Our First Fun Show.......Saturday, August 23rd

Saturday, August 23rd, was our first official show that the Montgomery County Saddle Club put on. First of all I would like to say that there were a lot of smiles shared, lots of compliments from people to their friends and fellow competitors, nobody knew us but we got compliments and we gave them, the friends cheered each other on, everyone was helpful for those of us who had never done anything like this before and it was an all around good group of people to be around. There was no feelings of being an outcast because we were 'new blood'. A much more pleasurable experience than the last place we took Tripp to. Thanks everyone!

I signed up for four classes, and Tripp and I actually went into an arena in front of people without me getting sick in front of everyone! Here are my classes:

1. In Hand Trail
We got a 4th place ribbon in this one and I know there were more than 4 In Hand horses! Woo hoo! Angela and Jessi, who went with Judy and I to pick up our EMM mustangs, were also there. Jessi got first place with her mustang Kahlua and Angela got 2nd with her yearling mustang Cord! Three out of the four placings were mustangs! :-)
We could not get all of Tripp up on the tiny platform, but he tried. And he was kind of a brat when it came to the box where we had to do the 360's, but we did them and he did stay in. There was a lot of grass out there, and that is what he was focused on. But he trotted on the lead! Every single time I asked! We also had to sit on a stool for several seconds while our horses were ground tied. Well, let's just say that the grass guaranteed a great score on that obstacle! Ha ha!

2. Walk/Trot Pleasure
I think the warm up before the class started was the best part for us. There were horses going both directions at all speeds, and Tripp had to learn how to deal with it. At first he would stop and try to watch them all go by, then somewhere along the line he realized that was work, so he kept moving, but also kept a careful watch. There was once we had one person coming at us on the rail, we were in the middle, and another horse was passing us on the other side. He did real good with that.
I was hoping there would be no more than 5 of us in the class so we could place. HA HA! Is that bad or what? There were 7 horses, and most of them were much more polished than we were. Not just the horses, the riders too. That is okay...it was good with more riders because it gave us both more things to pay attention to, which equals more experience.
For me, this pleasure stuff is boring. After being out on the trails again the pleasure class just doesn't live up to my idea of fun. BUT I will say this, it is good experience, and even tho I thought it was boring, I would do it again in a heartbeat! There are lots of things in life that we have to do that are boring....we do it, it helps us be better, and move on to the fun stuff.

3. Walk/Trot Poles
I was nervous about this one because Tripp has never seen poles. He handled it like a champ! And it was FUN! He would do great on one side of the poles, then really drift out far on the other side. On the way back down to the timer he would drift to the rail. No worries....we had a great time. It was this class that the announcement was made about Tripp being an EMM horse and that we have only been together a little over two months. Yes, I was very very proud of him! Oh, and me too. :-)

4. Walk/Trot Barrels
Tripp has seen barrels a couple of times so I knew we would be okay here. The only thing I thought he might do if I wasn't careful was stop and sniff them. He did shy from the first one a little bit, but took the other two just fine. On the way back down to the timer he drifted again. Jessi was funny and yelled that Tripp loved the barrel! It sure seemed that way to me too...ha ha! This was fun too!

Here we are in the Walk/Trot Pleasure class.



There was a narrow bridge we had to cross to get to the arena, so we took the opportunity, as a few others did, and made a training session out of it. It had a big round grate at one end, and bright orange snow fence over the railings on each side, and Tripp really did not like that too much. We walked over it a couple of times first, then I tried to ride him over it. He was not so sure about it so Brian came over and asked if I wanted him to walk across in front of us. He did that 3 times. The third time was to get us to the far end of it, that way when Tripp was headed across it, the grate would be on the far side. Smart move wonderful husband! ;-) It worked like a charm. He crossed over that thing several times. I will admit I was kind of nervous. I love bridges, but I have no idea how secure the railings were if he would have got scared and bumped into one.



Tripp was trying to knock off Brian's hat, so this is what the end result was.



Tripp and I doing poles.



In between classes, the wait time can drag on forever.....it was real hot so I was resting, then started playing with Tripp's lips. He was not concerned at all. It is the little things...... :-)



Tripp and I doing the barrels.



Tripp and I having more fun in between classes....life is what you make it!



Angela and Jessi were nice enough to offer Kahlua over to Brian and Madison for the Lead Line class, and Madison also used Jessi's helmet. THANK YOU BOTH!!! All of the kids got first place ribbons because the competition was just so tough! :-) I mean come on, how can you pick only one out of a group of cute kids and cute horses?



Kahlua, a mustang, and Jessi, a girl, entered a few classes too. They are a very cute couple!



Here is Angela and her yearling Kiger mustang, Cord. I am trying to remember his full name....Kiger Cordero....I know the Cordero part is right. Angela went out West to a Kiger adoption with no intentions of bringing anybody home. The little scruffy baby in the pen caught her attention....and this picture tells the rest! Cord was definitely a diamond in the rough, and Angela knew that. Look at him now! He is a very sweet young man! Angela and Cord were in the Yearling Halter class and took first place! :-)



While I was taking pictures, I was also watching Brian and Tripp. They had a couple of bonding moments.







Tripp and Friends at the end of the day.
Horses from left to right: Cord, Kahlua and Tripp.



Tripp loves watermelon, so I took several pieces of watermelon rinds and we shared them with Kahlua and Cord. They were all feeling a little spoiled.
Jessi had some nachos earlier in the day and shared them with Tripp. He thought he liked nachos, and even had some cheese on his nose that he could not get off. Then he decided he didn't like the chips. Jessi was going to be nice and share the cheese with him, but I have a feeling she would not have gotten much of it! :-) He had a couple chip pieces stuck in his bottom lip and kept making funny faces. I finally got in there and scooped them out. I compare it to us not being able to get that popcorn shell out of our teeth! ACK!

We got there about 11:00 a.m., and didn't leave until 6:40 p.m. - it was a long day and Tripp did awesome! I knew he was getting tired and even a little bit cranky right before the barrels started, but he still came thru for me. There was a lot of grass so he was happy in between.
The little stinker did try to roll with the saddle on! There were two spots out there with good dirt, and once he even made it to his knees and I was trying to pull his head up and not drop a camera. I didn't have time for that because I was headed over to take pictures of Brian and Madison in the Lead Line class. He finally got up, but he made me work at it!

On our way to the show we stopped to gas up, and we noticed one of the trailer tires was low on air, so we topped it off.
When we left that evening and stopped to get something to drink, I noticed it was low again, but worse than before. We aired it up again and could hear an air leak at the valve stem area. We made it back to Columbia, and thankfully Wal-Mart was still open and got it fixed for us. I really wanted it fixed asap because (today) Sunday was supposed to be a trail ride with Judy and the group she has been riding with, but her husband Ron grounded her from the trail ride because she reacted bad to the heat yesterday. It really did get hot and the air was so heavy.
So no trail ride with Judy and Bob again. We really will catch up to each other soon! I will take Tripp out again today...just have not decided where yet. I can do what I NEED to do and take him to the arena and work on cantering - WITH the saddle this time! Hee hee! Or I can take him to one of the trails and relax. I will decide that later.

The tail bone area...oh, excuse me....the soft tissue damage around the coccyx is doing better. I did get sore yesterday, but nothing I could not tough out. I know it is going to take a long time to heal and I need to be patient, but it is hard sometimes. At least I know I can spend some good time in the saddle, so I can make the best of the next 3 1/2 weeks.

Wow....the time is almost here. This has been quite a journey, and I won't lie. At times it has been hard. Trying to work full time, plus trying to get things done that need to be done at home, and also trying to work in enough good time with Tripp to help him/us be ready for Texas....at times it would be a little stressful. At the same time, I have shown myself that you don't have to spend hour after hour with these horses in order to make progress. Judging by the way he is now, most of the time I have spent with him has been quality time (I just didn't realize it at the time). I was lucky with Tripp. He was confident and curious when we picked him up. Yes, he was scared, but not crazy scared. Except of plastic bags...ha ha!

Okay, have things to do and places to go.....

Until later....Karen and Tripp