Saddle Club Show Highboy and Rain

We spent the day at the Rockie Mountain Saddle Club and I rode Highboy english, then rode Rain western.  I planned ahead and had all my horses with me for the day so I didn't need to make any trips home to swap horses this time!  Highboy did his best yet, marching right into the trailer without any argument, and he won his showmanship class to get his first blue ribbon!  He also rode quite well, getting his leads and even cantering in circles for the pattern classes.  His steering is much better and overall he is much more relaxed and easy-going about the whole experience.  Not one person was concerned for my safety this time!

 Rain also was phenomenal.  I used her in western showmanship, equitation, pleasure, and reining again.  That mare thinks reining is pretty awesome, she sure books it when the pattern calls for big fast circles, but very politely comes right back down to a reasonable canter for the small slow circles.  Spinning is a bit tough for both of us, because of the dizziness I still experience as a leftover from the brain injury.  The start of the pattern called for four spins to the right, then four spins to the left.  Then we were to do the galloping and rollbacks.  I was pretty proud of us, since it was not too many years ago that even a single rotation in a spin would induce dramatic vertigo for me, and two spins would just about make me topple off the horse.  Rain and I did all eight spins, I was dizzy and then headed into my gallop to the right instead of the left as the pattern dictated.  The judge was pleasant and accommodating, understanding this is a schooling show and I was there to practice, so she let me finish my ride even though going off-pattern normally would disqualify me.  It was wonderful that I was even able to do the rest of the pattern, knowing how the spins would have finished me off just a couple years ago.