Virtual Brush Box

The Gray Wonder, Adventures in Saddle Hunt Seat

 

Mid-South Spring Premiere
Saturday, May 25, 2019
Second half of the day. First half here.

When we last saw our hero, we had hopped our way through our second class and were pondering our next move.

Interim schooling
Ground crew went over to ask Coach Courtney’s advice. Should we do the third class? I was out of earshot, but I could see the ‘Oh hell yeah’ from where I was. She suggested that I go down to the secondary warm-up ring and practice our canter. I added that to my plan to trot his fuzzy gray butt.

Originally, the plan called for dismounting to give him a short break between class two and three. Nope. Breaks are for well-behaved horses. Horses who need their worldview reordered go back to work.

Once on the remote warm-up, I picked up a trot. A big trot. If he had that much energy he could do some work. We did circles. We did serpentines. No, you don’t get to look at the pond. Now its not the time for creative self-expression. You have forfeited that right for today. Now is the time to listen and do your job. By the end of our remedial schooling session, ground crew said that Milton looked as if he might be regretting some of his recent life choices.

Since we were alone in a quiet outdoor ring, Milton cantered with no problem. I had minimal hope that this signified any improvement for cantering in the crowded (with horses), busy (with people), indoor arena.

Coach Courtney suggested I keep Milton on the rail for the class. Being off the rail might leave him feeling out to sea. Generally, I think that is more of an ASB thing. Hunter/jumpers are used to wandering all over the ring. Specifically in the first two classes, I kept him/Milton chose to stay off the rail because he was spooking at all the peoples and movement and strollers and whatnot. I politely pointed this out.

She then commented that being 10 feet off the rail made me harder to avoid. ‘If your horse is going to be a jackass, stay out of everybody’s way.’ Yes, Ma’am.

3rd class
Went in. Took a hard right. Crawled along the rail. We went so deep into the corners, you would have thought we were doing a dressage test. He didn’t flick an ear at being this close to the audience.

The trots were fine, albeit slow. I bagged the class and let him chose the pace he wanted. He didn’t quite achieve peanut roller, i.e. Western Pleasure, but he sure gave it a good try.

Ground crew suggested that I do more trot before asking for the canter. I did this, probably to an exaggerated degree. It had the secondary effect of allowing me to get him alone. At one point, I deliberately did not finish my pass – a saddle seat show ring sin, in order to set up a nice big space by ourselves for the canter transition.

We got both departs! Quietly, gently, followed by pleasant canters. Was he desteamed from working on a hot day? Was he less torqued out by the slower pace. More introductory trot? More personal space? All of the above? Who knows?

I’m proud of myself. (How often do I saw that?) I gave my horse exactly the ride he needed. He went back into a big, exciting space and learned that he can behave.

We learned that Milton finds full show mode to be somewhat alarming.

Everything Else
I want to take a minute to note all the things Milton did right. He is a shipping star. Loads. Travels well. Arrives calm. Between stops and a highway closing, the trip to the show took three hours instead of the two project by Google Maps. Home was 2 hours 15 minutes.

Milton is amenable to work around. Grazes. Stands tied to the trailer. Bathes. Tacking up. Mounting. Quite the chill dude.

With that one exception. As I said yesterday, Milton spooked at a pair of dogs in the underbrush and ran off. Boo, but understandable. Is there a worse sight that seeing your horse lighting out across the fields, headed towards the road? At some point, he stopped. He heard me call his name? Didn’t like being that far from his buddies? He turned and trotted back toward us/the show/away from the road. Good boy.

Once again, no media from us. Photos only happen when the audience has breathing space. I may have been the one in the ring, but the village was riding every step and hop along with me. Professional media has been ordered.

Finally, as always, Rodney gets credit for being a saint about staying home alone [Permanent Gold Star].

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

The Gray Wonder, Adventures in Saddle Hunt Seat

 

Mid-South Spring Premiere (Facebook)
Northeast Alabama Agribusiness Center
Rainsville, AL
Saturday, May 25, 2019

Major Milton
66. Academy Showmanship Adult WTC, 2nd of 3
67. Academy Equitation Adult WTC, 3rd of 3
70. Academy WTC Championship, no place of 9

Official Photographer Event Mix

What does Milton think of a WTC flat class?
Well, we had a big time, that’s for sure.

Intro
Since getting ready for the show took up most of last week, I don’t have much else to talk about. Therefore I am splitting the day into two posts, eventhough the program was three iterations of the same class. Well, the requirements of the three classes were the same. Our performances in them, less so.

When You Represent
There was no way a gray horse – most ASBs are chestnut – in hunt seat tack was going to fly under the radar at a saddle seat show. We would get noticed. I was concerned that if we stank up the joint, it would reflect on Coach Courtney. So, I made sure we at least looked good going in.

Milton had several baths, double baths, body rinses and tail washes before the show, including one at the show. The joys of riding a gray. He was clean, but not perfect. Some of the spots on his side are brown. I tried to convince myself that mean that some of his tail hairs might also be brown. The word flaxen was used. Sadly, I suspect the true color is pooped-on-for-11-years. Short of dipping it in bleach, I didn’t know how to get the end of his tail blindingly white.

My clothes were clean. My boots gleamed. I can’t control the judge at all. I can control my horse to some extent. The only thing I can completely control is how we look.

Warm-up
Typical green horse experiencing a show grounds.

As soon as we arrived, we went for a walk, including several laps of the indoor arena before the show started. Milton looked at everything. To be expected, that’s why we were there. He got away once, when he spooked at a pair of dogs in the woods. He didn’t like the look of the pond, which does not bode well for our future cross-country/marathon horse.

Once I got on, Milton was obedient but still observing his universe with close attention. We walked, trotted, & cantered in the remote warm-up ring, then trotted in the warm-up ring next to the arena. He was whelmed, but not overwhelmed.

All systems go. Let’s see what we have.

1st class
Since Milton is usually too slow, I was concerned about being a speed bump in the class. Not a problem. We trotted into the ring on a perfect speed, neither too slow nor too fast. The trot was lovely. Oh, he looked at this or that, but generally got on with it.

We even had a chance to do some hot dogging. One of the competitors swung wide to set up her pass. Not so fast there, Sunshine. I cut into the space she left and covered her up down the long side. This may have been a SSF person. Doesn’t matter. I will be your bestest friend outside the ring. Once those gates shut, it is on. Just ask my husband what it’s like to show against me [Al Charity, Driving].

Milton seemed willing to party. Didn’t seem to mind the maneuvers.

Walk.

The announcer called for the canter.

Hunters canter from a trot. So, I asked for a short trot, then the canter transition. Boing! Wind-up toy mode activated. Hop. Hop. Hop.

The hops were small enough, and my blood was up enough that I was able to wrestle him back to a walk and ask again.

Reverse.

Trot. Again lovely.

Second canter transition achieved without display of temper, although the canter itself was confrontational.

Line up.

We got second! Not last! The other competitors also had canter problems. One did too much; the other, not enough. While we may have freestyled our way into the canter, we did get a decent gait in both directions.

2nd class
Second class was much like the first.

Nice trot. In fact the trot incident above may be been in the second class. I did something similar in both classes. The canter transitions are clear in my mind. Everything else is a bit of a blur.

On to the canter. Hopped at the start of both. The hissy fit in the second transition displayed a serious commitment to craft. In hindsight, he was never close to unseating me. In the moment, one is always open to the possibility of things getting worse. Somehow, I wrestled him down and into a canter. Not really sure how.

Line up. Third of three. Last. Deserved. Just glad I didn’t get excused for bad behavior. That would have been embarrassing.

Should we do the third class? I was concerned about the escalation from the first class to the second. Was a third class going to be exponentially worse? Plus, it was the Championship class, which meant more horses, many ridden by kids.

We had a two-class wait in which to decide. What to do?

Update
[Hanging With The Saddlebros I, Entering The Class, Pre-show Report, Mid-South Spring Premiere 2019]
Hanging With The Saddlebros IIa, Wannabe Saddlebred Coming Through, Show Report, Mid-South Spring Premiere 2019
[Hanging With The Saddlebros IIb, Back Into The Fray, Show Report, Mid-South Spring Premiere 2019]
[The Two Sides Of Major Milton, Show Photos, Mid-South Spring Premiere 2019]
[Sour Side Up, Milton]
[Milton Wishes For A Time Machine]
[Stepping Stone Show Team Shows Off In Show Horse Magazine]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott