Monday, September 9, 2013

Mid Atlantic Welsh Show Recap: Part 1

Yes, that's right this is going to take more than one post. Everything about this show seemed to take longer. From show prep, to the show and even the drive home. And now the recap :)

After a visit by the farrier for Dottie and DaVinci, we packed up Roscoe and Rosemary to spend the night at Peggy's. Lisa flew in to handle the ponies for us and was on hand to help load them up. She had me questioning my sanity by telling me horror stories of hauling a stallion with mares. Fortunately, Roscoe did not do anything untoward with Rosemary in the trailer.
First on the schedule was a photo session with Roscoe. More on that hopefully when the pictures are ready.
Then we did bathes, in decreasing order of white quantity. Lisa made sure to graze Roscoe after his so he did not roll. By time we got to Rosemary, the drains were overflowing so we had to move her bath outside. Which meant battling the monster horse flies. Thankfully she is dark and has only a little white.  Finally we were able to settle them for the night. Roscoe had to have the upper portion of the dutch door closed since he and Peggy's Anglo Arab were playing studly games. We had visions of new bite marks. Not what you want before a show.
Mom and I went and parked our trailer back at our barn, before heading home. Then I had to shine the brass on the stallion bridle Lisa brought for Roscoe. Despite everything I did ahead of time, I still went to bed at 1am with a 3am wake up.
Blurry eyed we were pleased to find the horses stayed clean and we actually loaded on time. Peggy's trailer is a stock style with a divider in the middle. We put the boys in the front loaded straight and Rosemary in the back. Even before we drove off, Roscoe had pushed his butt towards Comrades head. Comrade did not seem bothered by it so we left them alone. Well Mom and Peggy got a surprise when they went to unload at the show.
Roscoe greeted them at the door with the breakaway trailer tie hanging from his halter. Then they realized two of his shipping boots were off. Right about that time they heard the sound of Comrade peeing. Seriously, talk about bloopers. He peed on the two Roscoe boots AND the one boot Roscoe took off Comrade. Well they would not be wearing those on the drive home.
Once we stopped laughing, we had to kick it into gear and do spot cleaning on the ponies. Roscoe was so much calmer than in the spring. We could bridle him at the trailer and he wore a metal bit for the first time. Lisa also brought a white halter with a chain for Rosemary. She can be a drama queen and the chain will help control her. Comrade just wore his normal bridle.
The classes started a little late because some people got lost on the way showing up just before the classes were due to start. Once they begin, everything goes fast. So here is how it went:

Roscoe was 1st place 2yr old Colt (only entry), Champion Colt under one judge and Reserve under the other, and the biggest win for him,  Grand Champion Cob under one judge. He beat out some really nice horses. I was walking away thinking he was done when I heard his number called. Super results and even better behavior from Roscoe. He did not place in the Supreme class against the more mature stallions and mares.







Rosemary was 2nd place 5 and over Yeld mare under one judge and 3rd under the other. She also showed more maturity in the ring than last year. She got to be part of the peanut gallery after not placing in the Champion Mare class. Since that meant she got to eat grass, she was totally all for spectator status.







Comrade was 1st place Cob Gelding (only entry), Supreme Gelding under one judge and Reserve Supreme under the other. And guess what, NO FAT COMMENTS !!! A judge did wonder why he was gelded.










When I say this was a long show, here is what I mean.  Cob classes start at 8am, with us arriving at 730 (later than normal for us). Classes take less than an hour and then we have to wait for the Supreme classes. Most shows, the breed classes are done by noon or 1pm. This time it did not get done until almost 3pm. The horses stood at the trailer for 4+ hours. At one point I had taken Rosemary to be measured, Roscoe decided to take a nap. He just laid down while tied to the trailer. He soon realized it was not an ideal position and got up.The boys shared a hay bag while Rosemary had her own area. They ate, drank and snoozed during the wait. I think I enjoyed that time the most.




After breed classes, we had to wait for Ridden Welsh.

And that is a recap for another day.

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