First Show of the Season - Highboy

 Today was the first saddle club show of the season.  Highboy has had a couple good rides this week and so I decided to take him and show in the advanced division for the day (level is based on the rider not the horse).  He loaded up in the trailer just fine and we went to the show grounds about 5 minutes away from my place.  Once I took him out of the trailer there the fun began!  He was really wound up so leading him and then lunging him in the arena was quite exciting.  The audience reactions and comments ranged from incredulity: "is she really going to RIDE that horse?" to fear: "this is terrifying", to awe:  "he is so TALL!"  Fortunately several of my fellow horse trainer/riding instructor colleagues were around to explain: "it will be ok, she's a trainer and it's her horse, and she wouldn't ride him if she couldn't handle it".  

After the lunging and when Highboy settled down we did showmanship, competing with my friend Trisha and her mare.  Both Trisha and I are very non-competitive and attend these events simply to give the less experienced horses show mileage, and we had a great time as always.

After showmanship I tacked up Highboy and climbed on.  There was a lot of sideways trotting...

but also some very nice moments, including his attempt at a little canter in one of the rail classes.  He figured out the routine for horseshows, which consists mainly of standing around and visiting with people. 

yes, Highboy really is that tall.  16.3 hands and still growing

Overall the rides were a smashing success for Highboy.  Yes he was wild to begin with, but by keeping his brain busy and his attention focused on me I was able to have a very sweet boy by the end of the classes.  I am super proud of him.  It's worth commenting, too, that when he first arrived he was unable to canter at all, and incapable of turning to the right because of his body soreness and muscle atrophy.  Today he was leaping all over the lungeline, moving sound, and then he rode for a couple hours.  I foresee lots of fun competitions in his future...

One of my clients took a brief video of Highboy being ridiculous in the morning which can be seen here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsLsdlGNY1o

For comparison, a video of how he moved seven months ago can be seen here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPO7Oqj69Sg