Battle of the Breeds - Speed Class

This is exactly what it sounds like... The fastest time.
But there was a twist....

Do it with a cup of WATER!

...and we're off...

 The pattern was a simple one.  Run down, around the barrel, and back!
BUT, don't spill the WATER!
Luckily, we practiced some barrels at home, so as soon as we started turning the barrel...  the Fancy Pony tried to stop!
(It's nice to know she thinks about what we have trained, at least.)

Plenty of us were concerned about this water business.  If you spilled too much, it was a 2 second penalty.  We went for a conservative long-trot to the barrel.  On the way home, she chose a long, easy canter.  I was cool with that!

smooth pony!

Alas, we had spilled too much water, so we were penalized 2 seconds.  I think we took 8th in this one!
Talk about a great way to level the playing field!!

Next time, we're just going for it - water be damned!

Battle of the Breeds - English Pleasure

This class was really straight-forward.  We went out going for a nice, relaxed ride.
Previously, she has become very tense and insecure in pleasure classes.  When the Fancy Pony gets trapped in the mob, she has a mini-meltdown.  It concerns her.

Fancy Pony is... well... PONY!

I was pleased with our performance.  She was relatively consistent, and never hinted at a meltdown.  She did drop the left lead and pick it back up on the right lead...
*groan*
So, I trotted and asked for the left lead...
...and she picked up the right lead...
*groan*
So, I trotted and asked for the left lead...
...and she picked up the left lead!
But, alas, the damage was done.  She dealt well with the mobs, and trusted me that they really weren't going to kill her!

Ultimately, we placed 9th (I think).
I was all smiles.  I wasn't last!!

I haz braidz!

What a Weekend!

We landed 8th overall in the Battle of the Breeds 2014 at Equifest, KS, and I am mighty proud of the Fancy Pony!

Look!  I didn't duck my shoulders!

We competed in the following events:

English Pleasure

Speed 

Gambler's Choice Jumping

Trail

Stock Horse

I will write a separate post for each event, as they were all adventures in and of themselves!

There may even be video to come!!

Please come and see me! Equifest Kansas, baby!

This is what we look like (in the summer, anyway)

I'm hitting the road tomorrow.  On our way to Battle of the Breeds!
Come see us and say "hi" if you're in the Wichita, Kansas area this weekend.

If you find our stall and I'm not there, call (or text, or whatever you're comfortable with) my cell phone number that will be listed on the stall.  I'm serious!

Who will be there?

Giveaway shout-out!

Dangerbunny is giving away the good stuff!

THE BEST!

Go HERE to enter her contest to win Higher Standards Leather Care!
Seriously, I can't get enough of this stuff!

Guess Who Noticed!

My husband (who avoids the barn like the plague) took me out to lunch, then drove me to the barn to take “Pony in the Snow” pictures…



Yes, devoting our attention to eating is wonderful!



It was cold.  It was snowy.  Fancy Pony has been trapped in a stall now for a week.  She gets lunged before we ride!!  A foot of snow is really discouraging, and we aren’t getting any melting.

Hubby was all about galloping in the snow photos until we got there.  Then it became: Why don’t you just lead her around in the snow?
*really?*
I tacked up.  Besides, I still had to try out my new-to-me riding/snow pants!  They worked great for skiing, anyway…

So, I’m brushing away, when Hubby says, “She’s really is quite small, isn’t she?”
Yes, she really is.
“She has a lot more muscle than she used to.  She really is a much prettier horse than when you started riding her!”
Aw, thanks!  You know, one of the classical horsemen says that when the dressage work is correct, the horse actually becomes more beautiful! (He seemed to like that philosophy.)
“Her mane is shorter, too.  It looks really good!  It’s so even!”
Oh, honey, you sure know how to butter me up!  I did that mane-pulling job! *BEAM*

He was really nervous when he was standing next to her in the cross-ties, so he just watched from in front of her head…  You know, about 6 feet in front of her head!  LOL
He watched some of her lunging (so he saw her being a nut as well as being a fancy pony).  Life is rough when you’re stuck in the stall and can’t be turned out.  When the temperatures go back up, they can get kicked out again.  It really needs to happen SOON!

We got some walking and trotting in the snow pictures, but hubby is particular about what pictures shall be published, so he is going to pick his favorites, edit them a little (the lighting was dull and overcast, so they aren’t really what he wanted), then I will actually have something to share.

Back inside, he actually fed the Fancy Pony treats!  She mooned over him for the rest of the day!  I'm still in awe that hubby actually joined me at the barn!

We were both cold when we left.  Well, let me amend that.  My feet were cold.  The rest of me was quite toasty!  The riding/ski pants were awesome for warmth!  Less awesome in the saddle.  Not horrible.  I would wear them to hack in a heartbeat.  Actual focused training, though, they wouldn't be so good.  Maybe if they were a bit smaller...  The full-seat sticks quite well, but I still slide around a little inside of them...

Evaluation of 2013 Goals ~ In Honor of the Year of the Horse!

this is where we started...

Short Term:
  -  June, July, August, and September schooling Horse Trials at Heritage Park (level to be determined; can we make BN by the end of the year?)
It just didn’t happen after June.  We competed at Starter in June, and just never made it back.  There were physical concerns when she couldn’t comfortably balance herself, so we got the vet, massage therapist, and chiropractor all on-board and focused on muscle-building and flat work for a while, instead.  I’m comfortable about not meeting this goal as explicitly as it is stated.  Sometimes, things come up.  I’ve adjusted this goal for this year.
  - Sport Horse In-Hand and Under Saddle (let's give it a shot and see what the judges think!)
Never made it to an Arabian show.  I just ran out of money.  It could be because I spent it on the vet, massage therapist, and chiropractor!  We’ll carry that over to this year, then.
  - AHA Arabian Sport Horse rated show(s):
I didn’t make it to a breed show, but we qualified for Regionals in Kentucky!  I’m not sure how to evaluate this goal…


Any excuse to drape the pony in ribbons!!


  - National Dressage Pony Cup
Not only did we do this, but we brought home satin and loot!  It may have been at Intro Level, but the comments from the judges were insightful and meaningful.  Hilda Gurney judged several of our rides that weekend!  How incredible is that??  It was at this event that we earned our qualifying scores at Training level for Arabian Regional Championships in Dressage!

All in all, I'm happy with last year, despite the setbacks!