Thursday, July 28, 2011

good news and bad news

Good news first:

The time has come: Lucy is going to her very first show on Sunday!!!!!

I am SUPER excited, especially since she has been so incredible this week. What a NICE horse she is turning out to be. Lauren reported that she had a perfect ride yesterday and was so pleased with Lucy, which is always really nice to hear. It was especially good because Lucy was inside all day yesterday so I was worried she'd be a bit nutty under saddle, but apparently she was lovely!

So anyway, the show. It's a schooling show and classes are $10 each, which will be great for my budget since I am extremely broke right now. I didn't write about this here, but last month my car needed $4500 worth of work on it. We had some help with part of the cost but it was still a rough month budget-wise, and then this week the ball bearing in one of the front wheels failed, so that needs to be replaced also.

I was almost nervous to ask Kenny what he thought of me doing a show but the wonderful thing is that we have the truck and Claire is letting me use her trailer, so we don't have to pay a shipper to take the horse to the show. Since the classes are so cheap and the show isn't rated (no association fees), it is going to be a really cheap, fun way to test how Lucy is in a show environment. He said he was excited for me to take her!

I spent a long time pouring over the divisions because I couldn't decide between regular adult w/t/c and green horse w/t. Her canter is coming along so nicely that I really want to show it off, but at the same time this show has a green horse division and I thought for the first show it might be best to play it safe and take advantage of the green horse option while we still can. It is disappointing that I won't be able to canter on her, but we have the future to canter all we want at shows. I ended up choosing green horse and I am looking forward to it.

Edited to add that I was wrong, the green horse division is w/t/c!! I am really pleased!

I think I will attempt to braid her...hopefully it comes out well. It's been a while since I braided a mane!

I also scored a cheap used pair of Tailored Sportsman breeches at a local consignment store for $30. What a deal, what a deal. I couldn't be happier about that!!

Other than that, I just cleaned all my tack on Sunday and I already have a white contoured show pad for her, so we should be good to go. I am going to stick with the Kimberwicke for this show even though we may be penalized slightly for it (placed lower than a horse in a snaffle). Hunter shows are so subjective, ugh.

I will bathe her on Saturday and make sure she's clipped but I think overall it will be a very low-stress, fun experience! I also heard the show is very small and is usually over by 1:30pm, which is awesome. Classes have typically no more than 6 horses each.

And let's not forget the best part: I know I won't have to argue with her for 45 minutes to get her in the trailer! YAY!!!

Ok, now the bad news:

On Tuesday, the barn manager's horse got caught up in some fencing and he sustained a terrible injury. It was touch-and-go for a while. He ended up being wrapped by the vet and they'll re-check him in a few days. Please keep your fingers crossed and the horse and his owner in your thoughts because they need a lot of luck right now.

11 comments:

  1. yay!! I can't wait to hear how it goes! I know she'll do awesome! I wish I could go to a little open show or something. I miss it so much!

    Yesterday I watched the videos you posted on her loading on to the trailer and that is so awesome! I'm so glad that problem is fixed!

    Sad about the BMs horse.... I really hope that he pulls through. Praying for no infection!

    Good luck in the show!!!

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  2. ahh!! i'm so excited for you! you guys will BOTH do AMAZING at the show. i'm glad you picked the green horse division, they're typically more fair about judging the horse as it is, not at the normal extreme Hunter standards...

    :( The BM's horse.. that must be terrible. I'll pray for them! I hope he pulls through, horses being caught in fencing can be extremely terrible. :(


    Good luck at the show!!!

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  3. Very excited to hear about your show! I think Lucy will be great! Just get there plenty early to give her time to settle in and lunge if needed... but I'm sure you knew that already! Good luck, and have fun!!

    As for the tape fencing, I know there's a certain kind that will break if a horse gets tangled in it, though I don't know exactly which one. A friend of mine has it at her place and I could ask her if you want. Might be worth mentioning to your BM because maybe switching to a different, safer kind of tape wouldn't be cost-prohibitive.

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  4. Hooray show!! Hope it goes well for you guys.

    Every kind of fencing seems to have it's drawbacks. Best wishes for the horse and it's owner.

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  5. Good luck at the show! And don't forget to have fun.

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  6. Yay you and Lucy! That's so exciting! As Dom said, have fun.

    I'm so sorry about the poor horse with the terrible injury. I hope it turns out OK.

    Terry at Moondance

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  7. Oh that poor horse! I hope he makes it, poor guy.

    Good luck at your show!

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  8. It's exciting that you're going to a show. I always prefer training when I have a goal like that in mind.

    That's really unfortunate about your BM's horse. Hoping for a full recovery!

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  9. ugh that is stomach turning. I hope that horse makes it out OK.
    As for you; how awesome and I cant wait to hear about the show!!! PS I'm going to London and hopefully Cotswolds this Wed for 3 nights, so any "MUST DO's" you can think of, please pass along!!! xo

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  10. Oh my goodness Kristen I am so excited for you. It is going to be BEAUTIFUL there right now!!

    As for things to do and see, I recommend just touring around and visiting the tiny villages. You'll find quaint places to have afternoon tea, lots of cute shops to wander through, and beautiful spots to take photos.

    Bath is a really popular tourist attraction. It's a town where the Romans built incredible bath houses that are still open today for people to walk through. They're fed by natural hot springs and it is pretty neat.

    Gloucester is also really nice. It's a waterfront city with docks you can walk through. It's nice because a popular thing to have in England are house boats, and you'll see a lot of them docked in Gloucester.

    Longleat is also a really awesome place to visit: http://www.longleat.co.uk/ It's a drive through safari. If you've been to something similar before, it's not much different, but if you have never experienced monkeys sitting on your windshield it is really fun!

    Cheltenham, where I grew up, has the world famous racecourse, if you wanted to add something horsey to the mix. I'm sure there will be many area horse shows going on also.

    Sudeley Castle is also nice. I highly recommend you see at least one castle. You can tour through most of them and they are just incredible. http://www.sudeleycastle.co.uk/

    Have fun!!!

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  11. Ah, u are awesome!! THanks for list, I'm printing this out! xo

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