Show Day!

Today was the Talbot Run Combined Show. But before I get into that, I want to lightly touch on Saturday.

Saturday my Mom and I went to the barn for show prep. We put all of our tack in the trailer and groomed our mounts as best we could in the frigid temps. Luckily Satchmo was pretty clean after Venice's lesson. Bella was not as clean though. BUT I witnessed something disturbing...Satchmo ate poop. yeah...he ate poop. gross. We were there for an hour or 2 and then went home to get all of our clothes together, too.

Sunday we all met at 7am at the barn. It was cold and early but since it was a crowd, it was actually not too bad. Donna, Sallie, Cassidy, Aileen, Cathy, my Mom, and I were all there and a little nervous. I guess the horses were nervous too because we had a little loading issue. The one trailer ramp was frozen and the horses were slipping on it. Not a great start. Rizzo was also very upset to be left behind but she had to Rodan to keep her company. When we got to Talbot Run Cathy got to her judging post and we started getting ready.

Donna rode first and we watched in the viewing booth. I only saw her first test and it was good! Satch was so well behaved! After her first test I went and got myself dressed to come take Satchmo from her. I saw maybe the last few moments of her second test. Then it was my turn and our test was ok. Our walk was rather lazy, our halts were crooked, and per usual the right was not as good as the left. I then had 45 min to waste before I could jump. I showed Satchmo all of the jumps in the ring and got him used to it as much as I could. Cassidy and my Mom soon joined me and we went on little parades around the property until the jumping warm up area was available. That paddock they used was horrible. The ground was completely frozen and Satchmo didn't want to jump and slipped once! So I decided to just forget it and go back to the show ring and go blind. And it paid off! My goal was to canter the course and I succeeded! I had to trot a fence because I lost my stirrups but I cantered the rest and Satch was SO brave! I barely had to encourage him to keep going!!! :D I was very happy!

My Mom jumped next and Bella was really pumped to jump! She and my Mom had a great round, too! Sallie went next and Moonie was great! He plopped over the jumps just how she wanted him to. It was a great improvement from their last show experience :) Everyone did really well! And I think we had a GREAT spread of food and drink :D Gotta do that more often!

A little boy ended up winning 1st place, my Mom got 2nd place, I got 3rd, and Sallie got 4th :D Go Cirque Du Solan`! :P

We had some minor reloading issues again but when Cathy finished judging got everyone loaded and went back home. I don't have any pictures to post right now but if I aquire any, I will add them. here is the link from Aileen's photos: http://community.webshots.com/album/568871114dqQyOI

This next paragraph is dedicated to Moonie since I know his Mom loves reading about him ;)
Moonie is approx. 5' by 7'.
Moonie is made of 2 right angle triangles.
Moonie does not run away.
Moonie loves Satchmo.
Moonie relates dressage to geometry - rhombus = collection; parallelogram = extension; triangles = cut in half - someone get the glue! or is he made of glue because he's a horse??? trick question!

Semi-Private Lesson

This Sunday I shared a lesson slot with my Mom since the show is next Sunday. It worked out rather well actually because we both got to ride and we typically have the same lesson anyway - maybe a little more dressage for my Mom and more jumping for me. We ran through the tests and did a little jumping. Cathy and I decided my goal for Sunday is to canter all of the jumps at Talbot Run so that the 18" division is easy for Satchmo and will be ready for the 2" division next season. Satchmo was really quite grumpy in the beginning - I guess he hates the winter weather, too. I don't blame him, it was really windy and kind of brutal. Unfortunately this won't be the worst of it :(

All in all, a good lesson :) Now I can coordinate Saturday's grooming if necessary and Sunday's show day :D YAY! Should be exciting!

MENTAL NOTE: 18" is the 2nd hole on Cathy's jump standards and 2'-ish is the 4th hole. (it's a little more than 2')

Riding Under the Lights

Tonight I went out to the barn and plucked Satchmo from the field for a ride under the *NEW* lights :) It was a good ride - a few little grumpy moments - and he was mostly good :) We only worked on the flat and I rode a dressage test. My mom is going to help with the next Talbot Run combined show and so I need to practice as much as I can in the next few weeks. Hopefully he'll be as good for me as he's been for everyone else at the shows *hope*