First horse show update!
So we traveled to Cannon Falls to hit an open show. Our hope was to get ready for our first POA show. We have a few new things we are trying this year, a couple of new ponies and feeling a lot behind due to a long cold winter.
We arrived at the show with our filthy, hairy ponies. And I mean - FILTHY. We tried something new and as soon as we were unloaded and situated, we hit the wash rack. Our hope was to wash before the hot water ran out and to get them a little more clean before we went in the warm up pen. The warm water lasted through the first two ponies only so we were thankful we had started with Reba and Kisses. They both handled their first baths ever like a couple of seasoned pros. Yay for good minded ponies.
Then the dreaded warm up pen. The warm up pen is a scary experience on a broke or seasoned horse. On a pony like Kisses on her first time off the farm, it was terrifying. At first her little baby brain was holding things together and then it happened. Someone in the middle was practicing showmanship and backed her large quarter horse directly at Kisses. Kisses thought they were coming to attack and lost her mind. She spun and jumped sideways and prepared to bolt. I held her together but it was a full hour of chaos after that. If we weren’t trotting as fast as her little legs could take her, then she was jumping sideways. It took so long that Sophie had to bring Elsie out and warm her up for me because Kisses showed no sign of settling in. Then magically - after about an hour, she walked. After one calm walking pass around the warm up pen, we called it quits. Considering we normally ride about 10-15 minutes a session, Kisses was a hot and sweaty mess. We still had to clip and band. Needless to say it was a late night when we finally left the barn.
The next morning Kisses warmed up like a pro. She was still looking a little bit of everywhere and concerned about all the goings on, but she never jumped once and settled into her jog. The show moved along at a snail’s pace but finally it was showmanship. I had come into the show feeling fairly confident in Elsie only to have her see a sign on the wall in showmanship and get scared. She wanted to bolt so badly and barely stayed with me for the rest of the pattern. Kisses, on the other hand, was completely chill. She still doesn’t have any confidence in any of the elements but she put together what was the best pattern I could have hoped for.
Next up - English. Yet another class where I was feeling confident with Elsie. We had put together some beautiful practice rides at home. I was trying a newer “big girl bit” for English and she had not had a problem with it at home. But for some reason in that big pen for the pleasure class, she only would put up with it for half the class. By the time we turned around to go the other direction, she was a rocket. She was fighting me, swinging her head, getting really round through the back and then they opened the exit gate. She seemed to think bolting for the exit was a good idea. I did need to hurry back to switch to Kisses, but was trying to make her walk civilly when she decided to rear out her frustrations. Elsie has NEVER done anything remotely like that and it took me by surprise. I barely held it together to get back, switch my saddle to Kisses and race up to the entrance gate. Only guess who forgot to change their number? Yeah me. So we missed that class. At this point I had pretty much decided I wanted to give it up for the weekend. We got the right number on and put together a decent English pattern, even pulling a 6th place finish out of . Then it was the dash back to get Elsie. Not gonna lie. I was panicking a little. We had a great pattern and then the rail work. Again Elsie decided she wasn’t having it. Again they opened the gate and she REALLY wanted to leave. At least English was finally over.
It was time to change into western. I was literally in the “f@!% stage” of the horse show. I threw Elsie’s snaffle back on, even though one of the reasons we signed up for this show was to get a practice show with her big girl bit. I didn’t feel like fighting her or dying so back to basics we went. She had a much better go. Still a little on edge, but no death defying moves or feats. It was the mad dash back to get Kisses for her two walk trot classes. She was such a good girl. Looking around a little and we did have some snarling dogs in the far corner that made her look, but she was a great pony for her first show ever. Then I had to bring Elsie back out for western horsemanship. Finally I had my pony back. It was 10:00 at night, it had taken all day, but Elsie was Elsie and we put together a third place pattern.
I happily put ponies to bed finally around 10:30 and tried to fall asleep myself. The next day it was with an attitude of “it can only get better” that we hit the show pen. Thankfully I had my trusty coach and husband with me to help me out. Elsie was Elsie for showmanship, unfortunately I was myself too and bobbled a few things, but we still put together a 4th place pattern. Kisses and I even squeaked into the top 10 with her pattern, finishing 9th out of 17.
Next up: English again. Elsie and I had a good ride in pleasure FINALLY. She was much happier back in her D ring snaffle with no curb chain. We didn’t have time to waste getting Kisses out and you guys! She did so fantastic. That little 52” pony put everything into stretching out in her best version of a hunt trot. We even placed 4th out of 10! We had one class to gather our thoughts and then went back in to go FIRST for English equitation. Little Kisses, her first ever show and she knocked out a crack pattern to land us in 2nd place at the end. Elsie wasn’t one to let Kisses get all the credit and she finally put together a pattern I knew she was capable of and landed us in 1st for English equitation.
Feeling a lot more confident we started our western classes. I was determined to try out that shank bit and one handed. No time like the present, right. Elsie did her very best to show that she was a broke western pleasure pony. There were moments that she fell apart on me, but overall I was thrilled with our go. I didn’t even care about placings because she was really putting herself back together, but she did place 4th. Then the mad dash back to get little Kisses who had her best ride of the weekend as well. She placed 6th! In a big pen of BROKE horses. I was laughing going into the class listening to the professional trainers coaching their clients. They were saying things like “roll your spurs and bring them back into your hand” and “do this to shift them down a gear” and all these other super complicated tips for the best ride possible. Meanwhile my coach in my head (the voice of Libby) was saying “don’t die, stay out of everyone’s way, remember she doesn’t know anything.” Kisses still had her final pattern of the weekend. Western horsemanship. I was loving up on her and promising her that we were almost done. Into the pen we went and when we came out I was on cloud 9, and cried a little, to hear her announced in first place. If anyone on Friday night, when we were racing around and jumping at everything, would have told me she could pull off a first place PATTERN, I would have died laughing. But she did. She went from crazy to broke in 2 days. I didn’t have much time to congratulate her as we were trying to pack up as fast as we could while waiting for just one more class. Elsie had one more pattern in her and she didn’t disappoint me. We had a nice calm pattern and finished 3rd.
It’s not my story to tell, but this is a Berry Sweet page so I am going to share that Pepper and Sophie had a fantastic weekend. They had huge classes - over 20 and pulled out many top 5’s. I might be speaking out of turn, but I would guess the highlight of her weekend might have been the back to back firsts on Sunday in English pleasure and equitation. The best part for me was watching Pepper act like an old seasoned show pony and handle everything with her usual calm. She is such a good girl and always has been.
Overall it was a fantastic weekend and we learned a LOT. Every pony got their first bath of the season and two their first bath ever. They were clipped and loved on and learned to be patient and stand tied. Reba got to see all the sights and Kisses got to see more than 4 horses at a time. I think she learned that they won’t attack her and she didn’t need to be on the defensive 24/7.
Final tallies are as follows:
Senior + showmanship: 0/10 4/10
W/T Sr showmanship: 0/18 9/17
Senior + English pleasure: 0/9 0/10
Senior + English equitation: 7/7 1/8
W/T Sr English pleasure: 0/12 4/10
W/T Sr English equitation: 6/7 2/6
Senior + western pleasure: 0/11 4/10
Senior + western horsemanship: 3/5 3/7
W/T western pleasure: 0/18 6/15
W/T western horsemanship: 3/10 1/10
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