Sara took Dancer, Kim H. took Rain, I brought Raven, Jasi took Miss Pea, Joyce brought Khreed, Amy brought up Scoot for Rozie to ride and Ace for Cynthia, so we had a full Bit of Honey Training aisle in the barn!
We had a great time with the bareback dressage classes:
The fun classes included egg & spoon, toilet paper pairs, ride-a-buck,
Trisha was needing a partner for the tp pair class, so our ever-ready show manager, Sara, was coerced into services. This was their extended trot, shortly before Jacob the Fjord decided Sara was behaving oddly and was no longer trustworthy.
Of course the costume class was great, as always. There were mermaids, Jacob the Fjord was a gangster with his friends Trisha and Nicole, and the rest of us were part of the Bit of Honey Circus. I was the ringleader in the red coat and top hat, Miles the dog had a rider. Raven was my lion, Rain a giraffe, Rebecca and Miss Pea were elephants, and Jasi was a mouse.
At this point Raven was misbehaving and acting like a squirrelly lion. Miles is normally my backup in these situations, but even he took a look at her, declared, "I help a lot of horses, but I can't help her." and hopped over the dressage fence to walk from the safer side.
Ultimately Miles decided I had the lion under control and then he could walk with us, but at a safe distance of course.
There was a pairs class that Jasi and I rode on Miss Pea and Dancer, so we had matching chestnut mares while we wore our matching blue show coats.
Trisha rode Joy and Chris rode Kalarro, and the matching grey arabians were darling!
Everyone had fun in the dressage trail class, which hearkened back to the days of early Estes Park showing (like hearken all the way back to the early 60s) where one of the obstacles was to dismount and stuff a live chicken into a box. We abstained from involving actual birds, and used a stuffed animal chicken in a mailbox instead.
Raven said, "nope" and I was content with a relatively quiet halt near the box.
There was also an in-hand trail class which Trisha somehow talked Sara into doing, and everyone was astounded at how much running was involved for the human in tall boots. The running was only topped in entertainment value by Dancer hopping out of the dressage arena, at the VERY END of the test before their final jog down centerline to salute. Dancer hopped out, Sara stayed in, and Dancer gave her a puzzled look as if to reprimand her for refusing to jump such a small cavalletti.
There were of course all kinds of dressage tests, including the Western Dressage Association rides on Saturday.
The versatility class was interesting. This class is done with the horses and riders entering the arena to begin with in western attire and tack. They ride both directions on the rail at the walk, jog, and lope. Then there is a brief intermission where grooms rush in, horses are quickly undressed and redressed in english tack, and the humans are too. Think pit crew, not strip show.
Of course we had many regular classical dressage tests ridden as well.
Miss Pea and Jasi were wonderful riding Training Level test 1.
Kim H. and Rain also rode Training Level Test 1, which made me incredibly proud. This was Kim's first time cantering at a horse show, and it was a stretch for her mentally to do this test. I knew she was capable, and sure enough she and Rain did me proud. They even did their twenty meter circles at the canter, which everyone else knew they could do, but this weekend they proved it to themselves.
Our friend Trisha, who has been attending this horse show her entire life, rode a plethora of horses this weekend. One of our favorites was Mac, a stunning dapple grey arabian gelding.
Sara somehow managed to run the entire horse show as the show manager, as well as ride a beautiful test with Dancer. I showed Dancer in Estes many years ago when she was a youngster, and I'm pretty sure this amazing mare remembered being there.
Joyce rode Khreed both english and western, and did a great job with him. He was the only actual arabian from our barn to show at this arabian competition.
Our friend from Trisha's barn, Chris, rode her gelding Kalarro in several tests. They make such a nice pair!
Raven had her extremely photogenic moments:
As well as some less-than-photogenic moments:
This was the test where she was mad at me for not letting her go back to her friends in the barn, so she kicked out with her right hind hoof when I told her to move over in an attempt at a square halt.
I have to laugh at these photos now that we are a week out from the actual incidents, because Raven is making just hilarious faces, and I am clearly making an effort to keep a professional expression.
The Prix Caprilli class was a fun one to watch. In this class, the horse and rider pairs do a dressage test with jumps in it. Joyce and Jasi did the intro tests which included walking, trotting, and cross rails.
I did the first level test with Raven. I chose this one partly because I already had it stored in my own long term memory from doing it with Highboy last year, and partly because I wanted to see how Raven did with a longer, more complicated test that included jumps. She ended up doing fine, and interestingly the only eights she got on ANY of her tests all weekend were for her jumping abilities in the Prix Caprilli.
Miles won Best Horse Show Dog, which was quite an honor. He definitely deserved it for being such a good copilot and getting me to the show safely every year.
He also patiently waits out thunderstorms near the tack room, as well as always offering to chase them off.
He happily participates in the costume class every year.
He howls at sirens to make sure everyone knows help is on the way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LQ16cVJryQ
He's a good sport about having a bath right before we leave for a show, because it only makes sense to have a fluffy and clean border collie stealing your pillow and spooning with you overnight on the mattress in the gooseneck of the trailer where you're camping.
We had such fun people with us this year, and so enjoy everyone's company.
There were some extra shots of some of the other competitors, and we sure drooled over those beautiful horses.
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