I have been working with Ollie for months prepping for this show. He still is very far from where I want him, but in the end I'm hoping for him to be a Ranch Riding horse, not a Western Pleasure mount. Nontheless, he did great for his first show, picking up 4 3rd place, 1 4th, 2 5ths, and 3 6ths. We entered 10 classes, and placed in each of them, which I was excited about! I used two bits, but sadly my family didn't get any pictures of his Horsemanship and Equitation in the curb. Overall, we competed in Halter, Showmanship, Western Pleasure, Western Equitation, Horsemanship, Western Trail, Keyhole, Barrels, and Wild Card.
In Halter, he did extremely well. I had my horse trainers, mentors, and friends here at this show. I actually showed with a very good friend of mine who placed 3rd overall High-point at the AQHA Silver Dollar Circuit in Vegas this year, and was Circuit Champ in Trail at that show as well. I love all the support and critique I get from multiple horse savvy people. :) After each run we would pick apart what I needed to fix, and what Ollie needed to improve on. Training takes a long, long time, but it's so worth it!
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| I was a little slow on my Quarters. |
After Showmanship and Halter (which he placed 3rd in each class....if I was standing on the right side of the horse for Showmanship I would've placed higher...whoops) we had a break while English went, and then Ollie and I got ready for Western Pleasure.
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| He still really needs to bring his nose in, raise his back, and shorten his stride. It is hard for him to hold a collected lope for long periods of time, so I didn't even ask for a collected lope during the whole show. |
We then went into the practice ring.......
....and then was judged in Western Pleasure, Equitation, and Horsemanship.
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| Extended trot lol.... |
Then I took a quick break, and saddled up for Gymkhanna. I was just going to let Ollie run like he used to, because we have been working on a "slow button" for so long.
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| I don't know what I'm doing here.... |
Yes, I am riding in a CLINTON ANDERSON SADDLE (!!) because I bought it a few months ago and forgot to blog about it. I have a picture of Clinton Anderson and I on my Instagram.
We practiced the Keyhole a few times to warm up...
...and then we ran. Of course, we actually had a run every 30 minutes or so because of all of the people attending, so during that time I met some new friends...
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| Left To Right: Lillian, Kyle, Me, Alex (I already know her well lol) and her mom, Mrs. Tanya. |
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| Keyhole |
Then we did Barrels....(I'm laughing because he was SO SLOW).
And lastly, we did Wild Card. I don't have any good pictures of it, though.
Afterwards, I just did a little bit of work with him to bring him back down from all of the speed events (which we mostly placed 5-6th in because I have slowed him down...and because he was tired).
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| Me...doing something. Idrk what exactly... |
Overall, I had an amazing time, and I cannot wait until the next show. August 13th AHA Show, here I come, with both a better horse and better rider!!
~Alyssa
