Photo by Melissa C.
In my first class, the verdict was that I was too “busy”. It’s anybody’s guess what I was busy doing. As soon as I passed through in-gate, I forgot all the saddleseat show rules. For example, saddlebreds are trained to zoom down the straightaway. This is where they show their stuff. So, if the judge calls for a downward transition, you should “finish your pass” and downshift in the corner. Nope. As soon as the judge called for a trot, I hit the brakes with a screech. If I came to a walk in the corner, it was an accident of geography.
In the second class, I sat up and stayed quiet just like my trainer told me to. Funny how that works.
Yes, in an ideal world I would be in a competition that involved cantering & jumping. As far as resetting the horse show clock, this counts.
List of saddleseat posts.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Gratuitous Horse Show Cat
Virtual Brush Box 
woo hoo! good to see you riding and competing again. It’s not what you’re used to, but it’s getting back to that world.
I am delighted to see you back in the ring, and even more impressed that the saddleseat folk are into helmets!!!!!!!
Tolerant-of is more like. My class of adult beginners was the only all-helmeted class. Percentage of helmets increased as we went thru the day from advanced to beginners. Plus the show was specifically for folks who take lessons riding school horses, called Academy. From what I’ve seen, Academy is more helmet friendly than the full-out suit classes. OTOH, no one has breathed a word about my wearing a helmet. I got more grief from the hunter/jumper world when I showed up in one of the first ASTM-mushroom helmets.
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!! Your saddleseat adventures sound like so much fun! 🙂 Sam seems like a sweetie!
Look forward to catching up soon! Elizabeth
Congratulations! Proud of you and happy for you!
Nice job! The comment on helmets reminds me of the ski world – about 20 years ago, no one wore a helmet. It just wasn’t done. Skip ahead to now, and most people wear them – except for the 20-somethings who are going to live forever.
Soooo good to see you on a horse! Any horse.
You look really good on that horse!
AWESOME JOB! Winning feels good, doesn’t it? Love the saddle seat breeches by the way. I always found them so much more flattering than the ones required for dressage or eventing.