Our local show circuit is called CenTX, which stands for Central Texas Hunter Jumper Association. Austin is different from what I was used to in Raleigh as far as the show scene goes. In Raleigh, you could take your pick in any given month from a selection of open shows, hunter/jumper schooling shows, and C or A hunter/jumper shows in the surrounding area. In Austin while we are lucky to have a good hunter/jumper scene, the choice is TSSA (classy…
Fact: You don’t show for the ribbons, you show for the experience. Also Fact: A crappy ride can earn the same ribbon that a good ride doesn’t earn. More Facts: I haven’t won a ribbon in a really, really, really long time… and I really miss them. For years, my ribbons stayed in a box with my mom because she was toying with the idea of sewing them into a quilt for me. I couldn’t really get behind that idea, because…
Optimism is a funny thing, and I daresay I’m feeling optimistic. Last weekend I really just did not want my horse to die. It sounds dramatic, but that was the goal. This weekend I felt myself looking at the state of things and thinking “I wonder if I’m ok to bump his grain back up to normal” and “I bet schooling changes will come easier now that I know to maintain his hocks properly.” After I took the last poultice…
From so someone showing at the local circuit who’s had a progressing trend toward hunter snobbery, I spend a lot of time pouring over tack catalogs and equestrian style blogs. In those venues, there’s a lot of emphasis on higher priced goods being the best possible thing you can buy for the show ring. A lot of times that’s true, but I noticed a lot of trends at WEF that showed me that sometimes simple is better. Navy Braids I’ve…
I believe I’ve mentioned before, but I ride at a pretty no thrills kind of barn. Meaning, we see a lot of white plastic schooling helmets, nylon halters decorated with glitter puff paint, and my personal favorite – a fitted zebra fleece english pad. Fitted zebra people… fitted! Really I’m fine with all this, because the ugly white helmets are safe and the tye dye polka dot polo wraps are done correctly… so who cares? I don’t care but I guess my…
And now for the long awaited epic conclusion of my first major horse show as well as the show that made me scared of showing (almost) forever. As the record states, after doing remarkably well in mare halter I had managed to make poor riding decisions in hunter hack and gone off course in hunter over fences. All that were left were Hunter GAYP (Go as You Please) and Hunter Under Saddle. Easy peasy…. not really. If you have not…
The story so far: little Lauren and Lydia get a 3rd in Mare halter because they copied showmanship skills from another girl in the class. Little Lauren and Lydia then get called back in the hunter hack class, but Lauren makes an ass of herself by riding poorly… a trend that will continue. Now let me tell you a little bit about myself: I was probably at least 20-21 years old before I made it through a horse show without…
When we last left 14 y/o me, I was high on horse show success from copying a girl from a lesson factory barn and thus winning a yellow ribbon in mare halter – rock on me! This taught me a valuable terrible lesson early on in my show career – you should change your tactic at the horse show right before or in the middle of your class. New skills and horse training can be done in the middle of…