So I am feeling pretty down today. I had 10 goals for this year and at this point no matter what I cannot accomplish the 3 that are red. And that bums me out. This year was my only chance, at least for a long time, to be in a victory gallop. There are 3 show goals I want to have accomplished before I die...to win a cooler, to be in a victory gallop, and to get my USDF bronze medal. I thought I had a shot at the victory gallop this year but now I don't. And that sucks.

You see the closing date for championships is in early August. X wont be back to showing form for a while. If I couldn't break 60% before this accident there is no way it could happen with him coming off 2 weeks on stall rest. There is a show July 27th, which is 4 days after his stall rest is over. There is no way I can get the score I need and I don't want to push him that hard anyway. So that is it. My dream of championships is over. X is the kind of horse that keeps his brain at a big show grounds which is why it was my only chance. I don't usually get to ride sane horses and I doubt it will happen again. His movement isn't good enough to be competitive at a higher level and my eligibility runs out this year at the level we are at. So good-bye victory gallop. Good-bye life long dream. I know it is not the end of the world. Heck, we haven't been breaking 60% so it is not like we really had a shot at it anyway. It just sucks to have the door to a dream closed so quickly.

*Just a note...I am off to farm sit again (this time at a place with ducks, no horses) for the next 2 weeks. I have some internet access so I will be checking in daily. But I have some posts lined up so you might se a double post every now and again.  Genny is lame again after going in a real field for 2 days and I will keep you all informed as to X's leg.

I am very traumatized form his fall. Lori and her friend where still by the show ring so no one was there. After he fell I made him stand on the trailer and right away I knew we had a problem. His left front leg was gushing. I quickly wrapped it and got the bleeding under control. By the time Lori got back to the trailer I was offically freaking out. She took him and went to wash the cut. It didn't look great, but my wrap job had stopped the bleeding. It looked like a nasty scrape so we loaded him to go home. I was pretty upset. I mean I just feel terrible that X got hurt when he was in my care. I know it is an accident, I know Lori is not mad, but I was just really upset the whole ride home.

We got home a few hours later and took off his protective wrap to wash it out again. This was when I noticed the real trouble. As I was washing it I could feel that the cut was deeper and much bigger then I thought. One of the ladies who runs X's barn was still there so I asked her to take a look. She did the good old "I think you need to page the vet". So at 6:00 I paged the vet. He was another emergency call but he got there by like 8 I think (the whole day is still blurry now) and not only did X need one stitch. He got like 8. My vet was like, "how come you didn't page me right away. This is a really bad cut".

So X is not on stall rest for 14 days because the cut is right in front os his ankle which is a "high motion area". No turnout, no riding, and my vet would prefer it is he didn't even come out of his stall to get it cleaned the first few days. Plus we get 10 days of SMZ...Genny just came off of SMZ's Friday. I am very sick of SMZ's that are hard to give and $85 a bottle (I got X his own bottle). I asked the vet to put this one on my bill. And I plan on going everyday to take care of it myself. I feel terrible. And even worse is the lady who runs the barn that told us to call the vet tried to be helpful by putting a powder on the cut. That powder was like the worse thing that could be put on it so not my vet is very worried the skin around the stitches will break away and we will have more problems. So that is the very abbreviated version of my day yesterday. I will write the whole story over the next few days. I just feel pretty damn terrible. And I am sure my feelings will not improve when I buy all the supplies I need to care for the cut and when I can't get my entry fees back from the 2 shows I was supposed to do for the rest of the month.

I am all packed for the show. I baked sugar cookies and am going to cut up some watermelon. It is going to be 92 and VERY humid today so I thought those would be nice summer snacks. And I LOVE this show because dressage attire is not required. That is my favorite part about this show. I am wearing a black polo shirt instead of the very hot jacket with shirt and stock tie underneath. I don't so well in the heat so anything to keep me cool is great. I think I will be okay today as long as I take care of myself and eat and drink. X is so good that I am should be able to take a few min out here or there to have some fruit and drink so water.

I love showing. LOVE IT! And I don't get to do it very often so it is very special for me. My goals for the show today? My trainer text messages me last night with the following tips "Steady hands, forward horse, and shorten you reins". All things I need to work on so doing those 3 is goal number 1. Goal number 2 is not to feel sick by the time I come home (After the show and I put X away I still need to go see Genny so it will be a long day). And goal number 3 is to qualify for championships. If I do goal number 1 that shouldn't be an issue. This show doesn't get placed until 9 at night and we are not sticking around (thank goodness) to wait for the results so I will just have to see when they post it online to see if I place.

Today is going to be very fun.

My goal is to get my qualifying score for championships next week. I know I can do it.

Before I even start this post can I tell you how weird it is to be writting King-Dye. I know why she did the hyphen...it is tradition to take your husbands name as a woman. When you have a career on the rise like Courtney King you kind of have to go with the name recognition. I am sure at some point the King will get dropped and we will all come to know her has Courtney Dye. As all of you know if you have read this blog for anyt length of time I am a bit of a fan of hers. I want to ride like her some day because I think she is just a really great rider.

She rode a horse called Harmony's Wyoming in the USEF Developing Horse Test over the Memorial Day Weekend at a local show. What is interesting about this partnership is the fact that Mrs. Dye actually owns this horse! I don't think I know anyone that actually owns there own Grand Prix horse. Oh wait I lied...I think BeeSee's rider owns him. That is not the point though, the point is that it is very expensive to own, train, and compete on a Grand Prix horse so being able to do it own your own is very uncommon. I am assuming that Harmony's Wyoming is the some how related to one of her possible Olympic horses Harmony's Mythilus.

One of the things I love about watching Courtney King is the fact that she is so quiet. You see some Grand Prix riders who are all over the place and working there asses off. She just makes it look so easy. When you watch her it makes you think to yourself, "I could do that too someday". And she really does believe that we all can do it some day. Not so much that it is easy to ride at the upper levels but rather that dressage in general is doable. The pictures in this post were all taking by me. I was not at the best angle because I had just run down from the scorers room, but they should show you how elegant she is when she rides.

Now the test was not perfect. In the middle Harmony's Wyoming had a bit of an issue. He is still young after all. I am not sure what movement he was supposed to be doing but he started doing half-steps. She corrected him and he had a young horse moment when he got all huffy. She just stayed with it. She was quiet, soft, and forgiving. She did not let him get away with his mini tantrum, but she also let it go as soon as he started to act correctly again. Many of us, myself included, would get rattled at having such an obvious mistake right in front of the judge (it happened just off of C if memory serves) but she just let it go. By the next movement no one could tell that any problem had occurred. Most of us would have thrown away the next few moments trying to get our act together again but not her, she kept her head so she also kept lots of points.

She was even able to get a perfect 10 on one movement from one of the judges. Now I don't want to be a Debbie Downer but I didn't see any movements that were perfect so I am not sure if she deserved a 10, but I did see lots of exceptional movements and was not surprised when a test filled with 7s and 8s made its way up to be scored. I truly feel like I learned from her just by watching her. If any of you ever get the chance to see her ride you should go out and do it. I think she is going to be a great addition to the U.S. Olympic team this summer, assuming of course she is picked. The trials were last weekend and next weekend. I wish I had written this post almost a month ago when I first got back from the show because I feel like so much has been lost in my brain with such a long gap between watching and writing. I still remember the important parts such as her calm face during a horsey temper tantrum and really using her seat in the mediums.

And with that ladies and gentlemen I will end this post with a halt and salute. She is just the ride of rider you have to watch to appreciate. I do have a video of part of her test, but haven't a clue how to get it online. She is just amazing and I hope we call all watch her ride for the U.S. in August.

Why am I wasting my time and money trying to ride when I clearly am not doing it well? Here is just a still shot from the show, a nicer of all the pictures and I can still see a ton of things wrong with it...

Why are my elbows not bent? Why are my hands so freaking low? And can we say piano hands! They are terrible. If this was a moving show you would see them dancing all over the place too. And my leg. It is so bad. In the picture you can see that my toe points off to the side and not straight like it is supposed to. And I nag with my lower leg. Badly. It is just so painful to watch.

I played the video of the show for my friend Giggles when she came to visit. I hadn't watched it myself yet so I didn't know what to expect. It was bad. She is a dressage instructor and so she made comments throughout the whole video. All of them true, but that didn't make them sting any less. I now know why the judge gave us a 54.8. And I honestly think that was generous. At first I thought the judge was just a low scorer. Now I know that it is me who has the problem. I wanted to punch myself I was so mad when watching the videos. My whole goal for my riding this time around was just not to suck anymore and I let myself down big time.

So I went to ride a few times last week and none of my rides were good. In fact, X is so annoyed with my riding that he doesn't even want me to get on anymore. And I don't blame him because I am not having fun with it right now. I ride like crap and then he goes like crap and then I get mad at myself which makes me start coaching myself and I don't always say the nicest things in the nicest voice to myself and then X hears them and gets pissy because he thinks they are directed at him and so he either throws his face up in the air with the "well fuck you then bitch" face or drops his inside shoulder and just gives up. It is not good. It has gotten so bad. And it is all my fault. He is still a good boy and I don't think I am doing any lasting harm to him because I have been working really hard to just be quiet with all my aids. Who knows...maybe I am ruining the poor guy.

It all came to a head on Saturday when I rode. I tried so hard to keep my hands up and steady. It was going so well that I even took a little contact. We were having a nice ride and I messed it all up. I started to drop my hands in the transition. I couldn't yell at myself like I usually do because there were many people around since it was a big lesson day for them, but I just got mad. And with every transition that I did it I just got madder and madder with no way to let it out. Without me yelling X didn't get upset, which made me even more upset because now I know it really is my fault that he is getting pissy. I took a break and dropped the reins to the buckle and told myself to calm down. Having tons of people in the ring with me turning out to be a good thing because I couldn't let them know how I was feeling.

I took some deep breaths and decided that I didn't want to worry when I was riding anymore. I just wanted to have fun like I had before the show. I figured X and I would just play around so I made him be my western pleasure pony. It was very fun and while I am sure his gaits would have been too fast for a western show ring I felt like he was going backwards we were so slow. It was fun though to try something different.

As I walked to the barn my frustration with myself came back. I am making X, Mr. Perfect, not enjoy being ridden. I know it has only been a few rides of me sucking even worse than before so I am hoping that X will go back to enjoying being worked if I can just get out of my own head. Knowing that you are making a horse not love his job is a bad feeling to have. I was so frustrated with myself I started to cry. Luckily, even though a bunch of people were in the barn I was able to keep my back to them and quietly go about the business of untacking and caring for X.

Part of me is grateful to be able to watch myself ride on the video and part of me wishes I had never watched. This is a hard post for me to write because I am guessing that people are going to think the same things when the read it. They will think "get over yourself you are not that bad" or "stop riding you are going to ruin X". I don't need people to tell me I am an okay rider or to tell me to stop taking my riding so seriously. That is just blowing smoke up my ass. I am not blind. I saw what I rode like and let me tell you it is not fine. And most of you have never seen me ride so trust me when I say it is UGLY. And to the other half who think I should give up...I love to ride. Most of the time. I don't know what I would do without it in my life. And X is so perfect. There is no way I am giving him up ever! I don't want to take a break from riding. I want to get better NOW dammit.

I put X back in his stall and promised him that I would be better next ride. I know what I need to feel better. I need a lesson. my trainer tends to go easy on me because she knows I can pretty damn hard on myself. Someone can say something like "your hands are much quieter now" and that can send me into a tail spin because I know what that really means is that my hands were so bad before that even though they are bad now at least they are not that bad anymore. The fact that everyone is telling me how much better my riding had gotten is freaking me out. How bad must I have been before? I don't know when I can have a lesson though because my trainer is all busy with her own riding this week. I can't even call her to talk to her about how down I am about my riding because she will tell me to stop being so hard on myself. If I could do that I wouldn't be writing this post now would I?

The funny thing is that in life I am a confident person. I know my strengths and weaknesses and readily admit to both. I will take credit for a job well done and easily take a compliment, even if it is not always 100% true. For some reason when I get on the back of a horse I just loose all that confidence. I never feel like I am good enough. I know that I just need to relax about it. Enjoy riding again. It is hard when you KNOW how many things you so wrong. Before the show I knew I wasn't perfect but now I have irrefutable proof of how bad I am at this. This is a low point for me as far as riding goes. I want to get better and am willing to work hard to do it, but when is it ever going to happen? When am I going to be able to ride well?

Having a blog is a weird thing because I would NEVER tell people I was thinking all of these things in real life. Now it is out there for the world to see. The fact that my brain is what keeps me from moving up through the levels. I need to put it out there though because I know that this is a part of riding, the head games we all play with ourselves. Some people are so not confident in there riding they would never dream of going into a show ring. I have no problem showing but I tend to stew afterward. That is why I like to do several shows sort of close together. It leaves me with little time to second guess my last test. I just have to look forward to the next one. And if the last one wasn't so bad a little time to regroup might have been great. I know I will get over it. I always do. I am just really mad at myself right now.

And for those of you thinking, "just go out and take a trail ride or something to relax about your riding" it is not that. These feelings would still come back as soon as I walked into the ring the next time. I am going to be so busy taking care of everyone elses horses and getting Gennryal ready to move that I am not sure I will have time to ride much this week anyway. And I think a little time out of the tack might be just what I need to get my head back on straight. Watching some of the less than stellar riders at Gennyral's barn might help also. And honestly the best cure for me right now is to miss riding. I doubt it will take many days for that to happen. I know I need to relax about it and it will come. It is just easier said then done. It just drives me crazy to be so bad at something I want so desperately to be good at.

Part 1

Part 2

As I walked into the ring the second time I was determined. The novelty of being at a show again was lessened because now I had a job to do. The judge liked my adorable paint and thought I was the weak link in the horse/rider relationship. That was unacceptable to me because I have worked so hard not to suck this year. I might have dropped the ball the first time around but round 2 was a whole new ball game. I kept working on the transitions and tried to keep my hands up and steady so he could come round. X knows how to use his back when asked so I needed to get down to business and ask him to do so. I was the first rider after the ring break so the judge had to track down her scribe. By the time she came back we were ready. When that whistle blew my competitive spirit kicked in full force and and I said to myself, "Let's show her what a real horse can do X".

This time up the center line we were straight and although out halt was not the best (X lifted his head and I must have put my leg pressure on unevenly because my correction made him step sideways) we were ready to rock it. I focused on his hind end and back and just keeping the contact. It felt like a much better test. Then came our freewalk. I dropped the buckle and we moved at about 1 mph. X looked all around, it was not the most beautiful thing in the world. We got to where we are supposed to do our medium walk. This is where things sort of fell apart. I was so worried about the jigging I didn't pick up the reins much. X still jigged though so instead of just making the correction since I had already lost points, I just rode it out with long reins. Not a good thing to do when the judge says that the horse needs to be rounder.

He leaned in a bit at the canter circles and was not exactly the perfect example of bend, but as we went up the center line again I was happy. I walked back into the warm up area and everyone else was happy too. It had been a much better test. Even my dad said, "wow, that one was even better". I cooled him off and went out to untack him and get him ready to go home. I got chased away by Lori and the Young Rider who assured me that they could handle untacking X. I hate not taking care of a horse myself, but I was very hot so I went to go get back in sweats. I was proud of myself because instead of throwing everything into the truck in a heap I put things back where they were supposed to be. I went in to the barn and got changed and brought X back out some water, which he of course would not drink, and found Lori and the Young Rider hanging out with X, Mr. Social. I wish I had a picture of it because it was adorable! My dad had my camera though because he took videos of both tests (which I cannot figure out how to upload successfully of course) so that "kodak moment" was missed.

One of the woman I had competed against was a trainer at the place that wanted to send Genny to the meat packers. The woman is nice enough, and she personally had nothing to do with that decision, but I just keep my distance because anyone that works at a place where my wonderful pony was thought to be "dangerous" and "mean" just makes me wary. Her mare had beautiful movement and I told her so and that she should keep showing her because at some point that hot temperament with those flashy moments will really get her some amazing scores. She thanked me for the compliment but then said that this was probably her last show (the woman's) because she had a buyer for the mare. I love to show and it bums me out that other people do not get to do it. Especially because that mare could really go places with this woman.

The woman asked me what I got and I told her I did not know. She said that the scores were up but the class was not pinned. So off I wandered to go see if the judge thought I had done better. I know I shouldn't have, but I really thought I had broken a 60% in that second test. It felt much more even and although we didn't have bend and the second half was not as round as it should have been I really thought we had done well. It is only training level after all and in the rule it only says that the horse must "accept contact with the bit" and it is not until first level that it talks about thoroughness and consistency, so I thought he had shown acceptance and that would be good enough.

As I walked towards the table I saw that the scores had indeed been posted. I held my breath as I walked to see my score. A 57.5. Thats it. 57.5. I tried not to be upset but I was. I really thought I had kicked ass so to get such a low score was a little discouraging. I, of course, ran into people I knew at the scoring table and since X was in very capable hands I hung out to chat. We were all joking that this show was like a "do it yourself" kind of show and complaining how long it was taking to get the scores since the last rider in our division had gone half an hour ago. About 5 minutes later someone emerged from the open door right in front of where we were joking with the last test to pin the class. oops...I hope she didn't hear us but I have a feeling that she did. All well, at the show in Oct if my times are 3 hours apart now we know why.

I was so busy feeling guilty about making fun of show management that I didn't look at the board right away. When I looked up I saw a 2 next to my name but it wasn't right next to my name, it was like halfway between my name and another persons name. It took me a moment but I was sure a 57.5 was not enough to get second out of 6 in a class, not with me showing against trainers, so I took my hand and ran it next to the names so I could see what place I really got. Looking at the other scores though I realized that maybe it was good enough. After another check over the list I believed it. X and I had gotten 2nd place! We had beaten out trainers on very nice horses! We had beat out warm bloods. Even with our crappy score the only person to break 60% was...the manager at Gennyral's farm. We had lost to the manger and since she gets paid to train this pony and this is there second year at training level I was plenty fine with loosing to my boss. I do believe I was walking on air back to the trailer. My trainer was proud, the Young Rider was proud, and most importantly of all I was proud.

I put X's shipping boots on and got ready for the rest of my long day. I had to get X all settled back at his barn, take the trailer back to Gennyral's, spend some time with Gennyral and then go home and spend some time with dad for father's day. It was a long, but good rest of the day. I had 2 beautiful red ribbons and even a score that can be used for year ends. X and I will do better at the next show. It is on July 16th and we will break a 60% next time. It was a great day and I am still very happy about how things worked out! As Lori said when I called her to tell her about the second test these will be my lowest scores of the year. X and I can, and will, get better with time.

So I am a very happy camper and I love showing X. He is so easy. And one of the coolest things all day did not happen in the show ring. When we first got there and it was just the Young Rider and I by the rig while I was getting ready X did something to show that he really does like me. I might not be his mom but he might actually like me after all. When I did go to the side of the trailer to get dressed X dragged the Young Rider over to watch me. He wanted to see where I went and keep an eye on me. He just stood there like a good boy watching me get ready. I was thrilled that he wanted to know where I went. Who knew he really did like me after all?

The End

The manager and her clients pony rode in as I walked out...here is a picture of the pair that beat us.

So my dad pulled in the drive way about 2 minutes after I arrived with a big smile on his face also. He knew how excited I was for this day. Even the manager of Gennyral's barn and her student were very nice. They all knew I was just thrilled. The Young Rider walked X around while I was supposed to be getting ready. I am a very chatty lady so really all I did was talk to everyone. She came back and gave me the look so I knew I was in trouble for not following directions. I tacked X up with her help and then got my act together for real. Lori and my trainer came not much after that. I got on and walked X around for a long time on the buckle. He was just so stiff it was making me a little worried. I wasn't nervous really about the test, more about getting excused from the ring. In the warm up I knew ever person but 2. I was walking around chatting with everyone and secretly praying that X would walk out of his stiffness.

After about 10 minutes of on the buckle walk my trainer told me to start to collect him and get him to use his hind end. So I did and it was work. He was getting better with every stride though so I started to relax a little. After another 10 minutes I picked up the trot. It was not great at first, but he has started off worse so I took a deep breath and told myself to ride every freaking stride. He got better and better as the warm up went on and when it was time for a walk break I had a big smile on my face. We were going to do just fine. Now I had one little time management issue. I ran out of time to warm up so I didn't get to canter. That worried me a great deal but my trainer told me that as long as he wasn't stiff, which he wasn't anymore, we would be fine and that I should just ride it like I knew how.

I went off into the show ring and that is when I lost focus. I was literally just so happy to be in the show I sort of forgot to ride. I was told that I looked nervous. I didn't really feel nervous, more like I was in awe of showing. I was busy looking at my dad, and the Young Rider, and my trainer, and Lori, and the crazy lady who used to have 3 horses at the barn I worked at, the manager's student and...well...you get the picture. I rode with my reins too long and had my hands way too low the entire ride. It was terrible. I also nagged every stride with my legs and didn't really prepare well for anything. As I came up the center line the second time I knew I had not done my best, but I also knew it wasn't awful. I walked up the judge to thank her and she gave me some comments. Wouldn't you know the first thing she said? "Your horse is uneven in the transitions". Dammit, dammit, dammit. There went my show goal. I walked back to the warm up area slightly defeated and a little bummed but happy none the less. I mean I did it. I showed. X and I did it together. It was cute too because one of my favorite people from back in the day when I was in Pony Club was there. This woman is a trainer and is just really nice and loves horses. She is great. She saw my trainer standing watching me and asked "Who are you watching, wait...that can't be One The Bit (insert real name here) can it?". When my trainer said yes the woman was impressed. She told my trainer I looked great compared to the last time she saw me ride. Looking at the pictures and videos now I wonder how bad I used to look!

I had 45 minutes before my next test so after a cool off walk I hopped off and shed my jacket and helmet. It was hot. X thought so too. I showed off the new "manly" brow band I had gotten for X and chatted with Lori, his owner. She was very happy with how we did and was very encouraging as usual. The compliment of the day came from my dad though. He came over and I asked him what he thought about my test. You know what my dad, who knows nothing about horses or dressage, said? "That was perfect. Just perfect. You did so well!" I know my dad had no clue but that still put a huge smile on my face. I sent the Young Rider off to hunt for a day sheet since this was the most boot leg show I have ever been too. There was no ring steward or gate person. You just had to know your time and guess who rode before you. The show secretary was no where in site and literally the numbers were just lying on a table with our names written on them for check in. She found a day sheet though after a little look around and...there was only 3 people doing T-1 and 6 doing T-2! I Wouldn't be going home empty handed. That made me very happy and on that good note I got back on to warm up for my second test.

The judge had not been thrilled with my transitions in the first test. Which was fine because I had not been thrilled with them either. They were prompt but I kept forgetting to ride through the whole transition. I would prepare, ask, receive and then just be like "Yay we trotted" and would fix any problems after. I should have rode the transition start to finish and then I would not have had so many problems to correct. This test I vowed to be better. Just as I was finishing my 2nd warm up I saw that my "team" was huddled around a test and they had a beautiful red ribbon with them. I CAME IN SECOND! I had done better than someone else! I saw all those warms up and I was very happy to be in such good company. Now for the bad news. I had gotten a 54.8. Damn that was low. I knew I hadn't done well, but yikes. The Young Rider reassured me though and said first place only had a 57.something so I was close.

The comments were helpful though. The judge wanted more contact. She wrote several times that X "needs to be rounder". I am still a little gun shy about even contact. I get worried that I am going to pull the horse in the mouth with my crappy arms so keeping steady, even contact, is a challenge for me. No time like right before you enter a show ring to try and fix a life long problem :). The judge also gave me a 4 on my freewalk because X had jigged. I knew it would be a low score but some judges would rather see a steady contact down to the stretch and more movement and others hated the human interference and would rather see the horse just walk. I know X and I could do better than a 4 so my trainer said to just drop the reins to the buckle and see if she wants no interference and a slow walk.

For my collectives in the first test I got a 5 on gaits with the comment irregular at times. Damn that sucks.

A 5 on impulsion with engagement of the hindquarters underlined. Double sucks.

And then a 6 on submission and another 6 on rider position with effect of aids underlined.

I could do better than a 54.8. I knew I could. And X was sound when I rode him correctly. I dropped the ball big time on that first test and so help me I was not going to do it again. X and Lori never had gotten lower than a 60% together so I felt a little like I was letting her down. I wanted to do well this test. T-2 is my test, our test, the tight turns are too the right so we could do well here. I took the reins back and got him coming into the contact and using his back. I was serious now. We were not leaving that show until I at least broke a freaking 55%.

To be Continued...

YAY!!!! I went to a horse show again!!!!!! Okay I am a little excited that I got to show but I will try and tone it down so I can tell you all about it.

So as I mentioned before my trailer lives with Gennyral. Lori, X's owner, has a horse van by him so it seems logical to keep my trailer by my boy in case of emergency. If X has an emergency he has Lori's van, Gen has one I can drive him. So I had planned on hooking up the trailer the night before the show and dropping it off at X's farm on my way home from work. My dad pointed out the fact that I was making more work for myself and that I should just leave the trailer hooked up and park on the street. He made a good point when he said, "How many cars are going to drive through the block from 11pm-6am?" to which of course the answer was not too many. It took me FOREVER to hook up 20min no joke. I have no clue why I could not spot the line, I just couldn't, so I was glad not to have to do it again on show day.

I made sure to pack everything the night before so my 5am wake up would not be too painful. I was used to that all fall/winter/spring because that was what time I had to get up for work at the farm, but now in the summer with going to bed late it makes it hard to get up early as well. I made sure to put my makeup on to street hooker levels and eat breakfast before I headed out the door. I always eat breakfast because I know once I head out the door I might not have time to eat again until I come home. The ladies at X's barn had mentioned to me that thought they might be sleeping over at the barn because there other pregnant mare there was waxing up. Sure enough as I pulled up to the barn I saw all of there trucks.

I walked in and said good morning to the boy, X lives in the first stall on the right, and he was passed out sleeping. Hearing my voice made him open his eyes but he made no move to get up. I went into the stall by his head and told him that we had a horse show today so he should get his sleepy head up so I can clean him up and braid him. He gave me a look that said, "But I am sleeping. Can't the show wait a few hours". I gave him a scratch and told him I would get my stuff together so he had  a minute to wake up. Sure enough by my second trip in he was standing with his head over the stall guard waiting for me. As I was walking by the mom to be she came over to say hello. I walked to her stall to quietly tell her to have her baby and was met by a surprise. A little filly was sleeping in the stall. She was adorable, I think cutter than the other baby, and it was very cool to see such brand new baby. I took that as a good sign for the day.

I very quietly gave X a bath and tried to scrub off all the manure from he coat. He slept right on top of it and even with quick silver (and lots of it) he still had some staining on top of his rump and on his legs. I did my best and wasn't going to freak out about it...I just told myself no more horses with white. Bay's only from now on :P. I braided him. Not well. In fact they were so bad that if I would have had time I would have redone them all but 4. It has been a year and a half since I braided though and I know that my braids will get better as the year goes on. Just as I was finishing up the ladies woke up, I know I woke the mom up but the other ladies said they slept right through my arrival and thanked me for being quiet. The little filly had been born at 4am so they were all exhausted.

I was running a little early but figured that since X was so stiff (he was hardly able to walk with all the humidity and the fact that he had gone from lying down to standing still for over an hour did not help) that I thought I would get to the show and hop on and walk around a lot so loosen him up as much as possible. I went out to the trailer and got things all set for my trailer loading trick. The mom came out to watch because she had never hear of my method for self-loading before. She never got to see it though because as I was walking over to the side of the trailer to pick up the lounge line after I had clipped it to him I heard her say, "Pull the line, pull the line" so I did as instructed, which was a good thing because about 5 seconds later I saw a very cute paint head looking out the front door of the trailer at me. X had decided he wanted to self load the real way again. Now I was running super early and had braided so I only had one nervous activity left. To drive there and park my trailer.

I am still relatively new to the whole driving a rig thing. My trainer taught me well though so I always go nice and slow. The only things behind me the whole trip were a few different groups of motorcycles. They scared the crap out of me when they passed because they were so load, but I would much rather have them pass me on a double yellow then stay behind me and get pissed off and go too close to the trailer. Half an hour after we left the barn we were pulling up the drive way to the show. I took deep breaths and told myself to be calm about parking. I saw the manager tacking up her pony with the help of a boarder from Gennyral's barn and my groom for the day, the Young Rider. I drive next to them and asked them where I should park. They said to pull around the circle in the drive way and park facing out as close to the side as I could. Now that is a parking job I can handle! I was so relived I could cry. I parked and got out with the Young Rider running toward me to give me a big hug.

I was THRILLED. I truly thought that my showing days were over when Gennyral was hurt. I though I was going to be someone elses groom for the rest of my life. But here I was at a show. I had the biggest grin on my face and the Young Rider did as well. She knew what a long road it was for me to get here and she said, "I am so excited for you!" And you know what? I was pretty damn excited for me as well

To be continued.

First off, we bought a new car. To make an extremely loooong story short, we got pulled over about 300 ft. from the dealer when we went to look. Then the next day when we were driving there to trade in our car, it broke down and pieces were flying off of it. We had to get towed into the dealer on a flatbed. Then on our way home in the new car, we got pulled over again. That was how our April fared.

May was fairly quiet. School is winding down and I don't know if it is just Kindergarten, but once May hits, the school starts preparing for summer! Last time I checked, there were still a few weeks til then, but according to them, it is time to relax!

Still doing boot camp. It still hurts and I still have sore abs from Monday. But I bought my first 2-piece bathing suit in about 20 years. ( the tags are still on it, so I can still return it)

Still riding. Willy is recovering nicely from Spasmotic colic that he had a few weeks ago. It was awful.

My barn hosted a horse show and the proceeds from our silent auction are going to the MS Society. So thanks to all of you who donated! It was a great success!

Next weekend, two friends and I are going to be in a festival "Artists in the Park". We formed an art group: WNYWAG Western NY Women's Art Group. It will hopefully be nice weather and a good day. i have been painting like mad and am rediscovering my love of calligraphy.

I haven't been knitting too much for it seems we have something going on every night. I guess that is what nice weather is all about!

The next DVD from One Smart Cookie Productions is nearing completion. I'll have it @ the replication house tomorrow for the final time (hopefully!) You can read about it on our website: www.onesmartcookieproductions.com

Other than that, that is my life in a nutshell.

Onto MS stuff, i was wondering if anyone out there on Tysabri is experiencing headaches. I have been getting them right after my treatment for about 2 days. But on the flip side, I have gone 6 months w/no attack! that is awesome for me!!!

I promise I'll be writing more.I have so many things in the works so I need an outlet for my creative thoughts threatening to explode my head!

K

My poor dad is at the horse show with me as well. Now some people have horse-show dad's. The kind that know to polish off your boots and tell you put your heels down. Other people have dad's who could care less and have never been within 20 feet of a horse. My dad is neither. He thinks that Gennyral is pretty cool but isn't a big fan of horses in general. He has always tried to like horses and be involved though, even though he was always hoping I would just quit riding one day.

My dad tries to be involved the best way he knows how...by taking pictures. Any picture you see of me riding Gennyral in this blog was taken by my dad. He doesn't understand dressage at all so when I tell him to take a picture of my horse going into the contact he has his own way of looking at things. He says, "Oh you want me to take a picture of the horse when his head is like this" while doing a gesture of pointing to the ground. He makes it sound so easy, just get the horse to put his face perpendicular to the ground, that's all.

My dad went to almost every horse show that I had with Gennyral, he missed one to go golfing with friends. Now, even on this Father's Day, my dad can be seen at the show. Braving that "horrible" horsey smell and standing on the rail next to my trainer asking cute questions like, "Why do they wear black and white" and "Is she doing okay?". I gripe a lot about having parent's that hate horses but in the show ring it has big advantages. You see my dad doesn't care one bit if I win or loose. He has no clue what it means to do well, to break 60% or if the judge was fair. My dad is just proud that it is his little girl out there all cleaned up and doing what she loves. He is also just as proud at the fact that I have made so many friends in the horse world. He gets a kick at seeing how many people come to the rail when the whistle blows to start my test.

My dad will never love horses, going to the barn, or horse shows. That's alright with me though because there is no doubt in my mind that he loves me. No matter how the show turns out today I know that my dad will be at the rail smiling ear to ear as I exit the ring.

I like to set myself mini goals for each show. My goals for tomorrow are very doable. The first goal is to take care of myself. I am one of those people who is all about the pony. I always make sure my horse is cared for before I do anything for myself. Normally when riding that is no big deal because it doesn't take too long to make sure the horse is doing well and put away properly. When showing Gennyral he would get nervous if he didn't see me and couldn't touch me so that meant I had to hold him or be on him the whole show. There were no potty breaks and I am weird about eating with dirty hands. Add to the the fact that I wouldn't drink because I knew I wouldn't be able to pee and by the time I got home at night I was not doing so well. X is a whole different horse though and he is more than happy to hang out on the trailer and stand and watch the show himself so I need to work on taking better care of myself so I don't get sick. I even hired the Young Rider to be my groom and her main job is just to hold X and make sure I take care of myself. I will do everything else. Easy money for her and I really do need someone to get after me. So that is my first very doable goal.

My second goal is going to be a little bit more work. This is my "real" goal for the whole show. I don't want any comment about X being uneven. I know he isn't when I ride him properly and there is no excuse for me not to ride at my best. That is really all I want out of this show. To have no one know that X just broke his hip a few months back. I will be THRILLED if this goal is accomplished. Just thrilled. I know we are expecting rain tonight and the show is outside tomorrow so I hope the footing holds up, but I don't need any excuses. I just need to ride X like I know how.

I am not worried about score or placings tomorrow. I am, of course, a ribbon junkie so it would be nice if less than 6 people entered for one of my classes, but if I go home empty handed so be it. I know for a fact that the manager who is a professional trainer will be against me in one class. And I know 2 other people doing training level but I am not sure what number, one has a 4th level horse and the other is also a professional trainer. For all intensive purposes they SHOULD beat me with resumes like that. X and I are just going to do our best and have FUN.

I have been chomping at the bit to get into the dressage show ring for a long time now so I just cannot wait to finally be doing it. X and I will get our confident swagger on because really 6 months ago he couldn't be ridden. He was still on stall rest. I don't even think we were cantering yet 2 months ago. We have come so far and it is time to show all those people who counted X and I out what we are made of. My biggest worry is parking my trailer at the show followed by how ugly will my braids be. Once I get there and get on it will just be fun. I LOVE to show and from what I here so does X. So we are going to go and enjoy ourselves tomorrow!

I saw her last night because there was an impromptu party at the barn. One of the managers students had gone to a weekday show and another just bought a horse. Who came to our barn last night and slipped right into the front stall. I guess everything works out the way the manager wants it. Well not everything because I talked to the new owner and the manager and talked them both into trying the Fijord with Jack. hehehe...I can be evil too you know! My evil plan is so that Jack will have a friend though. He wasn't very night to the young Fijord, my 30+ old Jack would run after him. It was adorable to watch but when he was resting he would break my heart. Jack would sniff the ground, almost like he was trying to soak up the last of Ranger's scent before this new horse made a mark. Poor Jack.

Anyway I came to find out last night that the manger is showing against X and I this weekend for one test. That is not what needs me to find my happy bubble again. I really have no expectations for this show. When the manager shows all of her students come too and while some are really nice and supportive some are...not. At all. And even there compliments are not very positive. I know that one of them was already giving me a hard time about showing X. They have never meet him but they decided that I must be pushing him too hard and he was probably still gimpy so why would I want to show a horse like that. I tried to explain that he wasn't really gimpy at all, maybe a little in the warm up, but they just didn't seem to hear me and I got a lecture on being to show oriented. Sigh. Sound like people from a certain blog out there? Because every time I read fugly I swear the manager and her students must be behind it somehow.

So even though I am really excited to be going into the show ring knowing that people might say something to me on the day has got me a little worried. I bet it will happen right before I enter the show ring. Which I am now prepared for so it shouldn't rattle me. I need to find my happy bubble and ignore them all. And keep Lori far, far away from them when I ride my test because she might punch them all in the face. I can ignore them when they are rude, not sure if Lori would want to ignore what they say. She likes to take the bull by the horns, these woman are def. bull material. I get my times at 5 tonight. Well between 5-9. It is so late to get our times on the Friday before a show. I hope they are good. Not much I can do about them if not.

I just want to have fun on Sunday. Negative people are not allowed in my happy bubble.

Yesterday I had most of the day off so I thought it would be a good idea to get all my show clothes together for Sunday's show. The last show I had to wear my dressage habit to was in February of 2007, Genny's last show. At that time I just sort of threw everything into my garment bag and figured that I would sort it out before the March of 2007 show. A week before that show my horse hurt himself so I never bothered to repack. Add into that the fact that I had gotten a new show coat for the show I never went to and I rode in a hunter show so some things like gloves were no where to be found and you should be able to figure out why I had to re-pack on a day when I had time.

It took a little while but I was able to hunt down everything but my white britches and shirt. Now I knew I HAD to find them because those are pricey to replace. It took an hour of running around like a lunatic to find them. They were in the spare closet along with my dance recital costumes from when I was growing up. I have no clue how they ended up in there, but it doesn't really matter because I found them. After I thought I had everything in a nice heap on the floor I decided to put my show clothes back on to make sure that they still fit. They do, well they don't really, but they never have so they fit the same as the last time that I wore them. My tall boots were awful to get on as usual. They need to be cut down, but I just never did it, so there is so much extra leather is just sits all in a bunch by my ankles and can make it hard to actually get my foot down. I hate show clothes. I will say that I like the classic look they give me, but I still hate them.

Once I had on everything I needed I started to go through the pile and take out the triples of everything. Except gloves. I have 3 pair of gloves that I bring to a show because I need 2 blacks (in case one pair rips) and a white pair in case a judge makes the comment that they prefer to see white gloves. 3 hair bun things is just too many, as is 5 stock ties. I don't know when I got so many. I have a cool European style pre-tied for this year. I like it. Once I got myself packed I made sure I had the white polo's washed and my new super cool "coolmax" white pad was tag free. I cut some off white string for braiding (I haven't don't that since feb 07' either) and now consider myself packed. I am a little annoyed that I cannot get my show times until Friday night, but other than that I think X and I are all ready to go to our first show! I am so excited. Even the manager showing against me cannot bring me down! If the woman from the barn I want to move Gennyral to would just call I think I could relax.

(and a little BURNING RUBBER as well!)

Portland and the surrounding area always come alive during this and the coming weeks with the annual Rose Festival celebration. Tons of activities for all ages and not just in Portland proper. Many other events are taking place in the surrounding area such as Tigard (Balloon Festival), Lake Oswego & Molalla (BBQ cook-offs), Beaverton (Fencing competition), Clackamas (White water festival), Aloha & Hood River (Golf tournaments,) Mt Hood (Jumper Horse show), and if your headed to the beach there Lincoln City and Rockaway are putting together a kite festival and Wine, Cheese & Jazz event. And last but not least – car events! How about the Sherwood Cruise-in, the car show at the Tigard Balloon Festival, the Dirt track races in Banks, along with Show & Shine car shows in numerous locations and the grand-daddy of them all – The Rose Cup Races! So much to do – so little time!

All of these invitations to wonderful events allow us to dress in “layers” (one which might be rain gear!) and get out of the house for some great entertainment. No wonder Oregon is a place that people all over the nation and the world want to come to live. Portland has consistently been a leader in top destinations to relocate and even Sherwood was named in the top 20 best places to live. Go out and use your best “rose festival” wave (elbow-wrist,elbow-wrist) and have a GREAT TIME!!

How can you deny this face..? :)

Show season is upon us. It has been a long spring to say the least. Miss IllyMay's heats have been especially bad this year.  With this, we have had a limited number of productive rides and training sessions. Rather than jumping off the property, we decided to start the season out in the hack division at the Teen Ranch schooling show in Orangeville.  It's a well organized schooling show with inviting surroundings. I am very fortunate to have a dedicated, hardworking and patient amateur rider by the name of Kayla Sweet who showed her. Kayla has been riding Illy since the fall of last year and this was their first show together. I of course, stood by the ring like a proud mama and took a bizzillion pictures..teehee!! :)

Neither Kayla or I knew what to expect. She didn't school well the day before, AND, the weather had turned chilly, drizzly, breezy and fresh overnight. The kind of weather that lights up your beast! Despite this, I tried to remain positive. I have always felt that Illy is the proverbial show horse, not to mention a girly, girl who just likes to show off. Braided, bathed and all prettied up, she knows it! So what happened...? She went out there and Kayla and Illy cleaned up. They were absolute stars together and ended up taking home reserve champion out of 30+ entries.

Way to go Kayla and Illy..aka..Artistic Impression.. :) !!!!

Après plusieurs jours de travail sur le costume, une petite ballade avec Rey et Harlem pour se détendre et profiter du soleil printanier.

Pour la réalisation du nouveau costume du spectacle "Utopia Eleuteria", Laëtitia CARNIEL du Lycée Pasteur de Doles est venu à Nîmes pour lancer le projet.

Travail de recherche des matiéres, 1 er essayages du patron, confection....

La 1ére en piste ce sera les 7 & 8 Juin à SIONS en SUISSE pour FESTICHEVAL VALAIS.

Part 2

Here is a picture of my view all freaking day...

This is a very large show grounds. What I am looking at is the area between rings 1 + 2. Right above ring 1 is the warm-up ring. Just past that is the indoor arena. Above ring 2 is the stabling area. To the left of ring one and the warm-up is rings 3 + 4 and next to those is the trailer in parking on one side and on the other the start of the very large cross country course.

The best thing that could have happened to me at lunch was that the Young Rider would have the same time off and the woman I was scoring with would give me a break. I was 1 for 2 Sunday when I luckily got into the lunch line right behind the Young Rider. She and I happily chatted away and got our food and went to put our stuff down at a table. There was one with a lone person sitting in. I tapped their shoulder to ask if I could join them and when they turned around I recognized her as one of my favorite show people ever. This girl had a horse with a terrible bone infection (misdiagnosed) after a broken leg right around the time Gennyral was the most injured. She and I were friendly before this since we always saw each other at shows and I LOVE how she rides (if I ever get a green horse she is the person I am going have show it first) but that one day last fall when we were both volunteering and I asked about her horse and she burst into tears and said he was going to die and I did the same bonded us for life. Both horses are alive today too which makes the story even cooler.

I even ran into the woman who had known me out of the blue a few weeks back. This time I remember her and she had to ask for my name :) That felt good. I of course talked way to much about Gennyral as usual. I need to stop harping on how bad his injury was and focus more on all the good that is happening now. After lunch we had time for a little shopping. The Young Rider had a brow band she wanted an opinion on. She is all about the fake diamonds everywhere so I was worried but when she showed it to me but instead I loved it. It is beads with some sparkle, but really classy. I gave my blessing on its appearance and she went home with a $155 brow band (I could never spend that much on a brow band).

After lunch I went up and sat at the computer to take my turn there while the woman I was with would score manually. At least that it what I thought would happen but after nearly half a dozen tests came in and I had done them and she still didn't pick one up to check it I did it myself. The woman got up and took the seat at the computer and made it clear that I had the sucky job for the afternoon as well. The rest of the day went by just like the morning. I saw some 3rd level rides that really made me cement my opinion on the fact that the rider qualification needs to happen SOON! Anyone against it needs to come and see these people ride and then tell me they think it is a bad idea. I just felt like an outcast in the afternoon. I was done with being lectured for my mistakes. I was done with making mistakes. I was done feeling like a big jerk. I was done questioning if dressage is right for me. I was just done. The last test was ridden at 2:36. It was a training level test ridden by an adorable (and fancy looking) paint. The scoring room had filled with show management types at this point and they all made comments about having to wait for a stupid paint. Luckily the paint and its rider got the last laugh placing 2nd at training 4 with a good score. By the time I was released it was close to 3 and I was just done.

Luckily the young rider (who was done at 2) was waiting by the car and as I walked up I told her I was just done with all this and wanted to go home. She took one look at my face and jumped in for the ride home. As we were pulling out she asked if I was alright. Which I was. I was just done. As we speeded along the high way I was silent which is not normal for me. She saw me sipping away at the drink she had so thoughtfully bought for me (muffins and a drink...she is just to good) and said "Wow. You really are just done with the show aren't you". And I was. She took my silence as an opportunity to fill me in on all the latest gossip and to tell me how she thinks she might have found a horse to lease. I hope she did because Heart is not getting any younger and her dreams are not getting any smaller

She also took the time to tell me about what volunteers are saying about what happened at the event a few weeks back when Tigger Too had to be put down.

****edit***

I took out the bottom part of the post becuase just as I had assumed it was TOTALLY wrong. NowThat'sATrot, a local blogger retraining a standardbred for eventing, was able to se the record straight...and this ladies and gentleman is why you should always be wary of what you hear. Thank you for the comment setting me straight Now That's A Trot.

Here is a picture of me happy to be at a show at the start of the day. I love that sign because during full show swing there are many horses schooling out there to avoid the warm-up ring. Genny was one of them years ago!

So we I get upstairs and introduce myself to the woman who is normally the show manager. Introduce isn't really the right word, more like remind her of my name. You see I have been scoring at this same damn show every year for many years now. This woman has been scoring or show managing this show just as long. She remembered me, which is cool since she is a big time show manager with a company to run and a job at a popular horse magazine. She was very glad to have me back since I know what I am doing in the scoring room. I started to teach the new person what to do but was stopped right off the bat and was told that "I need to relax. There is still plenty of time to teach her". Okay, fine. It is not like I had to get to the show a freaking hour before the first ride anyway...I can just sit here and do nothing for a little longer.

So the first tests finally come up to be scored and I am nice and tell the new woman to use the computer first and that after lunch she can switch to manual scoring while I take a turn at the computer. I am trying to tell this new lady what to do on the computer and she is just not getting it. I was trying not to get frustrated because I do understand that it is hard to learn new things, but after a few minutes (it should take about 15-30 seconds to score each test on the computer) when nothing was done the head scorer came over to try and teach her. The head scorer did not have much better luck getting this woman to use the program, but she at least got her to put the tests in the computer. We didn't care about time at this point, we just needed her to learn.

We started to get really backed up by 9:00 when the Young Rider got her first break. She came up to say hello and I put her to work. I thought she had scored before, but she hadn't. I feel terrible but the poor young thing got yelled at because I asked her to help. It was totally my fault. I got yelled at for it as well. The young rider did not even make a huge mistake (she was double checking the printout instead of the test. It was an honest mistake) but the head scorer got the maddest I have seen her get ever. Then the head scorer made the announcement that no one was allowed up here but us for the rest of the day. Point made. The cruddy thing was that it kind of put me into a bad mood. There was no need to be mean to the Young Rider. She made a mistake and it was really my fault to begin with for asking her to help without explaining it to her. The head scorer should have just been mad at me. All well.

At 9:30 we abandon post to go see Courtney King -Dye (my dressage idol) ride. She was on a horse getting some show miles in. I will do a whole post about her ride because 5 min watching her really does give me enough to talk about for an entire entry. The woman I am scoring with is really starting to bug me at this point. She is just not someone I would choose to spend time with. She was nice enough I guess, she just did or said things that would put me on edge. She has her horse at a barn that I am not a big fan. They hardly ever turnout there, but that is fine with her because her horse does not go out ever. Like ever. She "tried it once and he tore up his foot". Sigh. Maybe if he went out on a regular basis he wouldn't want to run around like a lunatic the one chance he gets at being a horse.

She also preceded to tell me that her horse is 4th level without me even talking about levels. I tell myself that she is just feeling insecure and trying to impress me. I tell her I ride a 20 year old paint thinking she would tone down the impressing a stranger meter. I was wrong. That just made he know she was better than me instead of just thinking it. I had to endure an entire day of hearing about how she need to hire a groom and trailer all to herself next time she goes to show because she cannot handle going when the attention is divided. She also kept talking about her friend whom I know in an idolizing fashion. Her friend is a nice lady. She has really given up a lot to fulfil her horsey dreams. The problem I have with her friend is that she pushes the horses too hard, they burn out, and she has no clue why. She has 2 adorable arabs but both have gone from sweet youngsters to spooky, hard to handle messes. They don't like to trailer and run away from her when she goes to get them from the field. This woman just keeps talking about how brave it is to be showing every weekend. All I can think about is how much she must pay in show fees every year. I told her I have a blog (she asked why I was taking pictures) so now I am sure she is out there somewhere trying to find it and make me feel bad some other way. I told her my blog was anonymous (which it is to people like her) and declined to give her the info. And of course I am going to have to see the woman again. Wouldn't you know she is entering her horse at X and my first show? And the one in July at the local show ground. I have a feeling I am going to be seeing here every where this year. That I am not looking forward to.

Just about lunch time my "put on the good face" act is starting to get strained. I kept making mistakes and not catching this other woman's mistakes and I was just getting frustrated. Add to that the fact that the judges are putting some harsh comments on the test sheets (Horse is great. Rider is not. Rider is much to stiff and the horse is suffering because of it. Rider's poor skills caused horse to buck. Back to the drawing board) which is frustrating to me because I love to show because the judges are helpful. If I ever got the above comment on a test sheet I would freak out and want my money back for the show. And the rider was at 1st level! It is not like they were faking 4th level or something. Plus everyone starts talking about freaking levels again which makes me feel like a jerk since I don't even have a level right now. I was about to bust by the time I hit catering.

To Be Continued...

• Spare Tire for truck & trailer & jack or Trailer Aid
• First Aid Kit for horses & people
• Spare Halters & Leads
• Fly Spray & Grooming Supplies
• Fans & Extension Cords
• Plenty of feed, hay & bedding & water & feed buckets too
• Water from home or Gatorade to flavor unfamiliar water for picky horses
• Baby wipes – always handy for quick cleanups
• Water hose, shampoo
• Stain remover or waterless shampoo for those last minute touch ups
• Registration paperwork, health papers & Coggins – obvious but often forgotten
• Camera and/or video camera
• And of course…duct tape!

We’d love to hear what items are on your show list! Send your suggestions to us at news@auburnpet.com for things you’ve learned not to leave home without, and we’ll share them here on a future list. If you want to be recognized for your contributions, we’ll be glad to do that too.

This show is typically a big deal show. Many people use it as a prep (or last chance qualifier) for the Collecting Gaits Farm National Championship. This year though, with nationals being held all the way on the other side of the country, it was not so upper level packed. A few big names still came to give there younger horses some miles, but really is was more of a 1st-3rd level show then anything else this year. The Young Rider wants her medal this year so she too had to do the required 8 hours and since I am so kind I dragged her along to suffer with me.

Why suffer you ask? Because while I LOVE to go to horse shows some of the big time recognized shows, which this is, can be frustrating to a do-it-yourself hard working adult amateur like me. The people that run it are very well off and the kind of people that love horses but don't love to care for horses. And honestly...there is nothing wrong with that. It is just that I love everything about horses (I don't even mind picking up their poop) and so given a choice I would MUCH rather hang out with people like me. They are all really nice, even when I say things to offend them (I didn't mean too I swear!) so it is not like I don't like them. I guess what it comes down to is I wasn't really in the mood for them yesterday. I can be fancy and talk like a good rider if I want too, but I know I am lying through my teeth when I do it. Lets all be honest...I know which side of the manure pile I stand on if you know what I mean.

So anyway the drive there was uneventful. The Young Rider was ready when I went to pick her up and she even had homemade blueberry muffins in tow (yum). We arrived nice and early and signed in. Since the end of the show day is so chaotic the volunteer coordinator gave us our signed volunteer sheets ahead of time. Add that to $20 for gas, a hat and free food for the day and it was not a bad start to the day. I figured I was scoring since they asked me too not work Jersey Fresh in order to score, but they never confirmed it via e-mail. The coordinator confirmed for me that I would be scoring and they had a new person they wanted me to train. I love to meet new people and scoring really isn't that hard so by the time I went to get a cup of coffee I was getting excited for the day.

I think horse shows are really fun. There is this special atmosphere around that only happens at a horse show. It is a mix of nerves and excitement with the smell of horse (and sometimes human) sweat. We spent a little time walking around, watching the warm ups. We headed back to the pavilion to sit down for a minute before we had to part ways when the coordinator came up to me to introduce me to the woman I would be training. This ladies and gentlemen is where the trouble began. The woman was talking about one of her friends so another volunteer. I knew exactly who she was talking about. And I was not agreeing with what she was saying. But I am polite and try not to judge a person from a first meeting so I slapped my smile on and joined in the conversation. After a few minutes I told the woman I would be scoring with it was time to head to the room we would be working in all day. The first rides were entering the ring and in 15 minutes we would start the long, busy process of telling people how well they had done.

To Be Continued...

*Random note from life at the barns...poor Ranger, the older horse who coliced a few weeks back, now has another problem. Full blown cellulitus. He just can't catch a break. Hopefully the SMZs and Banamine will help him to get well soon. I don't even want to think about what his owners vet bill is going to be like for the month of May.