Today we went to the local saddle club horse show. I took Cole, the lesson horse, because he needed a day to do some schooling, and Jubilee, the young arabian because she needed a field trip, and Rain, so my student who is leasing her could show.
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| My student with Rain, warming up |
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| Pre-ride coaching |
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| Post-ride smiles |
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| I do love my knuckle-head of a pony |
Cole hasn't been out much this season, and I have been really bummed about not eventing with Cecil since he passed away, so we decided to take a day and support the local saddle club. Cole went very nicely in showmanship, and his english classes. We did ride western as well, but he was opinionated and wasn't worth photographing. By the end of the show he was tired, disgruntled about not getting to hang at the trailer and work on his hay bag, and done showing off. The thing about Cole is that you ALWAYS know what he is thinking. He is always thinking. He loves to show off, but if there are no jumps he eventually gets bored. For example, at horse expo in Denver in March he was an incredible demo horse, launching over any jumps we set in front of him in the large events center at the National Western Complex and making my working student look incredibly good. By contrast, when he rode western today, he had complaints about the bit (the rule book requires him to wear a shanked bit when riding western because of his age), complaints about the saddle pad not being quite thick enough, and complaints about the tedium of the equitation pattern. Although set up perfectly for his canter departures, he took the wrong lead the first time EVERY TIME, then ground himself to a halt, then picked up the correct lead from a halt just to prove he could. By the end of the day he was wagging his tongue out the side of his mouth at my assistant whenever he rode past her. Hard to interpret that as anything other than, - pointing at my face - "there is something WRONG with my MOUTH". Fortunately he was happy to be untacked and loaded right up the trailer to head home with his friends. He really only competes riding western a couple times a year, and tolerates it extremely well considering his opinions on the matter.
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| So blessed to live here |
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| Cole pretending to go fast |
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| Documentation that Cole is capable of lengthening! |
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| Square halts - no faults! |
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| The guy does love a good stretch |
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| Faster! |
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| Beautiful place to show |
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| Jubilee napping at the trailer |
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| A friend riding her little mare who is for sale |
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| Petite little thing! |
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