ice cream

The Good Old Days Show was put on this weekend. It is a long show that has English and Western riding classes, Pleasure and Draft driving classes, and in hand classes. I have went the past two years, once without Shyloh and once with Shyloh. This was going to be another year without Shy, but I am sure she was totally fine with that.

Since Shy was unable to get down to Ohio, Beth graciously offered me the use of her ponies for in-hand classes. Those classes would be trail in hand and ground driving obstacle. She would be taking Art and Rambo to the show. I accepted, then Beth made a friendly bet. . .loser would buy ice cream! And since they were in hand classes and the horses went one at a time, we could both use both horses. Challenge accepted. 

I told Beth that I would have to come down a day early to practice if I wanted a chance against her. So down to Ohio I went. We spent a little time practicing and more time killing horse flies. Those suckers were ruthless! They attacked in waves of two. Two horse flies came in, we (and by we I mean Beth) either killed them or they flew away after several attempts at killing them, then another set of two would swoop in  and we would have to start over. Ugh!

Ponies!

We decided to wash ponies and get them ready for the show the next day. The horse flies were relentless and continues their two at a time attack. But ponies got washed and clipped and sleezed up. Then Art and Rambo got put in the grassy round pen so they wouldn't roll in the dirt. Art decided to be an evil villain in his "costume" and was beating poor Rambo up in the round pen! So after a while the sleezies came off and the horses got put all back together. 

Super ponies. Purple Art was the evil villain and red Rambo was the super hero

Of course, when we got at at dark still for the show, Rambo had a line of dirt along his mane.  Rambo is such a funny horse. He is very busy and very mouthy and wants all the attention. He is so damn cute about it!

He sucks his tongue and holds on to the trailer. 

Once we got to the show, we braided horses tails and manes and got to showing. 

Donkey!

A Fjord!

Mule

Beth riding Rambo

Flo on Mick, Chelsea on Tom in the back

Farrier's daughter was at the show, too

Steve and Sally Sue in Pleasure driving class

Regina driving Art, they got reserve champion for the draft driving class!

Flo and her sweet new wagon!

The trail classes run most of the day so people can do them in between their other classes. So after Beth did her classes and the cart class with Regina (her youth driver), we waited for the trail results. And waited. And waited. Finally they made the announcement. . .

Beth took first with Rambo in trail in hand and I took second with him! I also took fifth with Art. Beth also took first with Rambo in ground driving obstacle and I took second with him. I took sixth with Art in this class. Looks like I owe Beth some ice cream!

Our selfie with Rambo

My ribbons with Art

It was such a fun day and very low key. Ponies were good and Rambo was a blast to line drive. I am so glad I got a chance to use Art and Rambo at the show. Thanks Beth!

Beth got Reserve Champion for the draft division!

trail-in-hand practice

New goal for shows: Place in all trail-in-hand classes. 

We earned a second place in the first show. I left that class feeling so good about our performance. So I went back and thought what was different about that class than every other trail-in-hand class that we have done.

Answer: I took my time with each obstacle. I didn't rush through them. Without the rushing, my anxiety didn't transfer to Shyloh, which makes her anxious and not want to do an obstacle, which makes me frustrated because I know she can do it. 

So I took my time. I stopped in front of most obstacles (unless we had to trot to and through them) and then asked Shy to proceed. And it worked!

Our goal lately has been sidepassing.Shy is great in one direction and terrible in the other. I finally 4-wheeled out back to grab the poles so we could get to work. I also grabbed my clicker. 

We started out and this is how it went:

Me: Over (to the right).

Shy: Okay (perfectly steps over and over to the end of the pole). (click and treat)

Me: Let's try the other direction.

Shy: Um, rush forward?

Me: No, over.

Shy: Go backwards?

Me: No, over.

Shy: My legs are getting twisted! This is hard!

Me: Let's do one leg at a time. Back first, then front. (click and treat)

Shy: Okay. I think I'm getting it. But I don't like it. It feels unnatural.

Me: Good job (click and treat).

Shy: Yay, I'm awesome (smiles).

Me: Let's try facing the other way, but going left again.

Shy: No, lets go right. Look at me go! I can go right. All day long. All the way around the round pen. Even without the poles. 

And she really did sidepass right halfway around the round pen. Brat. But we kept working on it and Shy got it. I love to see when she finally "get" something. You can see it in her. It's very cool. She is a very fun horse to work with.

Jaime suggested using a directional cue that can translate to the saddle. That was a smart idea that I implemented right away. 

We also worked on backing straight and backing and turning, since that is often in trail classes. Shy is getting better and better each time we practice! Look at her now!

trail practice

My pity party is over and I have continued doing what I normally do with Shyloh to get ready for the show. Shy seems over whatever it was that freaked her out and back to her new normal self. 

Jaime scheduled a trail practice class to prepare for the show. We scoured her property and found a bridge, some poles, a barrel, and a tarp. Perfect! Jaime got Notch, her sister, Jill, got Reba the shire mare, and I got Shy all harnessed up and ready to go over our trail course. 

At the hitching post

Shy was very careful and slow moving, almost like she was unsure of what to expect, but she was not tense and nervous. In fact, we had a great practice on the trail course. First time on the bridge and Shy did not even hesitate! Usually, it takes me a couple tries before she decided it is okay.

With the tarp, Shy did hesitate and try to turn around, but I turned her back and tapped her on and she decided to give it a try. After that, Shy had no problem with the tarp. We took a couple spins around the course and called it a day. I am glad to have that Shy back.

Notch and Reba were great on their trail runs, too. . .even if Reba was not a fan of the bridge!

The next day, it was time for my lead line kids to practice trail with Shy. They really are the cutest kids. Tommy was ready to pick Shy's feet and as he was he said, "This is the frog." So cute! And I love how they are listening and learning.

Terry brought some cones so we added to the course. And Becky let us borrow a kid's saddle. Terry fitted Shy and the kids and we were ready to go!

Looking good!

I had the kids walk Shy through the course first. Shy was so good for them, even though she did dive for grass. Tommy dug right in and yanked Shy up with all of his 3 year old might! Adorable!! Shy took every obstacle for the kids in stride.

Then it was time to ride! Tommy and Lily took turns going through the course on Shy's back and Shy took care of them. Jaime's niece and one of the kids even got a battery powered truck out and drove it around and Shy didn't care! Gotta love this Shy! Shy is a really good kid's pony. . .maybe I should pop some kids out for Shy. . .

Everyone is very excited for the show Sunday. Tomorrow is going to be busy getting the trailer, getting packed, washing ponies, and getting ready to show!

the show

Sunday was a long, long day. I was at the barn at 5:30 am, waking up horses and I didn't get back to our barn until 10:30 pm. Whew! We did not take home any ribbons, but it was an experience! I guess this was the biggest turn out that this show has ever had. Aside from constantly annoying me, Shyloh was good. 

For our first class, we did halter. We borrowed a white halter, put ribbons in Shy's mane and tail and went on our merry way. Let's just say that when the judge says to you "Wow, you should have seen the look in her eye when you did that, what a sassy horse," you are in trouble. Shy was not impressed with me trying to square her feet for that class. Strangely enough, when we were not being judged, Shy was able to park her self out very nicely, all on her own. That was the theme of the day. . .when we are not being judged. . .

Show Halter Shy!

So, no placing for halter class. But Jaime got first with Notch! 

Winner winner, chicken dinner!

Next we did trail in hand. Disaster! I was really disappointed in Shy because we had done everything in the pattern before, except for the bridge. We had to start at the trot and trot over poles. As we began to trot and came upon the first poles, Shy stopped and was like what is that and when did it jump out in front of me? Ugh. Why was she acting like she has never trotted over a pole before? After that, we had to back in a U-shape within the poles. Once again, Shy acted like she has never back up before in her life. Argh! We have done this before, multiple times! Things were decent for the next few obstacles until we got to the bridge. Shy put her two front feet on that bridge and stopped. And refused to get on it any more. She did everything in her power to not step on the bridge, including jumping over it. That's fine, we never did a bridge before. 

However, after the trail class was over, I asked to practice on the bridge. Why would Shy have no problem getting on the bridge, standing on the bridge, backing up on the bridge, and even turning on the bridge. Seriously mare? Of course, because we were not being judged. . .

Oh look who is fine with standing on the bridge now. . .

Now it was time for showmanship. I actually think we did much better in this class, even if we did not place. I guess I need to work on keeping Shy's head up as we trot and showing off her hock action. I think Jaime and Notch got second! 

We scratched from the line driving obstacle course. It involved trotting and we (I) fall apart at the trot and it involved the bridge, which we had not yet practiced. Maybe next time. . .after a lot more practice. 

Me and Shy were done for the day, but Jaime and Notch, Kyle and Clutch still had a riding class and some driving classes. Jaime took another first and a fourth, and Kyle got two third place ribbons! 

Draft riding class

Jaime and Notch

Kyle and Clutch

So the show. . .I have mixed feelings on it. That was a long day to be spending with that pony (never thought I'd say that). I did not want to leave her tied to the trailer because we had parked kinda far away and it was so busy.  So I had to take Shy everywhere with me and deal with her diving/digging/lipping all day. Oh yeah, and when Jaime and Kyle were in the riding class Shy decided to call out to Notch. So we had to leave (I did not want to disturb the riders). 

I think Shy was bored because she did not have a lot to do, except stand around and be annoying. But at this point, we are not ready for other classes. Any takers in riding Shy in other classes??

But I had a fun day seeing Haflingers and other horses, watching people ride and drive, and enjoying the beautiful weather. Hopefully we will do better at the next show!