Pink Ribbon Horse Show

September 10-12 was the last show of the season with my little western pony.  We headed up to Meadville, PA for the Pink Ribbon Horse Show.  It really primarily an ASB show, but there are a few Arab classes and then open classes.  It's a lot of fun, they set up the ring in front of the grandstand.  And Saturday evening is the Pink Ribbon night were everyone gets all dressed up.  Plus lots of vendors come in for the show, so it really just a good time.

The class schedule for Dalal was a little goofy.  We had 3 classes Friday.   Tom took him in the Jack Benny first in the morning session.  Then in the afternoon I was up first with the Arab Western Pleasure Open.  We had an okay class.  There was a very persistent fly that kept bothering Dalal, so it wasn't our best performance.  But of well.  We ended up 4th out of 5 in the class.  Then just 2 classes later Tom took Dalal back in the ring for the Open Western Pleasure.  It was a huge class, 16 and two of those were draft horses.  I can honestly say I'm glad I wasn't riding that one!  After that we didn't have anymore classes until Saturday night when Tom took him in the Open Western Pleasure Championship.  Unfortunately it started pouring down rain shortly after the evening session started.  So everything was just very wet!  The horses all made the best of it.  And Tom ended up with a 6th place finish in a big championship class.  Not too bad all things considering.

Luckily the rain stop overnight, but it didn't really dry things up all that much.  So when I headed into the ring Sunday morning for the Arab Western Pleasure Championship things were still very wet.  I actually had to ride about 10 feet off the back rail because it was just a huge puddle.  And Dalal was really not happy about the footing.  He does not like when the wet sand stats hitting his little manly bits.  So we ended up 3rd out of 3 behind Courtney and Donna.  Both really good horses, so honestly I don't know that I could have improved my placing at all.

It ended up being an early end to the show for us, which was nice because it gave me time to stop by Harlansburg on my way home and see Nikki and the C&G crew at the NWPAHA Summer Classic Show.  It was the first time I had a chance to see Nikki since everything happened with Image.  So it was nice to get to see her and catch up a bit.  And then I got roped into helping out by Jody, which was kinda funny.  She was sending me back to the barn to tell the kids to get horses ready.  Meanwhile, I know none of these kids and none of the horses.  Oh well.  The horses all made it up to the ring in plenty of time and it was all good.  I got the chance to see Kelly and Lark in a couple classes.  And I have to say I'm really impressed with how much she's come along with that mare this summer.  Every time I see Kelly and Lark, they look better and better.

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Back Home and Another Horse Show

I was feeling pretty guilty about not having seen my pony in weeks.  And not having ridden him since Memorial Day (although I doubt he was upset about that part)  So I decided to stay home from the Westmoreland Horseman's Association Show.  Friday night I headed out to the barn after work.  I was planning to clean X's stall and maybe a few others, but I couldn't find either of the wheelbarrows.  And since I wasn't about to drag buckets out to the manure pile, that just didn't happen.  Instead, the little dirtball got scrubbed clean and then tacked up to ride.  I didn't do too much with him, just a little bit of walking, and just picked up both canter leads.  But I did do a lot of walking.  And focused on getting him to relax and put his head down.  And more importantly keep his head down on the the downward transitions.  Which we were actually pretty successful on.  So yay!

Saturday morning I had to feed at Tom's before heading out to my barn.  Started working on cleaning stall first thing.  And then when Rachel came we tacked up Naughtie for a lunge lesson.  Rachel was up first and then I got my turn.  And actually I had a really good lesson.  I was relaxed and going with the horse.  I hardly ever had to hold on.  And I wasn't grabbing her with my legs, which was very evident in the relaxed and happy horse I had under me.  So that was great.  Astrid actually ended up lunging me while Rachel went and tacked up Kaye to jump a bit. 

After Rachel rode Kaye, then Astrid had a short lesson on her.  And then finally I rode with Rachel and Airy.  We had a good jump school, jumping the single vertical and then the bounce.  All the fences were right around 2'9"-2'11"  God it felt good to jump Kaye again.  I haven't been on her since the last South Farm Combined Test, and it was good to get back in the saddle.  We had a good jump school.  None of my usual mental issues came through.  Although I still keep having that crappy first fence and it's driving my crazy!

Saturday night it was back out to Tom's to feed.  And of course I run into problems.  Bring the three horses in to feed.  And the new boy's eye is completely swollen shut and really weepy.  Great!  So I call to see what he wants me to do.  He calls Nikki who says to wash is out with saline solution and that Maryann has some for her contacts.  Walk down the hill to the house, get the saline.  Walk back up the hill to the barn and squirt some in his eye.  Decide to keep the two boys in for the night, so I tuck them in with some hay and say goodnight.

Sunday morning, the boy is looking somewhat better.  Eye is not quite as swollen, he can actually open it a little.  So I rinse it out again and kick the two of them out for the day. About 9:00 Maryann and I head up to Crook Creek to meet Tom and see the last day of the show.  We made it just before Tom headed into the ring for the Open Western Pleasure.  Dalal was a complete shit and did not want to listen to anything.  And so they ended up in 5th place ahead of Emily and Tony.  Which really didn't make any sense because Emily had a pretty decent ride.  The only horse they really should have beat was the quarter horse that was two beating.   I really have no clue what this judge was looking at.  Tom headed back in the ring a few classes later for the Jack Benny.  He had a fairly decent ride, and he ended up winning the class and beating Tina!

And then it was right back into the ring for the Open Western Pleasure Championship.  Dalal was again a little snot and he gave Tom a pretty tough ride, leaving them in 5th place.

After that we had enough of a break to take Dalal back, untack him and hose him off.  I'm sure he appreciated it.  Then he chilled in front of his fan while we watched a couple of classes.  It wasn't too much longer though before it was time for me to get dressed and Dalal back under saddle.  There were quite a few scratched classes.  I don't think too many people were up to showing in the heat.  Anyway, we didn't do much in the way of warm up, jogged a bit and picked up each lead.  And then we just hung out in some shade.  Dalal was pretty good for the little warm up we did.  However he turned into a little shit as soon as we went in the ring.  Would not keep his head still, did not want to walk at all.  I was lucky to keep him together as much as I did.  Needless to say I wasn't exactly happy with him.  Unfortunately the championship class didn't go much better.

See what I mean, he would not put his head down

I do think this one's cute.  If only he didn't have the jackass ears

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Inter-State Triple Points Show

So the past weekend found me in Randolph, Ohio at the Inter-State Triple Points Show.  Dalal's first class wasn't until Friday afternoon and it was the Jack Benny, so I decided that it wasn't worth it for me to take the day off work.  I did talk to Carol about leaving an hour early, so I could make it out for the evening class.  As it turned out though, there were some scratched classes so we weren't sure I would make it in time.  And Nikki ended up riding Dalal against Kelly and Lark.

Saturday was HOT!  We didn't have any classes in the morning, but a bunch of C&G kids were showing halter.  And one little girl took Image in Pony Halter, Jr. Exhibitor.

Dalal and I didn't have to be ready until late in the afternoon session.  So that was kind of a nice relaxing morning.  Unfortunately that means that it was HOT when we rode.  Up first was the Ladies Western Pleasure and I was going up against Nikki on Lark.  It was kinda interesting once I got into the ring.  Because although you could hear Terry everywhere else on the show grounds, once you were in the ring, you couldn't hear anything!  So I was pretty much just guessing what gait they were asking for, and looking around to see what everyone else was doing.  I figured the judge couldn't penalize us if we all were loping when he wanted a walk.  Loudspeaker problems aside, I had a really good ride.  And the judge agreed with me when he pinned us first!  Woohoo!  And I beat Nikki, only like the 3rd time Dalal's ever beat her.  Of course I'm sure the outcome would have been different if she had been riding her own horse, but I'll still take my victory.  LOL.  We then had a break for one class before it was time to head back into the ring for the Open Western Pleasure.  Dalal and I had another great ride, unfortunately the judge liked the saddlebred better and we were second.  Still very respectable.  Tom was up next in the evening session with Men's Western Pleasure, which he won.  then just a few classes later was the Open Western Pleasure Championship.  It was a close class until Lynn's horse took a disliking to the mud puddle on the rail.  And so Tom came home with the Championship ribbon. 

Sunday morning we only had one class, Arabian Western Pleasure Championship.  Tom let me have the ride, mainly I think because he didn't want to have to get dressed in show clothes in the hot weather.  I had a good ride in the Championship class, bringing home the Championship ribbon.  But it was somewhat disappointing as Kelly and Lark were the only other pair in the class.  No other western Arabs at the show!  But we still had a good round and so I was pleased with that, regardless of what competition we had.

All in all it was a good weekend.  And the best part was getting home by 1 on Sunday!

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ICHA Double Points Show

So this weekend it was over to Canfield again for the ICHA Show.  Tom wasn't getting into town until the evening so I volunteered to take Dalal in the Arabian classes on Friday so he could qualify for the championship.  Astrid ended up coming with me to groom and generally keep me company that first day.   I wasn't scheduled to ride until class 21, so I figured I had until about 1:00 or so.  Well as I was helping Kim and Rita get Cinco ready for his halter class, Tina came up to me and asked me to show Sally in her Morgan Halter class.  Tina had sprained her ankle the other day and although it was feeling ok, she didn't want to push it by running on it.  I warned her that I hadn't shown halter in like 10 years, and even then it was Arabs not Morgan, but she was fine with that, she just wanted Sally to get in the ring.  So we got Sally all cleaned up and then I had to run down to the ring to make it in time for my class.  I let Daphne go in ahead of me so I could at least watch what she did and get an idea of what was going on.  Sally and I ended up 3rd out of 3 in class.  Which I guess isn't too bad considering I really had no clue what I was doing.  And Tina was just happy that Sally got her card punched for the halter class.

So then it was time to get Dalal out and start getting him ready.  A quick hose off and he was ready to tack up.  And that was the time I was really missing Tom being there.  His new show saddle is HEAVY!  Astrid was helping Tina get Sally ready so I didn't even have her assistance.  But after some work I did manage to get the saddle up and Dalal bridled with the snaffle bit.  I still had quite a bit of time before my class so I decided to just hop on in my jeans, get a feel for what kind of horse I had under me, especially since no one had ridden him since the last show three weeks prior.  Dalal was a good boy though, settle right down into the work.  I jogged and loped him a bit before heading back to the motor home to get myself dressed and ready to show.  Astrid helped me out down at the show ring and got us all presentable before we went into our class.

First up was Reg. Arabian Western Pleasure-Amateur.   And we had a good ride.  Ended up second behind a woman I had never seen at the local shows before, but she had a nice chestnut gelding.  But I was pleased with how my ride went, especially considering that Dalal has just been hanging out in the pasture for the past 3 weeks.  After the class Dalal got a nice hosing off and some hay to munch on in his stall.

Astrid and I helped out Kim and Rita and Tina get their horses ready for the afternoon.  And before too long Tom and Maryann made it out.  And they actually made it in time to see the second class.  We returned to the ring in the evening session for the Arabian Western Pleasure-Open.  We had an okay class, but a couple of bobbles kept us out of the top placings.  We ended up finishing 5th out of 6.

Unfortunately on Saturday I had to leave for a couple hours to go to Megan's bridal shower.  So I ended up missing Tom's Men's Western Pleasure class.  However I did hear the results immediately as we had a little bet going for who got to ride in the Open class that night.  Tom and Dalal had a nice first place finish in their class.  Which means that I will have my work cut out for me in the evening session and my Ladies to Ride class.  I was able to get away with sneaking out of the bridal shower early and made it back to Canfield in plenty of time for my evening class.  Tom was actually first up with the Jack Benny class, in which he did manage to beat Tina.  And then I got on and two classes later headed into the ring for the Ladies Western Pleasure.  I had a good ride in a very tough class with several professional trainers.  And in the end I came out with the red ribbon.  Very respectable considering my competition.  And well, a bet is a bet and Tom did have the better placing.  So we swapped places again and he took Dalal back for the Open Western Pleasure.  The two of them had a very good class and came out the winners.  Good day overall for us.

Sunday morning we were able to take it easy, no classes until after the lunch break.  I was up first with the Arabian Western Pleasure Championship.  We had an ok ride, a few minor mistakes, mainly because Dalal was a bit tired and sore at that point.  Tom's new saddle does not fit quite right with the neoprene pad, something we need to fix before the next show.  And since it was a tough class, those mistakes cost us: 4th out of 5 in the class.  Unfortunately Tom didn't fair any better in the Open championship.  4th place ribbons for both the championship classes. Oh well, we'll just have to redeem ourselves next week at Randolph!

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Red, White and Blue Horse Show

Not much that went on since the Combined Test at South Farm, so we'll just sorta skip all over that and talk about the horse show at Canfield this weekend. I took Friday off from work (shh!) and Bonnie took X and I over to the fairgrounds. Tom was already there with Dalal and his new stud colt. They had gotten in the day before. And that was nice because he had a stall held for us right next to him. So I got X settled into his stall and Tom was just starting to get Dalal ready for his first class, Reg. Arabian Western Pleasure Amateur. Got him tacked up and I hopped on while Tom got himself ready to ride. Just walked him around the grounds a bit and then handed him over to Tom. At that point I figured there was no time like the present to see what my beastie would do. I pulled him out of the stall and tacked him up in the western saddle and then we headed over to the smaller warm up ring. I lunged him around there for a while and then finally hopped on. As I expected he would not settle down to walk, but that's ok, I was fine with him trotting. Of course then every time he saw something new he had to break into a canter. And then after about half a dozen strides he realizes nothing is going to eat him and he wants to stop, I don't think so Bup! So we cantered a lot that first day. By the time I headed over to the main ring to watch X was completely lathered. And of course he chose this time to show me that he can be a little energizer bunny when he wants to be. Tom still had some time before his class and so I joined him in the warm up ring. Tom and Paul Clemens were there as well and I just have to say it was very weird to see them both on chestnuts rather than their black horses. So X still decided he was going to canter around the warm up rather than trot or walk like a sane horse, so when Tom and Dalal finally headed into the show ring he was dripping, it was quite gross.

Tom and Dalal had a great ride in the Ammy class in which they won out of 5. And Kelly and Lark were 2nd. Kelly was completely shocked! Going into the class she kept thinking they would be 5th, but she put in a nice ride. I was really happy for Kelly. She's been through some rough times with Lark and she really wants to do this. So good for her.

After the class was over both ponies went back and got hosed off and then tucked in the stalls with some hay to munch on. For the rest of the afternoon I got to just hang out and catch up with everyone that I haven't really seen since last summer. Nikki showed up later in the afternoon, so it was good to get to see her as well.

That evening I got to ride Dalal in the Reg. Arabian Western Pleasure-Open class. We had a pretty decent warm up, especially considering that I haven't really been on the horse since September. We had a decent ride in the class, except going the first direction Dalal broke at the lope and then I got the wrong lead when we picked it up again. Luckily though the judge didn't see any of it and we ended up 2nd in the class. Pretty good for my first trip back in the show ring!

After we headed back to the stalls and got Dalal settled I was introduced to Danielle, who Tom met online while watching Nikki at Scottsdale. Danielle had groomed for Tommy Garland at Nationals and so she and Tom had started talking. And then about a month or so ago she moved to Washington, PA from Michigan and so Tom invited her out for the show. I have to say, I really enjoyed meeting her, she's a couple of years younger than me, but we really hit it off and had a good time together.

Although it had rained during the night, Saturday morning dawned pretty nice, unfortunately it didn't stay that way. The sun was out and shinning when we headed down tot he main ring for Tom's Men's Western Pleasure class. Unfortunately it had started to rain by the time he went into the ring. And Dalal was a little shit for the class. There was only one other horse in the ring, this little appy mare that was in heat. And Dalal was well aware of that fact. Luckily the other horse wasn't even close to being competition, but Tom certainly had his hands full. After the class we got Dalal settled back in his stall and then waited out the rain. Unfortunately it didn't want to stop any time soon.

After a while Kelly, Danielle and I decided that since it was raining and we couldn't do anything anyway we would head out to get something to eat for lunch. We piled into Danielle's car along with Kelly's son Gavin and headed into Boardman to see what looked good. We ended up trying out this Stonebridge Grill and Tavern. Kelly had mentioned that she always drove past it and thought it looked good, but she hadn't eaten there yet. So we figured we would give it a try. The food was delicious, I had a tasty lobster bisque soup and a turkey sandwich. Everything was quite yummy!

While we were eating the rain had stopped, so when we got back to the fairgrounds, I pulled X out of his stall and tacked him up for a ride. I lunged him first in side reins and then after a while I went ahead and hopped on him. He was pretty good in the warm up ring, so then I took him down to the main ring. I figured since the show was on break until the evening session at 5 I might as well take advantage and get him into the main ring. He wasn't too bad, but he was once again using every little thing as an excuse to spook and start cantering. So we cantered a lot of circles. Eventually he settled down and we got some good work in. I even rode some centerlines towards the judge's tent in the middle of the ring. While he wasn't too thrilled about that to start with, he did get better about it. So good ride overall, when I started to hear thunder I figured it was time to take him back to the stall. I quick bath and X was tucked in his stall with a couple flakes of hay, happily munching away.

So we waited out the afternoon rain and it did stop by the time we headed up to the ring for the evening session. Tom was first up with the Jack Benny class. And then just two classes later I had the Ladies Western Pleasure. And then at the end of the evening was the Open Western Pleasure. So Tom and I had a little friendly competition going on. Whoever did better in their class got to take him in the Open. As he was heading into the ring I tried to get some support for my cause from Tina and Judi. Not that either one of them needs encouragement to beat Tom. However, Tom had a great ride and won the class. Really put the pressure on me for my Ladies class. I get the number from him and hop up on Dalal. Since there was only one class before we went in, we just hung out near the in gate. And then it was time for our class. We headed into the ring at a really nice jog if I do say so myself. And it was a good class, 10 in the ring (biggest western class of the show I believe) and several nice horse and rider pairs. But Dalal and I had just had a great ride. And it paid off when they called our name as the winners! When I came out the ring after the class Tom made a big production out of taking off his chaps to show that I could go back for the Open. We just chilled in the warm-up until it was time to go back in, trying to keep Dalal's attention on showing and not thinking that he was done for the night. Unfortunately he was tired by that time. Not getting any real conditioning for show season and the mucky ring had definitely taken it's toll on him. But he jogged right in the ring when I asked him to. We were having a good ride until they asked for the lope in the first direction. And we proceeded to pick up the wrong lead three times before we finally got it right. And the judge missed the whole thing! I think he must have liked us and wanted to place us so he ignored it and purposely kept his back to us. I don't know how he couldn't have looked I had like 6 people on the rail calling "No, No! Still Wrong!" If I heard that I would be looking around to see what the problem was. I figured that we had blown the class, but I just kept riding. I was completely shocked when we were called as the winners! I couldn't believe it!

Sadly, Tom had to leave Canfield by noon so that he had time to get home and get ready for his flight back to Las Vegas that afternoon. And since the western pleasure championships were in the afternoon we didn't get to show in them. Which was kinda disappointing. I got to watch the Arabian Western Pleasure Championship while I was waiting for Bonnie to come pick me and X up. And it was kinda sad. Three horses in the class. Chuck and his bay stud were first, then Nikki and Armani were reserve and then Kelly and Lark in 3rd. We could have done very well in the class. But oh well.

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ICHA Double Points Show

So this weekend was the ICHA Double Points Show at Canfield, OH. Tom was of course taking Dalal and I had mentioned that I might be interested in riding him sometime. So they had a Ladies to ride class and the plan was that I would take Dalal in that. I had Friday off from work for a doctors appointment. After doing some stalls and riding Kaye I headed out to Canfield in the afternoon. I got there just in time to see Tom ride in the Amateur Arabian Western Pleasure. They had a beautiful ride, very consistent. We take Dalal back to the stall and untack him, send Nikki a picture of his blue ribbon to cause some trouble since she was in Fort Worth. And then we start to discuss who's going to ride what. Tom's suggestion is that I get on Dalal during the afternoon break and then if things go well ride him in the Registered Arabian Western Pleasure that evening. So we tack up Dalal during the break and head down to the main ring. It was a little bit weird to ride western I'll admit. And kinda funny, because Bonnie is always telling me that I don't ride with my legs tight enough. Well I ride with them way tighter than Dalal is used to! I asked for the jog and he took off. Lightened up my legs and we slowed down to an acceptable speed. It really pained me to pull his head to the outside though to ask for the lope. It's just so wrong!

So that evening I get ready to ride in the Registered Arabian Western Pleasure. I figure we'll just go in and have fun and kinda figure it out as we go. I had so much fun. It was an Arabian class so they did ask for the hand gallop. Man was that fun! Just put my hand forward and asked him to go. In the end we ended up 2nd. Not too bad, the horse that beat us was ridden by a professional trainer. As Tom said if she's not winning, she needs to find a new job. But we did beat a horse that has beaten Dalal in the past, so that was pretty cool.

I went home Friday night so I could go to Bonnie's Saturday morning for my lesson. As usual I was there early and ready to ride since I had other plans, and I never get to ride first! This really sort of annoys me. Elena and Ari both had their lessons first and then I finally got to tack up Kaye to ride. Bonnie has me put the draw reins on her again, which I hate. It's really just too much rein in my hands. We work on dressage for a while and then Rachel and Kelsey show up. They tack up Airy and Naughtie and join us in the arena. We work on centerlines for a while and then start practicing the dressage test. I ran through the test three times. The last one was pretty good, still some things I need to concentrate on, but overall not bad. At this point Bonnie tells us to head outside to school some more cross country. I just put Kaye away though. By then I had been on her back for 3 hours, it was 12:30 and I figured I had already missed the Adult Western Equitation class that I was going to ride in. Bonnie was a bit pissed at me I think, but quite frankly I don't care. I had other plans, excuse me if for once I'm not going to spend 12 hours a day there. No one else ever does.

I was right, I had missed the Adult Western Equitation by the time I got to Canfield. Tom had already rode both the Men's Western Pleasure and the Jack Benny, where he was first and fourth respectively. I did have the Ladies Western Pleasure in the evening session to ride. Of course it starts to rain by the time we go to tack up. And with the rain it got cold! So I get dressed while Tom takes care of Dalal. I put my zip up hoodie on over my show clothes and we head up to the ring. I find a tree to stand under for a while to try and keep a little dry. That at least saved me from getting too wet. Luckily by the time we went into the ring for our class it had stopped raining. There were 8 of us altogether in the Ladies class, pretty big class. I have to say I had a GOOD ride. Courtney was in this one again (she beat me in the Arabian WP the night before) She was my big competition but then her horse blew up on the lope depart. I felt pretty darn good about my ride when we lined up. But I ended up third, and no one could really explain why. Everyone was saying I should have won. But oh well. Tom ended up not feeling like getting dressed to ride in the Open Western Pleasure, so I rode that one as well. We placed 2nd in that class behind Courtney.

Ladies Western Pleasure

Sunday was the Championship classes. We decided that I would ride in the Arabian Western Pleasure Championship and Tom would go in the Open Western Pleasure Championship. I had a decent ride, some thing to work on though. Mainly Dalal was a little too much in front of the vertical. We ended up third behind Courtney and Tom C. Not too bad I'll take it for my first western pleasure show. So then Tom took him back in for the Open Championship. They had a perfect ride and won the Championship. Tom got to take home the trophy that Nikki won last year. So that's pretty cool that both their names will be on it. Back at the campsite there was some joking about who would be the first to get their name on it twice. My reply was that maybe Dalal would be the first to have his name on it twice, just with a different rider. :)

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