Results of the First show of 2011

To start off I was really bummed that my friend couldn't make it with her POA rebel (ended up getting snowed in). Then my friends horse would not load into the trailer to come over to my place the night before the show so we got up extra early and about 20minutes after arriving there we got her mare into the trailer. Oh how I love mares >.< Overall D was very good at the show. He got a little jiggy and hyper in the warm-up ring but after some walk-trot transitions he settled down and got to work. Overall honestly not that great of a show but that is slightly part of why I wanted to attempt this series. Every year we have done it we never seem to high point even though we get the same judges and usually the same people as every other show?! lol Ok I will have to hunt photos down later from the day (I think I have a video or two as well) but here are the placings: (placing 1st-6th)

SMS open: 5th out of 8
SMS ammy: 5th out of 8
English Pleasure Open w/t no place out of 8
English Pleasure Open 6th out of 8
English Equitation Open 4th out of 9
Country pleasure Open 2nd out of 10

I didn't mind all that much that they didn't give out ribbons because I was going to get this pretty neat looking copper horse photo off the prize table with my california cash but mom convinced me to keep it for the Feb show which I am not even sure I am interested in attending since we did so poorly at this show, everyone who placed in the top 2-3 would have to be no-shows for us to have a shot. No to mention that I am TIGHT on $$ right now so I am thinking of ditching the rest of the series. I will however say that if I had the extra cash I would go out there and compete reguardless of if I win or not lol. I am also thinking I probably won't show D anymore after this series, he has gotten so ring savvy that we spend a lot more time arguing in the ring than anything else. So the next question will be do I try to find an instructor I can take lessons from to keep in riding shape (on the side from riding D) that will also let me show their horse(s) or do I find a friend that has a couple of horses they are interested in showing but might not have the time to show all at once? We shall see...

First 2011 Horse Show

So the first show is set for January 16th 2011. I will be showing with my friend Trisha's daughter AND I am hoping my other buddie Julie and her CAUTE POA Rebel, I haven't seen them in forever! at least since I was at the R Wild Horse Ranch last. Trisha is being awesome and letting me borrow her western saddle/bridle again for the show since I don't have my own =( I don't show enough western to get one but maybe I should break down for shows like this where you need to show english & western to have a shot at the buckles offered. My plans for tomorrow are to do some showmanship then some conditioning to see how far 'gone' Dartanion is since his last show, I think the time off will have done him a world of good =). I am not playing on anything too intense till I see what his stamina is at =) Ok that's my semi-boring update.

Horse Show Grooming Tips/Ideas

Grooming Tips:
- If you are going to body clip be sure to do so at least a week in advanced before your show, simple things like ear & muzzle clipping can be done (again) the day before the show if desired. Be sure to place cotton balls in your horses ears before clipping to help prevent hairs for falling into the ear canal and it will deaden the sound of the clippers.
This is a great site for clipping all areas of the horse, NOTE: the length of a bridle path can vary from discipline to discipline, they also suggest using a twitch if your horse has issues with getting his ears clipped which doesn't have to be your choice. http://www.stock-horse-show-source.com/horse-show-grooming.html

- Be sure to bathe your horse a day or two before the show, once your horse is try you can apply a thin layer of show sheen (or your chosen product) over your horse to help prevent stains if your horse laydown in his stall overnight.
- You can rub a touch of baby oil over your horses just clipped bridle path to eliminate the just-clipped look.
- Too polish the feet you can use a wax-based, cake shoe polish which will help protect the hoof from drying effect of hoof laqure which you can apply over the hoof polish. Something I like to use for white hoofs is WD40, Idea taken from my friend Pam.
- Be sure to make pulling your horses mane a daily grooming task, especially if your horse has a full thick mane. You can do your pulling after you ride since the pores will be open and the hairs will come out easily. I have also been told you can use.....
-When braiding and banding your horses mane have some hair gel (I use L.A. Looks level 10 extreme hold http://www.epinions.com/reviews/La_Looks_No10_Gel_Sport_Look_Extreme_Hold_Blue_16_oz ) during each braid & band to help the hairs stay nice, neat, and flat. I find that using a sleezy after braiding helps keep unruley hairs in place. Then in the morning weting your hands a little and running them over the wild parts in the morning helps move them back.
- If you have a horse with white legs you can use Baby Powder, corn startch or show touch-up (http://www.smartpakequine.com/ProductClass.aspx?ProductClassid=6239) to help make them super white before entering the ring. I have personally found that corn startch works better than baby powder but there are also a variety of ways to apply both. I'm also a big fan of show touch-up (which can be found in more colors than white) for some potentially difficult stains that just won't come out.
- If your horse has a hard time growing a tail you can always purchase a tail extention AND/OR keep your horses tail braided to prevent hairs from breaking off and to help it grow. I've also been told that MTG gel helps tails grow but have not personally tried it.


This is a great site I found a while back for the beginner to advanced shower. It's a great little read!
http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-training/30-blue-ribbon-tips-26591.aspx

Horse Show Checklist (personal/sample)

Horse Show Checklist
(remember you can add and subtract items as needed, this is just a general list to help people get started or up-date your current list)

It's often a better idea to load everything up into the trailer the day/night before your show. So in the morning all you have to do is go over your check list, load up your horse and off you go!

Paperwork:
- Directions to show ground
- Membership cards
- Rule Book
- Horse Registration
- Health certificate, Coggins, any other required vet information
- Emergency Telephone numbers (i.e. Vet, Shoer)
- Checkbook/wallet/I.D.
- Test Booklet (unless provided at show grounds)

Truck & Trailor:
- Truck & Trailor registration
- Jack for trailor
- Check all trailor & truck lights
- Spare tires
- Manure fork


For You:
- Sunblock
- Sunglasses
- Makeup
- Hat or cap
- Beverages and snacks
- Folding chairs
- Asprine
- Camera
- Cell phone
- Safty pins
- Sewing kit
- Tolietries (usually only needed for overnight shows)

Show Ring Horse:
- Bridle
- Saddle
- Saddle Pad(s)
- Girth/cinch
- Brest plate, as needed
- Whip/Crop
- Approved martingale or other approved auxillary tack
- Longe line and longe whip (optional)
- spare halter & lead rope
- Showmanship halter
- treats
- Hay/heynet, other feed
- Equine first-aid kit
- Water Bucket/water tub for overnight
- Stall guard (if stalling overnight)
- head bumper
- Shipping boots & Wraps

Grooming Tote
- Fly Spray
- Spare buckets
- Brushes, Curries
- Hoof pick
- Show sheen
- Spot remover, Cowboy Magic
- Sponges and rags
- WD40 (clear coat for hooves)
- Rubber Bands
- Scissors
- yard/cotton to repair braids
- Hair gel
- zipties (for tail extention)
- Show touch-up Spray
- Babypowder/corn starch
- Shampoo & Conditioner

Show Ring You:
- Breeches/Jodphurs
- Jeans and/or show pants
- Boots
- Half chaps
- Spurs
- Show shirt
- Show Coat
- Showmanship outfit
- Showmanship Hat
- Showmanship number holder
- Showmanship Earring
- Pleasure Earrings
- Helmet
- Hair Nets
- Bobby pins
- Rat catcher
- Gloves
- Belt/buckle

CSHA Show of Champions English Open W/T Reserve Champion 2009

Wanted to make a seperate post for this since my amazing (now) Fiance got my buckle back to me. I also thought I would post some at home photos mom & I took since I was a total dud and forgot to take award photos at the show.

Long Time - 2010 Show season

In May Dartanion & I ended up competing at the Glenn County fair & the last CSHA region 2 show. However, while heading to the region 2 show we got a flat tire that caused us to lose the English buckle since we missed all the english classes. A real bummer BUT we still got Champion & reserve champion titles so all in all not a loss at all! Also ended up getting 3rd place in all four classes at the Glenn County fair so no champion or reserve there but 3rd isn't all that bad!

CSHA Region 2 Buckle Series Titles: (Awards were buckle like photo frames)


- Showmanship: Reserve Champion
- English 18&Over: Champion
- English Open: Reserve Champion
- Trail: Champion
- English Overall: Reserve Champion


Then in June was the Shasta District Fair which didn't go to well at all. Dartanion had a re-peat of his crow hopping, switching leads, and doing little bucks around the course which really cost us a lot/all of our classes lol. However, there were 20 enteries in our flat Equitation class and we were called back in the top 8. Unfortunatly we did not place since the judge asked for a counter canter and yep bad Fae I had not practiced that enough at home =(. I am very proud of us for making the call back though! got a couple of photos from this show and my position over the fences while not horrid are not anything to brag about either.

Then Dartanion & I got to participate in our first ever breed show! I got both my showmanship patterns on tape and yes there are so many things we needed/are improving on. The only class we did well in was Equitation, since it was double judged we got two places in each class over the three days =)
NCPHA showmanship OPEN ALL AGES: 6th out of 7 and 7th out of 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTMzpBnQrIc
SPHC Showmanship OPEN All AGES: 5th out of 7 and 6th out of 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTMzpBnQrIc
SPHC HUS OPEN: 6th out of 7 and 5th out of 7
NCPHA HUS OPEN: 6th out of 6 and 6th out of 8
SPHC Equitation Open: 1st out of 2 and 2nd out of 2
I was able to learn A LOT and while I am bummed we did not do all that well it was an excellent learning experience for us.

I did not show again for the rest of the 2010 year and I am VERY sad to say I did not attend the CSHA SOC (Show of Champions) due to low funds. I am hoping this will not be the case for the 2011 show season although with not getting any hours at work things are not looking to good. Our first secdualed show will be the NCAA buckle Series on January 16th 2011.

CSHA Region 2 April Horse Show RESULTS

This show was the smallest of the three so far. I am thinking this was in part of the Red Bluff Rodeo going on but I was the only one in my age division *sad face* unfortunatly sometimes it happens. Everything went well till my horse turned into a bucken bronco in our over fence classes. They were not anything really big but enough to give us 3rd out of 3 in the two hunter course classes got first in Hunter Hack (we were alone, bummer!). We have been working on flying lead changes so I am thinking he might have just been anticipating me asking him to change BUT every horse has their off day.

Halter Geldings 6 &Over 1st out of 4
Halter Color 1st out of 4
Halter Open 2nd out of 5
Showmanship 18&over 1st out of 1
Showmanship Open 2nd out of 5
English pleasure w/t 18&over 1st out of 1
English Pleasure 18&over 1st out of 1
English Pleasure Open 1st out of 5
English Eq w/t 18&over 1st out of 1
English Eq 18&over 1st out of 1
English Eq Open 1st out of 5 (judged asked for us to drop to the buckle AND a two point! a nice change from the usual circles)
Hunter Hack 18&over 1st out of 1
Hunter Crossrails 3rd out of 3
Hunters 2'3" 3rd out of 3
Trail In-Hand 1st out of 2
Trail Open (did not stay for results)
Trail 18&Over (Did not stay for results)

Will post some pics and showmanship VIDEO when I get home :D

2010 Show Season -Edited-

May
16th - CSHA Region 18 High Point Series
22nd - Palo Cedro Riders (PCR) schooling show - Samm Only Show
23rd - Glenn County Fair
23rd - CSHA Region 2 Show #4 Buckle Series (will replace Glenn Fair depending on when enteries close).

June
18th - Shasta District Fair
19th - Mother Lode Circut El Dorado County Fair

July
9th - SVQHA Silver Buckle Series
11th - CSHA Region 18 High Point Series
23rd - SVQHA Silver Buckle Series - Pending, Samm only
29th - Mother Lode circut Nevada County Fair

August
6th - SVQHA Silver Buckle Series
20-22nd - Gold N Grand (GNG)
29th - Mother Lode Circut Amador County Fair

September
11th - Diamond Hills Hunter/Jumper show
25th - Tehama County Fair

October
7th-11th CSHA Show of Champions

D did a great job at this show. I wore my blue showmanship outfit which I really think I would like better with blue plants, hat, and boots. So we will see if I wear this outfit again before then.

Halter 6 &Over Geldings, Stallions - 2nd out of 3
Halter Colors All sexes - 1st out of 3
Halter Open - 3rd out of 8
Showmanship 18&over - 1st out of 3 (didn't totally ruien our pattern like last time lol)
Showmanship Open - 1st out of 5
English Pleasure W/T 18&Over - 1st out of 6
English Pleasure 18&Over - 1st out of 5
English Pleasue Open - 1st out of 4
English Equitation W/T 18&over - 2nd out of 5
English Equitation 18&over - 1st out of 3
English Equitation Open - 1st out of 3
Hunter Hack - 1st out of 4
Hunters Cross Rail - 2nd out of 7 (got two wrong leads but got the flying changes hehe)
Hunters 2'3" - 2nd out of 6 (one wrong lead and a tick >.<)
Trail W/E 18&Over - 4th out of 4 (We had to canter between some tight cones and yeah our flying changes in tight spaces need work lol)
Trail W/E Open - 5th out of 5

Then I recently met a really nice little 13 year old girl and her step mom out on a trail ride and they were interested in showing. She showed her arab cross in Halter and English Pleasure W/T then some western pleasure classes. She did not place in Halter but got I think a 4th in pleasure and a 6th and 5th in trail and WP. I let her show D in 17&under showmanship and she got 2nd out of 4 (not shabby). Then she rode D in 17&under W/T EQ and got 5th out of 7ish? She has only been riding English for a week and has work to do but I'm glad she had such a fun time (Just a BTW I am not training her bu merely giving her lessons friend to friend and we split gas t shows Woot).

Something I feel I need to touch on... I was recently cyber bashed and accused of being unsportsmen like for cross entering intoW/T classes and w/t/c classes with my seasoned show horse. I just want to say that I knew every person in my W/T classes and they were riding equally seasoned show horses and, IN FACT, the gal who beat me in my EQ w/t won the California State Championship title in 2009. I was NOT competeing against Novice riders and the show managment had no restrictons on cross entering. So overall I am saying is that IF the classes had, had specific rules via riding level or cross entering that I did not qualify for then of course I would not enter the class. I've come to learn it really depends on where you live if people are ok with seasoned riders competeing in W/T classes, I just want to make sure I clerify that in ANY show I attend I will never enter any class that I do no qualify for.

Ride for Life - April 3rd 2010 -

Dartanion & I are going to participate in Red Bluff, California's 2nd annual Ride for Life fundraiser being held at the fair grounds race track on April 3rd 2010. We have set the goal to try and raise $500.00 and I have created a special ticker for the cause! I have some amazing team members and one woman who will be riding a mule! We are still trying to come up with a theme and team name but I am very excited. I am hoping to get some jars out to local businesses so people can drop in spear change from time to time and I can pick the jars up near the end of the month. Can't wait to participate in Ride for Life!! very excited!!

Wonderful Show -- Good Bye Cherokee

I guess I will start with the bad news first. Cherokee's owners have hit a finacial snag so she has moved back home and will probably not be showing this year. Hopefully things will impove and she can come back into training. Now on to how the first show of the season went.

Halter Geldings 6&Over 1st out of 5

Halter Color 2nd out of 5 (very gorgous stallion showed up and what a pretty boy he was).

Halter Open 2nd out of 5

Showmanship 18&Over 2nd out of3 (he wouldn't set up which killed us)

Showmanship Open 6th out of 7 I (yeah We backed crooked so when we did our pivot I hit the cone and then got a little to anxious during the inspection so yeah blew that class).

English Pleasure 18&over W/T 1st out of 3

English Pleasure Open 4th out of 8

English Eq W/T 2nd out of 3

English EQ 18&Over 1st out of 2

English EQ Open (pattern) 2nd out of 8 (I believe we woul have won but he was having a hot moment and kept trying to canter off during our sitting trot and our posting surpinetine so I believe that killed us).

Hunter Hack 18&Over 1st out of 1 (how exsiting)

Cross Rail Hunters 2nd out of 4

2'3" Hunters 2nd out of 4 (we added strides in both classes and had some cross fireing which I believe killed us. Flying lead change work.)

Trail 18&over 2nd out of 4

Trail Open 1st out of 1 (4 scratches and two no shows)
Trail In-Hand 2nd out of 2 (learned a lot lol, no touching the horse LOL)

The trail was out in the parking lot on gravel which D did not like cantering on. Seems a little silly to me but over all D did a great job in the classes. I will try to get some video next time.

First picture - Our first pleasure class and my new blue show shirt.

Second picture - After my first two Halter Classes with the 'ribbon boy' Eddie and my best friend Bettyjo

third picture - A picture dad took of the truck dashboard.

fourth Picture - Waiting for EQ to start.

CSHA Region 2 show - 10days away

I have gotten some unfortunate news that Cherokee's owners have hit a money snag so it's very likely that she will not be showing on the 28th. However there is always next month. Cherokee had her first bathe today and also had her first saddle and bridle on the other day. She's doing really well with showmanship and starting to do 90 degree pivots without lifting her leg but I still have to ask her to move touching her shoulder and she still gets pretty excited while trotting off. However, overall she is doing very well! I also took a picture of Dartanion with his california State reserve showmanship state titles. Thought I would share the pics and take the time to do a little up-date.

2010 Show Season Dates

2010 Show Season --subject to change--

February
28th - CSHA Region 2 Buckle Series Show #1

March
21st - CSHA Region 2 Buckle Series Show #2

April
18th - CSHA Region 2 Buckle Series Show #3

May
16th - CSHA Region 18 Double Points Show
23th - CSHA Region 2 Buckle Series Show #4

June
Date: TBA Shasta District Fair
19th-20th El Dorado County Fair Show
25th-27th Nevada County Fair Show

July
11th - CSHA Region 18 Double Points Show
28th - Aug 1st Amador County Fair Show

August
20th-22nd Gold N Grand

September
11th - Diamond Hills Hunter/Jumper Show
19th - Tehama Fair Show

October
7th-11th CSHA State Show of Champions

November
13th - HNR SVQHA Hunter/Jumper Show (Pending)

Showmanship Follow-Up With Cherokee

Cherokee is coming along beautifully. It's very obvious to tell she is a green horse still. We've started trotting in-hand but she gets a little excited and prances and shakes her head a little but considering how she could react to trotting in-hand I would rather have excitment and enjoyment than slamming on the breaks and being abbrasive. We also did our first (assisted) 90 degree pivot the other day. She was a little confused at first since when I would ask her to pivot she was want to move her butt as well as her front end. She is starting to get the idea and she squares up very nicely and almost perfectly. She backs like she was born doing it and overall I am very happy with her. She loves to work and please and is becoming a real in your pocket filly. She is still shy around new people so I am thinking for her first show I will enter her into as many halter classes as possible so that she will have a class or two to look around and calm down in (of course after some lunging before the show starts). I think I know how she is going to act at her first show so I am going to bold my prediction and then post how she actually does to see if I am close lol. We'll call it my futur reading session! Prediction: I believe she will be alert and have your typical girraffe head BUT I also think if I ask her to lower her head she will and I think she will get the job done but will be green, alert, and probably not stand still as much as I would like... I also know the arena and I think the mesh netting they hang for 'walls' will also potentially spooke her but I don't see it being a HUGE ground breaking spook. As far as placing I have no idea! lol
We skiped out on the January 8th show because her owners did not have the money to afford her classes and gas which is no big deal I don't think she would have done as well since she was BEARLY trotting in-hand then but being tied to the trailer would have done her a world of good lol. Her first show will (hopefully) be Feb 7th where she will be entered into:

Halter Mares & Fillies
Halter Color
Showmanship at Halter Novice Horse

(once again I don't expect her to do well in Halter because she isn't much of a halter horse, she could very possibly do decent at the local level but nothing HUGE)

Ribbons & 2010 show season planning

So I loved christmas since my Year End award ribbons finally showed up and my Reserve Champion Sash from state!! I will add pictures at the end of this post. Cherokee is progressing very well and we've got some basic showmanship down. I haven't gotten to work with her all that much since it's been so rainy and boggy which bums me out but that's rainy season. I have also been speaking with one of my horsey friends and I am thinking of joining PtHA. I had the idea last year to join this year BUT now I am not sure since I am planning on showing at Gold N Grand. So if I do join PtHA I will probably end up having to drop a couple of my Hunter shows. However! I do have a job interview tomorrow so if I get this new job I might have a little extra cash around to attened some more shows. I want to get an idea of where PtHA congress & world is held and how much everything is going to cost and if I have a real shot of doing well in this association. D is not the best mover but we could kill in showmanship, Eq, and Hunter Hack along with other fence classes but I want to make sure that if I put the money out it will be worth it. I will have to be real nit picky about the shows I attened so that is where I am at show wise at this point in time. Ok Ribbon Picture time! (the first two ribbons on the right are the new ribbons, the very first one is for CSHA region 2 Year End Rider. Then to the left of that is the 2009 CSHA Region 2 Year End English Allround rider) The Sash is for CSHA 2009 Show Of Champions Open W/T reserve Championship title.

Showmanship with Cherokee

So today we started with some lunging since it seems that Cherokee works a lot better once we worked a little of that extra energy out of her system. We had a lot of construction going on near our house (PG&E cutting back some branches) so we had a couple of issues with standing still BUT that's understandable with falling branches. We worked on walking and stopping without me having to pull her to a stop. She's doing very well but sometimes I bump into her shoulder when we stop (which is an issue I had with D so I am wondering if maybe I am at fault there). She's getting really good at halting right when I do. We also worked on setting up and she did pretty well with letting me pick up and move her feet around. After that I worked on getting her to drop her head so that I don't have a giraff in the ring lol. Overall a very good day for all the scary things that were going on.

Day 1 & 2 Working with Cherokee

I didn't get a chance to post how cherokee did yesterday so I am just adding it in here today. I worked on a couple of parelli games with her because there are things that I like about parelli but there are also a lot of things about parelli I am not sure I agree with. Anyways, She did well with the Friendly and yoyo games. She wasn't too sure about me touching her legs but I knew she's at least been clipped before and by the end of the session was letting me touch and pick up her feet. I worked with her on walk/trot/canter commands in the round pen and she did very well. She's very in-tune with my body language and positioning. I like her movement, I would go as far as to say it's better than D's. Really low knee action and flicky in the front, she's a little fast in the back but with training I am sure she would be a caute little mover.

Today:
Started with the friendly game and she did great, She did move around a little while I was playing with her back legs but overall not bad at all. She got the yoyo game pretty much perfectly! I would bearly give the rope a wiggle and she backed away like a champ. Did more round pen work and I don't believe she knows the difference between walk,trot, canter, and whoa yet but she does them all. Also when I bend over while she is trotting and say whoa she stopps so I am proud of her. I tied her up and spent about 20minutes brushing her, cleaning her feet, pulling her mane and what not and she did a great job! I want to try taking her into the area tomorrow and lunging her on a lug rope and seeing how she does. That is all the update I have for right now. I also think if the lung rope goes well. We will work on some de-spooking training.

2010 Show season Cost(s)

I spent about an hour last night calculating out how much the 2010 show season is going to cost me. Excluding CSHA State and GNG (Gold N Grand) it totals out to about $2,335.05 for the whole year (doing 18 shows). I know GNG is going to bump that up at least another 3 or 4 hundred bucks and state will add another $200.00 so I might hit the $3,000 point by the time ALL the shows have been added up. I'll make a list of the shows and the dates once I get a little more information on that. I am also hoping/planning on getting a nice western show saddle off of eBay to have around for when I do find those Eng/West show series.

On a side note: My neighbor and best friend's little paint filly is turning four next April. Being that he has little horse knowledge and I have been talking about wanting a new horse to work with he said I could work with her. Her name is Cheerokee after her mom who is Apache. She's a CAUTE little thing and my hope is that if I work with her the rest of this month and all of Decemeber I can pop her into a halter and showmanship class at the NCAA series in January since they have a Novice Horse catagory, maybe a ridden class or two if she's doing well but I'm not going to rush things since there are a ton of shows to pick from next year.

Last note: Check out my profile for a link to the HorseForum! It's a great site with a lot of fun horsey people to talk to and TONS of topics to talk horse about!

CSHA region 18 buckle - Year End Banquet.

I've given D a little over a month off to just be a horse and hangout in the field. I am going to start conditioning him for next years show season after Thanks Giving. I am so fare planning on doing the NCAA buckle series BUT I'm also not 100% sure either because you have to ride Engish and western to qualify for the buckle. Well you don't have to but if there is someone who does ride both then you don't have a shot at winning. I am working on a budget so I can see how much showing this year is going to cost me. I am also going to be competeing in Amature classes this year so I will be getting my Amature card. I hope this doesn't sound like a show off but mom told me "I am tired of buckles that say OPEN on them" lol so I told her I would do Amature this year. I will be posting a list of shows sometime next month or maybe in January once I have a list of shows I plan on attending. Our region is having their Year End Award Ceremony on December 5th this year. I am very excited to see what they will be handing out, I will do my best to take a ton of pictures. I also finally got the CSHA Region 18 buckle that D & I won back in August. It's smaller but VERY pretty, Oh and Bailie will no longer be showing D. Enjoy the pictures!

A little more exciting news is I got a new truck to haul my trailer with next season. It's a 1993 1500 Chevy Suaburban, the gas makes me cry but I am planning on using it strictly for shows.

California State Championships... One big mess up

If you didn't catch from the title our show didn't go well (for many a reason). Our first Showmanship class Friday was 18-34 and once again an easy pattern. Trot from cone A to Cone B halt preform a 450 degree turn. Walk to the judge, det up for inspection, preform a 270 and walk away. So we TOTALLY messed up our first class/pattern. We were first in order to go and his trot off and halt was nice but he stepped out of his pivot and took at least 30 seconds to swuare up!! (my fault) and then did his 270 okish. So we ended up with 3rd out of 4 in that class. The we had 10 people in Open so I really wanted to nail our pattern. I worked on his pivot outside of the ring. He steped out again and I gave him a smack on the shoulder and seemed to wake up and remember we were showing. Everything was pretty much perfect. We had a 2 second square up and he slightly stepped out of his pivot but over all way better. We ended up as Second out of ten!!!! HAHA Reserve Showmanship Open Champion! I'll take it! Saterday I had no events to show is so I rode around the show grounds with my new friend Lyssette and her horse Carlos. Then spent four ours braiding D for Sunday. I had a lot of help from my new friends David and Preston (but that's another story). Then Sunday rolls around and I got out to warm up and D was a little sucked back over the jumps but after some warming up he was doing good. I leave the warm-up ring to start the show and they raise the jumps. So I know I'm in trouble because D's probably going to look at every single one and behold he pretty much did. I was so mad, I've officially decided that from now on I am wearing spurs when we jump :D that simple. This is how we did:
2'6" Open Hunters 2nd out of 3
2'6" Eq over fences 3rd otu of 3 (our worst class, I sucked)
2'6" Jumpers Pity 3rd out of 3 (went off course >.<)
2'6" Hunter Hack 3rd out of 4 (shocked we even got that)

So I'm pretty much screwed but I had also signed up for the w/t championship as well so I figured I would sick around for that :P. I go back to the stall to change from my saffle bit to my kimberwick and find that it's missing?!?! Our neighbors hadn't been very neighborly all weekend. They filled up my friends muck bucket without bumping it out and had moved our hose around without our permission, normally we don't mine these things if you just ask us first. So I worked with D on dropping his head with the D-ring snaffle and he was actually a VERY good boy I was so proud of him. Our judge was a little screwy on the flat placings though. Here is how we did:
w/t Open Pleasure: 5th out of 10 (kool! not bad for D)
English Pleasure Open: 5th out of 8 (again very cool)
w/t Open Eq: 5th out of 10 (ok not complaining)
English Open Eq: 5th out of 8 (Here is where I got upset because we were asked to drop out iorns and the woman who got first only dropped er inside iorn and the second place rider would drop his stirrups only when he was in front of the judge?! I don't think I should get first or anything but I was thinking 3rd!)
English Open HUS: 7th out of 10 (pretty much what I expected lol.)
English Open Bridle Path Hack: 8th out of 8 (total BS run because the woman who got first almost fell off her horse mounting up and he spooked at the mounting block??)

So we ended up getting 3rd out of 3 for allaround but I honestly don't like how they did state this year. They advertised that state Champions would win a trophie saddle and at the show annouced that only flat champions would have a shot at winning a saddle(thanx for the heads up). Then they ran out of saddles so I think there was one or two people who only got a buckle? THEN instead of seperating the flat and overall champions they made it to where if you entered allround you also entered the flat so whoever got champion and reserve allround won the flat as well which was also reall BS. So I am not sure if I will be back next year, I would like to come because I've been told it's going to be a rancho murietta(SP) and THAT would be a fun place to show at. I'm also planning on doing Gold N Grand next year if I can save up the money so we shall see. There is another show at the end of this month I was thinking about going too put I wont have the money (I bet) so I am just thinking of calling it a season and just relaxing till Januaryish because I haven't won the NCAA buckle before and I would like to win that before I write off a couple of shows around here.