Jester has been feeling great. If his fores get packed with mud, manure, etc, he acts gimpy until I clean it out. He doesn't tolerate much pressure to the sole in front of the frog. So we have been riding without boots 90% of the time, and having a great time.
He and I were ready to try another walk-trot show, and go all-around this time. I borrowed an English saddle, dolled him up, and took my 'new to me' updated western saddle along.
He did not like to be smushed into the slant stall in the trailer. He really wants more balance room for his hind legs. But he worked out of his stiffness after we got there.
Just for kicks, I entered in the gelding halter (body-building/beauty contest)... Fourth of four. Good experience.
Showmanship (judged on the person and how clean, behaved and prepared the horse is) was fun, though Jester did NOT want to practice backing up, he did it in the ring. He tries very hard for me. We were third out of 8 or so entries. Good enough for me!
Western pleasure walk-jog was going just fine when a green horse breezed by us at a full trot and Jester wanted to go too. Small tantrum, extinguished... but we got into a traffic jam and that made him mad. I excused myself from the ring, not wanting to endanger anyone else.
Off to practice more and back to Western horsemanship walk-jog, a contest of maneuvers and rider finesse. Fourth of eight or so entries was just fine. Trail class, a series of obstacles and speed changes, went well, with the exception of a rider error. We earned third. So far, I was thrilled to place and happy to be there at all. I had a good friend helping and taking photos, which made it all the more fun.
Finally, two English classes capped the day. Hunter under Saddle walk-trot (judged on the horse's manners, cadence and gaits), and Equitation, similar to Horsemanship, but under English tack. We placed first in both! I was quite amazed and pleased. Jester was pretty proud of himself too.
The surprise of the day came when we were called for the High Point Champion prize. A bucket full of nice horsey items was awarded to us for having highest overall score for our division. Yippee! Sadly, there were no horse treats in the prize bucket. Jester had to be content with his feed and hay.
Some things that helped- oral electrolytes, though he did drink, it wasn't enough, a big smile (hard to wipe that off my face, I had the prettiest horse in the place!), and the amazing help of my good friend.
What not to do next time- Calming supplement (he got a bit sluggish), leave stirrups too long for English (I posted halfway around the ring trying to regain my outside stirrup in Hunter under Saddle, get into traffic jams in large classes (go in last so I can adjust to the traffic), and no high hand in Western! Maybe I'll get some coaching....
