My Haul
Because love me some swag. Also because the Winter Tournament organizers worked hard to come up with interesting and useful prizes.
Horsemanship, monogrammed toolbox with show suppliesEquitation, suit bagPleasure, personalized peppermint bucketDriving, t-shirt
High Point Adult, set of etched glasses
High Point Kid winners got hand-welded metal ribbon racks. Leadliners got a bucket of treats. Both thought and effort went into these awards. Color me impressed. And smug. Let us not forget smug.
Out-take
Lucy, an SSF barn cat, supervises the photo shoot.
Champion Advance Horsemanship WTC Adult
Champion Advanced Equitation WTC Adult (Pattern)
Champion Pleasure Horse or Pony WTC Adult
High Point Adult, Stepping Stone Farm
While I’ve won each of these divisions before, this is the first time I’ve swept the board. During the banquet, I behaved with quiet dignity. I wasn’t smug. Not in the slightest.
Sultan’s Miracle Man
Sam, 8 of 9 classes
Jazz In The Park
Parker, 1 class
Loot Tables
Personal reveal tomorrow.
Out-take
Parker would like to suggest that future ribbons come in peppermint flavor.
Blog Contributor Michelle Duplichien [Archives] is a sister of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx, a New Orleans Mardi Gras organization. Their parade throw is purses, or more accurately sculptural objects that started life as purses. This year, one of Michelle’s purses was inspired by Stepping Stone Farm and the American Saddlebred. Michelle painted and decorated the body of the purse and handwove the handle.
Photo by Michelle DuplichienPhoto by Michelle Duplichien
Stopped at gas station to check the tie-downs before we get on the highway. Well, the driver checked the safety of his rig. I took the obligatory brag pictures one takes after owning something for less than 10 minutes.
655 miles 12H 45min
We found a cart.
In North Carolina.
We tried to find a shipper. No luck.
The easiest way was to get it ourselves.
We considered stopping here. Staying there. Combining trips. No luck.
The easiest way was to get in the truck and go.
We went.
Hardwick Hideout Teeter-Totter #TT042 October 15, 2010 Aluminum Estimated weight 200 lbs. The weight for a cart suitable for a 15.2h horse is advertised as 175 lbs. Bigger horse, heavier cart. New to us through Country Carriage USA.
Nine posts, plus one that got posted to my personal account by mistake. I keep a second account to follow friends, family, and random accounts that have no relation to the blog.
Horse: 2
Cats: 2
Weather: 2
Horse-related: vest, obstacles,
Off Topic: street art, stamps
Having the second split screen post on top of the first would get me frowned at by the Instagram gurus who advocate cohesive accounts that employ forethought and flow and a sparkling grid layout. Instead, my Instagram philosophy is Oooh pretty picture/interesting event. Can I use it for a post? No? How about Instagram? Thus the account is bits and pieces too small for a post, which then get saved here.
Took a class in pewter casting at the local art museum. When I cast my carefully crafted random object, the plaster cracked in two. Now when I claim to be a super special snowflake, I have proof.
Standing water in the ring. Squelchy, slippy mud on the paths. Nothing to do but let them bask in the sun while we drive over to Georgia to watch a horse show, Winter Fest by Elite Show Jumping. It seems that both hunter/jumpers and eventers in my area hold competitions at Chattahoochee Hills Eventing, this includes an adorable, low (really low) level event series that would be perfect for a certain gray OTTB: tests can be called, jackets are not required, limited coaching is allowed, schooling is offered, eliminated riders can show in the next phase if there is no safety issue, and so on. SESSC is a super beginner-friendly competition. (Rules here. http://chatthillseventing.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Chatt-Hills-Show-Participation-Guidelines.pdf)
Jumper Ring
Cross-Country Course
Generic Ribbons
Squad Goal
The Amoeba/Tadpole XC jumps looked simultaneously tiny and impossible huge. Milton could walk over at least one. The rest did not come as far up as my knees. Well-made. Inviting. Every adjective you could want for a starter course. And yet, all I could see was the abyss between where I was and where I wanted to be. Going to horse shows for motivation can be a tricksy proposition. It can backfire so easily.
It’s hard to fight the defeatist voices in my head when they have history on their side. My record for buying horses who can event is not good. I’ve written before about a scouting trip to CHE [Repost, BTE 3 of 9: The AEC, a Realization in Five Phases]. “Since my publicly stated goal is to win the Training AEC, I went over to Georgia to scope out my future.” That was nine years ago. Nine? Really? Moving on.
On a different note, the ribbons were completely average. While I would absolutely give wall space to siblings of these dears, they could use a touch of saddle seat flair.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the horses totally enjoyed their play day. Roll in the mud. Bake in the sun. Roll. Bake. Where is our dinner minion?
Virtual Brush Box 