This weekend we were at the Triangle Farms Show. You probably remember this is my favorite show. Kids that may not go to other shows will be at the Triangle Farms show so it is a good time to catch up with my friends.
You may remember an earlier post that talked about my “A” trainer wanting me to do as many local “C” shows as I could this year so that I could get “show miles”. I really did not understand what they meant by “show miles” until this weekend. Last season every show I was mostly worried about whether Skittles would behave or worried about how to get him around the course or through a flat class. This season is proving to be very different. Skittles has been like an old show pony. At the show this weekend I could not think of one thing he did wrong. He was a perfect little pony for me. Any mistakes made at this show were what my mom calls “rider error”.
On Saturday, we arrived early and as usual my mom registered me for my classes and got Skittles ready for me to hack. We did some riding around and then we untacked him. While my mom was cleaning him up I went to the indoor arena and asked Kip Broadfoot (my favorite announcer) how many more rounds until my division. He told me we had several hours. I then went and found the Trademark Stables kids to hang out some. My mom spent the time braiding Skittles mane, forelock, and tail. We thought we would be having our classes in the indoor arena but at the last minute we were changed to the outdoor covered arena. It is a much smaller ring. During the schooling break one of my friends fell off her pony. We all stopped and waited to make sure she was alright. She was o.k. but decided not to show. I have fallen off before and knew how she felt. There were eight riders in the division Saturday. The equitation on the flat class started off great. My mom said my equitation looked great but near the end of the class I made my first “rider error”. I tried to pass a pony by going between the wall and the pony. I got too close to the pony who pinned her ears back and tried to bite Skittles. Of course, Skittles got very upset and threw his head up and tried to race down the wall next to the pony. The announcer told everyone to walk and it took a lot of pulling to get Skittles to stop and settle down. I knew I made a mistake and did not think I would pin in the class but surprisingly I got a third. However, after that incident Skittles was really rattled. We had to hand off our ribbons and go right back to the under saddle class. I was nervous and I know Skittles could tell so he was a bit faster than normal at the canter. I thought I would try to slow him down by pulling him back instead of using my voice and saying whoa. Well he thought I wanted him to trot and broke the canter to a trot and I became so anxious to get him back to the canter I just asked for it without organizing and he picked up the wrong lead right in front of the judge! Of course, we did not pin in that class. We did not do a warmup round. Jennifer and Rex took me down to the schooling area to practice and calm down. After a few minutes Skittles and I were back to normal and went in for our equitation over fences class. We had a great round and we took first. Our two hunter over fences rounds were really great as well. We took first in our second hunter round and sixth in our first round. Neither Rex and Jennifer nor my mom could figure out why we took sixth in the one class. In the end we chalked it up to that is how it is in the horse show ring. The day was over and I was glad to go home to get ready for the next day.
On Sunday when we woke up it was raining. My mom and dad worried about how we would stay dry. We trailer into the shows and do not rent stalls. My dad came up with a great idea. He remembered that the show grounds has some large covered areas that they set up temporary stalls during big “A” shows and suggested that we pull the trailer right under there and park. That is what we did and it was great! My mom braided Skittles mane again and got him ready while I went and found my friends. One of my favorite friends, Olivia, was at the show. She was going to show against me in my division riding Mr. Razzle Dazzle. You might rememer I took some lessons on Mr. Razzle Dazzle to learn how to ask for a lead change. Things moved faster on Sunday and our division was moved into the indoor arena. I really love showing in the indoor because it is so big and there is a lot of room. We started with our flat classes. My pony was like a little star. We pinned first in our equitation on the flat and first in our under saddle class. My mom sat in the stands and later said I did a good job giving him a looser rein so he could relax and drop his head. We have decided not to do the warm up rounds with Skittles for a while. He seems to get bored by the last round when we add the warmup but today we did not get a schooling break and Jennifer thought it would be best to do the warm up so that he could get a good look around the ring. I ride my own pony in the warm up round but sometimes it is allowed for an older kid or a trainer to ride the ponies for the students to “set them up”. Our first rounds were very good. Skittle was perfect. I did simple lead changes as we are still not ready to try to do flying changes at the shows. We got first in our equitation over fences class and a second in our hunter over fences class. My friend Olivia got first on Mr. Razzle Dazzle. By the second hunter round Skittles seemed a little tired and bored. Our round started off really good until the last outside line. As we made the turn away from the gate he started to get really slow and broke into a trot. I quickly got him back to the canter. He went down the line fine but I was still thinking of him trotting and forgot to check my lead. He was on the wrong lead and I did not fix it. We took fifth in the class. We still took reserve champion and my friend Olivia took champion. We were both happy for each other! We said goodbye to everyone and got home before it got dark. My friend Allison was at the barn and was riding her old western horse. While my mom was wrapping Skittles’ legs I got on with Allison and we got to ride around together. It was a lot of fun.
Now that the weekend is over I was able to talk to my mom about my classes. Now I understand what “show miles” are for. I was able to tell my mom all the errors I made and now I will be able to make sure I do not make the mistakes again. My mom said I do a lot of things right for an eight year old and that the little mistakes I made will work themselves out with experience. I guess that is what the show miles are all about.
