I absolutely adore my horse. I'm sure that's brand new information to anyone who follows this blog. Even when she worries me, she ends up stepping up and coming through. And she had me worried on Friday night. My calm, sweet China would not/could not settle down and settle in to the show situation. Every horse that rode by us in the warm up, or worse, met us was a reason to spook, shudder and jump. She was beside herself and so scared. Not at all like the China I know and love. Eventually she settled down a little but still had her random jumpy moments. I decided that more warm up wasn't doing either of us any good and we gave it up for the night in order to wash, band and clip. Maybe I should say hack away at winter fuzz, because honestly - the hack job that I managed can't exactly be called "clipping".
We started with showmanship. China and I have a lot of work to do. Many of you know this one class can cause me so much anxiety. It's completely dumb. I'm on the ground for Pete's sake. What is the worst that can happen; I fall down? I do that on a regular basis and have survived so far. Despite the overwhelming anxiety and dry mouth, would you believe we actually pulled out a pattern? Complete with set ups, pivots, trot offs, stops, etc... I'm so proud of her and our 5th place. We did it again on Sunday. I could not get her to set up square at the first cone (cue the friend who once told me there wasn't enough vodka in the world to teach my horse at the time to set up). She kept resting her back leg, but the rest of the pattern I was super proud of her. We squeaked out a sixth. My goal for the next show is showmanship. I want to work harder, practice longer, learn more and get better. Be ready for some serious hard work China! Libby and Peach also have some work to do in showmanship but Sunday was loads better than Saturday. Horses have a way of showing you what you need to work on and not letting you skate by without practicing. I believe Libby has something she needs to be hitting a little harder from now on too!
English is something that I consider China's strong suit. We got a second and a first in English pleasure. I was a little disappointed with our ride on Saturday. She was still kind of revved up and just couldn't settle into any kind of consistency. But Sunday was better - even if she was a little more tired and less forward. I kind of fell apart for the rail version of English equitation on Saturday - I kept expecting her to misbehave or spook and did not ride well. We took a 4th on Saturday, but Sunday was a pattern! YAY! China rocked that pattern and we got a first. Our patterns were crap though compared to Libby. She makes it look so easy (I hate her a little bit). She and Peach took home two second place finishes in English equitation and had beautiful rides (but no placings) in English pleasure. Talk about little pony that could. I love seeing Libby on my pony in a giant class of quarter horses and paints.
Western is so much fun. I love English but I love to watch and ride western way more. I love ogling all the pretty outfits, shiny saddles and pretty horses. Even though China isn't a "western" horse, we do our best impression of it. Saturday we took home a 4th and Sunday we tried something new. I finally worked up the courage to try out a bosal in a class. China was amazing. I could not have been happier with our ride and I am so proud of my China doll. We got a 3rd in the class and I have no complaints about that. About the biggest issue we had was when I got over excited and told China she was a good girl, which by the way is our cue to slow down. We almost had a break in gait before I realized my mistake. We also had great rides in horsemanship. Saturday was rail work and Sunday we had a simple pattern. Again China knocked that pattern out of the park and I got a second. Libby and Peach had more great rides and Libby just needs to work on trusting Peach a bit more in pattern work and they will be placing. She expected Peach to get the wrong lead and went to correct her before realizing, hey - she got it right on the first try!
The days finished up with bareback and egg and spoon. I'm not gonna lie - I was still a little nervous for bareback on Saturday despite the fact that China has been a gem all day. She continued to be a rockstar and I was shocked to get a first in that class. We had another great ride on Sunday and took home a second. I'm always so excited about placings in bareback as I kind of sort of feel like I am completely at the will of the bareback gods for that one. If China ever decided to be an idiot, I'd be an arena dart for sure. Libby never ceases to amaze me with her seat in bareback and got a 5th and a 3rd.
Finally China and I tried egg and spoon. Like usual I really struggled with the whole balance an egg thing and only managed to squeak out a 6th on Sunday. I think I always get the biggest egg and the smallest spoon. No lie! It's a conspiracy! Also as usual, Libby did her rock star egg and spoon thing and got a second on Saturday and took home the first on Sunday. But the real rock star of egg and spoon on Sunday was our friend, Gabby. She was on the barn's 3 year old that is still just getting started. It came down to the last two riders and the call came to put the spoon with the egg in your rein hand and extended jog. Gabby even announced to the crowd that she would not have steering at that point and off they went on the rail. I will never forget Gucci as she cruised (aka flew) along on the rail, never leaving it's side and they lasted almost a whole lap around the arena. Seriously people, they were flying. If there is such a thing as "road gait" for a western pleasure horse, Gucci was in it. They may not have won - but that image will forever be a win in my memories.
There isn't enough room on my blog to record all the funny moments, the laughs, the hugs, or the people we have missed all winter long. It was so great to see them again. We talked about food, horses, show clothes, memories, you name it and laughed more than I have in a long time. Nothing beats the look of complete terror on Lynelle's face when we told her that her class was going in and she wasn't even ready yet. That's what you get for being a procrastinator! I can't wait for the next show and the chance to see them all again. Thank you to our stall mates Dawn and Greg Bauer and Lynelle and Gabby for your endless advice and support all weekend. I don't know what we would do without you guys. Especially Greg and Gabby who competed with me all weekend in senior walk/trot. I refuse to say competed AGAINST me, because even if we are in the same class, we are still a team. I'm so proud of China, Peach, Libby and I for our efforts and look ahead to moving forward better, smarter and stronger for the next one. See you in April!
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