A Good Time was Had By All... nearly....

I'm finally recovered enough to write this post!

Sorry the pictures are in weird order- I'm still just too tired to figure them out.

Thursday started out raining- actually it poured! And the wind blew. And it was cold and muddy.  But we had paid our entries so we packed up our gear, our horses and pulled on our big girl panties. We headed out early and boy it is a good thing we did. We were able to get good places for our RVs and get the horses into the stalls.

We waited and waited and waited for the rain to stop...... but it didn't.

Show management decided to condense the show and put all the classes into the two indoor arenas. Of course that meant that the first day all classes were double judged and we only showed for two days instead of three. I hate double judged because if you have a bad day, you have it with TWO judges eyes on you. Of course the warm up area was also crowded into one arena- the smaller of the two, as the reining classes and their warm-up were happening on Friday and Saturday in the bigger main arena.

 I finally couldn't wait any longer for the rain to stop so  I saddled Desi up and went into the small arena to ride.I knew it was going to be a battle, there were lots of horses, rain, wind and bleachers on one side- a busy road on the other. I had to get him into the arena so he would be at least a little acclimated on Friday when we were going to show.  It took a long time but he finally calmed down and began listening and after a few hours I put him away.

Next day (Friday) was show day. I got up at 5, fed and saddled and went into the warm up. Another wild ride, but I got him around.

Then I trudged through the rain back to the RV and gussied myself up.

Went back into the warm up where we stayed for another two hours before our turn to show.(Point being that we were in that arena a long time!) 



Early Warm up



BUT

now we were in the 'trail' half of the arena and the judges were sitting in a table right on the rail with two big silver heaters flanking them.

All went well at the first obstacle. And the second and most of the third and fourth obstacles, but as he turned the corner he saw the judges and the heaters -

Whoop!
Up went his head and he stopped dead in his tracks to look at them. I spurred him forward through our pattern until it came time to jog past the judges and up to the gate. But Desi didn't want to jog past them, he shied and balked and bent. He tried to stop,he threw his head and shook his neck. We got to and through the gate obstacle, barely, finished the pattern and left the building.
Dismal.

 I have to tell you that my score with those two judges was not only the worst score we have ever had with out being disqualified- it was the worst score I have ever SEEN!

Desi was worn out, so he took a nap.

This is Deniserita's Horse Sonny's Guns Array.

He had his jammies on for the night too.

I didn't have to show on Saturday, but I got up early, saddled and rode Desi anyway. He bucked and was broncy, but I finally got him calmed and working before I put him away.

Deniserita and Lil Mama showed on Saturday. It was still raining. They warmed up and both horses were a little 'big'. But even though Sonny isn't a veteran, he remained under control even in that crazy warm up and through the rain. Sonny placed well in her three classes. Lil Mama was in two classes and she did well too, marking fifth both times under both judges.

This is Kiki the barn mascot. He belongs to D's trainer Jackie. What a good dog Kiki is- and she's smart too! Does tricks that I didn't get pictures of.

It was Denise's Birthday on Saturday too. Her Stud Spud had the announcer give her Birthday wishes when she was still in the line up!  Some of her other friends bought her a cool Birthday hat. It had flashing green lights! She wore it over her English Helmet all day long.

I also met another of Jackie's customers. ( Jackie is Deniserita's trainer)  "Yoko' bought the cute little mare that I saw last year-called Nother One.'Yoko' calls her Ava. Nother did a great job in her class, long sweepy stride, ears up, going along like she had done it forever.( She's three and has never had an English saddle on before Saturday!) Nother placed first and second in her class!

To ease my disappointment about showing poorly we decided to go shopping. I bought earrings and a new burnt orange pad. Denesirita bought Lil Mama a new 'used' Hunt coat and shirt. Yoko bought a pair of brown suede chaps.

Yoko tried on a cute brown and white leather jacket. It fit her nicely, but not perfect. For the money- you want perfect!



'Yoko' and the jacket.



Dale Chavez was there with lots of beautiful saddles. This one had loads of crystals. Every piece of silver was encrusted with them!

This saddle was beautiful too. All the black on it is really 'tarnished' antiqued silver. The pattern is called Morning Glory. Can you imagine putting these saddles on your horse!

This shirt was just so awful I had to get a picture of it! Peace Out!

It rained so hard that the ditch behind my RV flooded. It was up to within ten feet of my RV, and the water was nearly 3 feet deep! It finally receded on Saturday. 

The sun came out for a few moments Sat afternoon. Then it rained some more.

Denesirita and Lil Mama trotted between the rain drops, back and forth from my RV to hers and fixed us a scrumptious dinner. We consumed some adult beverages and hit the hay early.

This is the only picture of me in the arena. P'rolly a good thing.

Sonny



Nother Ava



On Sunday I got up at 5 and didn't even feed. I saddled up and went to the arena. I was determined that Desi was not going to even look at the judges or the heaters. It was not a pleasant ride. He bucked and reared and acted like a total jerk. I lined him out and we loped around and around for nearly an hour. Finally he decided to give up and give in. We rode around a little more and as the morning came we headed back to the barn. I was pretty confident that he would be alright in the class.
BUT
Show management threw us a curve ball. They decided to have the Trail classes in the bigger arena and they had sectioned the arena off into three parts.  Western Pleasure and English classes were at the 'far' end, the area in the middle was for 'waiting' and the Trail was held at the 'near' end.
WHAT!
The big arena has bleachers on one side, all the vendors with their tent awnings and peoples heads just visible over the top was on the other side. Plus at the 'trail end' was a raised lobby with umbrellas and people leaning and walking and shopping along it.

I scratched the class.

I had spent all morning just getting to listen and not look at one scary object. Now here was a plethora of scary stuff. I think I did the right thing. If he had buggered out on me in there it wouldn't have been a good thing. I would have had to fight him all over again.
I wasn't in the running for a buckle so ....
This way at least we ended on a positive note. Our early morning 'training' session went my way, not his.

I know he should just go where he is suppose to go and do what he is suppose to do and listen to just me.
But he doesn't.
I was VERY disappointed and it was hard not to show it. Thankfully my daughter and my friends are super supportive. It made my disappointment bearable.

The Sunday show was great for Lil Mama and Denesirita and Yoko. They all placed high enough in their classes to win buckles! Hurray for all of them!
They worked hard for those buckles and they deserved them.

Denise's Birthday Hat

So even though we were damp, soggy and cold and my big girl panties were a bit bunched, the trip was a success and a good time was had by all!