Horses are such a waste of money!

It's been a while since I posted, sorry!  I keep meaning to get better at that.  But you know - life.  But something worth saying has brought me out of my self imposed, blogging semi - retirement.  It would have to be something worth talking about, right?  Well, it is worth it to me I guess and since this is my blog, that's all that matters.

Any horse person who has been a horse person for any length of time has had someone tell them that horses are a waste of money.  Before we all gasp with the audacity of someone, let me remind you that we all know that some people really struggle to keep their unwanted opinions to themselves.  It is just human nature for them to say everything that comes to their mind, whether it is kind and helpful or not.  So let's get past the outright rudeness of the statement and hear my response to this lovely comment.

I didn't always have a good response to this.  I had an ex who did everything in his power to make me feel guilty for loving and having horses.  I was told I was selfish.  I was given the guilt trip, "just think what we could have and do as a family if you didn't have horses."  Looking back I feel like it was just one more of those times where he pushed to see how much I would give up, how miserable I would make myself just to keep him happy.  He found out, that he was pushing against a fairly immovable wall when it came to horses.

When Tim and I were dating, I made it clear that I had horses.  And that I would continue to have horses.  And that I wasn't giving up my horses for any man.  And that, I was indeed, a crazy horse lady.  He learned, and maybe was explicitly told, that it was a no compromise zone for me.  I work two jobs, one almost entirely to support my horse hobby (I say hobby - you say obsession or addiction, toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe, blah blah blah.)  I'm not giving them up until I am ready to give them up.  Tim, bless his ever patient and loving heart, has only ever been super supportive of my love of horses.  I'm so thankful for him.  But others, still feed the need to comment on how horses are a waste of money.  The other day, I realized something and feel like I am ready to respond to anyone who feels the need to tell me that "horses are a waste of money".

Picture this, you're sitting with a group of people and someone tells you, "your horses are a waste of money".  Normally you would try to argue this point by saying that you have bought horses for a certain amount of money and then sold them for more a year or years later.  You might try to argue that you have raised a foal out of your horse and sold it for money.   But any horse person can attest, especially with the rising cost of hay and grain, that this argument is weak and generally, invalid.  By the time you feed them, provide shelter, vaccinations, farrier care, vet emergencies, and general health care - you are way past any income you may get from a future horse sale.  And that's not even figuring in the cost of all the shows or other horse related events you may attend or the tack to ride/enjoy the horse. So stop trying to justify owning horses by discussing how they can make you money.  Because for 99.9% of us, that just isn't true.

What is a valid argument is this - horses are a hobby that I love.  Almost everyone has a hobby that they love.  For some magically lucky people, they have managed to turn their hobby into something that can make them money, think of a woodworker, metal crafter, quilter, that sort of hobbiest.  For most of the rest of us, our hobbies are just that, a hobby.  The very definition of hobby is "an activity done regularly in leisure time for pleasure".  It doesn't say anything about "to make money".  So let's go back to our hypothetical situation....

Instead of arguing that they are going to make you money, be honest!  Respond that you are well aware that horses are an expensive hobby that requires a significant influx of money to support every day, week or month.  Acknowledge that they are correct.  Then let's look at their hobby....
"You're right, Johhny Judger, horses are expensive and a "waste" of money.  But then, most hobbies tend to be just that.  Let's look at your camper, seems to me that's a giant waste of money too?"  This is where they will try to justify their hobby - it is fun to watch the tables turn.  They will probably start with, "camping is where we spend time together as a family".  This is a good one because it is absolutely one of the reasons that we have horses and show together as a family. I love when people make my point for me.  They usually follow this with that they can always sell their truck, motorhome, camper down the road.  This is where I remind them that I can typically do the same with my horses and while most vehicles depreciate rather rapidly, by working with our horses we can usually increase their value.  Then they remind me that horses need daily upkeep, chores, care.  And I remind them that so does their dog, cat, hedgehog, etc...  in fact, horses on pasture typically need less daily upkeep than even the family dog.  As a last ditch they usually try to tell me that "yeah, but everything you buy for horses is so expensive too".  Respond by asking them when the last time they walked in a Cabellas or RV store was. 

Truthfully, this argument can go on endlessly and the truth is the argument is this - who wins in a "your hobby is more expensive" argument?  Nobody.  I will never understand (and I did it for years) the point in leaving my well equipped, everything where I want it, hot running water and fully functioning heat and air conditioned house for a tiny little replica out in the middle of nowhere.  I will never understand choosing to spend time in the bugs and more bugs and did I mention bugs; smelling like smoke and BO and bug spray all while everything is always damp and damper if it is raining.  But it isn't my hobby.  I don't understand going out on the lake or river with only a tiny piece of fiberglass between me and certain death.  I don't understand killing one tiny, squirmy, disgusting little creature by tricking another larger, slimy, disgusting creature into trying to eat it - only to throw the larger creature back into the water after catching it.  But it isn't my hobby.  I do not understand strapping a couple pieces of wood or fiberglass or whatever skis are to my feet and then shoving off from the top of a steep hill, tempting death and trying to make it to the bottom with all your joints still attached to the things they were originally attached to. But it isn't my hobby.  I do not understand sitting in a tree with a loaded weapon in -10 windchills, smelling like deer pee and waiting for even one wild animal to cross close enough for you to blow its life away.  But it isn't my hobby.

I'm sure for every person who doesn't see the joy in camping or fishing or skiing or hunting, there are equal or greater number of people who don't see the joy in trail riding or horse showing.  Our hobbies are ours and ours alone.  There is no reason to judge someone for what makes them happy.  I can give you a thousand reasons why my horses are not a waste of money to me, but really all you need to know is that my reasons are mine and mine alone.  I don't have to justify them to you.  My happiness is my responsibility and one I am more than willing to accept. 

Horse Show Update: #2 - 2019

Well, it hardly seems possible that the seven weeks between shows flew by so quickly and we already have our second MEC show under our belts.  Even more unbelievable was that China was able to come with us this time.  At the time we were at the last MEC show, China was still not eating and we were not sure she was even going to be around by the time April 26th rolled around.  I never would have believed she would have gained enough weight for me to even consider showing her.  Did she look great?  Not even a little bit - I'd like to see at least 50, but preferably 100 more pounds on her yet.  Did she feel great?  Judging by her obnoxious behavior, I'm going to go with yes.  You may all remember my vow never to call her a cow again, but boy did she make that difficult this weekend.  Having a couple months off and getting 10 lbs of grain a day (and all the alfalfa she can eat) makes for a sassy, skittery big pony.  She's going to be getting a lot of desensitizing over the next month and we are going to be hitting some open shows so she can see lots and lots of commotion.  Any volunteers to come ride at our place and cut us off, run up on our butt and have angry tails swishing in our faces?  All those things were cause for alarm this past weekend.  One friend described it as her being claustrophobic.  Pretty good description.  However, her claustrophobia made Melissa arenadartphobic.

All in all it was a great weekend though.  China and I qualified for Champ Show in two classes this weekend, one being the first day for showmanship (check off one of my goals for this summer) and two being English pleasure the second day.  Yay for China and I.  There were a lot of things that went well so I'm going to focus on those.  We got our leads in our patterns!  We had one counter canter that we picked up and were doing great with, but then she switched on me. Not wanting to blow her little new to loping brain, I didn't pick a fight over it and just let her be.  That same pattern we also had a hand gallop down to a trot and she did amazing.  So proud of her.  She was a rockstar for the extended trot part of the showmanship pattern the first day.  I had no idea how that was going to go.  I asked Libby what I should do about it. 
Me, "Libby - extended trot?!  How am I going to do that?
Libby, "Does she even know how to extend in hand?"
Me, "Well, we did that hunter in hand class last summer."
Libby, "Well, do that then."
Me, "Run like hell and hope she comes with?"
Libby, "Yeah, that."
Me, "Gotcha."
China didn't disappoint and booked it right along with me and slowed back down when asked too.  Win!  We had our shining moments and I'm trying to remind myself it can only get better from here.  It's not like we haven't had our troubles getting here.  We even still had her "teletubby" windows.  She hadn't shed out yet a couple weeks ago and the places where they had clipped her for all of her tests were still highly visible.  I can't even pretend that I was able to blend them in with the clippers.  It flat out looks hilarious.  But what's a girl to do?  Like I said - it's a miracle she was even there.

Sophie and Mercy also had a great show.  It was their first time trying English.  Sophie was a little too nervous the first show to put that postage stamp, nothing to hang out to, English saddle on.  After practicing at home, they gave it a go at the show.  Mercy was so good that we actually had to make a purchase at the tack shop for the second day - spur straps.  She was too quiet and dead headed!  Not the problem we thought we would be having for English.  Super proud of that duo as they also rocked showmanship, taking home a second place one day (still hate showmanship, Sophie?) and overall had an amazing weekend.  Next show they are adding bareback - no excuses! 

Lastly, Cutie and I had our last walk/trot show together.  It made for a crazy weekend having a lope horse for my age group and a walk/trot horse too, but totally worth it.  Cutie found herself an amazing home clear across the country in sunny Alabama.  We had one last show together and she made it so hard as she gave me her best class after class.  I was okay on Saturday, but on Sunday as I realized that we were having our last English ride or our last western ride the day got longer and the reality that Cutie was once and for all and for real going to be "riding" out of of our lives set in.  She had been sold before, but down the road never seems very real until "down the road" is more than an hour away.  There were tears or fighting back tears more time than I can count. Cutie was everything I needed when China was acting like a nut.  She was safe and fun and well, Cutie like.  We had a lot of great rides and placed in big old classes as the only pony in the class.  I'm going to miss looking at everyone's boots as I go by.  Especially in that English class with the 17 hand hunt horses.  HA! 

Well - I had better get this show update posted as a couple weeks have gone by now!  (And China is officially shed out now - no more tellytubby windows!)

The phrase is "separation of church and state"

Repeat after me...

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

Those words are taken from the Bill of Rights, most specifically the first amendment to the Constitution.   No, let's be even more specific, the first PART of the first amendment to the Constitution.  For those of you who aren't history buffs like me (and don't watch historical documentaries for fun), what this means is that our founding fathers; people like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams, and so on, fought the American Revolution to keep religion out of politics.  Not to keep religions other than Christianity out of politics, to keep ALL RELIGIONS out of politics.  To the next person who says, "our country was founded on Christianity", I'm going to hand you a history book.

These men and their families, and the friends' families, and their families before them, many of them left Europe because of religious persecution.  In other words, they were put down, mistreated or otherwise vilified because the religion they practiced wasn't the religion of choice of the current king or queen.  The principal that all religious beliefs be allowed and accepted in the new country was important enough to them that it was the very first idea in the Bill of Rights, a crucial part of the Constitution for the new country they had fought, sacrificed and so many had died for.  Yet here you are over 200 years later saying any religion but Christianity isn't okay?  And then justifying it by trying to claim that our founding fathers would have agreed with you?  Wrong.

While we are on the subject of religion - religion doesn't belong in the public school system either, for the very reasons listed above.  If you want your child to attend a religious school, they have those.  Lots and lots of those.  If you choose to have your child attend a public school, then you are choosing to go with a state run school and religion has no place in government or politics.  That doesn't mean your child cannot share, pray or otherwise acknowledge their religion in school.  It is perfectly acceptable for your child to pray before they eat or at prayer time.  I have had students do so in the past and would welcome any child who does so in the future, to whatever God they choose.  With that said, this meme needs to go away...

Again, if you share this meme I used to ignore it.  Not anymore.  Every single time I see it I am going to say something.  First of all, who ever said the pledge was not okay?  Everyone says it.  We say it at FC, my kids said it at DE and I don't know a single school that doesn't say it.  Do I think the words "under God" should be included in the pledge?  Nope.  So if you choose not to say it because your religion does not allow you to pledge to another God, I'm completely understand that.  Before you get your panties in a twist, let me remind you that the Pledge wasn't even written until the late late 1800's.  One hundred years AFTER the country was founded.  When it was written, the Pledge went as follows "I pledge allegiance to the Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."   It wasn't until 1954 that Eisenhower and Congress added the words "under God".  So yes, the top picture in the meme is 100% okay and so is the bottom.  It isn't an either or kind of thing.  Both are okay.  Both are allowed.  Both are acceptable.

While we are having a history lesson, our founding fathers didn't put "in God we trust" on our original money either.  That was added later, as in times of war and fear, people turn to their religions for comfort.  At no time in our history was our country more shattered, more upset, more in turmoil than the Civil War.  It was at that time that a faction of devout Christians proposed that our coins be changed to reflect a new united nation that believed in one higher power.  Since our government had an overwhelming majority of Christians, possibly all, at the time, it was easy for the changes to pass through and seem like a good idea.

Our country wasn't founded on the Pledge, it wasn't founded on "in God we trust" and it wasn't founded on a Christian God.   It was founded on respecting others, freedom to choose to be different and have different beliefs, and human rights to have your own thoughts and ideals - even IF they are different from the collective masses.  The word "freedom" didn't come with stipulations.  It wasn't "free to follow one religion, speak one language, celebrate one set of holidays, or pray one way.  Freedom doesn't have limitations.  You can't beat your breast claiming that our country is the best there ever was and wave our flag saying you are a true American, unless you can embrace the ideals that our country was truly founded on and ACCEPT others for not being like you.

Our country is not suffering because we have taken the church out of schools or public places.  Our country suffers when people take religion out of their homes and their own lives.  If you want your kids to be Christians and live the Christian life, they don't need to learn that at school; they need to learn math, reading, science, grammar, etc....

Our first Waverly small animal swap

A week ago, on Saturday, the family and I attended our first Waverly small animal swap.  This isn't the girls and my first animal swap ever, but it was our first animal swap in YEARS, like ten of them at least.  The last time we went to a small animal swap there was a grand total of maybe 12 - 15 sellers and we still came home with a guinea pig and a bunny or two and had a blast.  (Well, other than Sophie shutting her finger in the door, but small animals had a way of even making that pain go away.)  ANYWAY....

When I saw the dates for the Waverly swap come out on social media I immediately put them in our family calendar.  I have heard great things about this swap but nothing prepared us for the awesomeness that was Waverly.  We could tell by the cars as we arrived that it was going to be busy and we weren't disappointed.  I'm guessing there were at least 100 sellers with everything from cages (good thing too because we bought a second one) to toys to every kind of small animal you can imagine. The really crazy thing is that people come and go from this swap for a solid 24 hours, through the night even.  These people are serious about their small animals.  We walked up and down the muddy rows and tried to look in every cage.  I would like to say I went to the swap with a plan.  That would be a blatant falsehood.  I went to the swap hoping to find hens.  I was not prepared for the sheer volume of choices, breeds, sizes and prices available.

In the beginning we left the carrier in the car.  This proved to be a mistake as chickens we were interested would sell before we got through the swap and back around.  So about halfway through we decided to buy a second carrier to go with the one still in the Traverse.  Believe it or not, it was actually Tim's idea. Silly man, two carriers means twice as many chickens!!  Sophie wanted more turkens (weird kid that she is), Libby wanted silkies and Melissa wanted chickens of any size, breed, color, egg color - just chickens!  I had a few breeds I would have loved to find, but not picky.  Only hens though so that did put us out of the running as some people only sold trios or pairs.  We all ended up getting what we wanted.  Throughout the couple of hours that we wandered the swap we got two silkies, some banties, some Easter egg layers and some speckled Sussex.  We sent Tim back to swap carriers at one point and it was his reminder that sent us back at the very end of the swap to find Sophie's request, turkens.  We did find two more little turkens and she picked out some fun colors.

Despite the fact that we were mainly chicken shopping, we sure enjoyed looking at and dreaming about the many MANY other animals we saw there.  I will never forget the hilarious look on Libby's face when the trailer behind her let out a very loud and determined bray.  I'm not sure if she thought the trailer was exploding or what, but she sure had the wits scared out of her.  That trailer held an adorable mini donkey, as did so many others.  We will have a donkey again someday!  One wouldn't fit in the back of the Traverse though, darn it.  We also saw every breed and color of ducks, geese, swans, pheasants, pigeons, quail, turkeys and peacocks.  Boy, those peacocks were sure gorgeous.  Hard to leave them behind.  We learned a bunch too.  I love how many of the sellers weren't afraid to talk to you about their animals and explain what they were, how they were raised, etc...

It wasn't just donkeys and birds though.  There were calves, pigs, llamas, mini ponies, sheep, skunks and patagonian cavies too.  Oh yes.  Skunks.  Descented, I'm sure or it would have been a mess as they were obviously nervous.  They were not your typical black and white either, these were apricot colored skunks.  Kind of cool, but I had no desire to bring one of those home.  Carter and Sophie both argued hard and long about the other animal we saw a LOT of at the swap though.  Both were bound and determined we need to add a goat to the farm.  There were goats of every size, breed, color and age to choose from but they were both met with a firm "no" at this time.  I had my reasons against bringing home a goat, like gardens, flowers and my sanity, but they were sure disappointed. Maybe next time....

If little tiny critters are more your thing, there were plenty of those too.  There were guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, rats, hedgehogs, sugar gliders, chinchillas and pretty much everything that falls into the "creepy, crawly" or "fuzzy wuzzy" category in my book.  I'm not going to lie that I rushed past a lot of those sellers because the cute little sugar gliders and chinchillas were usually caged right next to 20 or so mice that looked fairly determined to escape their cages.  They are cute.  In a cage.

All in all, our first Waverly swap was well worth the drive and a success story.  We will be back and we will be more prepared the next time. Libby and I think we should bring a trailer for the next go around.  I'm not sure why Tim isn't keen on that idea?  I mean, just because I have a trailer doesn't mean I will fill it, right?

Stop Bullying!

I see it all the time on social media.  People love to post that we need to stop bullying in schools.  Heck, the First Lady has made it a platform and a program she is pushing and she even has a catchy name for it.  Be Best! I couldn't agree more with everyone's anger and outrage at the rampant bullying in our schools.  The bigger problem people don't want to acknowledge is that the bullying doesn't start in schools.  It starts at home.  I'm not talking about kids being bullied by their parents or siblings or even cousins.  I'm talking about parents bullying other parents. 

Our kids are always watching and learning from us.  Don't believe me?  Ask yourself if your toddler ever said a swear word.  Did you toddler ever say something that was a direct quote of something you said?  I believe Libby's was "too bad so sad" and I think it was Sophie that said, "Are you going to cowgirl up or just lay there and bleed?"  Yeah, they didn't hear that from a cartoon on TV, they heard that from me, probably more than once.  No, I wasn't talking to them, but they were listening.  They are always listening.  They are listening to our interactions with our spouse, they are listening when we are on the phone and they are listening when we are visiting with our friends.  They are listening when we talk about the bills, what we are making for supper and they are listening when we make the choice to talk about someone behind their back.  As parents, we need to be better examples of how we talk about and judge others. 

Their homes are the number one place where kids start forming their opinions about the world around them.  We need to fill those experiences with kindness and acceptance.  We need to stop with judging others by the color of their skin, the clothes that they wear, their gender, their sexual preference, their political affiliations or the choices that they make.  We are not their judge and jury.  Our place is to accept people for who they are and support them in those choices.  We need to model civil conversations and disagreements.  We need to show our kids that we can disagree with someone without resorting to name calling.  We need to model asking questions and for explanations, not belittling and back talking.  We need to be better because the world they live in is not.  The last 3 years has taught me that.

A person used to be able to look up to our political leaders and examples of how to conduct themselves.  They could disagree respectfully.  They could conduct themselves like adults who are able to have a civil discussion.  Today's politicians are far from civil and polite or even respectful.  The president sets the bar and for years now, Trump has been pushing that bar lower and lower.  It's no surprise that since the campaign began and Trump showed us that a person, well a white privileged male, can get elected even while mocking a disabled reporter, a war veteran who was a POW and all women saying he can "grab them by the pussy", violence and bullying are on the rise.  At the same time as Melania is telling people to "be best", her husband is name calling, ridiculing and mocking others.  It makes our job as parents more difficult but not impossible.  We can still set the example for what America needs and what America needs is more acceptance, not more hatred and division.

If we want to end bullying, we need to end it at home.  We can't expect teachers to end bullying, especially when our president's own son is telling students they don't have to listen to their "loser teachers".  Article about "Loser Teachers" We loser teachers can't do it all.  We need your help as parents.  We need you to have the conversations with your own kids.  But more than conversations, we need you to set the example.  We need parents to show their kids how they accept that others may not always act the way we expect them to act.  We need parents to show their kids it is okay to have different beliefs, not just okay - but interesting, a chance for us to learn.  When you disagree with someone, we need you to demonstrate that you can communicate without mocking or name calling.  That it is okay to just agree to disagree.  We need to demonstrate being upfront and honest with someone, in person, and no longer hiding behind our screens. 

We need to stop bullying in our homes and stop waiting for someone else to stop it for us.  We need to stop telling our kids to do as we say, not as we do and start practicing what we preach.  Then and only then, will we see a change in the world.  Change begins with us.  Change begins at home.  Change is possible!

Article with early examples of Trump's bullying

I'm just not good at it

I hear this all the time in the classroom.  "I'm just not good at this poetry stuff."  I"'m just not not good at finding figurative language." Or the one that makes my blood curdle and my stomach sick, "I'm just not good at reading."  Just the other day I was having the students get their desks ready to take the end of the unit poetry quiz.  One student asks for more study time.  I tell him that we had made review flashcards the day before in class and that he had had the entire evening to study.  He says, "Well, yeah, but I didn't." My response was that was a choice he had made then.  Five minutes into the test, as I'm walking around and monitoring, he chuckles and says, "I'm just not good at this stuff."  Not good at it?  Not good at something you didn't study or even look at once?  My response to him was, "Yeah, I'm not good at stuff I don't practice either."

Where does this attitude come from?  US!  We, as parents and aunts and uncles and babysitters and, you name it, we put this attitude into young people's heads.  I wish I could say I am better than most, but I'm not.  If I had a quarter for every time I have said, in front of my kids, "I'm not good at math".  Well, I'd probably be able to buy a nice TV or maybe a not so nice one... but if I've said it once, I've said it too many times.  Of course I'm not good at math.  I haven't worked at it in years.  And even when I was in school and studying math, my attitude got in the way of me learning more and exceeding.  I was convinced from an early age that I wasn't good at math.  Why?  Because it was hard.  Things you're good at are supposed to be easy, right?  Ummm.  WRONG. 

Think about all the things in your life you're good at.  Were you good at them the first time you tried them?  Doubtful.  I wasn't good at horseback riding the first time I tried it.  Lord, those pictures make me cringe.  It has taken years.... years... and lessons and research through books and videos and a lot of time on my butt looking up at the sky and thinking, "this is really hard, why do I do this" for me to get better.  And I'm still not great.  But I keep working at it. 

Want a more relatable analogy?  How about Mario Kart?  I used to be really good at Mario Kart.  When we had the recent epic winter and 10000 snow days, our family turned to the good old Wii to kill the boredom and do something together.  Enter Mario Kart.  I was embarrassed and lost badly every single time.  Do you know what I did?  I practiced.  Literally practiced playing a video game.  Yep, I'm a little ashamed to admit that, but did I ever tell you all how highly competitive I am?  I still can't beat Carter or Sophie, but hey - I've held my own and even beaten Tim a few times now. 

We need to stop allowing our kids to get away with saying "I'm just not good at it."  You're not good at it because you haven't put in the work.  Anything worth doing is worth doing well and that means practicing.  That means putting in the time and effort.  Things you're not naturally born with a talent for (and wow - the list of things that would be for me is quite lengthly) require even MORE practice.  Which brings me to how I am going to talk about this with my students today. 

After that student and I chatted, I waited for the kids to go home and created a slideshow.  The title of the slideshow is "Things I Have Never Practiced" with the subtitle "So I'm Not Very Good At".  In said slideshow I have some great fail photos of things like downhill skiing, NASCAR racing, scuba diving, playing the cello, (I may actually grab a co-teacher's guitar and demonstrate how NOT GOOD I am at playing something I have never practiced) and I think curling and mountain climbing.  Then I have a slide titled "Things I Practiced" with the subtitle "And am Kind of Good at But Need to Keep Practicing".  I have photos of horse shows, reading, writing, baking pies and yes - even Mario Kart.  I am having a little fun with it and definitely poking a little fun at myself at the same time, but hopefully the message sinks in with at least a few of them.  We had an excellent discussion and they were very honest (and laughed a little at the thought of me skiing). 

Things aren't always going to be easy.  There are some things in life that are going to be downright hard.  But if they are worth doing, they are worth doing well!  (PS - For the record, that credit for that quote apparently goes to like 13 different people including the Bible so.....)  So let's model and encourage our kids to work hard and (cue Army theme music) be the best they can be. 

The show I didn't want to go to...

Wow.   What a weekend!  I don't think we have ever attended a show with as much indecision and struggle about deciding whether to attend or not, or half as much trouble even just getting to and from a show.  But we made it and I'm so glad we did.

As many of you know, China is not well.  I hesitate to use the word "sick", but I don't really know what else to call it.  She's not eating or just barely eating and we are going on 40 days.  She's eating enough to survive but at this time she's lost approximately 200 pounds and my 4 year old big girl looks and acts like a 27 year old rescue. We've had her to the best vets and no one can find a cause for all of this and all the experimenting with treatments and multiple vet visits has us hovering in the thousands for vet care.  That's not counting all the different feeds and supplements we have been trying to get her to eat.  Needless to say, that was weighing on my mind when we realized that the first show was right around the corner.  With the expenses we had and the fact that I would be leaving her home for two days without being able to keep an eye on her, I was set to cancel our arrival at the show.  Add that to a forecast that put our area into a winter storm watch and it seemed like the fates were against us.

All day Thursday we wavered back and forth.  I talked with multiple friends that had planned to attend the show. I ran the idea by Tim time after time.  I asked co-workers and random friends what they thought I should do.  Aside from consulting a magic 8 ball (dang it - I have an app for that I forgot to use) or my horoscope, I think I consulted about everyone possible.  There were a lot of reasons not to go, but there was one very good reason to go.  Sophie.  Sophie and Mercy had been working so hard and were really looking forward to getting into the show ring for the first time.  Feeling like I owed it to her, we made the decision to load up and go to the show.

Friday the weather was gorgeous. So nice that it turned our driveway into one giant ski slope.  With the snow pack getting a little warmth to it, it became very slippery very fast.  The old 2 wheel drive Suburban took one try at it and promptly became stuck on the ice.  No going forward or back no matter how much sand we spread.  Tim's dad offered his truck but I seriously doubted our ability to get the Suburban out of the way once we got it unhooked.  I guess I should never doubt the enthusiasm of a couple of teenage girls (or their mom).  With Libby behind the wheel, Sophie and I managed to push Big Blue up out of the rut and Libby got her up the driveway and out of the way.  The 4 wheel drive truck easily pulled the trailer up the driveway and we were on the way.

Once at the show I realized that back up pony, Cutie, probably needed a little more than the week long refresher she had gotten before the show.  She was a pretty good girl, but just a little fresh.  And poor Mercy. Mercy who had never been off the farm or seen so many strange horses all in one place.  She wasn't naughty but she sure was screaming her head off wanting to know where her friends were and if they could save her from the madness.  Both ponies got their first baths of the season and clipped (or should I say attacked with a clippers).  They kind of looked like they got attacked with a weed eater and lost, but some of that winter fuzz was removed from both of them and they looked a little bit more like show ponies.  Sophie made the tough decision to cut off Mercy's long locks and band her like a real show pony.  What a difference!  No more giving fairy rides for the little red pony.  The fairies are going to have to hop a ride on Sully or Cher from now on.

Saturday was also a bright and early morning.  I had the bright idea to warm up Cutie bareback, thinking I should probably practice that once before the class.  In true first show form, there was one black horse in the warm up who decided that everything along the rail was terribly scary.  And of course he was spooking right in front of Cutie.  This made Cutie decide that the folding chair was scary and jump sideways.  Luckily for me she has a mane I can grab onto.  Oh wait - no she doesn't.  Lucky for me I didn't end up in the dirt.  And not only did said black horse spook in front of us once, but make that twice.  So yeah, warm up was not highly successful at getting Cutie settled in.

After warm up, we got ready for showmanship.  Mind you I was pleasantly surprised a week earlier that someone, at some point in time, had taught Cutie some showmanship so I wasn't starting from scratch.  I was, however, starting from scratch plus 1 (maybe 2).  She knew the basics but we had not come together in our understanding or what cues what at all.  We had worked on it every day for a week and had come leaps and bounds, but Cutie is VERY different from China when it comes to showmanship.  China is lazy with a capital L.  I have to drag her through the pattern.  Cutie is very forward and quick to trot or walk.  Cutie can be lazy but if you get after, or if she even THINKS you may get after her, she becomes a spaz.  Needless to say I looked at her wrong in the warm up and she went running backwards.  I had a feeling our pattern was going to be extra special, and you all know how I feel about showmanship on a good day with China.  Imagine my surprise when she was a good girl.  Well, if you count taking a giant sloppy poo almost ON the ring steward during inspection being a good girl.  Otherwise she was as good as Cutie gets and we got a second.  (Note to self - check off one of your goals for 2019 - breaking into the top 3 for showmanship.)  Sophie and Mercy (who have only just begun practicing showmanship) also did an okay pattern and placed 5th in a big group.

Next we had English.  Sophie wisely decided to leave English for the next show since Mercy was still finding her ground and confidence.  While the arena dirt is soft and it isn't far too fall off Mercy, it still isn't much fun being a dart at the first show of the season.  She also wanted to make sure her pony didn't wreck any kids' rides in her age group. (Too bad others weren't quite as considerate with their less than trained horses.)  Cutie didn't have the most relaxed and pretty rides but we took two seconds in pleasure and equitation so I was very happy with her.

Next was western.  Cutie had a great ride in pleasure and got first.  She's a jogging machine that one.  But she was a total butt in horsemanship.  She decided she didn't know how to pivot and started to run backwards.  I had to put two hands on and remind her how to have a brain in her head.  Gotta love competing with an animal that has a complete mind of its own. (or lack thereof sometimes)  Sophie had amazing rides, albeit a little noisy.  Mercy may have whinnied her fool head off, but they were 5th in pleasure and 2nd in horsemanship.  So proud of their first day!  Cutie had two more classes, bareback and egg and spoon.  The last show of last year, Sophie and Cutie had ended with a first in bareback.  Sophie made me a bet to keep the streak going and we did.  First in bareback and a spook in egg and spoon that cost us a placing in the class.  Day 1 was DONE!

We got back early on Sunday to get ready to do it all again.  After a quick warm up we went in for showmanship.  I was so much prouder of Cutie's more relaxed pattern.  I came out thinking I must have screwed something up because whenever I think it goes well, it means I've forgotten to do something.  Thankfully we got a second again and shocker of the day, so did Sophie and Mercy!  Onwards and upwards from here folks!

English was similar to the day before (right down to the same exact pattern for equitation) and then western.  Mercy was almost done whinnying her fool head off.  She hardly whinnied in both of her western classes and was 4th in pleasure.  Then they went out to do their horsemanship pattern.  The entire time they were doing their pattern that same fool black horse was literally rearing in the background.  Mercy never even flicked an ear and rocked that pattern.  They deserved that first place finish and I'm so proud of them!

Cutie went on a mission for the last 4 classes of the day.  We won pleasure.  Then next was horsemanship, complete with a pivot again.  This time she remembered her brain and we won that class as well.  Then bareback and the added stress of Sophie saying that we were "on a streak now and better not ruin it".  Well, we did her proud and took first again.  Then egg and spoon.  Cutie redeemed herself and was a star.  We placed second, but it wasn't her fault - I just really stink at egg and spoon.  Nearly a clean sweep of the western classes and I ended the weekend very proud of the "back up" pony.  I'm pretty darn lucky to have such a nice pony as back up for the "good" ponies.

Of course, as all shows go, the end of egg and spoon meant the mad rush to get everything loaded back into the truck and trailer.  We took our obligatory ribbon and pony pics before returning the ribbons to the show office.  (We don't keep our ribbons as a way to help clubs cut down on costs.)  Sophie kept saying that I should wait because I could get an overall award for the weekend.  I had a thought that I might be eligible for reserve, but with getting a sixth in horsemanship the first day and nothing in egg and spoon I was confident I was not in the running for much.  But we stayed to hear awards and support our friends.

As we waited to hear the placings we were super proud and excited of our show buddy and his reserve place in PeeWee and my little cousin for winning the PeeWee division.  When they got to announcing the senior walk/trot division I was bummed to hear another rider's name announced as reserve.  I was certain I knew who was champion, but have I ever mentioned I'm not so good at doing the math stuff in my head?  Sophie and Tim sure didn't act surprised when they announced Dutch Major Cutie and I in first place and winners of the buckle for the weekend.  I'm so very proud of my back up pony who showed she's nobody's second choice pony.  She had some pretty darn big shoes (literally and figuratively) to fill but she didn't miss a beat.  Miss Cutie or Toots or Tootie as I love to call her (and usually get a mare glare for it) has always had a special place in my heart and now she has a buckle on my shelf that's all thanks to her.

To everyone that encouraged us to go and helped make sure we got there, got into classes and got home, THANK YOU!  It was just what I didn't know I needed and so good for the heart and soul.  It was amazing to escape the reality of pushing meds and counting pounds of feed not eaten, if only for a couple of days.  Lots of laughs and smiles and horse hair all around were just what I needed.  It's back to reality now, but I'm thankful for every minute and every ride.  We may not have many shows we can attend this year, but our goal is to make every show we get to about friendships and fun, personal goals and positive attitudes.