Superstitions #blogtober14

I'm not superstitious in the "step on a crack, break your mother's back" sorta way, but there are a few things that I have a very specific routine for!  One routine that sticks out in my head is definitely the motions I go through prior to and the day of a horse show. 

First things, first.  We ride.  Louie tends to get a little keyed up so getting in a good workout beforehand is a must!  Next comes clipping his hair and bath time.  Ya'll have seen Louie... there's a lot of white to clean!  Following his bath, I brush out his tail and band his mane.  Then he gets covered in all his purple clothes to keep him clean overnight!

Here's where I say a prayer (hoping he'll stay clean) and turn him back out in the pasture with his buddies.  This is dependent on the weather to an extent though.  If it's been super rainy and muddy, he has to stay in!  Otherwise, for his sanity and mine, he goes back out. 

The morning of the show, I'm up before dawn.  I get myself all made up and ready and then head to the barn to bring Louie in and feed him breakfast.  If the show starts at 9am, we are generally there by 7:30am.  Why so early?  More routines have to be followed!

The first thing that happens is Louie is unloaded and I take him to the arena were we will be showing.  We walk around the pen, once both directions, so he can see everything and if there's something spooky or scary he can get over it then and not have an issue in the middle of the class!  Then he get's lunged, which means he walks, trots and canters on the end of a really long rope.  Lunging helps get the kinks or bunks out if he's feeling really good!  After I'm satisfied he's tired, but not too tired, we head back to the trailer and start the process of beautification! 

Clean off any 'green' spots... manure.  Brush out his tail.  Whiten legs.  Black hooves.  Put in his fake tail.  Yes, he wears a weave!  Shave any hairs on his nose I may have missed with the clippers.  Spray with Pepi to make his coat shine.  Then I get myself dressed!

After I'm dressed, we practice our showmanship pattern.  But I've learned that if I practice with him too much he gets burned out and he's a dud in the actual class!  It's a fine line.  It's only taken me three years to get in the groove...

Are you superstitious about anything or do you have a specific routine you follow?

 

Linking up with Helene and Taylor.

Horse Show #1 In The Books

This past Saturday was the first horse show of the season for Louie and I.  All week, heck for the last several months, leading up to the show I spent getting ready. 

Most recently though things that had to be done before the show were: polishing the silver on my show halter and western bridle (which resulted in a good sized blister on my thumb), cleaning my saddles with leather soap, packing all the necessities in the horse trailer, and getting Louie all clipped up because the judges like the horses clean shaven!  I trim out his ears, around his muzzle, under his chin and even the white on his legs.  And let me tell you, that's a LOT of white hair!

Remember he looked like this not too long ago before I took after him with the clippers and gave him a mini-makeover.

Friday night I spent most of the evening in the barn getting him all pretty-fied and took precaution to keep him clean by dressing him in his 'clothes'. 

I'm sure no one is surprised they're purple, right?!?

Bright and early Saturday morning I loaded Louie up in the trailer and headed to the show.  Once we got to the show grounds I had to get him undressed and went to work putting the finishing touches on him and I!  His coat has to be clean and glossy and his white impeccably clean.  It's all about the details.  He even wears a fake tail to give the illusion of a luscious, full tail! 

We generally enter three types of classes at horse shows: Showmanship at Halter, English Pleasure/Hunter Under Saddle and Western Pleasure.  Each of these classes then can be more specific in that they could be for ladies only or the horse has to be over a certain age.  In Showmanship, the judge posts a pattern prior to the start of the show and it's up the handler to memorize it and perform it as best you can because you're scored on the maneuvers.  Here's an example of a pattern we might have to execute:

English and Western Pleasure are both riding classes and both are judged on the way the horse moves.  The judges scores the horses against one another by watching their gates.  In English Pleasure the horse is expected to walk, trot and canter.  While in Western Pleasure the horse is going to walk, jog and lope.  The jog and lope are just a slower version of the trot and canter.  The biggest difference that most people can see between these two classes are the outfits the horses and riders wear... 

English Pleasure

Western Pleasure

Of the seven classes we competed in on Saturday, we came home with six Top 5 finishes!  We won our showmanship class(!!) and I was really proud of how we did in the Western Pleasure classes!  I've only been working with him on slowing down and being a 'western' horse since this past winter and he's really getting it!  And he looks handsome too...

This weekend we're off to another show, but this time the stakes are a bit higher!  It's the first Paint Horse breed show of the year!  That means steeper competition, tougher patterns and over all a higher anxiety level for both me and Louie... Keep us in your thoughts!

Oh, The Woes of Louie

Showing horses isn't for the faint of heart.  You spend countless hours preparing for a show, then you actually pay for someone to judge the talent of you and your horse against everyone else there.  It can cause some anxiety for both horse and human.

What worries Louie most?  

Wearing his purple 'clothes' in front of his horsey friends at the barn...

 "Purple?  Really?  This is such an embarrassment?"

 "You look handsome in purple!  Our first show of the year is tomorrow, aren't you excited?"

"Delighted..."

 "I'm going to be laughed outta the pasture!"

"Not a chance."

 "Look!  They're all standing out there mocking me right now!"

"They're just jealous.  You're fresh and clean and they're dirty and stinky.  And to top it off, under all those clothes, you're the prettiest horse on the farm!"

"I am!?!"

"Of course!"

"I AM!"