Sunday, June 10, 2012

it was magical

I rode Shyloh in the walk/trot class today at the Draft Club show!!!
After our ride! Go us!
She was amazingly as perfect as she could be. I mounted her from the ground and she didn't move a muscle. Then me and Jaime, on Notch, walked around the grounds a little bit. I warmed Shy up and tested her brakes. They worked!

Our class was called and in the arena we went. Since this was our first time and I am still working with her on her trot, we walked the class. But to me, that is not the point. The point is that we rode, we were away from home, we were with a bunch of other horses, and Shy was awesome!

She set her head and had such a relaxed, beautiful, and forward walk. I was able to do all the things we practiced, like moving her to the rail with my leg and using my seat to control her speed. When it was time to trot, we moved off the rail and stayed on the inside, to be out of the way. 
Getting ready for the obstacles
The only teeny, tiny hiccup was when all the horses were trotting and I thought to myself, Gee I am glad Shy doesn't want to pick up the trot when everyone else is trotting. . .and at this point she trotted about five steps. I was not expecting it and even though it was a smooth transition and an nice trot, I brought her back to the walk. I toyed for a mili-second about keeping up the trot, but I think the fact that she went into the trot without me asking was a more important thing to correct. She went right back into the walk. We lined up and Shy even backed up up for me! It was a magical day!

Halter and showmanship were. . .eh. But the judge provided useful feedback that I will work on next time. For the line driving obstacle course, Shy refused to go on the tarp (ugh! She does tarps!) but she did cross the bridge. Again, the judge gave me some pointers to work with her on, like keeping more contact.

And for the magical finale. . .

I had my first cart ride! Jaime let me ride with her and Notch in the cart class. It was so different, but fun. Notch was such a good boy.

Again, we did not win anything, but I think we are taking away a lot more from the shows than ribbons. Experience, friends, fun. . . can't be beat!

17 comments:

  1. I am sooooo over the moon happy for you. And your attitude about doing it for the experiance without even thinking about a win is awesome. Loved your cart ride with Notch, that is way cool.

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    1. Thanks! The cart ride was so different, its almost like riding, but in a cart. You cave to move your hips to the stride. Fun though!

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  2. ! That's AWESOME!! You guys are rocking the show season, and really, really progressing together with your riding! And don't be surprised if Shy could *read* your "trot" thoughts and so went ahead and did it! Sometimes I swear they get inside your head. : ) Don't doubt it will be much longer before you're trotting her around those shows, as she seems like a really fast little learner (I mean, she's a haffie, so it's expected!) and I can tell already that you're getting more and more ready to trot!! : ) Go Shyloh and Allie!

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    1. I swear she was reading my thoughts! But the transition was so nice!
      Thanks!!!

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  3. How exciting. Congrats for cowgirling up(: I like when judges are super nice and give feedback. Makes it all so much better.

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    1. It was nice to hear the feedback. Gives me something to work on, since I still don't "get" showmanship and halter.

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    1. Thanks!! Maybe we will be on those trails sooner than I thought?

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  5. Shyloh looks so little next to Notch in that last photo :) What a good pony, so glad it was a successful show- hurray! :) Corinna

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  6. Wow! Fantastic! That's a huge step forward :D

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    1. Thanks! This horse has the amazing ability to surprise me every chance she gets :)

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  7. I'm glad you had so much fun! I just love shows. Shyloh sounds like she was a really good horse. It's impressive that you don't care about getting ribbons, that's a really good attitude to have about shows!

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    1. Shy was so good! Don't get me wrong, it would be nice to take home a ribbon, but everyone else there has been in horses and had their horses much longer than me. It's a fun circuit to be a part of and good for Shy and me. I don't get upset when we don't place, I base my accomplishments off how we have improved from last time.

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  8. Sounds like such an awesome show! And so exciting you got to ride in the cart class!!

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