Whew, this the season for having no time. I am madly working on my blogger gift in between slogging through mud. It was a nice break to receive my own gift.
I always have a hard time thinking of what I want, so I normally say I like socks. So when I felt my gift, I knew they were socks. You can never go wrong with socks. But even better they were personalized...with Roscoe heads! Super cute.
The only problem is that I don't know who to thank. Hopefully the sender will let me know.
Okay, back to work for me.
If I can ever kick this never ending cold, I may be able to provide some riding posts. Instead here is a brag post.
This year was tough due to the weather cancelling shows and preventing lessons. We made it to four dressage shows at a local series. And though we were not able to move up this year, Roscoe did well at Training Level. Of the nine tests he completed, he placed first four times, second three times and in the rain placed third twice. He had one high score of the day win too.
And at the end of it all he won the Training Level Champion.
We got a pad too
Showing Rosemarys 10th place ribbon too beacuse I had no idea that is what it was
The next win came indirectly to Roscoe due to his kids up in Canada. He won the Get of Sire for the C/D Welsh 2018.
Of course his name is spelled wrong
Castleberrys Debonair, Aderyn du Carousel and Castleberrys Ffrewyn earned enough points to earn the award for Roscoe. Carousel and Debonair even came back to the US for the national show. Then just recently they competed at the Royal. For a yearling, Carousel had a stellar year winning big at both those shows. Carousel even broke Debonair's winning streak at the Royal. Photo credit: Mckeens
After all the insurance fun, we started looking at trailers. We definitely wanted a trailer with a steel frame, ramp, dressing room, windows in front and between the dressing room and horse area. I looked at Sundowners but they are all aluminum and they have a pole at the back of the divider. I was working myself towards accepting less than what we had or having to have another payment. I contacted Gore, but they had no used trailers. The best they could do was 15500 for a 2018.
I even debated buying a trailer sight unseen from Washington and having it shipped since the prices were so low.
Then I got lucky. I hit on a used Gore in Florida within my price range. I sent a request for information and mentioned that I was in VA.
The owner called me the next day. The trailer is a 2010 they purchased directly from the Gore factory. They used it for going to civil war reenactments. The tires were new a few years ago and it had little use since then. She was not very tech savvy so I could not get any pictures. Her son said it was on Facebook but I could not find it.
So we made plans to take the truck for our annual visit to my grandmother. When we arrived in Florida, I was actually able to see the pictures on Facebook. Overall the trailer was a bit beat up, but not too bad. On our way home we stopped at their house.
And it matches the truck, bonus
The trailer definitely was hard used and the Florida weather rusted the jack and the metal parts on the doors. I can handle the cosmetic dents and dings. I did push for money off for the damaged part. It looks like they scraped against a tree. And the funny thing is that the VIN never got engraved on the trailer, nor the weight or tire info. I guess they forgot at the factory.
In the end I probably could have gotten the price even lower, but my dad was off chatting. Now the trailer needs to go in for inspection and to have the stablilizer system installed. I will probably have the trailer guys look at the damage to see if they can pretty it up. Fingers crossed! Then it will be legal and hopefully we can get back to lessons.
I will say, my old trailer was in EXCELLENT condition and hitch covers are totally worth it.
In October Roscoe and I went to a Stephen Bradley cross country clinic at Loch Moy. It was a windy day full of stops, hops, success and ended with a bang.
"Who put this jump in a field???"
"Fine I will go over"
Tail Monster makes an appearance
I really had to keep Roscoe straight and in front of my leg. We stayed with the smallest jumps to keep Roscoe in a comfortable range. Surprisingly we kept up with the other three in our group.
"Nope, they are pony eating monsters in there"
The only thing Roscoe refused to do was the water. Which since he has been hydrophobic since birth was not surprising.
"Uh there is a big hole over there and a big head right there"
Keeping an eye on that big head
My favorite jump
We did the up bank which was really fun. Roscoe was the little one in the group so he jumped up sooner than the others.
Stopping to smell the flowers
Roscoe started to get tired. I could tell because he would run out rather than just stop. The session was 1.5 hours and with the hilly terrain it made for a tough balancing work out.
"No way, not happening"
"Okay fine"
He ran out of this one too. Uphill is hard
Lazy downhill jump
Towards the end we got to do a course. All the jumps were ones we had worked over except the last one, but it was friendly. Roscoe and I had to go the long way around the water since he still refused to cross. We trotted the first jump which was one of my favorites and then I let him canter the next.
We had a choice between the bank and a jump with greenery. I chose the bank because Roscoe liked it better than the other jump. Well this is where we went out with a bang. He jumped up and then he bucked.
And just like the other times I have come off him, my slightly loose girth was my downfall. Literally. I hit hard on the down bank, cracked my helmet and dirtied up my vest. Roscoe took off to explore. I just laughed, not even shaken. Stephen told Peggy he did not see that coming. Stephen came and picked me up and we followed Roscoe on a parallel track. He ended up over by the trailers and came right to me. I got back on and made our way back to the group. Roscoe was so tired after his jaunt. Stephen just had me do a little jump up and downhill before we let him be done.
Overall he was a star and I was so happy back on a cross country course. I really don't care if he never gets very far as long as we both have fun. I was so glad that we did not get the "why are you here" look from anyone.
And here is the video, not edited, so enjoy Mom's commentary and occasional shots of grass.
Oh and the commentary about my saddle pad, we did fix it and that is why my girth was loose.
2018 continues to be a hard year and news of Draco's passing was a surprise.
Pictures are from his owner
At the end of August Draco went to his Westfalen inspection and scored the same as Carousel, just below premium. His coat finally was getting darker allowing his chrome to brighten.
Draco loved to call to his owner and caught her heart. So she was devastated one rainy day when he came in and rolled to dry off and took a turn for the worse. I nearly cried when she told me about the drying off part, since Roscoe has done that since he was born. Draco colicked and required surgery. Unfortunately he twisted his intestine badly.
The vets could save him, but long term he could be prone to colic. His owner decided let him free. We have been there before with one of our own and had to make the same choice. It is never easy, but for one so young it is difficult.
PC Mane Shot Photography
PC Mane Shot Photography
I did not realize that his owner had even decided to bring him to Canada for the Royal Welsh. He would have been in the ring with his sister and his oldest half brother. I still can't believe he is gone.
Rest easy Handsome, I loved watching you on camera after you were born and watching you grow.
