100th Post: Mid Atlantic Welsh Show Recap

Okay, I am sure you were wondering how the show went. I was way too tired to type it up yesterday so I am a day late.
Let me start with Friday. Mom and I got the trailer parked by the barn before she had to head to work. Then I had to figure out whether the horses were going to stay in over night or go out. A look at the weather showed a nice clear night, so the horses were going out. That decision meant giving baths early so they could dry.
I started with Roscoe. Owning him has made me decide that greys are easier than horses with a lot of chrome. If his white is not clean it is so noticeable, but a grey can hide off spots much better. I used Orvus shampoo straight on his legs and scrubbed like crazy. Then I rinsed and shampooed with Cowboy Magic's Yellow out. I find this works better on true white than regular whitening shampoo. While that shampoo set, I used a bucket of water with Cowboy Magic shampoo diluted to use on his body. Rinse it all off and start on the mane and tail where I used the Orvus again. Finally I used Cowboy Magic Conditioner on his mane and tail and a diluted version on his body. Roscoe hates water by his ears so while I rinsed him I worked on that little problem. Well at one he pulled back and then stomped on my foot. Cue the curse words... At least his foot is small. Overall his behavior was much better during the whole bath considering he used to run from any water.
I had to hold him awhile to keep him from rolling in his stall, but eventually he stayed up and dried. I curried and brushed him, applied Cowboy Magic Show Dust spray and detangler. Whew, Done.

Beheaded, he was eating hay but looks great

Rosemary was less difficult, ie less chrome and took much less time. I went through the same process with her minus the foot stomping :) She did manage to great a grass mark when I had her drying on the wash rack. Luckily it rubbed off easily. She was not cooperative for picture taking.

Shiny Girl

Ponies ready, trailer loaded Mom and I were set for Saturday. We left home about 430am, got to the barn about 530am and had the ponies loaded by 6am. The drive is fairly straight forward so we arrived about 715am. Now we had to see what damage the night brought. Roscoe of course had marks on his chrome. Shower in a bottle to the rescue. He was distracted am stepped on Mom. Enter chain lead line. Roscoe needed the reminder to listen to us.
I connected with the lady who would handle him before his class. She decided to try him in one of the white halters. These halters look really good, but have no bite if the pony misbehaves. We told her she could do whatever was needed to deal with Roscoe. Rosemary's class followed his, so I led her down to the arena too.
Well she made it to the arena, then Roscoe turned into crazy show off pony. He tested her any way he could. She did great, through all his theatrics. Before the last show, his breeder worked with him for about 2hrs to gain his respect, so I knew this handler would have a hard time. They both survived his class and next was Rosemary. She is also a big show off, but she has the added problem of keeping track of Roscoe. She trotted out great, stood a bit crooked but I was happy with her. There was only one other mare in her class and the results were similar to the Spring Fling.
Under one Judge, Rosemary was second place yeld mare, reserve champion senior mare and 3rd place Section C/D cob
Under the other Judge, Rosemary was first place yeld mare, champion senior mare and grand champion Section C/D cob.
Roscoe was alone in his class, so he automatically was first place yearling + colt and champion Jr stallion under both judges. Under the first judge he was reserve grand champion Section C/D cob, beating Rosemary.
Both the ponies qualified for the Supreme class, where they would compete against the other Sections' grand champions. We decided right away that Roscoe would not compete. He did his class and then the Grand champion cob class where he stood nicely after all his drama. His handler did end up putting his halter with the chain on for the second class, but he behaved so we were happy. The supreme class would do nothing for him and the handler was not available. We later decided not to compete Rosemary either. Due to some trailer parking drama, long story, they were loaded already. So we just had to claim our prize money, turn in numbers and thank the handler profusely.
It turned out to be a savvy decision because we got home and had time to care for horses and clean the trailer before a massive rain storm hit.
Here are some of the pictures I was able to take. The show photographer did not come until after our classes, so no professional pictures. Bummer.

Getting ready to enter the arena

Show off trot

Presentation to the judges

So handsome

Walk away from judge and trot back

Someone took off

Tantrum Roscoe style, Love his handler

Back to work, after blow up

Everyone loves the forelock, Nice halt

Good boy tied to the trailer wearing his Reserve Grand Champion 'ribbon
(he is tied with a normal lead line, not the chain)

Rosemary with her Grand Champion ribbon eating our baby barrier hay bale