Shows 3 & 4 – checking off goals faster than I can set them!



Halter class

So, I now have four club shows under my belt. I really felt by the end of the last show on Sunday that I was getting the hang of the whole show thing.

My only goal for last year was to buy a horse that had the potential to show…CHECK!

My initial goal for this year was to make it out to some schooling shows…CHECK!

So, I have clearly met my basic goals – which is a first for me! After the first show, I refined my goals a bit to include the following:

Goal 1 – remember all my patterns (3 each show)…CHECK!

Goal 2 – win a shiny ribbon … CHECK!

Goal 3 – learn proper western show turnout and pack my tack ahead of time…CHECK! (with one exception – I still don’t know how to band a mane. That is a goal for the fall/winter)

Goal 4 – have fun… CHECK!

Goal 5 – improve my riding…CHECK! (still a lot to work on here, but my progress since mid-March is pretty drastic!)

I don’t think I have ever met so many horse related goals in one season. Ever. With any horse. I’m actually finding it kind of weird…in a good way! So, for this last show, I added a couple of extra goals:

Goal 6 – Don’t break at the lope in the rail classes

Goal 7 – Don’t freak out riding in a group in rail classes

I was able to meet both of these goals at the most recent show! I got through a western pleasure class without Spencer breaking at the lope. That was a huge victory for me. I’m sure I’ll still have to work on that in the future, but I was actually able to do it at the show!

My haul from Sunday

I don’t have a lot of experience riding in a large group (which I consider to be 8+ riders or so) in a fairly large ring. I was worried Spencer would spook or take off or something, but he hasn’t put a foot wrong. He just trucks along and ignores the other horses. He does look around a fair bit, but working on getting his headset really consistent is a goal for another day.

Spencer and I have really started to click. We were fine before, but we are now really sailing along. We placed in every class at this show, which was a first. I also got my very first 1st place ribbon! (did you know that firsts are red in Canada??)

I actually got this in the command class, which was a bit of a surprise. The command class is basically “Simon Says” on horseback, which is meant to be a fun class at the end of the day. The announcer calls out changes of gait and other tasks (sidepass, backing, halt, stand on a loose rein, etc.) and if the rider doesn’t do the task properly and quickly, you are eliminated and go to the center of the ring.

It can get a bit competitive though, with spectators and eliminated riders cheering on the last two participants. I usually get eliminated early on, with something like a counter-canter, but for whatever reason, Spencer and I were getting the commands like clock-work. He got all of his leads for all of the canter and counter-canter, we sidepassed, backed a circle, did turn on the haunches and turn on the forehand, hand galloped, etc. etc. It was a blast and I still can’t believe we did so well. I think I even won $10 or $15 on that class as well! My first earnings! Lol

There weren’t really any negatives for this most recent show. I did come out of there with a list of things to work on, which will become my new set of goals! So, in no particular order, my things to work on are:

1. Trying to calm my nerves more – I’m getting there, but still need to focus on breathing
2. Being more patient in the trail/horsemanship classes – I tend to rush the patterns when I get nervous
3. Working on my seat – I’m still a bit bouncy at the canter, which is partly due to Spencer popping his head up on me
4. Start working on cleaning up simple lead changes – get down to one or two steps of jog and make sure my position stays solid
5. Start schooling flying lead changes – not sure if Spencer was trained to do this or not, but it is something to work on
6. Ride English more often and work on position at trot
7. Work on Spencer’s head set – this will come as I get stronger and am better balanced
8. Build/set-up some sort of display for my ribbons!!!  :-D  I have become a total ribbon ho!
9. Work on downward transitions - namely lope/jog and lope/halt
10. Build some trail obstacles to use at home to keep things fun
11. Start planning the 2014 show season - it will likely be bigger! And start a budget/savings spreadsheet as well, since showing ain't cheap!

Wow - 11 things sounds like a lot to work on, but I find all of those things fun and challenging at the same time.  Yes, I'm a bit of a geek. I can admit it freely.  :-)

Saddles come and go…

I am working on a post about my last two shows (which went well!) but I’m waiting for a friend to send me a couple of pictures before I post it.

In the meantime, I wanted to talk saddles. I love saddles, both English and Western – I read about different brands and daydream about all of the saddles I would like to own if budget was no issue.

I have purchased two saddles in recent years, one western and one endurance. I got a lot of use out of my western saddle – it fit Dolly and Rusty really well. It was extremely comfortable and everyone that rode in it loved it. The not-so-great news was that it didn’t really fit Spencer all that well. I had to pad it up and just hope for the best. Once I started riding him in my new-to-me Circle Y show saddle, it highlighted how poorly the other saddle fit.


I only used my endurance saddle about 10 times – I just never really felt all that comfortable in it. I have lots of room to store saddles, since I have my own tack room, but I always feel guilty looking at nice saddles that can’t be used due to fit or a drastic change in discipline. The market around here for western and endurance stuff hasn’t been that great, but I decided last week to try and sell both saddles. That would free up space in my tack room, as well as put a bit of money back in my pocket after building my sand ring!

I listed the western saddle to sell locally and within 2 days, it was sold to my old coach! The endurance saddle went on Ebay to hit a wider audience and it sold by the end of the auction! So, in 7 days, I went from 3 saddles to 1. My time with only one saddle was short-lived, as another saddle has found its way into my tack room...

My coach has also been bugging me to start riding Spencer English. He will be a good little HUS horse for me next year, so that was part of my plan from the beginning. I was dreading searching for an English saddle though – I find them pretty to look at, but hard to fit! I also didn’t want to spend much until I decided if I liked riding English again. My coach knows tonnes of people that are always selling tack and within a few days, she found me a saddle to try. It fits Spencer ok and seems to fit me as well. I’m getting it – with stirrups, leathers and 3 saddle pads for a steal. The lady just wanted to get rid of it!

I’ve ridden in the English saddle a couple of times so far and it is going better than I had expected. My core isn’t super strong, so I’m a bit wobbly when posting, but that will come with more miles trotting. I’ve been spoiled by my western saddle that holds me nice and secure!

Hopefully my saddle number stays at 2 for awhile, but you never know. I'm itching to get a nice training saddle, so I don't have to school in my show saddle. My show saddle is older to begin with, so I don't want to scratch it or wreck it somehow.  I would love to get another Rocking R saddle, since my old one was so comfortable, so we'll have to see how the budget goes over the coming months!