There is so much I could write forever...
Okay so in addition to having a successful Hunter Under Saddle class and improving in Western Pleasure I just had an all around good time. There was no "barn drama" that I was aware of, seemed there may have been some drama in other barns but ours was pretty content. We all had successes and found things to work on.
The classes were pretty full - all of the pleasure/HUS classes were all at least a point or more - reining was small, but the rest of the show seemed good sized. And some pretty tough horses there and some pretty tough trainers were there too with thier Youth clients all in tow. So the youth classes were good sized too.
Early in the morning on Sunday I had to get up early to get ready for my Hunt Seat class and even though I despise waking up early, I love early mornings. It was so nice to be in the outdoor arena lunging Stretch as the sun came up. The air was fresh, crisp, and cold with a slight hint of dampness a lovely undertone of horses. The birds were starting to become active for the day and were out in force providing a soundrack for the morning. Stretch loped at will around me at will (usualy I can't get him to go to go the end of the line - I think he actually feels more secure being a little closer to whoever is lunging him, about 5 ft in is his perference), I couldn't have been in a better spot at that time not even in my warm trailer bed.
My little friend, Cheyanne Adams, pictured below in her year-end award glory - competed in youth reining, to the surprise of many people. Had I known she was going to sneak in the ring on her Dad's reining horse I would've been sure to have gone over to watch her run, but thats how Cheyanne is, alot of the time she just has to "go for it" with very little to no warning. Her parents, my friends, Kelly and Troy are very wise parents not to block that energy too much. She did very well - I believe I heard a 2nd and a 4th called out. My trainer, Joe, and I were riding in the outdoor at the time and both exchanged a glance and following eyeroll when we heard her name called - as she was not supposed to compete in reining on her Dad's horse, Barney, until his lead changes were locked in better later this summer - but the event didn't surprise us one bit.
I'll make the offical call right now and say she will have her Dad's horse stolen away by the end of the year. She has been out growing her own horse since late last year and Barney is just way more fun.
Learned some things have changed in Hunter Under Saddle classes since I last showed, dickies are exceptable - and not just plain ones either - color is "in" now. I even saw some rat catchers with **GASP** rhinestones on them.
Now I may not be ready for such flare being that I was taught traditional was the way to go with english dress, since I was little, but it was interesting to see. My friends were out in force in to bring me up to speed. My friend Kelly has ordered a new dickie for me for my Birthday that is a tad more up to date than my old traditional english shirt (which is kinda peach colored so at the time, I thought I was walking the line). And my other friend Tracy is going to add my initials to the collar - I guess pins are out now... One of my trainer's friends, another trainer, Carolyn Rice also showed us how to do our hair so that it not only looks better but takes up less time to do and allows the hat to sit properly on ones head. I will have to take pics of it and post it to the blog during the next show so I can share this neat trick.
I watched my friend, Calie Johnson's, horse, Sport, go in the Green Horse western pleasure class. He still didn't appear to like this bosal much but has made LOTS of progress since I had seen him last, via the internet, at the Vegas show. Because I was dealing with some sort of stomach bug, and spent a good portion of the night in the bathroom, I was unable to get up early and go through the warm-up trail pattern with Stretch on Saturday - and hence I couldn't help her out by asking my trainer to ride Sport though the warm-up trail pattern with me - but this coming weekend in Spokane I may be able to get that done. Calie wants Sport to be a trail pattern horse and my trainer would like Sport to be a Western Pleasure horse first then a trail horse. Calie could care less about WP - so I always try to work some middle ground in whenever I can between the two.
Kelly won a reserve all-around high point award on her mare, Hannah, that weekend and I believe that Todd - another trainer, friend and friend of Joe, took a first or second in his Junior horse class on his Junior horse, Jake. I can't be because as soon as my classes were over I needed to head back to the barns to be closer to the bathrooms...
Can't wait till next weekend!!! It's sooo nice to be excited to show again! Plus my stomach is feeling much better now.