This and That

Monday, August 31, 2009

I know, I know, I kinda disappeared of the internet for a while. Sorry bout that! Anyways, lots has happened in the last few weeks. I went up to New York for the Cattaraugus County Fair Horse Show in the beginning of August. And I was getting paid for it! Judi had hired me to groom her horse and get her ready for classes. Angel was a dream to groom. So easy to work with, and she was super neat in her stall. She was bathed before we got there Thursday and Saturday I only had to hose her off, no second bath. Judi kicked butt that weekend. Won many of her classes including both the Open Western Pleasure Championship and the Half-Arabian Western Pleasure Championship. In addition to grooming for Judi I got to ride Dalal in a few classes. First up was the Arabian Western Pleasure Ladies to Ride. We had a decent ride and ended up placing 2nd out of 4. Not too bad considering that we were beat by Emily Kidd. Then in the evening session I had the Open Western Pleasure Ladies to Ride. There were 10 horses in the class, including Judi and Angel. We had such a good ride! It also helped that Judi blew a lead :) We ended up winning the class, my first blue ribbon in a Western Pleasure class! Tom was supposed to then take Dalal in the Arabian Western Pleasure Open just three classes later, but he decided that since it was raining and I was already dressed and wet that I could take him in that class. Paul and Tom C gave me some grief about Tom hiring a ringer to ride his horse while we were waiting in the warm up. Now the Catt County Horse Show is held in conjunction with the Cattaraugus County Fair, which plays a part in this next class. We had just jogged into the ring to start the class and from over at the grandstand I hear people counting down. And then.....BOOM!! Huge explosion to kick of the school bus demolition derby. Scared the crap out of me. All the horses in the ring just stopped dead. I had an ok ride after that. I was a bit rattled and Dalal was too. We ended up 3rd. Sunday were the championship classes. Because of a little confusion with class numbers I ended up riding both the championships. We finished 3rd in the one and 4th in the other. No too bad all in all.

The weekend after Catt Co, Katie took Tru up to Erie for the August horse trials in beginner novice. She had a decent dressage ride. Except Tru spooked at the trailer the judge was sitting in as they rode the center line and Katie cracked him with her whip. Right in front of the judge. Bad move. Other than that it was ok, not great, but pretty good for Katie. After that we had a couple of hours so we walked the stadium course and then the cross country. Cross country was the exact same course Kaye and I did in June only reversed. Pretty easy and straightforward. Stadium was pretty easy too. Time for stadium warm up. Katie warmed up pretty good. She borrowed my long spurs and made him go over the fence. However when she gets in the ring, she freezes. Three stops at the first fence and they're eliminated. Katie talks to the president of the ground jury and gets permission to ride her cross country. Again warms up nicely. Out of the start box, down to the first fence and stop. So ends Katie's trip to Erie.

The next day I went to a one day show at Brookfield with Tom. Rode Dalal in a few classes. We ended up winning the Arabian/Half-Arabian Western Pleasure, beating both Paul and Tom C. And then we were second in the Adult Western Equitation. So that was pretty cool.

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3'8" Baby!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Saturday was the normal day of utter confusion at the barn. Tru had one of his cellulitis attacks and his hind leg swelled up again. I had to dig out the ice boots, where we needed both of them to fit around one hind leg. Katie just stands there with only a cotton lead rope and of course Tru jerks back. Come on Katie, at least put a chain over his nose! So Bonnie puts the lip chain on him and we try again. We get the ice in and Katie stands there holding him while I take Elena out for her lesson. Well Katie lets the lip chain get slack and Tru flips out again. Kicks the wall, breaks one of the muck buckets and manages to spook Fanny. She didn't really do anything, just trotted off a few steps, but Elena wasn't expecting it and she was scared. Although she was scared Elena rode through it like a trooper. We were finally able to start her lesson again. And eventually I got her to put both her hands on her hips. Fanny had another beginner lesson in the morning and then Ari tacked up Kaye for her lunge lesson. After Ari rode I got on Kaye for my lesson. Well a certain someone rode Kaye the day before since her horse was out of commission. And she rode like she rides her own horse, death grip with her legs and hauling on the reins. So when I started to canter, Kaye would not stop. I ended up spending my whole lesson putting a stop on the mare again. So I didn't get to work on anything else. Oh well.

Sunday I was back to the barn. I had to leave early since we had Karla's baby shower at 2:00. Kezia was home for the weekend so I rode with her and Airy. Kaye was such a good girl. We did some jumping, just started with a low crossbar as Kezia hadn't jumped in a while. Of course Kaye quickly got bored with that. Bonnie raised the fence to a 3'-ish vertical. We jumped that several times before Bonnie added a second pole, making it like 3'6"-ish. Jumped that a few times and then Bonnie added a back pole to turn it into an oxer. 3'8" baby!!! I love that mare. She sailed over it like it was nothing, which for her it really was. But I stayed with her and didn't freak about the jump height increasing. All in all good day!

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