Sunday's Schooling Show

Sunday's show was a ton of fun! I was up bright and early to get to the barn and get my car packed with tack. The BO trailered me over in the last load, and it was something like 18 horses from the barn at the show. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, and I'm really hoping it's not one of the last nice days before winter. I need sunny and warm again! I have freckles on the bottom half of my face again and sunburn on my lips.

Waiting for our class. His tail is way too long.

Our first class was equitation on the flat. We HAD 1st (the judge told me even though she shouldn't have.. it was at the end and no one was around - she LOVED Spyder), but Spyder decided to canter the last part of our pattern. OOPS! We did the w/t only division "older and bolder." Haha. We ended up with a 4th because of that. First, we did the flat portion, and when it's a show, my eq is ON! I'm glad I could prove that to the judge. For the pattern, we went second to last, and we walked to cone A (3 cones in a line). We had to do a sitting trot to B (we had a sitting pace/running walk which I could actually sit - his/our? sitting trot is awful). The judge said that she gave me extra points for sitting whatever gait he did. That helped us make out 4th with our fight of a circle to the right. He didn't want to move! We got back to cone B and circled to the left (towards the judge) where Spyder wanted to canter... and DID (only one stride and we came back down which was better than before, too)! We trotted from B to C, and his halt was PERFECT. Backing 4 steps was not the easiest, but now, I have some things to work on. I thought it went perfectly!

Heels down, eyes up. Wish we didn't canter for the w/t division!

Hunter under saddle, we got another 4th. I had Spyder too far into the bit, and I should have let him go more. He does laps around all the other "normal horses" so I was holding him back which is the ONLY reason the judge said I didn't get 1st, again. This time, it was my fault! I need to get better at giving Spyder control as he's not going anywhere, but I held him back from lapping the horses. Next time, we'll do laps!

Cute baby horse.

Pleasure on the flat, we got 2nd. Yes, SECOND! Spyder, pleasure? What? He was so calm and relaxed and was stretching into the bit like he was showing off. This was too much for me because this is not something I get when he's so excited and ready to go. Mr. Lazy (he was ALL day, but got excited at moments) performed like a champ. He got himself that second for finally calming down a bit. I guess that canter stride was too much work!

The brand that no one can figure out the breed from.

Hunter hack, we had a flat portion, and I let him have his face and pushed him forward. It was what the judge was looking for in the hunter under saddle which I didn't give her. Spyder was moving great, and he wasn't in his doing laps mode. He was calm, but moving forward and going towards the bit (instead of me forcing him into it). We did have a jumping pattern at the end where we had to walk towards a cone from our line up, trot at it and over two cross rails, and then end at that cone, halt, and let the reins down. Spyder didn't want to MOVE at the cone because we went away from all of the other horses. He bulged into my leg, RUDE, and made it so the judge had to call out how to handle the situation. I knew, but she was trying to help. I got him moving, did the first jump, paced a step, brought him back to trot (our fault last hunter hack class - he cantered in between), then had a few steps of pace, and I got him back to a trot before the perfect halt and let the reins down. It was WAY better than I could have imagined as my mind was on not cantering like last time. We accomplished that so I was thrilled! At the end of this class (and my last), everyone that I showed with all day was like, "what is he?" They had no idea he was a gaited horse until they saw that move and they all were interested. It goes to show they are no different (and pacers CAN trot).

My parents came with their dog for the first class I did, and my dad got some pictures which was nice. My dad didn't think that I had won anything because they called my married name (I figured I'd switch it up and write that even though it's not officially changed). He was happy to realize that it was me that got 4th! They watched the equitation course, and my dad even said to my mom, "They broke gait." Pretty good for a guy that didn't really know what I was supposed to be doing. I was happy that he came to meet Spyder because he hadn't in the two years I've owned him, and he's the reason I've been into horses my whole life. Their dog was SO scared of Spyder that she was shaking so she got to wait in the car for my class they watched. Spyder loves dogs, but Lily probably would have bit him if I let him sniff her. It's the little ones that are sneaky!

Need to fix his horrible mane job I did. I let him eat grass while I chopped away.

I also learned that Spyder is afraid of wheelchairs! For a horse, it must be, "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!?!?!" We walked towards it, but he was so worked up so I decided to make him stop and stand while "it" (a person with a broken foot in a wheelchair.. the it is the wheelchair, not the person) moved towards us. He was OK with it, and I'm glad it got past us without the typical fire breathing dragon sounds. I was so happy that he kept himself hydrated with an entire bucket of water throughout the day. I was wondering when he'd ever pee because he had so much, and for the first time in two years, I've seen Spyder pee (weird, I know). It was with me on his back, too. Spyder was so well behaved and everyone kept asking about his brand...he showed everyone just how awesome and versatile the breed is. I'm so excited for our hunter pace this weekend. I should have more pictures from the show, but a lot are on Facebook so find me!

Oh, and Spyder was on the trailer going back with the mini - terrifying! He was looking over the divider to see him and was not happy. I'm not sure what his thing is with mini's, but he loves to stare at them like they are going to kill him, and there were a few at the show. Once the mini got out at Barn 1, Spyder had to ride solo to Barn 2 (two doors down) and was apparently upset that Eddie the mini left. Does he look at them with fear? or excitement? Hahaha