Show Aggrivation

Well today was D Day. I was up at 7AM, which is quite the feat for me! I was to the show by 8:30 getting that boy all ready for his close up. Thank goodness his sheet had done its job and kept him from turing his white into brown. I scrubbed his knees with Green spot remover and sprayed him with Shine (not on the saddle area). He looked magnficient if I do say so myself. I had several people comment on how good he looked, and saying it must be hard to keep him that white! You have to love Captain Obvious, right?? Well into the show ring he went and BOY did he strut his stuff!! I thought we have to be at LEAST 1st or 2nd. Wrong. Even though one horse threw a fit in front of the judge and the other had his nose as high as it would go, we came in dead Last. As in Big Brown at the Preakness. As in the Royals every year. What?! How?! I have no idea other than the continual confused look on the judge's face. AND the photog didn't feel the need to take ANY pictures during the class?? Why?! I paid exactly the same amount of money as all the ASB's showing! So today I'm flustered and aggrivated at the whole situation. Why exactly did I pay over $100 to show here AND bring my 20 year old horse to stand on concrete floors for 3 days just to get last place??? Oh well, maybe nap will help.

Official Groom

Well last night I got to see my Pretty Boy worked in his full bridle in prep for the show on Saturday. Of course he looked amazing with the Trainer extrodinaire on him. I sometimes get nervous that he'll forget about all the fun we have together. But on his way back to the barn he only had eyes for me, his little ears pricked forward as if to say "Look Mom! Don't I look GREAT!!!" And yes, he did. They stopped right in front of me and he got a great big dose of love and pats and Good Boys. So I'll head out there tonight and get everthing together for when he heads out on Friday, but now it sucks that I can't ride him until after the show. Oh well. I know it'll be worth it when I see him marching right down the rail at the show.

Show Disappointment

Well due to my life suddenly becoming very hectic this past week I will be unable to ride in the Horse Show next weekend. Sometimes it feels like I am NEVER going to get back into the ring. I spent the majority of the week out of town trying to buy and house and attending a funeral. Well our love for the house has grown cold, and we are going to wait and see what the future brings. That brings me to the funeral. It was definitly not the way I prefer to spend a Thursday morning, but it was much worse for the family. So I haven't even seen my 20 year old spotted baby since last Tuesday! But tommorrow morning he's getting ready for a show (with my Trainer in the irons). He's gonna get his feet sanded and his hair clipped, and MAYBE even get his tail put back up. Surely to goodness I can braid it tight enough to keep it up until Friday. Hopefully anyways. He always manages to shake out the braid and the tail bag and pee on it. Sigh. And I've been coaxing this tail to grow why??? But we are now floor length (at least it was on Tuesday) so it has to be put up. I know I'll be beside myself watching from the rail, living vicariously. But at least this way I'll still get to keep the ribbon!!

Mansion Expression

Well this past weekend my sweetie and I looked at an old Victorian mansion. Neither of us had any expectations because the other 'mansions' we had looked at mostly defined the word 'dump'. So we pull up and are instantly amazed by the architecture, but we've been here before. The realtor opens the door and WOW! As each room unfolds in front of us we are blown away by it's beauty! There appears to be no reason why someone couldn't move right in. So begins the long and VERY stressful dance of home buying. We are in the contentious bidding stage right now, with big hopes for the future. Oh and this house will be on HGTV July 28 on the show 'If Walls Could Talk'. Man I hope we get it before that!!!!

Passion/Torture??

Tonight the 'road to a show' continued. We were working on going S L O W E R at the walk. Which kind of means, actually walking! It gets a little intense sometimes with the trainer bellowing in the middle of the ring and the rider silently making adjustments on the rail. I didn't realize just how intense it apparently looks until I rode past a family watching their daughter with her lesson. I wasn't frustrated or flustered at all, as I've said before I've been down this road and know pretty much what to expect. I know that in the end I will once again have my mannered, prancing, show-stopping horse back, and it just takes some determination (and LOTS of sweat) to bring that out. But unfortunately this process was new to a Grandma watching from the rail. As I passed by her (red faced and sweating) she remarked that 'I thought riding was supposed to be for fun! That looks like torture'. Hmmm. It kind of made me laugh a little, but also to think. Whenever you see someone achieve something, i.e. winning an Olympic medal, winning a football game, running the fastest marathon time, winning a spelling bee, etc what you don't see is the HOURS of time it took to get there. You don't see the blood, sweat, and tears. You don't see the determination in their eyes when they realize this is much more difficult than they ever imagined it could be... You only see the end result. As my trainer put it tonight: 'Showing is easy, it's the training that's hard'. But in the training is when you find out what you are made of, and for me that's been the most rewarding part. Torture? Maybe, but only to the uninformed.

Pool Story, Vol 3

Well last week I got our pool looking amazing, thanks to the God Chlorine. I brushed, skimmed, tested, and added chemicals all in the pursuit of the perfect pool water. Which I got. Just in time to leave on a 4 day vacation. Oh well, I'm back today and thankfully it still looks great, and I plan to go for a dip!

The Road to a Show

Well the road to my first show of the season officially began today. And as usual I was working much harder than the horse. In fact when we were done, my trainer said I looked hotter than the horse! We began to get back on track with rail work and walking. And more walking. We went over our strategies for the show ring, and began to lay the plans for our success. I noticed something today when I was working so hard to get him right: even though I'm working just as hard as last year, it seems easier. I pondered this fact on my drive home. I think it's because I've ridden this horse for going on 2 years straight every week. I've seen what bothers him and what doesn't, what makes him excited, and what makes him irritated. I feel confident that no matter what he throws at me, I will be ok. He was having a blast working today, he's the only horse I've ever seen who fights to get the bit IN his mouth, and who is at his happiest when he's being ridden daily. Oh and as for his lovesickness, sadly the lovely mare has moved on to other geldings, leaving Apachee to whinny mournfully out the window to her. Poor guy. I told him she was a hussy.

Lovesickness

Something dreadful (or wonderful, depending on your vantage point) has happened to my horse. He has fallen in love. Hard core. Yesterday a new mare was put into the pasture to board at the stable. Apache's stall has a great view out the back door into the pastures. Yesterday when I arrived everyone said my horse was going crazy and why haven't I been working him?? Well I have been, including a rare Sunday morning workout!! But when I turned the corner and beheld the horny teenager my geriatric horse had been reduced to, I could NOT believe it! Now you must remember that the whole barn is filled with mares, AND a stud horse who weren't the least bit interested in this new girl in the field. Apache on the other hand was smitten. He danced around on the cross ties, making it difficult to wrap his legs. I was afraid to just lead him, so I had to search out a lead rope with a stud chain. Once that was in place we danced down the aisleway, with him nickering the ENTIRE time!!! Finally we get outside and begin the 20 foot walk to the arena. Good Lord. It took a good 3 minutes to finally get inside!!! By this time I want to know WHO has snatched my horse's brain and replaced it a little lower on his anatomy! Riding was out the window, and lunging proved extremely difficult. Finally I just rinsed him off and put him back in his stall to stare longingly at his love. Hopefully when I get there today this 'fever' will have passed. Or he's getting a new stall, one without a view.