, steep hill (I used to have to dismount and lead old Tezlu down that thing...it's so nice to have an agile sure-footed relative youngster to ride!)...I was HOPING that the bog at the bottom would have dried up by now, but no, it was still four feet of hoof-sucking mud that I knew Quzqo would have nothing to do with. I suppose if we were other riders, and their horses went over it, he would jump it, but without that, my ride was at an end. No Peanut Lake.

See, now if we'd had a normal dry August, that bog would be just soft dirt, and we could have crossed it without a problem!

The trip wasn't a total loss, I finally got to photograph this awesome tree growing out of a cedar stump...I saw this stump back in 2006 but for many obvious reasons, never got back to photograph it until now. I just think it's cool, in a parasitic Alien face-hugger sort of way.

An uneventful ride back to the barn, the day was so nice, that the horse wasn't even hurrying like normal. I'll take uneventful any day of the week!

My New Old Saddle!

Went to an estate sale this weekend in a nearby town, the ad stated "old horse tack". You never know what you'll find so I went!

Well now, when they said "old", they meant OLD, as in Antique! I couldn't resist, even though it about emptied my checking account (but still, under $300), this old beauty definitely from the 1900's or earlier!!!

Of course there's no maker's marks on it, which means it might be from Sears & Roebuck, according to my minimal research. Its condition is amazing...just a few scuffies, NO rot, NO mold, just a bit of cracking on the fenders...I still can't believe it!












Look at the amazing detail on this thing though...I love the leather-wrapped rings for the cinch...
















And the neat detailing on the back (yes, even the sheepskin underside is in very good condition!)














Obviously (to me) machine-embossed decoration, which really makes me think it's mass-produced for Sears Roebuck. But definitely old... lots of green oxidation on the rivets there.












Neat rawhide detailing on the pommel. Even the horn is in excellent shape with not one missing stitch! Now THAT is rare!!























Of course Quzqo had to model it! It fit him perfectly...I guess they had smaller horses back in the 19th Century. He looks rather pleased with himself for some reason.

















I took him for a short trail ride around the property...it was more than obvious that the stirrups were too long, and the seat is amazingly hard (as in rock hard!). But talk about secure, LOL...with that high cantle and pommel, I don't see how anyone could fall out!

The next day I took it back home, and shortened the stirrups "one notch", which in this case, is about 3". Unfortunately my legs wanted it shortened only 2", so the next ride I took was even more uncomfortable (but much more secure!). It took four days for my broken ankle to quit hurting...no thanks!

Now I suppose I could drill holes so I could make the stirrups the proper length, but I'm hesitant to do anything to it which would ruin its "mint condition"! Like, would I ever really ride with it? I hate the horn...I ride with a hornless trail saddle for a reason. I suppose maybe SOMEday Quzqo will do a proper Western Pleasure class and I'd need a proper Western saddle (after I spend $500/month to get him professionally trained)(and we'd still be beaten by all the stock breeds up here). Or maybe I will eventually put it on eBay and hopefully get the $1000.00 it's obviously worth. Or maybe I'll just keep it and enjoy looking at it, because it is darned neat looking. And then it can be sold at MY Estate Sale...and they'll wonder why it's in such good shape!

2008 Speckle Update

One of the joys of owning a greying horse; you get a new color horse every year!!

Remember 2004:

And 2005:

2006:

2007:



































And today in 2008: (pardon the poop stains)

At the rate he's speckling, I'll have a brown horse again in no time!

Pewp!

After the horse show, both Quzqo and I were sort of sick of each other, and I gave him a bit of a vacation. We had a couple of relaxing, pleasant (except for the bugs) trail rides, and found some new routes to take, and discovered that you can't lead a balky Arabian through ankle-deep sucking swamp mud without losing your $90 riding sneaker in the quagmire (I did get it back though), and spent some time working on his headset, which he IS getting, so he no longer goes along like a nearsighted anteater with his nose sticking way out front.

I took a week-long vacation to Kentucky, so he got 10 days' vacation, and by the time I got back, he was glad to see me, and I was glad to see him, and now we're back on track.

My niece and niece-in-law came out to the barn this past Sunday with a passel of chill'un to visit the horsie and do pony rides and cart rides. We drafted Colby the Quarter Horse to handle the riding, and I'd lunged Himself before they arrived so he'd be half-civilized for the cart-pulling.

The nieces arrived with three girls and two boys, between the ages of 4 and 10. We hiked out into the pasture to catch Colby.... Quzqo was already in his stall, inhaling his dinner I noticed... never mind it was noon... if it's there, it will be eaten!

As we negotiated the countless heaps of mummified meadow muffins, the youngest girl kept shouting out warnings! "PEWP!" "PEWP!" "Look out for the PEWP!" We were laughing, and from that point forward, any and all references to manure was "Pewp!" It's always great to have a new word to add to the vocabulary!

Colby was brought in, brushed and saddled, once he was busy giving rides, the oldest girl helped me harness Quzqo, and we got him hitched to the cart without problems. Happily it seems he remembered his lessons earlier this year in "standing quietly until asked to move forward". THAT is a big relief!

My plan was to load the cart up with a couple of kids, then take the horse about 1/2 mile down the main road, and back again...that'll be more interesting than walking around in the arena. I took two of the smallest girls first trip out, and even though Quz hadn't been in harness since the horse show, he did VERY well! I warned the kids about no shouting or screaming, to hang on, and keep their feet in the cart. They let out a few excited squeals during the ride, especially when we were trotting, but that didn't bother the horse one bit. He did perfect!

We returned to the barn, and loaded up the two boys (both 4 years old). The youngest girl admonished them "no screaming!" which caused my niece to raise her eyebrows a bit. Hey, it's good advice!

The boys were having a time of their life, and we got to trotting down the roadside at a good clip. One of the boys let out a loud "WhoaHO!", which Quzqo mistook for "WHOA" and he jammed on the brakes on his own, ha! I told them sternly "no yelling!"... last thing I need is for some kid to holler out "HAW!" and have the horse cut to the left (into the lane of traffic!)

It wasn't just fun-time-horsey-rides though, I was working on Quzqo and those "issues" we had about standing quietly, especially at intersections. We stopped at the intersection with the lilac bushes, and he did put up a little hissy, but a pretty feeble hissy, and eventually stood quietly until I told him to "walk".

On the way back to the barn (the boys were VERY concerned that we were actually leaving the barn...they kept track of how far away we were...and were very concerned when they couldn't see it any more...until we cleared the shrubbery that blocked their view) they began to jabber quietly to themselves (I'm sorry, I'm not fluent in pre-schooler)...the one boy began singing softly to himself, mostly to hear his voice go up and down with the jouncing of the cart at the trot, LOL. Cute.

Dumped that load of kids and loaded up the oldest girl and one of the younger ones sneaking a second ride. All went well until I saw something large and white approaching us from the other direction. I thought it was a truck pulling a utility trailer, nothing to worry about. Er...no, it's not just a truck, it's an 18-wheeler hauling a big flatbed full of cherry containers (cherry harvest is in full bore up here). Quzqo slowed...I could see him tensing up...gathering himself up.... raising his head up....the truck approached...the driver DID slow down (bless his heart), but the massive whiteness of it all was too much, and as the truck passed us, the horse bolted forward and to the right towards the (shallow, thank God) ditch! I got him stopped and up on the road again, the girls, of course, thought it was fun as could be. Couldn't fault the horse, I don't believe he's ever seen an 18-wheeler while in harness (and there's a good reason I've tried to avoid that). WHY there's commercial trucking going on on a late Sunday afternoon, well...

When we got back to the barn I gave the oldest girl some lessons on driving, and we went into the indoor arena and I let her have the reins! She was THRILLED to death, and after once around I could tell she was getting the hang of it, the horse was totally bored, so I got out of the cart and let her drive by herself. She loaded up with two other siblings and away they went, walking around in the indoor arena! TOO cute! Colby the QH was giving pony rides to the one 4 year old boy, who was riding all by himself like a big boy (Colby is THE best baby-sitter horse there is....and little Joey was wearing a helmet, for the record). Eventually Colby decided he'd prefer to follow Quzqo around the arena...it was the cutest thing ever, I wish I'd brought a camera!

Eventually all the kids and adults were horsed-out, I can sincerely say that was the most fun I've ever had with all the kids out there. The weather was dry and perfect, nobody got hurt, nobody cried, nobody wet their pants. It doesn't get much better than that!

Show, Day Two

During the night I'd come to the revelation that shows don't matter, and after the previous day's disappointments and bitter doses of reality, that today didn't matter either. But the horse was 20 miles away at the fairgrounds, I'd already paid for everything, so I might as well go and make whoever is judging today look at us, whether they like the view or not.

I made a few adjustments so I could avoid yesterday's madness. Since the weather forecast was for much cooler temps, I wore my breeches underneath my jeans. That'll save a few precious seconds in the clothes-changing department later on! I wore a universal white shirt, so I wouldn't be changing into my Official Huntseat Shirt With Collar and Stock Pin. Nothing wrong with a nice white collared Oxford. Having the proper clothes didn't seem to help, so this couldn't hurt.

The horse didn't sleep well, I could tell by the lack of green stains on his sides. But Sunday is always Bran Mash day, horse show days being no exception, so he greedily tucked in to his white bucket of branny delights while I went about moving all my tack/equipment from the draft horse stall at the far end of the barn, to right outside the stall. Less steps to take, less time to waste!!

People were busying themselves preparing for the Showmanship and Halter classes, and I sat in the sun, enjoying a hot cuppa coffee and reading a paperback. The girl a couple of stalls down had her big white Arabian out, prepping him/her for the halter classes I assumed. She was busy spraying him with something. I got a whiff...dang, that STINKS! Phew! Another shower walked by and made some comment to her about how artificial showing has become, and she said something to the effect of "yeah, well, you do what you have to do!" and continued spraying her horse's lower legs...with a can of RUST-OLEUM!!

Yes, gentle reader, that girl was spray-painting her horse's lower white legs with RUST-OLEUM! I thought I recognized the smell, since I'd spray-painted my cart days earlier with the same product!! She stopped to shake the can, and I could clearly see the black and yellow oval logo, and the red plaid design element....couldn't see if it was gloss or matte. What the hell! Granted, it did make the horse's legs very very white...she was more "misting" it over, not going for complete coverage. The fur took on a white, but flat color, maybe she figured the judge would be so bedazzled by the bright white that she wouldn't notice the lack of natural silvery sheen.

Yet one more thing to write in the "showing-is-not-for-me" column.

Eventually I got my un-enameled horse tacked up, hitched up, warmed up, and we once again found ourselves parked in front of my car, waiting for lunch to be over. A friend came up to chat, and her little girl was eyeing the cart...the conversation got around to that eventually, and I asked her if she'd like to go for a ride! Of course, and she got up into the seat with me, and Quzqo headed on away from the showgrounds down the dirt road towards the back of the fairgrounds. I got him trotting (we'd been practicing our "road trot" vs "park trot" and he was actually getting it)...A couple of spins around the field, then trotting back down the road to her mom's horse trailer where I offloaded her. She had a blast, I had a blast, that was more fun than the actual class!

Again we were back by the car, dozing in the sun, Quzqo with his head lowered and a hind leg cocked, looking like the ole' grey plow hoss at lunchtime. Another family came by, and the young girl very shyly muttered something about if I was selling rides. LOL, no, but you're welcome to ride anyway! So she and her younger brother (with Mom's approval of course, not like I'm some horse-drawn child snatcher...though I could have been!) climbed in, one on each side, and off we went, same route as the last time. The kids really enjoyed the trotting, especially when we hit the washboard portion of the road, LOL!

Seriously, I could have made some good money selling cart rides that day. Maybe that's something to consider in the future, LOL!

Eventually the class came again, and I had NO nerves whatsoever. Either I was too tired or too numb, haven't decided which. The competition was already in the arena, "working at will", waiting for them to officially call for the class. Knowing Quzqo's opinion of arenas, I opted to just stay outside in the shade of a tree, until the announcer told me to get in there. Kind of an informal arrangement, but, okay. We just walked along the rail, the judges were standing in the middle, talking to each other, my competitor was already trotting her horse, I didn't quite know what to do, so I started to get Quzqo into some sort of trot when the announcer finally said "Drivers, Trot your horse!"

Now today there was no "park trot" or "road trot". No, today we just had "trot" and "extend the trot". Well, don't know about that, so I just made him trot faster, hoping he was extending. We got going quite well, he had more energy than the previous day, that's for sure! The judges called for us to "reverse"...not "reverse across the diagonal", just "reverse". I was just turning the corner onto the short end of the arena, so there was no way I could reverse across the diagonal, so I just did a big circle until I was facing the wrong direction. My competition did the across-the-diagonal because she was already on the long side and could do that without looking ridiculous. The fix was in, eh?

Quzqo did VERY well I thought, backed beautifully with his head tucked and neck arched. In the line-up, the judges came by, and the man judge carefully looked at each horse head-on, then walked around both sides, inspecting the harness I assume. *gulp*. Can he tell mine came from a discount tack dealer on eBay, and that it had cryptic (Red-dot) Indian words scribbled on the inside of the tugs?? Did he have disdain for (gaaag) pipe carts??? But he never said a word.

As I expected, we got 2nd under both judges. But hey, it was fun and we got to do it, so that's what it's all about.

The chaos between harness and equitation went much smoother this time. It was easy to peel off my pants, put on the boots, put on the hunt coat, put up my hair, ready to go!

It's also easy to go into the show ring with absolutely NO expectations whatsoever. I was figuring on another last-place day like Saturday, so if you figure you'll fail, you're never disappointed.

An amusing side-note; as we were entering the arena to find a spot on the rail, one of the ladies in the announcer's booth who knew me exclaimed "YOU'RE RIDING!!!" Er, yeah...I only broke my leg in two places, that doesn't mean I can't still ride, LOL! Glad to be able to amaze!

The Equitation class went well, I thought. Quzqo spooked a little at some people along the rail, and slowed a bit at some people on the other side...maybe he didn't see them when he had the blinkers on, who knows! Again there were four of us adult novices, and I about fell out of the saddle when they called out the placings, and I had placed 2nd under "Judge A" (the lady)!!! "Judge B" (the man") placed me last, so no more about him. That made my day, and I found myself thinking "this showing isn't so bad when you PLACE!"

The Step-up was a near-repeat of the previous one, but with five entrants instead of three, and as we were cantering, I heard a quiet voice along the rail "wrong lead!". I relaxed my seat and tried to feel his stride...sure enough, the little stinker had been merrily cantering on the right lead...except we were supposed to be on the left! I hauled him up, re-cued, back on the right (wrong!) lead! Arrgh! Lather, Rinse, Repeat! Third time he got onto the left lead and after four or five strides they called for the trot. Quzqo doesn't like cantering on his left lead, and picked a fine time to make his point!

So, we placed 4th & 5th, but I enjoyed a little Schadenfreude when Bob's 7 yr old granddaughter didn't win under BOTH judges this time (only one)

Huntseat Pleasure we went back to our old ways, and even though I don't know of anything either I or the horse did wrong, again, we came away with two Last Places.

That was it for the day. I wisely scratched the Trail class when I saw it contained a "rope gate" and a "water obstacle". NO thanks. Just as well...the judges were amazing hard-noses about it, and even with the kids' classes, were disqualifying them right and left for going off-course or failing to negotiate obstacles! Just another of life's hard lessons to learn, kids.

I got the horse cleaned up and settled into his stall for the rest of the afternoon, and headed for the food stand, only to discover that they were all out of everything except coffee and half a bag of potato chips. Luckily I still had two peanut butter & honey sandwiches in the car that I'd made 36 hours earlier, and by that time, I didn't care what they tasted like!

Since my friend, Sandy, is on the board of the association that put on the show, I had to stick around until they were done cleaning up the fairgrounds of all stray poops, making sure the stalls were stripped, gates closed, lights turned off, etc, etc, etc, so poor Quzqo and Spike were pretty much the last horses to leave the fairgrounds around 8:30 p.m., just as rain showers moved in. We had NO trouble loading, as you can imagine!

So that's how it ends. There really aren't any other shows I could attend this summer, even if I wanted to, so that makes it easier to avoid the temptation. Instead I think I'll practice enjoying the trails and back roads, both in the saddle and in the cart, and not have to worry as to whether I'm posting on the correct diagonal, or if the horse is road-trotting or park-trotting.

A Return To The Wonderful World of Horse Shows

And I remembered why I left.

Couldn't sleep a wink, kept awake by mingling thoughts of everything that could possibly go wrong. What if it rains, what if I can't find anyone to hold the horse while I hitch him up, what if, what if, what if. Thunderstorms rolled through during the night; is Quz okay in his stall at the fairgrounds? What if he's scared? What if he spooks and kills himself? What if a wheel falls off my cart! What if I break my other leg!

Of course it pretty much stopped raining, the horse was fine (but hungry! He's used to being turned out around 5 a.m.), everything was fine when I got to the fairgrounds around 7:30. Gave Himself a couple of flakes of hay, fresh water, and stepped back to admire the serving platter-sized poo stain on his right side. It seems all his stains are on the right side. Who'd have thought that horses would have a favorite side to sleep on, just like people! It also told me he slept quite well last night, despite being in a strange place. At least he relaxed long enough to grind that fresh manure into his previously-clean and white barrel.

While he broke his fast, I set about unpacking the car, and moving my tack/etc into an empty standing stall at the end of the building. We were in the Draft Horse Barn, and that half of the barn had been moved to the current fairgrounds from the old fairgrounds in town back in the middle-1970's, and they'd added on to it at a later date. It was kind of nice to use those big Draft-sized standing stalls for tack storage, and the mangers worked well for holding shampoos and sprays and such.

Got my cart out of the back of the horse trailer, and attached the shafts. Everything seemed okay, no loose nuts (just the one holding the reins!). I wheeled it from the trailer up by the barn, seemed more sensible to have it by the horse, duuuh!

It didn't take long for Quzqo to suck down his breakfast hay... no grain at horse shows, thank you. Though I had to chuckle that Sandy had brought not only grain for Spike, but also his vitamins, supplements, and electrolytes. Can't be without those! Quz only gets 1/2 scoop a day, so I didn't think he'd miss it or care.

Managed to get Mr. Poopy cleaned up (I really like that Cowboy Magic Green Spot Remover...it works!), braided up his forelock, unbraided his tail, and put him back in his stall. All around me women were busy washing their horses, spraying them with various aerosols to make their darks darker, their whites whiter, or to give that overall finishing shine. That's one disadvantage ... or advantage, to owning a multi-colored fleabitten grey horse... none of that stuff will make a bit of difference! Even when he's clean, he looks dirty, because of all the roaning in the coat. Maybe that's why we never did great in Showmanship.

No Showmanship for me, no Halter either. My ankle only permits a rapid hobble, which doesn't quite present that polished, finished graceful look you want for in-hand classes. Saved myself some money in entry fees and horse cosmetics, and saved myself the embarassment and humiliation. That would come later.

My main concern was timing. When to begin harnessing. Lord Knows I didn't want to RUSH and break the other leg. Slowly the time passed, it was eventually safe for me to put on my show shirt (a flashy red Western shirt with white embroidered roses and pearl snaps, a Christmas gift from my niece back in 2004)(still fits!) and clean off my Western hat ($9.95 at the Michigan Horse Expo last year). They'd finished the Showmanship Division, which left a mere 13 Halter classes and a Championship showback to go before lunch. A good a time as any to start harnessing!

It was so nice to have the stall, I could tack up in peace and quiet, the horse was mellow... relatively. I'd secured the services of my friend, Sandy, to hold him for hitching, and I CAREFULLY led him out of the stall...he was being very careful himself; once he gets those blinkers on, he moves around like Mr. Magoo! I ground drove him a bit around the fairgrounds, no spooks, no fussing, no rearing...good to go!

Once hitched he stood rock solid for me, and I let him...we only had a mere 45 minutes until our class!

We ended up in a back field behind the parked horse trailers to practice and warm up. There were a couple of trailers parked at the edge, and it was amusing to see the horses tied there essentially freaking out of their skins and the horrible terrifying sight of a horse and cart! They had people nearby, so I wasn't concerned. Hey, I had every right to be there, same as them, plus I was about a football field away, so, deal with it. Only so many places one can drive a horse cart y'know (especially since I'd removed my orange "slow moving vehicle" triangle from the back).

Quz did good, lots of energy, yet would halt and back and turn and be his usual good self for me. Getting bored just bounding around across a mown field, we went back to the show grounds and parked in front of my car (because I knew THAT car wasn't going to pull out anytime soon) and waited.

It was fun and cheering to receive all the complements and good wishes from friends and strangers alike, those who knew what happened last year (and apparently it was quite the story that made its rounds of the local horse show world!). As one lady put it, "the last time I saw you, you were drooling in the back seat of a car saying 'these drugs are GOOOOOD!'", LOL. Well, I don't believe I was "drooling", but still...

FINALLY lunch was over, they cleared the arena of all the practicing riders, the tractor came and touched up the dirt (good, nice and neat for my class!), and we were ready to go! The other driver was by the gate already, and they looked GREAT!


Crap, there goes MY chances! Her little Show Shetland was just slick as snot, with a cute little patent leather harness and a snappy little cart, I don't remember what she was wearing, who cared, the pony was too adorable! Quzqo looked like a big Draft Horse in comparison! Oh well, I guess it's better to get a 2nd place competing against someone else rather than a 1st place if you were the only one entered.

Those few final seconds of waiting, I felt all the strength just DRAIN from my arms. Usually it's my legs that go weak, LOL, but since I was sitting comfortably on my butt...well, makes sense I suppose.

They called for us to enter at a trot. Er...huh? TROT? I'm supposed to TROT my horse down a narrow alleyway through a gate and then do a sharp turn to the right? Well, we didn't do that, I was more worried about getting the horse in the arena, through the gate, THEN we managed a trot. He hadn't been in the arena with blinkers before, so he was trying to look at everything, did a little bobble-shy at the show photographer along the rail, but I managed to keep him on the rail and zip around the corners without flipping.


Then they called for a "Road Trot". What the hell's a Road Trot!!!! I looked for the other driver, and saw her little pony just flying along.... okay, "Road Trot" is "fast"! HA! I tried to get Quzqo into a faster trot, but I didn't want to start whupping his butt with the whip...that'd look bad I imagine...I tried kissing noises, clucking noises, saying "Trot", nope, he just sort of happy slacker-trotted along, even SLOWING and getting an actual tap on the butt with the whip to keep him moving.


The announcer then called for a "Park Trot"...again I glanced at the other driver, she'd slowed...okay, "Park Trot" is slow....(I hear "Park Trot" and I visualize Park Arabians, and their Park Trot is NOT slow!). We reverse direction on the diagonal, that was cool, because by then we were on opposite sides of the arena, and we both crossed at the same time, almost looked like a drill team maneuver! Now going the other direction, they called for the Park Trot again...at which we failed miserably. Then a walk, and he slowed very nicely. Line up facing the announcer's stand.

One by one we backed...Quzqo did very well at that. I knew we didn't win, but it was so neat and fun to even BE there...and yes, I'll admit a certain amount of smugness and contempt for those poor slobs whose horses do NOT drive, ha ha ha! Quz may not be able to do a peanut-rolling jog trot, but by gum, he can pull a cart!

We did place second, and since it was double-judged, we got two ribbons. Cheesy dumb FLAT ribbons, *sigh*...I like big fat rosettes, but those days are over for the foreseeable future.

NOW panic set in. I had SEVEN Equitation classes between me getting out of the cart and riding into the arena for my Equitation class! Two of those classes were Saddleseat, with two entries...not a big time-sponge! Yikes!

Got the horse unhitched and unharnessed and saddled, then I ran (hobbled) back to the trailer and changed into my idiot huntseat clothes (why DO we spend so much money on ridiculous skin-tight outfits that we can't really wear anywhere else? The pants are too tight, the shirts have those goofy collars, and the coats are too short to wear to job interviews!). I'm sure by then the temperatures were into the lower 80's, and sweat was just pouring off of me... just appreciating so much the black leather boots, the dark coat, the black unventilated helmet on my head, oh yes.

I will admit; a horse show is the only place on Earth you will see me walking around in light-colored skin-tight pants. Hey, if you don't like what you see, don't look!

Got on horse (bless his heart, he stood rock-solid for me all weekend!!) and into the warm-up ring that he LOATHES! When he wasn't veering towards the center, he was trying to bolt for the open gate, and lacking that, pinning his ears and spooking at people on the rail. And as for tucking his head and being "on the bit"...FUGGEDABOUDIT! Almost every request for him to give to the bit resulted in the head going STRAIGHT UP in the air! (his teeth are fine, the vet checked them last month)(Maybe he needs his brain filed down!)

After a couple of near-disastrous cantering stints, I noticed my show number on the ground! HA! So much for those $#@%& magnetic show number holders....seems they don't work with slick laminated show numbers! Well, now I know that. But do you think I could find any SAFETY PINS??? I threw the horse back in the stall and tore my stuff apart, I KNOW I had a little metal Altoids tin with my safety pins (and spare magnets)...could NOT find it! Not in the tack stall, not in the horse trailer, not in the car! ARRRGH! BLESS the sweet lady who offered to go to the show office and get me a couple of pins to attach the number the old-fashioned way! I was freaking out, I was hot, I felt sick, my class was mere minutes away!

First class was "Novice Huntseat Equitation, 19/0ver", and there were three others in it with me. Unfortunately I recognized two of them as long-time riders from past shows (yes, wimps like me who didn't want to canter!) and the third looked very capable, as did her horse. It seems the only way I've managed to place in the past is if the other entries are worse than me. That's not really a good foundation upon which to build a show career!

Well, we did the class.... trot, walk, reverse, walk, trot, stop, back 3 steps, line up, we placed 4th out of 4 under both judges. I thought we did well, but who knows...


I'm not sure what we're doing here, I suspect we're in the process of backing???? (Dang, is my horse fleabitten or what!??):

After one more class, we were back at the in-gate, ready for "Novice Step-up", an open novice class with (gasp!) cantering! Only the BRAVE dare venture into the dark unknown of the Third Gait! The....CANTER! There were three of us brave souls.... The young teen from the barn (the one who called me about Quzqo's knee injury), and Bob's 7 year old granddaughter...and myself, who will turn 50 in less than 10 days! GAH!

Initially I was embarrassed out of my brain, but then it occurred to me; it's my fellow 19/over Novices who should be crawling under the barns to hide their shame-covered selves from the sight of their fellow entrants...at least I am BRAVE enough to confront....The CANTER! Me, a 15 year old, and a 7 year old. Harrumph!

BWAHAHAA...Hell-Horse:


He looks like he's about to go "Alien" on me! I expect his mouth to open and another fang-riddled mandible shoot out dripping acid! But don't I have the happiest little smile on my face, hee!


We did all right, Quz got his leads right, pretty much spent the whole class with is nose stuck out in front of him, and like I figured, Bob's 7 year old Granddaughter cleaned our clock. But hey, if I was riding that veteran, professionally-trained push-button remote-controlled QH she was on, I bet I would have won too! We did place 2nd under both judges, beating the 15 year old. Whoo Yeah, I'll take it! Any shame I may have had disappeared long ago! At my very first horse show with Tezlu I creamed the field of kiddies in Novice Huntseat, and still have the blue ribbon to prove it!

Had an hour to rest up before they got to my Huntseat Pleasure class. Didn't do any good to try to warm up or work on the headset issue. Yes, I'll admit to feeling a tad discouraged by then.

Barely remember the Huntseat Pleasure class. We did good I thought; correct diagonals, no veering or head tossing, backed like a pro. Once again, placing 4th out of 4. Sigh.

But damn, Quz looks so KEEYOOOOT!:

LONG wait until our trail class! It had started to sprinkle...barely sprinkle. The show committee decided to move the trail course to the new covered arena where they hold the cattle judging during the fair. Well, Quzqo has never been inside that building in his entire life (me neither, for that matter). The trail course was pretty simple: trot to walkover bridge, turn left, walk to cone, pivot 90 degrees to left, trot half-circle to cones, serpentine at trot through cones, trot to and through parallel logs, stop and back through gap in logs in "S" shape, walk out, stop, pivot 360 degrees, dismount. Easy Peasy!

Our first problem came when we were waiting our turn to go in. The gate that was loosely tied open is the exact same kind of gate that TERRORIZES Quzqo on the trail around the barn property. It was the scene of our first big spook fit many years ago, and to this day he will tense up and quiver as he goes past it...expecting it to creak or rattle just as he's near it! It didn't help that right then a breeze came up and moved that gate towards us...squeeeeeeeeeee. The horse side-stepped away and tensed right up. Oh goody.

We went on in, waited at the first cone for the signal from the judges who were seated in chairs at the edge of the arena. Then we started at a nice sitting trot towards the bridge at the other end...Quz jammed on the brakes...

"Oh NO...Oh NO YOU DON'T make me go near that scary thing!!!" He wouldn't even go NEAR it...it was a totally benign low bridge, just like the one at the barn that he will go out of his way to go over because he enjoys it so much! Nope, we gave it three tries, he wouldn't have anything to do with it!

So, we went around, stopped, pivoted 90 degrees, picked up the trot...halfway through the half-circle, OHMYGODTHERE'SPEOPLE THERE! He'd spotted the judges and jumped sideways...got him going to the cones....right at that instant the show photog snapped a pic, the flash spooked the horse and he jumped through the cones and out the other side! THAT kind of annoyed me...they should have included her in the original pattern if she was going to sit there at the rail flashing her camera at the horses!


Why am I smiling? Either that or cry!

We made it to the parallel logs, he backed halfway before deciding this was bullshit and refused to go any further, spun to the left and ended up rearing before hopping over the log. We trotted to the end, he did a beautiful pivot 360 degrees, I dismounted, ran the stirrup irons up the leathers, and then left. We placed 5th out of 5, I didn't bother even picking up the ribbons for that miserable experience; I don't want the reminders.

I'm kind of bummed the photographer didn't get a shot of him in mid-rear, that'd have been worth buying a copy of!

I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel like crap. All that work, all that sweat, all that money, just to be told repeatedly that I suck, my horse sucks, we both suck together. I tried to console myself by thinking that those show horses were nigh useless out on a REAL trail. In fact, one of the horses from our barn who did flawlessly over the trail course that day IS totally useless outside a fenced-in area. His owner has lamented repeatedly that she can't even take him on the trail around the barn property without him going berserk. Small consolation, that.

Totally disheartened and with tears welling in my eyes, I put Quz back in his stall, untacked and brushed him, filled his hay bag to bursting, fresh cool water in his bucket, and promised him I'd never put him (and me) through this again (after tomorrow) (well...I'd pre-paid, they've got my $7.20, they can suffer with having to look at us!).

Earlier this year I'd come to the realization that I don't really like showing. I'm not a competitive person, I don't have big bucks, I don't have a show horse. Truthfully, look at your good show horses; they like it! They don't veer towards the gates, they don't balk at going into an arena, they stand in the lineup with dull-eyed acceptance and mindless obedience, not even having to wait for the rider's cue to change gaits, they recognize the words over the loudspeaker and automatically comply. They're content to lope slowly with their heads tucked and on the rail until the next command comes along. They'll doze by their trailers or in their rented stalls, and stand like statues as their pasterns are clipped and their manes banded. They don't need Pony Pops in their stalls to keep them occupied.

Some people are destined for the stage, some are more content working the ropes and pulleys behind the curtain. I believe it's the same for horses. I asked myself "what makes me the happiest"? It's no big genius revelation; I'm the happiest riding my horse, alone, through the tall trees in the forest, with just the invisible songbirds in the canopy overhead. No smell of horse makeup, no blaring announcer's stand, no arbitrary number on my back. Life's too short to spend it doing things that make you cry. This might just be my last horse show.

Until tomorrow, because, as I mentioned... I prepaid.

The Show Gods Demand Sacrifice

Back from the fairgrounds after getting Quzqo & "Spike" settled in. We got REAL nice stalls in an open-sided barn on the edge of the livestock area, so it's quieter and less commotion (perfect for harnessing, IMO). Quzqo made quick friends with the black QH gelding next door to him, and Spike is on his other side, with a BIG chestnut Arabian next to HIM! Lots of purdy horses, I'll have to get pix. There's a gorgeous rabicano QH there, def. want pix of him!

The horses enjoyed their dinner hay while we unpacked & tended paperwork. Around 7:30 we were caught up, and dragged the horses from their stalls, tacked up & rode a bit in the main arena.

Quzqo was a SLUG! Arrgh! He wasn't tired, he was being a butt! He was all Mr. Paw-The-Ground when I was tacking him up (I was being VERY careful to not get a leg broken), and started hiking off before I had my right foot in the stirrup, and very gung-ho was we walked towards the arena, but once inside, blaaaaaaah. Didn't have spurs or my crop, so he knew I couldn't do anything to him, ha! His performance was so dismal, I decided to switch bits back to his nice copper-mouthed snaffle from the kimberwicke for tomorrow...he "gives" to the snaffle; the kimerwicke, he sticks his nose out in the air. *sigh*.

To make things more interesting, he also got himself a BIG bite right on his throat... hair torn right down to the skin, and it was quite swollen. I put some Furazone ointment on it at the barn, knowing by morning he'd have greasy melted oozy yellow ointment running down his chest. I'll deal with it then.

Big happy surprise, there's another person doing Pleasure Driving!! A cute little old lady (me, in 25 years or so I envision) with a small roan pony (well, small horse, big pony...smaller than Coos). She gave me a friendly "So I've got a driving partner for tomorrow!" as we were unloading my cart from the bed of Sandy's truck! How neat! Bet she cleans my clock too, but that's all right. I was very happy to see she had a loathed, reviled, and disparaged "pipe cart" like I do! See, the folks on the Chronicle of the Horse disrespect those pipe-based Easy-Entry carts, preferring only imported Phaetons or whatevers...yeah, well, not everybody can afford a mahogany Amish-made Meadowbrook. I was feeling sort of insecure since my cart is a "pipe cart" with the reviled "pneumatic tires' (i.e. bicycle tires), but at least my competition has the same kind, ha! This'll be fun!!! Somebody BETTER take pix!

Sandy and I were moving our tack & stuff to empty stalls to store, when we heard the P.A. system request anyone with "medical experience" please go to the back of the fairgrounds...and moments later, a request to "hold on to your horses, there will be an ambulance coming onto the fairgrounds!" SH!T!

Minutes earlier, while I was arranging my stuff in the empty stall, I heard a HUGE commotion coming from a 3-horse slant-load gooseneck trailer about 100 yards away...BIG stomping /crashing, the whole trailer was shaking, everybody had turned to look...seconds later a young lady came rolling out the back and sat on the ground... other people walked by her, and it seemed she was just sitting there, like "oh, gosh, I'm a goof, I'll just sit here"...

Well, after the PA announcement, we looked, and she was flat out on the ground with people all around! Long story short, she (unwisely, IMO), ducked UNDER the divider in the trailer to unhook her horse, spooked him, and he effectively trampled and smashed her into the sides of the trailer before shoving her out the back!!!! She had at least a broken ankle, broken knee, and concussion with blood coming from her mouth!!! I tell you, both Sandy and I felt faint and nauseated, because it all hit very close to home. The poor gal was screaming in pain when the EMTs were trying to get her on the backboard (I can also relate to that), they finally did get her into the ambulance and took her away, leaving the horse still in the trailer.

Turns out she's a very popular, pleasant horsewoman in the community, who JUST gave birth to a daughter 3 weeks ago! Sh!t! Her parents were coming by to take the horse back home, then to go to the hospital... and she didn't have a husband, so I don't know how she's going to take care of a 3 week old with a broken knee and ankle!! Thankfully her parents are here to help...sheesh.

Earlier Sandy and I were joking how careful we both planned to be, because it seems the "Show Gods" demand a sacrifice, and we both made our contributions over the past year (turns out she also had a cracked finger and a huge hematoma on her upper inner thigh where Spike had trampled her the other week)...sheesh.

Left Quzqo in his vacation stall, looking at me like I should give him more hay...no, I don't think so, 2-1/2 flakes is enough for dinner. He's got a Pony Pop in there, so he won't be bored, and I'm sure he'll be able to share stories with his new neighbors.

Despite the accident tonight, I'm feeling pretty optimistic about tomorrow. It's kind of a relief that I'm NOT doing Showmanship or Halter, so that'll give me time to clean up the horse, put the shafts on my cart, have a snack, get tacked up at a LEISURELY pace, and get in a little warm-up drive around the fairgrounds.

Stay tuned.