fun show

Today we had the draft club's fun show. It is different from the circuit shows; it required no washing of ponies, no mane rolls or tail bows, and no show clothes. It was just a day to hang with friends, show ponies and mules low key, and have fun.

One of my new friend that helps out with all the shows, Lisa, and Becky came up to take Shyloh down to Ohio. Shy was going to have a sleepover at Beth's house!

Yeah. . .Shy is the only horse in that bad boy

In the morning, me and Beth loaded up the ponies and headed to the show, a mere 10 minutes away! We got there early and got a coveted under the tree parking spot. Ahhh. . .shade. It was much needed for the 90 degrees and humid day that was ahead of us.

Can you see Shy and Art?

First up, halter class. We never place in halter or showmanship. So when it was out turn and Shy drug ass up to the judge, then decided to speed trot away from the judge, then half trot back to the judge, I figured we were just doing halter just because. . .  imagine my surprise when the judge called us out for second! Second place!! I was shocked!

Happy pony with her ribbon

Showmanship was our usual blah. I get so bored standing in line and so does Shy. But next up was line driving obstacle course. . .which we rocked! We took third place and I think that was because She refused to trot around the cones. But she did go over the bridge without a problem!

Next was the scary part. Hooking Shy to the cart. She had not been hooked since the last show she was at, which was in May. But Shy was a superstar! Beth rode with me, just to be safe and we ended up taking fourth in the class. 

Go Shy!

Nevermind the hair-fro. . .it was so hot and humid!

Then Shy was used for youth cart class. The little girl who drove Shy did an excellent job and Shy was great for her. I think they took second place. 

Becky took a spin on Shy and I convinced her to do the obstacle class with Shy. I rode with her. Shy was doing good until we had to back in a U shape, then pull out. She did a major scoot coming out of the U. A major scoot. Becky got after her and made her do it again so she could do it right. After Shy got herself together, Becky had me drive her back to the trailer. 

Now it was time to hook Shy and Art together. They did an obstacle course and I think they took either first or second with Beth driving. Then they did a farm team open class. Beth said that the way they drove together was amazing, they were so good! And they took first place!

Teamsters

The last team class was on a wooden sled, where the driver stands. A water bucket was filled to the top and placed on the back of the sled. The driver had to take the team around three cones and back around the cones. The winner was the person who spilled the least amount of water. Beth went first with Art and Shy. Then it was my turn. Let me tell you, driving two horses is hard! I don't know how people drive those hitches with six and eight! And since Shy and Art aren't technically a team, they both have different words to go. So I had a bit of a difficult time getting started. . .but Beth helped. Then I took over. It was fun, but I have a difficult enough time with just one horse, I am not sure I am ready for two! And turning them is much easier than making them go straight. But when we crossed the finish line, I had more water in the bucket! Me and the team took first place!!

After that, Shy and Art got hooked back up to the cart and gave pony rides to Lisa and her husband Ed.  And by the time Shy was unhooked, she was exhausted and sweaty! Pony doesn't know what it is like to work! She took a little snooze at the trailer, then resumed her eating. We loaded up and Lisa and Ed took us home. How awesome are they for coming to get us and bring us home for the show? Super awesome!!

That's the sign of some hard work!

The rains when we got home probably felt so good!

I am so proud of how Shy did today!! I wish I would have gotten way more photos, but I was so busy all day! If anyone at the show took some, I will share them on Shy's Facebook page.

pony boot camp

Jaime, Kyle, and I took Shyloh (and Clutch and Isaac) down to Ohio for some pony boot camp with Beth and her ponies. Beth was awesome enough to volunteer her time, horses, and equipment to help me and Shy get this whole driving in the cart thing down. I can barely summarize everything without writing a novel about it, but I am going to try to keep it short. 

Waiting for Jaime and Kyle to pick us up!

All loaded and going to get the big boys!

First, we (and by we I mean Beth. . .I still have no idea how to do a farm harness) put a farm harness on Shy. She was totally fine with it. I walked her around and trotted her in hand, just so she could get used to the different sounds. There is more metal on a farm harness with the hamess and traces and other parts that my harness does not have. Shy was fine. 

Haflingers galore!! Curly (Moe) in front, then Art and Shy

It was so windy! Shy looks cute in this harness though.

Beth then hooked Shy to the cart next to Art. Art tends to be picky about his cart partners, but Shy worked her charms on him and they made a great little team. Shy was a little nervous at first, but Beth had her just stand hooked in the cart and next to Art until her breathing slowed. She stood perfectly still, but was breathing a little hard. For safety, Sierra held Shy's lead for the first couple rounds, but when Shy didn't act like a crazy lunatic she was unclipped from the lead. I think Art was great for Shy and held her back a few times when she wants to do her scoots. 

So cute together!

Butts! Shy needs to work on building hers up!

Beth is so so calm in the cart. She has a calm I feel I could never have! Her and Art kept Shy in line and they did great at walk and trot. Beth was a little surprised that Shy was able to match Art so well because Art can make tight turns and that is harder to do. Maybe we have a team in the future. . .? The little dogs running around, yeah, they liked to hop on the cart and go for rides too. So cute!

We gave Shy a little break while Kyle rode Clutch bareback (after he was launched off the other side of Clutch and landed in a pile of poop!), and Haley rode Isaac. It was only Isaac's second time with a rider! He was so calm! Isaac did an awesome job on our outing. 

Isaac is so big!! Haley is testing him out first.

Then Beth hooked Shy by herself and got a feel for how Shy works. Yes, Shy is very forward. Yes, Shy's transitions and gaits are rocky. Yes, Shy is quick and wants to go. Yes, she is too much for me at my current skill level of zero. Beth could handle everything Shy was throwing at her with a laugh (which really wasn't much), but I am not equipped to deal with it. . .yet. Luckily, Art is similar to Shy in the way he drives, except that he is dependable and has been doing this three times longer than her. So, hopefully I can get a few more drives on Art. 

I did drive Art for a while. He is so much fun! I love this punk rocker! I drove him for a while and I am already getting more comfortable with him. When you let him trot, he picks up a quick trot, but he will slow down when asked. He is such a good boy. Jaime even drove her first Haflinger!

I took in a ton of information today and had a really fun time with everyone and the horses. Shy's new driving bit came in the mail today, so I am looking forward to putting that on her bridle and working on refining her skills as I line drive. The cart still needs to get fixed and I am not ready to drive her in the cart by myself, so more line driving it is. I need to come up with cone patterns, trail patterns, and other challenging things for us to work on. Should be fun!

Going home. . .tired pony!

roadie

What did you do today?

Oh nothing, just took a drive on the road with a couple drafts!

How lucky was I that I got to look at these big butts for over an hour!

It was so cool! Jaime let me come with her on a drive with her big boys. She even let me drive them for a little bit. Let me tell you, driving two horses, two giant horses, is harder than it looks. The boys were so good. There was a lot of potential spooks: gunshots (from the gun club), cars (including some real jerks that never even slowed down), railroad tracks, chickens, white lines (Notch hates the while lines painted on the road), and ditches. We walked and trotted. Did I mention how much fun it was? Notch did spook once, but it was barely noticeable. I was asking myself in my head if that was a spook when Jaime turned to me ans asked if I saw that. Did I say how good Notch and Clutch were? So so good! 

Kyle took this, he was riding behind us.

And every time I get in a cart, I am more and more comfortable. The first time I was like, eh. . .I don't know, the second time, I held on tight, but now I was the whip girl. I had to keep an eye to make sure both boys were keeping up with each other. If one fell behind, I had to tap them, say their name, and tell them to get up. 

Handsome boys!

Makes me itch even more for a cart and to get Shyloh ready to roll! I did have a close encounter with buying a cart. Becky sent me a Craigslist ad for a cart for a really good price in Columbus, Ohio. I was ready to drive down today to pick it up (6 hours round trip), but when they emailed me back, it was sold. Crush. Oh well. . . I have a lot of time to keep looking,