Another Saturday dawned as we prepared for a trip to the Rockie Mountain Saddle Club horse show. We love these shows because they are ten minutes away, five dollars a class, and no one minds if I bring squirrelly youngsters to the show. I felt immensely grateful for the other competitors' understanding and grace today! I took Xena, as a field trip to practice traveling in the horse trailer, as well as a test to see how she did in the exciting horse show environment.
The trailering was a success. Xena hopped right in the trailer, then stood quietly while I fastened the partition and loaded Beauty. She got a little jittery during the quick trip to the show grounds and was a little sweaty when we arrived, but nothing major. Once we had checked in at the office we unloaded Xena and Beauty, and I took Xena to the arena to examine the place where she would be riding. She was very look-y, giving the side-eye to everything from tractor implements to the neighbor's cattle, including the loud speakers and flapping plastic bags in the trash barrels. I was able to redirect her attention back to me, though, and she was able to focus and work out her kinks on the lunge line.
We did showmanship to give her another chance to check out the arena with other horses in it, and while she was a little wiggly, mostly it went smoothly. She walked and trotted in hand very nicely and even backed pretty well.
Our riding warmup was a different story. I got Xena tacked up and I mounted. She let me get on, we walked a little ways away from the trailer, then she began to rear. I knew all the tack was correct and that this was a result of her nerves and an attempt to see if she could get out of the day's responsibilities. This behavior is part of her history, necessitating her coming to Bit of Honey for training. After she went straight up in the air twice I was able to get her going forwards and then she walked nicely to the arena.
Once we were in the arena we had a whole rodeo going on. The warm up arena at any show is always some degree of bedlam, and today we supplied the crowd with ample reasons to gasp and white knuckle the rails. Xena had so much adrenaline coursing through her that it took all the psychological management I possessed to keep her under control. Horses coming at her from the front unnerved her, but passing horses going the same direction as her sent her into high-gear. If I tried to keep her at a slower gait and was too strong with my reins she would slam on the brakes and rear. If I let her get going too fast at any gait she would begin bucking. My Bit of Honey Crew was ready for anything, armed with extra lead ropes and everyone hovering along the fence with eyes trained on me and the wild child.
Fortunately I was able to keep my balance and bring her down from her episodes. I ended up sending her forwards in a strong canter each direction so she knew she could go forwards. Rearing almost always is a result of the horse thinking they CAN'T go forwards for some reason, so staying off her face and making sure she knew that forwards was the best option was the way to deal with her today. Rearing is more dangerous than bucking because of the chance the horse could lose her balance and tip over backwards, so I elected to go forwards at the canter and deal with the hopping around versus arguing about her being light in the front loafers. I'll be honest, there were a couple times I debated about executing a moving dismount, but I was able to ride her through it.
I swear the understanding folks in the office saw my day's challenges and gave us longer than usual warm-up so I would have a chance to get Xena under control. By the end I did have her walking on a loose rein, though I still decided to dismount before leaving the arena. When someone noticed and asked me why, I replied that I prefer to keep rodeos IN the arena! The judge was walking by as I made the comment and gave me a knowing smile and agreed with a nod.
I didn't want to end Xena's horse show with that kind of behavior, so I led her around the grounds for a few minutes to help her settle. We walked over ground poles, and the first time through I swear she shouted, "Kim! HOLD me!" and tried to jump into my arms. I made it clear that she is too big to be a lap dog and needed to give me substantially more space, and she was very quiet and well behaved after that.
I did decide to ride her in the rail class to give her one more chance to pull it together before we called it a day. I remounted, and she stood quietly and was well behaved this time. I then rode her around the trail course near the parking area, going over ground poles and turning with the subtlest of cues so she would focus and listen to my seat. When we went into the show arena for our class Xena was worlds better than she had been in the warm up. It helped that everyone was going the same direction, and at the same speeds. This class required that we shorten and lengthen the horse's stride at the walk, trot, and canter, and mostly Xena was able to do it. Thankfully there was no rearing or bucking, just some very fast canter work and a little crow-hopping. At the end of the class she stood in the line up, googly-eyed and watching all the other horses, but she did stand.
The judge was very kind, and made a point to approach us at the end of the class to commend me on my riding. She understood just how hot and nutty Xena had been (having watched the warmup), and the judge wanted to make sure she expressed to me how well I had handled her in the class. The saddle club is such a great place to bring these green horses, even the judges are positive and understanding.
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