"And Now ...WE RIDE!"

" What do we do now Rango?"
" Now...WE RIDE!"

The Summer Gold N Grand Show in Rancho Murietta turned out to be just the thing I needed to do with Desi.

Unlike the March show, the weather was perfect. Cool in the morning and warm in the afternoon.

I practically put my Hubby in the cardiac arrest room at the loony bin by insisting on driving our 5th wheel trailer and parking it myself. I did great( and I only had one scary moment at a yellow light!) But my learning curve is very steep and I was perfect after that! ( Plus I didn't tell him about that little incident so shh... we'll keep it between us good friends!)

I got Desi into the Trail pen on Thursday to Warm up and he looked around and decided it was gonna be okay. We rode there for about an hour and I put him away.
Next morning, the warm up for the Trail was in the scary little covered arena. We went in there to warm up as directed- but that was the worst thing that I could have done.
He pitched his tanty all over again! I finally got him listening to me, and someone comes in and says- "Hey they are calling your number!"
DRATS again! The ring Steward had insisted that we could hear them call us from inside that arena, but ya know what? Hun- un! You couldn't! So I felt a little rushed going in to my first class. I bumped him into the bit and got through the class. He clicked the very first object, slowed a little bit going into the jog right up to the gate, but he zeroed the gate ( good) and nailed the back up chute. Still I only placed 8th that day.
 The second class was 1st and 2nd year green horse (I had felt particularly optimistic that morning evidently.) He started off great, zeros on all obstacles- UNTIL he heard the flag pole wires banging at the end of the arena. His head went up and he reared and whirled away from the pole, bucking a little bit. I caught a glimpse of the judge putting down her pencil and picking up an Emory board.
SHIT! I got him loping through the next obstacle, and as we got to the opposite side of the arena, the photographer stood up from a crouch and took our frigging picture! FLASH FLASH! Spin and buck! I double handed him through the last obstacle, turned and nodded to the judge who had just finished writing a letter to her mother. I left the arena in shame.
Next morning, I got up early, saddle and dressed and was the 7th one in the arena. NO waiting and no photographer. NO flapping flag pole strings, and no loping- I scratched that class to focus on the Walk Jog. Desi held it together and we placed 5th.
Last morning got up and saddled and went to pick up my new shirt- Designed by Tish at Elegant Show Styles. It is purple Flames with a million sequins and matches exactly a purple pad I had in the trailer. I bought it at four on Saturday and Tish had it ready for me by 9 on Sunday. That girl is something else! Thanks Tish!

Everyone had gotten with the program by now, so I had to wait  an hour to show, but I didn't warm up much. I just went into the arena, bumped his sides and sat back. Desi jogged along, turned on cue and stopped when he was suppose to. We aced the walk over,~ nary touching a one~ but our loops were a little flat sided, not as pretty and round as maybe they could have been. I placed 6th in that class. So with an 8th, a 5th and a 6th, I did not win a buckle by one point.

 But the good news is Desi was 100 percent better than the last show. I handed out flyer's to a few people, and had a call afterwards, but again, the people are looking for a solid lesson horse for beginners. As gentle and loving as he is on the ground, you have to ride this horse- no lolly gagging along.

So I'll keep working him and I am going to go sorting on him too, There is one close by in Woodland that takes beginners and will help find you a partner that is a little bit better than you.

I also got a new headstall for my birthday. Here it is on Desi, it seems to fit him better anyway.

Lil Mama had a variable ride on Big Bob too. First day in the warm up he was relaxed and happy, but the minute he got into the show ring we was ' a carrying the mail'. Next day, he was as good as gold and he placed 4th. Third Day Gin had a bit of a hearing problem and she missed hearing a gait change and she went loping along only to discover that they were suppose to be jogging! She placed 7th in that class- so no buckle this time for her either. But she did have a good time and she felt Bob was mostly good.

I guess the highlight of the trip was when her father ( my ex) came to see Lil Mama with his wife and his mother- AKA Nonnie. One big Happy family. We all had dinner and were so civilized... no really... we are.. We've been divorced for ages!

Oh yes- The ACTUAL Highlight was one of our Friends - a Trainer who had a bit of DRAMA in her barn- was awarded not one... not two... but Three buckles with her youngest client. A thirteen year old girl that has only shown twice before this! They won the open Circut Award for the Class! Good job Syd and Jaq!

Thank you to all of my supporters out there! I kept you all in mind as I rode around the grounds, remembering each of the stories you have told me about persevering and courage. It really helped me focus.

And I found a cute gelding that I am going to go look at closer.  His name is Dewey.

I'll have that blog up tomorrow.... or the next day...