Last place blue ribbons

Let me start by saying that this picture is deceiving - we were the only ones in all three classes at the teeny-tiny hunter schooling show we went to this weekend.

(Yes, I still have vids from the dressage show last weekend. Someday, I might actually catch up on blogging. But not today.)

Yesterday (Sunday), SheMovedToTexas graciously came with me to a local hunter schooling show. She said she was there to groom and take pictures (and HOLY COW did she take some NIIICE pictures, which I am going to spam y'all with), but secretly I think she was there to make sure we didn't do anything stupid and eventer-y. I haven't been to many hunter shows in my life, but I swear I need a secret decoder ring to figure out the classes (seriously, how can you have an "X-rails Under Saddle" class where there actually aren't any x-rails involved?!?) AND some sort of magikal crystal ball to figure out when to get on to warm up. 30 trips around the arena = approximately one hour, unless it's teeny kids doing lead line, and then you have to use some sort of equation where you integrate over a margarita? Apparently I'm spoiled as an eventer - we get our ride times pretty much to the minute.

Anyway. This was possibly the worst-run show I've ever been to. The show bill said that classes would start at 8, with X-rails going first. Yay that's me! We arrived just before 7 and checked in. Echo felt that being left to stand on the trailer was an insult of the greatest magnitude, and proceeded to attempt to paw his way through the trailer floor. He's mostly quit pawing in the trailer when it's not moving, but I DID ask him to stand for like a whole 5 minutes. Poor baby. Anyway, we unloaded and Lauren longed him a little bit both directions while I got my boots on and fixed my hair. No Aimee, I did not do Hunter Hair. Lauren let me live anyway.

We headed down to the Derby field (drool) to warm up. There were several horses in the main arena, and I wanted to keep Echo clear of traffic as much as possible. As usual, we did a lot of walking before we picked up a trot. Also as usual, he was looky and only spooked at things like horses jumping.

Mostly, we looked like this. Whoa, Baby Racehorse!

But we had a few fancy moments.


And a LOT of "yes, we are new to this rodeo" moments. (Please ignore my awful chicken wings as my talented horse jumps me out of the tack over a 12 inch crossrail).

At 8:30, they STILL had not started any of the classes. Lauren went over to talk to the show management, and was informed that they were going to do lead-line and the other beginner classes first, and were NOT going to run the rings simultaneously like it had said on the show bill. Xs would go after the beginner classes, and then the 2' class. We decided I might as well get off Echo, hose him, and let him hang out at the trailer for a while.

Lauren got the MOST AWESOME shots of him being hosed. I just love these:

Such a cool shot.

I love the lighting in this one, especially how it's shining off his rump in the background. Lauren is one amazing photographer!

I call this his Fabio shot. He's even got the wind-swept forelock thing going on, lol!

After his bath, we tortured Echo by tying him to the trailer, while we sat down for a snack and some water. He pawed, and pawed some more. He walked. He pawed a little extra just to let us know how tiresome this was. He looked pathetic. Finally, he gave up and started eating his hay. So, even though standing tied to the trailer was not part of the day's plan, it ended up being an excellent lesson in How To Be Patient.

Eventually, Lauren looked into her Magikal Hunter Time Calculation Crystal Ball and said that I should get back on, so we tacked back up and went back over to the derby field to warm up again. More walking, and I decided we wouldn't trot or jump till just before we went in.

Good thing too, since we ended up waiting almost an HOUR AND A HALF. First, they finished up the ground poles class in the small arena. Then, the 2' folks finished warming up. Then they had to reset the 2' course. Then they had to CHANGE the course, since one of the trainers argued about a short turn off the rail (dude, SUCK IT UP AND GET IT DONE. Sheesh.) Then they had to do the 2' section... all while Lauren and I wondered what the deal was when they said the x rails were going to go first? Echo got another lesson in patience while we stood and watched the 2' riders jump. It was good for him (and probably me too, lol!)

We had a really funny moment when Echo discovered a vinyl sign on the side of the arena. He was suspicious of it, but very curious. He reeeeeached out to touch it... and was like, oooh, no. Not safe. Then he got curious again and got a little closer. Maybe this time? Nope. Danger! He finally screwed up his courage and TOUCHED IT WITH HIS NOSE!!! At this point we were laughing at my "brave" baby racehorse, and then a small gust of wind caught it and made it move. He immediately jerked his nose back and regarded it suspiciously, then apparently decided that discretion was the better part of valor and tried to eat grass instead.

Jumps are not as dangerous as vinyl signs, apparently.

After the 2' class finished up, they reset the course with cross-rails. FINALLY! Then one of the trainers (the same one) argued that the flower boxes under the jumps made them too big for all the beginner riders... so she went to find the show organizer, talked about removing the flowers, then they had to find someone to take the boxes out... As soon as they were done with that, Lauren let me in the arena to wait for the judge to give me the go-ahead. But, apparently they a) had me in the wrong classes, and b) thought the kids were doing the x-rails first. W. T. F. Inwardly I was thinking "I've been on this poor horse for almost TWO HOURS" but I gritted my teeth, smiled, and politely asked if I could go first since the course was the same and the jumps were the same and I was the only one in the adult x-rail division. The judge took pity on me and let us do our thing. About damn time!

As we were doing our opening trot circle to the right, I could feel Echo sucking back under me. He does this when he's tired and he thinks we are done... and after an hour of warmup (the first time), then another TWO hours of standing and waiting, I could not blame him one bit. However, it was our turn to shine and I was going to make the most of it.

Me: WE ARE DOING THIS. Echo: DERP.

The first line he was way behind my leg and I kicked him down the line in a canter. It wasn't pretty, but I just wanted to get him thinking FORWARD. We came around to the second line, and he stopped dead to stare at a rolltop that had been moved to the side of the arena. I booted him over the first fence of the line from a standstill, so it didn't technically count as a refusal, lol! We cantered to the second fence, and that went well. Our second loop around went better, although I still felt very haphazard. My plan had been to come back to a trot between the fences in every line, but with him being so behind, I opted for a more forward ride. It mostly worked.

By the last fence, we almost had our shit together.

We did our second class immediately after. This time it was twice 'round to the left. Left is his better direction, and I figured we'd already had a chance to see the sights, so I was gonna make it count.

Determined.

Almost looking like we have a clue.

Again, our round didn't feel stellar, but he did it and I lived. And that was really the whole plan.

Lastly, the under saddle class. They were planning to put me in with the kiddos (all 6 of them) but I think the judge figured out I was riding a greenie, she generously asked if I wanted to go by myself. I was thinking, "Why yes, I think that would be the best for everyone's health and welfare," but managed to say a polite, "Yes, thank you, that would be really nice!". Echo and I discovered that he has a relatively decent walk-canter transition to the left (I think he was as surprised as I was), but unfortunately he forgot that he can canter on the right lead. We got it on our third try, and then he fell in so badly that I literally booted him with my right leg - Lauren said she heard him grunt from where she was standing, lol! We managed one lap and then the judge took pity on us before asking us to walk. 

Pretending we can canter left.

So, that's the story as to how I ended up with three blue ribbons at our first hunter show. It definitely wasn't due to skill or expertise! But overall it was a very educational outing - Echo got to learn how to stand at the trailer, and stand and wait for hours. Considering how long I was on him, I'd say he was a superstar and a very good boy about the whole thing. And, we made it around both our little jump classes without (much of) a meltdown on anyone's part. Mostly that was due to Lauren's expert show management and grooming techniques - THANK YOU LAUREN!

Good Baby Racehorse!

Next weekend? Cross-country schooling! Poor Echo has to work SOOOO HARD!

*All these gorgeous pics are courtesy of Lauren at SheMovedToTexas. THANK YOUUUUUU!!!