Poodles&Ponies: Leaping Tall Buildings with a Single Half Halt

Do you even know who I am????
The Buca wants go go in NOW!

Ask any horse person and pretty much we will all say that the Local Clubs should be supported. You know what I mean: the clubs that put on the shows for non-professional horse people to get together and have fun. The shows where most of us got our starts (unless you debut at the high dollar, big deal shows… in which case, lucky you). Even if they have their flaws, they are a great. These are the shows where, for a measly $5 a class, you can try your hand at gaming or jumping or pleasure. What a great place to mingle with other horse owners! I mean, if no one supports the local shows then they are going to shrivel up and die leaving the next generation of up and coming horse men and women with no place to make their debut.

You hear the arguments:

The footing isn’t imported felt.

The group putting on the shows doesn’t know anything.

I’ve grown past the local levels.

Side note: At this point in typing my blog, I was interrupted by a wood pecker on my house. I threw rocks, it didn’t seem to care. Now to continue my lost train of thought…

My answer to all of those: Suck it up. Horses aren’t going to die if they aren’t in a perfectly groomed arena. You can always ride HC if you feel that you outclass the competition and BONUS: you may just get to inspire a newcomer to the horse sports to strive to be better. I remember seeing a third level rider at a schooling show way back in the days of quarter horses and barrel races and being just blown away. Sure, I’d be more critical now, but that test left a distinct impression on me. I was going to dance like that. And I did.

OK, off of my soap box now.

Guess what I did?

Uh, gee. Went to a local show? *Sarcasm*

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner.

Now, as you all may know, I love Delight. I also have two other horses who are sucking up my horse show funds, so she’s been shelved for two years (yikes! Has it really been that long?). I’m proud of her, I want to show her off but I’m not able to spend $500 on a real show weekend just to pat myself on the back. Drat. Where is that rich old guy when I need him?

So, I took Delight to a local jump show. That’s right ladies. Jump show.

Of course, being the fussy DQ in the area with a reputation to uphold, I got up early and braided.

With PINK yarn! Adora-pony!

Then we loaded up and off we went. We had a lot of fun for a measly $20 and it sure was nice not to have a four hour drive home.

It was a 12 mile drive, Delight!

I’ll be the first to fess up that I am not the bravest over fences. There’s a reason that I love dressage. I love the control, the confined power. The deep seat.

Is Delight too classy? Possibly.

However, Delight was nice and soft on the bit and not perturbed in the least when I jacked up the stirrups on my dressage saddle and proceeded to warm up around a jump. Our fellow competitors were slightly wary of our leg yields (How do we ride around that??!??!), but we called our lines and Delight was fantastic. Until I opted for a warm up fence.

Think she cleared it by enough?

We slammed on the brakes, and even had a buck or two when I insisted. So I asked a volunteer to drop one side to make an awkward half-cross-rail and voila! Over we popped. We hopped it a few times each way before it was reset as a vertical and we hopped over that too. Already the show was a success.

I entered the "novice horse" classes HC, since while she and I are novices over fences I didn't feel right about taking ribbons. Not that it mattered, there were other horses who were much faster than us (because I fully believe in the half halt).

Now PICTURES! Because that's the real reason we show, right?