Horse Show

Horse shows are so much more relaxed than gymnastics competitions. There are the fancy clothes and show hair to work up, but the atmosphere is completely different. Ages of the competitors range from 3 years to--well, I don't know how old. My oldest daughter got the chance to compete this weekend on a horse that her riding instructor brought to the show.

I am not very knowledgeable about the inner workings of horse shows (something I am rather happy about since that means that I have no idea whatsoever about the hows, whys, and wherefores of the judging and there is therefore NO reason to get nervous over whether my daughter is performing properly--I LIKE it that way) but throughout the weekend they will have over 120 classes in which to show the horses. Western, English, showmanship in both styles, mountain trail (they set up rocks, trees, water, etc), show trail, gaming, and the list goes on. If a person enters enough classes (and places), they are eligible for the "high point" award, which is the top award at a horse show. That is the extent of my horse show knowledge.

My daughter was in 4 classes altogether. Her first two classes were "Western Pleasure--walk, trot", one for ages 13 and under and the other an open class. The third class was a walk, trot, and canter class. The horse she was riding is a beautiful Arabian named Guardian. He is quite old but he loves, loves, loves to show.



I do know enough about showing to know that when trotting, one must not bounce.



And when cantering, one must make sure that the old horse picks up his feet and doesn't stumble (a problem with this horse, but he did fine this time).






In the first three classes, my daughter placed 2nd, 5th, 2nd. The 5th place was in an open class with 10 or 12 other people of all ages.

Her fourth class was a show trail class. This is quite different from the mountain trail class. First of all, the rider must steer the horse (love my horse terms) with only one hand.

She opens the gate, maneuvers through, and closes the gate.




Next she trots the horse in a figure 8 pattern over a triangle of logs.





Then she canters the horse to another set of logs and trots across. I believe she is supposed to canter across for full points, but she isn't ready for that since this is her first time ever doing this kind of class.



Now the tricky part. She has to position the horse so his front feet are on one side of a log and his back feet are on the other side. Then she has to side step him to the end, turn, and side step to the end. Then she has to back him down between the log and the bridge, around the corner to the end.






Then across the bridge to the finish. She did a wonderful job for her first time. Not only that but she got first place!!





This show lasted all day Saturday and part of Sunday, so we didn't get much done on the garage this weekend. I mowed the yard and hacked at the weeds in the someday flowerbed. I think I would prefer to go relax at the coast.