Show Report & Tweets: Winter Tournament 2015 #3, B&W Stables

Winter Tournament 3
B & W Farm
Hartselle, AL
February 14, 2015
Riding & driving with Natalie
Thank you to Ann Stanton and Nicole Hardy

2. Advanced Horsemanship WTC Adult, 3rd of 9
3. Advanced Equitation WTC Adult with Pattern, 2nd of 3
8. Pleasure Horse or Pony WTC Adult, 2nd of 7 (estimated)
24. Academy Driving, 2nd of 2

It’s amazing how differently one can feel about three ribbons of the same color.

My second class was the equitation class with a pattern. That class is mine to lose. However, we were uninspiring in our rail work and vague in our pattern. The winner might have beaten me anyway, but I didn’t have to make it easy for her. Note to self, spending time pondering the proper use of the hands is pointless if you fail to promote power from the engine. Phooey.

For my third, the pleasure class, I asked Natalie to move out. While she is a Saddlebred, she tends toward pretty rather than pizazz. She stepped it up beautifully. In the line-up, I told her that I didn’t care what place we got, she had earned her peppermints. Second in the company of suit riders & trainers is pretty darn good for a lesson rider and lesson horse.

In the driving class, second was a foregone conclusion. I worked on keeping my concentration on our form and keeping up the momentum. A nice trip for us, building on the previous show [Report, Heathermoor]. We even dug up a bit of extended trot.

The first class? That was bumper cars. Nine horses in small ring, first thing in the morning, on a beautiful day. More than one horse objected to ringside fairies lurking under chairs or perched on tree branches. Then the in-gate blew over, causing previously calm horses, including Natalie, to decide the sky was falling. At one point, I ducked left to avoid a horse having a snit, ran out of space, and nearly flattened the judge. We placed third. I have no idea what other folks got up to.

Saddlebred. Typing in parking lot = sun glare.

~~~

In warm-up. Does anyone else see the saddle seat leaking out and the hunt seat creeping back in?