Summer Salute, Welsh Show

I was dragging as Sunday dawned. We did not make it to the barn with time to clean before loading. Ah well, we had time to do that later. Luckily both Ember and Roscoe seemed to still have white socks.

Ember loaded with only a little hesitation. And little man is not so little anymore...

Once we arrived at the show, we only had to wait for the Section B's to finish. Ember and Roscoe ate hay on the trailer and perused the area. Closer to the time for their classes, I squeezed inside with them and dusted them off. A quick spot clean of whites helped. Roscoe had to be measured now that he is six, so we headed over a little early. Mom took him while I led the wild one. Actually Ember was quite good. He only reared up once during the walk to the measuring area.

Unfortunately, the person who measured Roscoe made him lose an inch. That is not much for many horses, but it is the difference between a section C and a D. At the next show if they measure him the same, I will ask for a retake. Roscoe was so chill at this show. I guess with everything we have done with him this year, the show was nothing exciting.

When it was Ember's turn, I prayed I could keep up with him. The arena footing was a little deep from the rain. Our first run was good and we did not run over the ring steward. Ember missed the memo to walk toward the judges. They asked if he was 1 or 2? When I said 1, they said he will be a big boy. Our second trot was a bit more exciting since he went up. The people watching were impressed by his movement. Someone even mentioned he should be inspected and that he could make premium. Overall I was happy with his behavior. Pro shots can be seen here.

Then I had to switch ponies with Mom and run Roscoe. He was so quiet and boy did he look good.

After his class, Mom took Roscoe and I reclaimed Ember to go in for the Cob Champion class. It was pretty cool to see the boys in the same show ring. One judge said she would be interested to see Ember in a few years. His trot showed moments of greatness with even more extension waiting to come out. Roscoe took the class over Ember.

The next class was the Supreme class. Roscoe and Ember were up against the cute A's and B's. Most of the time Roscoe does not stand a chance. This time the second judge had all her Champions run again. I knew Roscoe did not win when the judge told us "Win or lose, you did great." Ah well, I was thrilled with both the boys. This was a successful show and a super end to the weekend.

Baby Royal Rules The Ring

This year they live streamed the Welsh National Show and I was able to watch some of the classes Castleberry Cobs competed in. Unfortunately traffic kept me from seeing Baby Royal in her own class, but I did see her during Rosina's class. She has super presence in the ring and her movement is awesome. Not too surprising since Rosina and Roscoe are both proven winners in the breed ring.
What was great was that she received Champion Filly from the UK judge. I loved seeing her in the champion position during the Grand Champion Cob class. I was glad to see Lisa's breeding program receive the accolades it deserves. She puts a lot of time and thought into each pairing and champions are born.

PC Mandy Brezina, Glad she got a picture, my phone was charging from my earlier live watching

Roscoe at his first show

Baby Royal even pulled the "I want a milk break" in the show ring like Roscoe did at his first show. Who ever is lucky enough to own this girl will get an awesome show pony.

Knowing When Enough is Enough

Bright and early we headed to Frying Pan Park in Herndon VA for the Welsh Show. Lovely GPS sent us the wrong way and we had to call for help. We made it in time though. Roscoe had to tell everyone he was there and that he was all alone.

 

Mom worked on getting him ready for the Section D Stallion class while I suited up. Peggy was the swing between us both helping as needed. I have to say Roscoe and I both looked snazzy. That class went smooth and the Judge sympathized with us being the only Cob at the show. It is a fact that Roscoe deals with at nearly all his breed shows. Lucky for me since he was the only Cob, he won all the prize money. That money covered the majority of his show fees, yay!
Then we waited while the other two sections were judged before the Supreme Class. Roscoe was the big chestnut amidst the little greys. He was not in a standing mood at all. Everything outside the arena was much more exciting. I tried to just manage him, but overall he was not being horrible. Of course we added a bonus class which just about did me in.

 The Champion of Champion class was open to any purebred pony who won Grand or Reserve Grand Champion at any show. 16 ponies made for a nightmare of a class as we all cooked during the judging. Roscoe used the time to practice his piaffe. Or at least that is what he looked like. He really hated the fact that he had sweat dripping down his legs and belly. Roscoe decided to spot other horses and watch the kids and oh yeah, watch the carousel.
I was sooo happy to be excused from the class to leave the finalists behind. The show personnel gave us all water as we stood in the arena, but I was reaching my limit of sun. Now we had to wait for the ridden portion.

As we ate lunch, I listened to Roscoe circle in the trailer. He still had not settled. As the heat increased, I was losing steam. The show grounds did not have a warm up arena and we were surrounded by gravel parking lots. The grass area was small before turning into a steep hill. I worried about where I could safely ride him. If his energy continued to be high, I was not sure I could handle him since my energy was waning. With a heavy heart, I opted not to ride my classes. Seriously, I cried. I hate not being 100%. Even though I was not doing the classes, we still wanted Roscoe to work. This way he would know there is more to do at shows.

Mom tacked him up and then put the rope halter over his bridle to work him in hand. Guys, the pony that backed off the trailer this was not the ADHD pony I had dealt with all day. This pony was ready to work. He settled right into what Mom asked. So Peggy grabbed my helmet and I got on. Mom left the halter on just in case, but the need never arose. I swear Roscoe was the happiest he had been all day. He gave me a solid, flat footed walk. Oh yeah I should mention that while I was riding, right next to me a tractor was picking up manure and loading it into a truck and a bobcat machine was scraping stuff up too. Roscoe could care less about all that.
This was pony I knew was in there! I love that he confirmed my faith in him. We went down to the arena once the show finished and did a couple laps. Just that short time in the arena was so hot. Roscoe was sweaty in no time. I called it enough and hopped off. My pony wants to be a performance horse. I can work with that.
Thank you everyone for your positive thoughts, they certainly helped.