It's hot again, and Halo and I have a lot going on! This Saturday will be our second show in the CAQHA open show series. I think we're still going to stick to walk/trot classes. We've been cantering a little bit every ride, but it's still pretty rough, and the steering is quite as good as in the walk and trot. Also, if we aren't too worn out from the show on Saturday, we may be taking a little field trip out to the lake on Sunday to go swimming! I can't wait!
Also, I have a lesson tonight from another local rider who cleaned up at the last CAQHA show. I think it will be very enlightening to get some coaching from someone who is winning the shows at which I'm hoping to improve my performance. If Casi comes along, I'll definitely try to get some pictures taken. If not, oh well.
There will be more updates later this week, as well as a show report. Casi will be able to attend this time, so hopefully I can get my show results up more quickly since the pictures will be on one camera instead of three.
Showing posts with label shows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shows. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Show Pictures: CAQHA May 8, 2010
I think the pictures say it all. We had a great day at the show, and at her very worst, Halo was a little fidgety before the first English classes. We had a couple of minor spooks during the hunter under saddle classes, but by the time western rolled around, she was riding like a pro.
Our final placings were:
3rd - Halter Mares 2-4 years old
3rd - Hunter In-Hand 19 & over
3rd - Hunter Under Saddle W/T green horse
7th - Hunter Under Saddle W/T 19 & over
5th - Western Pleasure W/J green horse
We ended up scratching from two of our classes, Western Pleasure W/J 19+ and Trail (green horse). I scratched from trail because they were going to require us to lope over poles. I didn't feel that Halo was ready to canter in the show ring, and loping over poles is not something we have practiced at home. I decided to scratch the second WP class because the indoor arena was VERY dusty and Halo has trouble with the dust. She coughed quite a bit in our second HUS class, and I didn't want to put her through two more classes in there. Fortunately they watered the arena between the English and western classes, which helped a bit.
Anyway, Halo was GREAT! I know we didn't win any blues, but we were there to learn and experience, not to win. By the time we got to her WP class, she was just amazing. She finally stopped thinking things around the arena were scary, and she was more focused. She was nice and soft and even gave me a pretty good jog. To give her complete credit, even in the first English class when she was gawking at everything around the arena, she still did exactly what I asked promptly when I asked her to do it. She had a couple of little spooks, but they were extremely minor, and she carried on afterward without becoming distressed. I was just amazed at her responsiveness and willingness to do what I requested even in such an unfamiliar environment. We never broke gait, and she got better and better with each class.
I was also pretty proud of her 3rd place in Hunter In-Hand. She is a SMALL horse, and the others in the class were big, probably HUS horses. She beat one of them to take the third, which made me really proud of her. She may be a little horse, but she has a big stride and a big heart!
A couple of pictures of us made it up onto the CAQHA website as well. I wish I hadn't been wearing my boot covers in this picture, but that was why the photographer took it!
Our final placings were:
3rd - Halter Mares 2-4 years old
3rd - Hunter In-Hand 19 & over
3rd - Hunter Under Saddle W/T green horse
7th - Hunter Under Saddle W/T 19 & over
5th - Western Pleasure W/J green horse
We ended up scratching from two of our classes, Western Pleasure W/J 19+ and Trail (green horse). I scratched from trail because they were going to require us to lope over poles. I didn't feel that Halo was ready to canter in the show ring, and loping over poles is not something we have practiced at home. I decided to scratch the second WP class because the indoor arena was VERY dusty and Halo has trouble with the dust. She coughed quite a bit in our second HUS class, and I didn't want to put her through two more classes in there. Fortunately they watered the arena between the English and western classes, which helped a bit.
Anyway, Halo was GREAT! I know we didn't win any blues, but we were there to learn and experience, not to win. By the time we got to her WP class, she was just amazing. She finally stopped thinking things around the arena were scary, and she was more focused. She was nice and soft and even gave me a pretty good jog. To give her complete credit, even in the first English class when she was gawking at everything around the arena, she still did exactly what I asked promptly when I asked her to do it. She had a couple of little spooks, but they were extremely minor, and she carried on afterward without becoming distressed. I was just amazed at her responsiveness and willingness to do what I requested even in such an unfamiliar environment. We never broke gait, and she got better and better with each class.
I was also pretty proud of her 3rd place in Hunter In-Hand. She is a SMALL horse, and the others in the class were big, probably HUS horses. She beat one of them to take the third, which made me really proud of her. She may be a little horse, but she has a big stride and a big heart!
A couple of pictures of us made it up onto the CAQHA website as well. I wish I hadn't been wearing my boot covers in this picture, but that was why the photographer took it!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Planning for 2010
Now, I have to admit that I'm a bit of an organizatrix (term borrowed from a fabulous friend of mine), but planning for Halo's 2010 year has me tearing out my hair. I feel pulled in way too many directions, and only one or two are going to be financially feasible.
Any long-time blog readers still lurking might remember that my original plan was to show Halo in Halter and Showmanship last summer so that she would have some show exposure before I attempted any riding classes. Well, that didn't work out due to wedding conflicts and vet bills.
Now it's 2010 and time to think about whether she might be ready to ride in a walk/trot class this summer on the local open AQHA circuit we have here. I need the following show items before I can consider showing:
Halter/Showmanship
Western W/T
English W/T
The first horse show opportunity is on January 23rd in a couple of weeks. I don't think there's any way I can put together enough stuff to show her anything but Hunter in Hand...and she looks so fuzzy right now I would be too embarrassed. I may consider seeing if the barn owner can trailer me over there just to walk her around the showgrounds, though. I'm just not sure she'll have the time free since this is short notice.
The other shows usually begin in June, so I have more time to think about those. I'm just not sure what to do, or what is best for my pony. I'm focusing on paying off some credit card bills this year, so I don't want to compromise my finances just to have some fun. But, at the same time, I do have a little bit of disposable income I can put toward showing.
The other option is to give up all hope of showing and stick to trail riding and maybe doing some team penning. I know nothing about it, but the team penning nights our barn goes to sound casual and like a good place to learn. But again...I probably need a western saddle.
What to do?!
Any long-time blog readers still lurking might remember that my original plan was to show Halo in Halter and Showmanship last summer so that she would have some show exposure before I attempted any riding classes. Well, that didn't work out due to wedding conflicts and vet bills.
Now it's 2010 and time to think about whether she might be ready to ride in a walk/trot class this summer on the local open AQHA circuit we have here. I need the following show items before I can consider showing:
Halter/Showmanship
- Dark oil show lead with chain
- Showmanship jacket
- Showmanship pants or nice show jeans
- Cowboy boots
- Cowboy hat
Western W/T
- Rail shirt
- Show pants or jeans
- Chaps (maybe not for an open show?? not sure)
- Cowboy boots
- Cowboy hat
- Western saddle
- Western bridle
English W/T
- Show helmet
- Show shirt
- Jacket
- Breeches
The first horse show opportunity is on January 23rd in a couple of weeks. I don't think there's any way I can put together enough stuff to show her anything but Hunter in Hand...and she looks so fuzzy right now I would be too embarrassed. I may consider seeing if the barn owner can trailer me over there just to walk her around the showgrounds, though. I'm just not sure she'll have the time free since this is short notice.
The other shows usually begin in June, so I have more time to think about those. I'm just not sure what to do, or what is best for my pony. I'm focusing on paying off some credit card bills this year, so I don't want to compromise my finances just to have some fun. But, at the same time, I do have a little bit of disposable income I can put toward showing.
The other option is to give up all hope of showing and stick to trail riding and maybe doing some team penning. I know nothing about it, but the team penning nights our barn goes to sound casual and like a good place to learn. But again...I probably need a western saddle.
What to do?!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Horse Show Afterthoughts
Saturday morning against my better judgment, I attended a show put on by the Capitol Area Quarter Horse Association (CAQHA). The reason I say against my better judgment was because it was bitterly cold, and I'd already been sick for a week. However, I'm happy to report that attending the show was definitely worthwhile, even if my butt was completely numb by the time I left.
I've had a tentative plan for a while to take Halo to one of the CAQHA's open shows as her first show. It seems like it would be a low stress environment for me, and they are usually put on at the Travis County Expo Center, which is not too far away from the barn where I have Halo boarded. Sounds like a great plan, right? Except for the part where I haven't shown since about 10 years ago, and have no clue what the stock horse world is even like other than what I've read on teh internets. Brilliant.
Going to the CAQHA show put my mind at ease. The showmanship pattern was a lot easier than what I remember dealing with when I showed in 4-H, which was extremely comforting, though the 19 & over class was quite large. There's only so much I can teach Halo by August, and even then it will probably be nowhere near perfect. Halter for the 2- to 4-year old mares was a small class of 4 people. I expect the summer shows will have bigger clasees, but probably not as many as the aged mares (there were 16 entries). Sadly, there was one other two-year old in the class and she placed at the bottom of the heap. It was easy to see why though - it's hard for a filly that young to compete against older mares, especially in January. Hopefully through spring and summer Halo will continue to fill out and grow. I don't expect her to win anything, but I still plan to put a lot of effort into showing her properly.
Another point of concern for me has been what to wear. I know I have to get a proper western show halter for Halo, which I'm dreading, because they are very expensive. Also, there's these ridiculous sequin and crystal covered jackets that women wear for showmanship. Men don't seem to have to sparkle, so I'm half wondering if I could show in drag...but I doubt that would go over very well either. So I think I'm going to try to look for an unobtrusive jacket on ebay or something. That way I won't spend too much money, and hopefully won't feel too silly. I know I won't show as well if I feel completely awkward and weird in what I'm wearing.
I didn't stay for the riding classes at this show since obviously I won't be showing Halo under saddle until 2010. I just want to limit my focus to things I can work on in the present, like showmanship and halter. I wish I had more control over her feed so that I could get her fit up a bit more, but she is happy and well-fed, so I'm going to do my best not to obsess about it. I'll throw the obsessive energy into something more worthwhile - like washing her tail!
I've had a tentative plan for a while to take Halo to one of the CAQHA's open shows as her first show. It seems like it would be a low stress environment for me, and they are usually put on at the Travis County Expo Center, which is not too far away from the barn where I have Halo boarded. Sounds like a great plan, right? Except for the part where I haven't shown since about 10 years ago, and have no clue what the stock horse world is even like other than what I've read on teh internets. Brilliant.
Going to the CAQHA show put my mind at ease. The showmanship pattern was a lot easier than what I remember dealing with when I showed in 4-H, which was extremely comforting, though the 19 & over class was quite large. There's only so much I can teach Halo by August, and even then it will probably be nowhere near perfect. Halter for the 2- to 4-year old mares was a small class of 4 people. I expect the summer shows will have bigger clasees, but probably not as many as the aged mares (there were 16 entries). Sadly, there was one other two-year old in the class and she placed at the bottom of the heap. It was easy to see why though - it's hard for a filly that young to compete against older mares, especially in January. Hopefully through spring and summer Halo will continue to fill out and grow. I don't expect her to win anything, but I still plan to put a lot of effort into showing her properly.
Another point of concern for me has been what to wear. I know I have to get a proper western show halter for Halo, which I'm dreading, because they are very expensive. Also, there's these ridiculous sequin and crystal covered jackets that women wear for showmanship. Men don't seem to have to sparkle, so I'm half wondering if I could show in drag...but I doubt that would go over very well either. So I think I'm going to try to look for an unobtrusive jacket on ebay or something. That way I won't spend too much money, and hopefully won't feel too silly. I know I won't show as well if I feel completely awkward and weird in what I'm wearing.
I didn't stay for the riding classes at this show since obviously I won't be showing Halo under saddle until 2010. I just want to limit my focus to things I can work on in the present, like showmanship and halter. I wish I had more control over her feed so that I could get her fit up a bit more, but she is happy and well-fed, so I'm going to do my best not to obsess about it. I'll throw the obsessive energy into something more worthwhile - like washing her tail!
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