Awareness of the outside world. Cuteness! Raincoast Rider: WW: Tales from the Backyard 5*. Be sure to scroll down for the final close-up.
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The end [Academy Represent! Playing With The Big Kids, Show Report AWTA 2023-2024 #1]
The beginning [Show Prep Part One, The Horse Who Didn’t Show, AWTA 2013-2024 #1]
The middle …
Optimus at my pre-show lesson.
I was not going to show. I was sure of it. I even drafted the text for the post.
*****
DRAFT TEXT for show report post
I didn’t ride, even though we were there for my classes. The short version that I gave Coach Courtney. Am I going to ride in the tournament? No. I’d either need to be more excited about showing or less stressed about Milton. I’m not, so no.
Longer version. Advanced. Optimus is a solid dude, but he really fails to wow the judges. I’m not sure why. Academy student on a lesson horse against performance riders on fancy horses? Competing in ‘Thank You For Playing’ category? My desire to show for its own sake has limits.
Bubba can be fancier, but I have trouble keeping him cantering. Struggling to keep my horse going while showing against suit riders, not a recipe for success, see above re limits to showing.
END
*****
These were my thoughts until the week before the show.
Why bother? I was setting myself to come in last. I knew suit riders from SSF would be in the class. I was going to take them on with a school horse who couldn’t win in academy? Sure, I showed George at the Capitol Centre, but that was WIHS. [The Time I Rode In A World Championship]
Then, Wednesday before the show. Chance that Milton may not be going. Hmm. That’s nice. Still no effect on my life.
On the way home, I pondered Greg & Milton. It would be nice if they were running marathon in CDEs and thundering around derby courses. But they are not. The two of them seem fine with this. If progress means small steps in the backyard, so be it. To Greg, driving is recreation as much as anything. Milton needs something to do. Greg needs something to do.
This resonated with me. I think I was stressing about his horse activities more than he was.
Me? I want to be thundering around. I want to make progress. Well, if I wanna horse, this is the program on offer. Part of the program at SSF is showing at winter tournament. Absolutely it was a reason to go to a horse show. I do like me some external validation ribbons. But also, it was about progress. If I want to make progress, this is what I got. Do it wish it were otherwise? Yes. But it’s not, so maybe I should haul myself out there for a lesson. Particularly since I had ridden only one time since the big show in October.
Once again, I squeezed in a lesson right before a show, photo above. I had planned to stay with lessons. Time got away from me. The barn was at a show. Or I was indisposed. Or they were at another show. Or it was unseasonably cold. You know, life happened.
Sometimes, not riding is a good thing for my saddle seat. The hunter/jumper habits don’t creep in. FWIW, it never goes the other way. Saddle seat doesn’t creep into my h/j. No matter how much saddles seat versus how little hunt seat. Can’t beat 50 years of habit.
Thus two days before show, I went out to the barn. I knew about the three advanced riding classes. Since the last time I had done winter tournament, they had added a 50+ class. That’s four classes. Five, if we were at the other barn and Milton was not showing in the driving class. Five classes. Even if we stayed at SSF, my resolve against doing both started to weaken.
If you have been following this saga since Tuesday, you know what happened. Milton did not show. I did. I probably would not have shown if it hadn’t happened quite as it did. If the potential change in barns had not brought up the possibility of Milton not showing and if we hadn’t already been in show mode, I don’t know that it would have occurred to me to enter.
The weirdest part? I wasn’t nervous. Well, a bit, A normal amount. Nothing compared to what I have been lately. Partly, it all happened quickly. OTOH, I can ramp up fast. Partly it was coming to a better understanding of what Greg and I each want out of horses. It really was that immediate. In the space between two text messages to Coach Courtney, I completely rearranged my attitude.
Perhaps I had a life-changing epiphany. Or, more likely, the project of getting Milton into the show ring broke my stress meter.
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 