And it was a blast! There will be photos up at some point, but I don't have them so I have to wait until the Crystal Farm website gets updated.
Saturday, Halloween, Frani and Jim had organized a fun show for the lesson kids and the boarders. The morning was dedicated to the lesson kids, and I didn't get there until 11 so wasn't able to really appreciate it. If there's another next year, I'll get there to watch the kids - the ones I saw were great, and such good little troopers!
I was amazed at how many cars were there when I pulled in - if there had been trailers too, it would have been like going to a club-organized fun show. I had no idea there were so many kids in the lesson program.
They have an indoor, but it was warm with a nice wind, and though not sunny it only threatened rain all day, so the show was held in the ring outside. They'd spent days trying to pick out all the rocks from the ring (here in New England, rocks are a bumper crop and you never have to fertilize), and the ring looked pretty nice. Jim had dragged it too, so it was nicely groomed.
The lesson horses were saints: there were 17 classes for the kids, and a couple of them did all 17. They got extra love and attention that night. They all get used regularly so they're in pretty good condition for it, but it still was a long day for them.
There were short breaks between classes of course: we're talking a bunch of kids from about 6 to 13, their parents, and the barn help and some of the boarders trying to call everything to order. Some of the younger kids had people accompanying them in the class, just to keep things from getting out of hand.
When I say "Fun Show", I'm not kidding: the kids got judged pretty fairly but they made sure every one of them got a good distribution of colored ribbons. They were all really well-behaved, and did wonderfully. There were happy smiles everywhere.
Refreshments were provided: soft drinks and water and Dunkin Donuts coffee for the parents, and cookies, muffins, donut holes, and such - so there was ample opportunity to re-stoke the sugar high when needed.:)
Tico being primarily white, I had to stop watching the show and go see how much of a manure-stained mess was awaiting me. It wasn't quite as bad as it could have been, but I spent a bit of time trying to scrub out the rust-colored stains on his butt, belly, face and front legs, with minimal success since it really was too cool for a real bath. The trials and tribulations of owning a gray horse...
I then spent some time with Dusty, because I had a feeling I wouldn't have the energy to spend much time with him after the show. He's always appreciative of a nice rubdown, but makes it clear that the rubdown comes second in importance to carrots. He was of course provided with those, what he considers his basic needs. He's starting to look like a big woolly bear - if he's any indication, this is going to be a bad winter.
It was about 1PM, when the boarders part of the show was supposed to start. I tacked up Tico, and brought him out to the ring to show him what was going on out there. Being as cute as a button and knowing it, he attracted some attention from the bystanders, and got lots of pats. It turned out the kids show still had a number of classes left, so after Tico basked in what he considers his due attention for a few more minutes, I brought him back in, untacked him, and threw him back in his stall.
Once the last of the lesson kid classes was over, and the kids and their parents and friends had left, Jim and Frani brought out lunch and "adult" refreshment for the boarders.
I was expecting a friend, whom I'd invited a while ago to come see the horses but who hadn't been able to get the time until this weekend, so was keeping an eye out the tackroom window, but found time to have a nice glass of Merlot.
When Mary, my friend, showed up, I brought her back to visit Dusty and Tico. She'd known Dusty back before I bought him too, and though he's aged she thought he looked pretty good for a twenty six year old... and he does. She met and approved of Tico the schmoozer as well.
We caught up for a bit, and I showed her around the barn. Mary stayed to watch the show, and she enjoyed it. I'm trying to convince her she needs to get back into horses, now. :)
Soon we were told the boarder's part of the show was about to start, so I changed my shirt for a clean, fairly presentable printed collared shirt, and tacked Tico back up and took him into the indoor to mount up. He was a bit affronted at this: he figured he was done for the day, the lazy boy. But he got over it.
The boarders and staff were split up into two groups: those of us who ride primarily english, and those of us who ride primarily western. I've been riding primarily western because my english saddle is now too wide for the still wide-bodied but not quite as round Tico, and doesn't fit him right.
We were all just automatically entered in each class - there was to be a "Pleasure", "Egg and Spoon", "Equitation" and "Command" class. If anyone told us the order ahead of time, I never heard it, which was fine - we were all just enjoying ourselves... and did I mention, we had been drinking wine? :) It was all very "Go with the Flow", and we were all laughing and joking with each other. When one group was in the ring, the other was on the sidelines shouting encouragement. Jim was providing a lot of funny commentary, too.
Dorothy had been worrying about Pongo being able to be up for the show: he's older than Dusty though in better shape; dentally challenged but he's got a strong back and is a tough old appaloosa. She didn't think he'd be able to canter for very long when the command was given, especially as the day wore on. Riding just for fun, he'd only give her a few steps of canter, then come back down to the trot.
We all were a little dubious, truth be told.
Well, Pongo showed us all what he's made of: first class, when she was asked to canter and Dorothy gave Pongo the cue, he went right into it, and held it until the "now trot" command was given. This was met with a rousing cheer from the crowd: "Yay, Pongo!" Then, the other direction: correct lead, and more cheering from the crowd. Every class it was the same: when asked, he cantered. Pongo is a horse in a million, and he'd shown a lot when he was younger, and he knew this day was "different".
Suzanne and River, it was the same thing: River knew this wasn't your run-of-the-mill hack around day, and rose to the occasion. He's a former eventing horse and has some arthritis issues, but you'd never know it by the way he was moving - they looked great.
Linda and Avita were their usual lovely selves: Avita is a sweet little chestnut Morgan who always gives her all, and she was lively and lovely and Linda rode her with her usual grace and class. What a sweet team!
Katie and her horse Honey, a Tennessee Walker, were at a bit of a disadvantage: Honey run-walks, she doesn't trot. But they did really well in Egg and Spoon - they took the Blue Ribbon!
The first class, I found out later, was the "Pleasure" class. The horse is judged for his willingness to go and happy demeanor throughout, while being asked to walk/trot/canter with other horses around. In other words, no pulling nasty faces at other horses, and if the command is given to trot or canter, don't try to buck your rider off because you're having a bad day and don't wanna. :) The riders job is to smile and look like this is the only place in the world they ever want to be, even if the horse IS having a bad day and expressing himself about it.
I was in the second group, so was riding with mostly Western riders, with the exception of Michelle, the instructor, who was riding Nash English.
Shelley, who events but whose horse Topaz hurt herself a bit so is off work for a while, rode one of Frani's reining horses, Simon, western. Simon is a very cute and VERY short palomino, so Shelley was not only riding an unfamiliar style but a horse about a foot shorter than her horse... well maybe not quite that much, but Topaz is a big girl.
Tico seemed to know the situation was special, too: he turned into Mr. Western Pleasure (old style, not peanut rolling wog* or trope**). Aside from blowing a lead in the later Equitation class, he was a little star - and the blown lead was my fault I'm sure. We got 4ths in "Egg and Spoon" and "Command" class, but came in second in both Pleasure and Equitation. For a horse who can't keep moving when he feels the urge to poop*** and will stop dead in order to take care of business, not bad, not bad at all!
Thanks again, Frani and Jim and Crystal Farm!
* and **: In AQHA (American Quarter Horse Association) and other la-di-da shows, the "Western Pleasure" classes were intended to show the horse going slow, steady, and happy. Even the "fast" gaits were supposed to be slow - as in "under control". This got bastardized,and now even the "English Pleasure" classes have the poor horses trained to do these really torturous-looking, absurdly slow, unnatural and ultimately crippling gaits that detractors (I'm one of them) call "wog" and "trope". The western "jog" is a slow trot. A nice jog is very comfortable. The "Western Pleasure" bastardization of it, the "wog", has the horse dragging their feet, their heads nearly touching the ground, and the horse barely moving.
Similarly, the "trope". The true western lope is a slow, easy canter. The "trope" looks like a hellish combination of trot and canter, four-beats rather than three, with the horse looking completely lame as it moves along, barely bending it knees. It is completely uncomfortable looking both for the horse and the rider, and contrary to the original description of a what constitutes a Pleasure horse.
AQHA *claims* they don't advocate these abominations, and the rule book says the judges are to reward "forward movement" (which these don't resemble in the least). But the big name trainers still train it into young horses, and the judges still pin it.
*** Show horses are expected to keep on moving at the instructed gait when in the show ring, no matter what. A horse who can't poop while moving doesn't go far. Dusty used to always make sure to poop outside the ring; Tico is of the opinion that when the urge hits, satisfy it. I have to admit I wouldn't want to have to poop and keep moving, and we aren't exactly show-focused anyway, so I let it slide.
