PMD Show Part 1 and Birthday Boy

I was determined that this show I was going to be prepped early and get to bed at a decent time. Well, I got Roscoe's stallion bride cleaned and the brass shined the week before and his halter done during the week. The surprise addition of Comrade meant I had to ask her to clean his bridle and get him clipped. I ended up having to ride with a dirty saddle pad, but I could live with that.
Friday I took off work to get everything done. I loaded as much as I could preload and still ended up forgetting my jacket at home. I even had my sister helping me do normal barn stuff. By 2pm the rain started which meant no bathing at my barn. Luckily Roscoe was spending the night at Peggy's and she has an indoor wash rack. We loaded Roscoe with only a little coaxing needed and  headed out.
Roscoe acted like Peggy's barn was completely foreign and scary. The dodo was born there, sheesh. I decided to bathe Comrade first and give him time to settle. He of course had to posture at Comrade over the stall wall. What I liked was that Roscoe was the one to back away. Not the dominant one here. While we worked on Comrade, I let Roscoe into the sacrifice area outside her stalls. I had to keep an ear out because Peggy's 30+ year old Anglo Arab is stud-y and I did not want them getting into it. Roscoe did eventually find Sonny, but again he was the one dominated. He also found someone just as mouthy as him. Both of them had a blast playing and biting at each other. Roscoe did walk away with a small, skinned area on his nose. Ah, boys.
Roscoe sort of cooperated for his bath, though he tested my sister all during it. Then I double braided  his tail and using baling twine to tie it up for the night. We tucked them in and crossed our fingers they would stay clean. I almost think a lot of chrome is worse than having a gray.

I was homeward bound by 530pm. Perfect. That gave me time to prep the cooler and get the last bits I needed together. Well that plan was lost as the clock ticked away as I waited for my Dad to come home with the food and drinks. Turns out there was massive traffic and it took an hour and a half for him to get home. Which in turn means my Mom would be even later. So not good with a 2am wake up looming. When I finally made it to bed, I set my alarm clock for the time but set for PM. Yep, for the first time ever on a show day I overslept. I woke up at the time we were suppose to be leaving Peggy's for the show. But it gets better.
Peggy and Lisa had started getting the shipping boots on the boys by time we arrived. So it was just a matter of loading and going. Mom and Peggy took the trailer while Lisa and I followed in her car. Lisa had to stop for gas and figured we would catch up somewhere during the 2 1/2hr drive. That never happened though. We pulled into the show grounds and found... No Trailer. Uh, what? I called Peggy and she said they were 10min away. So 30min later I called them again and she said the word you never want to hear, LOST. I walked over to the secretary who lives in the area and had her try to help get them straightened out.
Fortunately when they arrived both boys were still really clean with only a little bit of spot cleaning needed. We got Comrade ready and had to deal with Roscoe's over stimulation. And it figures it turned into a hurry up and wait type of deal. The weather was great and we could breathe. To help Roscoe we decided to put him back on the trailer until it was his turn. He thought that was okay. We did have to shut his door when he got excited over his cute neighbor.

 Now the actual class. This show did all the geldings at the same time, which was great.

Comrade actually had competition. The class was Comrade, chestnut (D, 14.2h, VA), Black Cob (D, 15.1h, MI) and Victory, palomino roan (C, 13.2h, MD). Talk about cool to see the three of them. I was not sure about Victory, especially his color, but I met him later an he was pretty neat. The Black Cob was a great mover (driving pony too), but his head was a bit to draft like for me. Comrade took champion under both judges and the Black Cob took reserve. Neither went supreme, though.

Big Black Cob and a blue sky

 

Victory, or part of him.

 

Gelding supreme class

Comrade begging for the carrots Lisa has stashed

Who could resist a head shot of this handsome  boy

By time Comrade was done, Mom had Roscoe's bridle on and was ready to unload him. He came off and Comrade went on. Roscoe was not thrilled with his bit, I think because we tightened the lead chain so it would not slip over his chin. I told Lisa to leave his head loose and just ask for trot. His natural movement will show itself off. Plus these judges barely spent any time watching before moving to the next horse.

I Love his talking head belly spot

Oh, Yeah Airborne

"Hi, Mom. Did you get a good picture?"

Roscoe went in first, followed by Winterlake Tristan (half brother to Alanna's girl). He is a 7yr palomino C who competes upper level dressage and what ever else his owner asks him to do. Roscoe knew he was a more dominant stallion and spun around when he trotted up behind him.

His Breyer Horse pose.

Lisa was thrilled because Roscoe poofed up and postured, but looking on I thought he tucked up too much. I wish I could suck in my tummy to that extent. Anyway, the judge asked how old Roscoe was. Mr. Man turns 3yrs old June 19th. He still looks immature, but boy did he look bigger. Not surprising, Tristan took the class.

Both the same height, but Roscoe looks bigger...Weird

Neither of them went Grand, though. That means Roscoe was done for the day and the wait began for the performance classes.
As nice as the day was, we left the boys on the trailer. Mom said when one tried to sleep, the other would reach over and playfully nudge. So proud of these two.

Look at that neck... sigh

Still keeping an eye on Tristan :)

So now I get to say Happy 3rd Birthday Roscoe and Happy 7th Birthday to his sire, Ffame. This day certainly brings wonderful animals to us as they share the date with Barry and our old Corgi, Kayla. Gone but never forgotten :)

Stay tuned for Part 2. It was just as exciting. If you have seen the pictures on FaceBook you have some idea, but I will also share the videos with commentary from the peanut gallery.,

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

Show Prep Begins

As the rains falls we have started getting Roscoe and Rosemary ready for the show on Saturday. I took advantage of the holiday and used my day off to trim both their hooves. This way any file marks will have a chance to smooth. Of course it was just my luck, Roscoe had a lovely clover drool happening. My back was a nice towel for him to rub drool on. At least he did not drool down my neck.
Next we clipped them both. Neither even need a halter on during the clipping of face and whiskers. We still need to work on clipping around the ears, but it is easy enough to use scissors. It is amazing how a trim cleans the head up so much. I will probably have to touch up whiskers tomorrow.
All my horses have started shedding, so we are making sure to curry them daily especially the two cobs. Even dirty, they have an awesome shine to their coats. Gotta love flax seed. Roscoe is getting a great copper color to him that I hope he keeps. I almost hate to give them a bath an lose those oils.
As long as it does not rain, they will get bathed tomorrow. They at least need all their white cleaned. Darn chrome! Then they need a good curry and brush with a spray of show dust to keep them cleaner. I still have not decided whether to leave them in stalls or turn them out. I think Mother Nature will help decide.
Then it is on to loading the trailer and filling hay bags. I really need to make my list.

Rosemary's white show halter is cleaned. Plus her leather halter is clean and polished in case she is too much for the white. Not much stopping power with the white halter, it just looks good. I polished the brass and cleaned Roscoe's show halter for the last time. He just barely fits in it, which works out great because next year he will have to be shown in a bit. Considering it is a weanling size, we have gotten a lot of mileage out of it.

And best of all, I found someone to handle Roscoe. She owns a section C colt a little older than him, so she is familiar with Cobbie attitude. Roscoe will be all alone in his classes and Rosemary will compete against two other  mares. Then Roscoe will go against the two or three mares in the Grand champion cob class. Then depending on if either of my two place and the weather will decide whether we stick around the hours until the Supreme class where they will compete against the other sections' grand champions.
Keep you fingers crossed for a mostly dry day on Saturday. Rain could make our 4am wake up call much more depressing.

Show on the Horizon

Next weekend is the second VA Welsh show. My goal this year was to take the Cobs to both VA shows, but I was a little hesitant to spend the money for this show. Each Welsh show earns points for the pony depending on how they place and what level show they attend. The whole point system is complicated and in my opinion not well set up. Any way, at the beginning of the year we arranged the ponies show area to be the South east and the breeder, the listed owner, wrote a letter making me the agent. This way the points they earn could at least qualify them for a regional award. After the Spring Fling show, the points finally posted. By this time we had transferred ownership and we were listed as the owners. I was surprised to see the points they earned listed as "Bad." There are different reasons points can be bad and most can be fixed, so I emailed the Society to find out why.
Two weeks  and a second email later, I was still waiting. I told the breeder that Roscoe would be showing solo and Rosemary could stay home. I do not mind supporting the Welsh, but I refuse to spend money on shows when the results, which I pay extra to be recorded, do not count for the ponies. The breeder called the Society and was able to get the mix up fixed, a paperwork error. So I decided to enter both ponies.
Today I mailed the forms and then got a message from the breeder saying she is unable to come. Darn luck!!!
So she has offered to ask around to see if someone can handle Roscoe for us. He is a bit too forward for my short legs to keep up with, but I will work it out if need be. I do not have the heart for line classes and unfortunately do not show them as well as the breeder. We shall see.

Saturday, we will clip them both and next Friday they will get their bathes. Then it is show time bright and early since, boo, the Sec. C/D always go first. We have not decided whether we will wait around all day, for the supreme class. Of course with the rain from Hurricane Issac coming that may decide it for us.

Horse Nation posted this picture and it is perfect for Roscoe's show prep: pulling his mane :)

Spring Fling Professional Pic's

Okay the Professionals pictures finally posted. They are scattered since there was two photographers.
Breed Classes Sat 19th

In this album, the horses are on pages 1-7, 13 (last pic), 14-18, 21-23, 29 (1st pic), 82-85, 89-91, 93, 100-101
Addie is the chestnut cob wearing a bridle w/me wearing the blue/green shirt. There are some really good shots of Rosemary.

Ridden Classes Sat 19th

In this album, Comrade and I are on pages 1-5. This was the Ridden Welsh class. And yes we are not wearing a saddle pad, so to be traditional.

Enjoy

PS looks like Rosemary's driving training will be rained out tomorrow. So disappointing.

Spring Fling Show Recap

Well where to start.
Let's start on Friday and getting the ponies ready. Roscoe and Comrade's breeder arrived from Indiana early Friday morning. So Mom and I got our trailer loaded, then headed to Peggy's to work on those guys first. We get there and find her barn being worked on.
I was able to wiggle Comrade out of the barn and get a ride done. He was really up and aware of the workers, but I figured it was good show prep. We practiced our pattern while his breeder and Mom watched. Talk about pressure. Comrade will sometimes pop a buck when I ask for the right lead canter. Friday he would canter, then do an in stride buck, then cross canter. This was not usual. There was nothing obviously lame about him, but I knew he was sore somewhere. We did find some kick marks on his butt and Addie had a cut across a hock, so they probably got into it at some point. Lovely.
Onward to the grooming, clipping and bathing while the workmen are using an air powered nail gun and an air compressor. The guys were good about letting us know when they were going to nail and both the Cobs handled the noise fine. Once they were done we headed to our barn to tackle the other two.
Since the breeder would be the main person handling the horses in the show, she decided to work with Roscoe to establish herself with him. OH BOY did the feathers fly. What ever her body language said to Roscoe, he answered with every test possible. Mom and I left her to it and went to wash Rosemary.
Roscoe was still going when we finished, so the breeder decided to "round pen" him in our little field.

Trouble

After a determined session, we had a very tired baby that still needed a bath. Sometimes it is hard growing up. At least he is still small and it did not take long to bathe him. We turned out the horses and headed home planning to be back by 430am.
Show day dawned much too soon. Mom and I gathered our two in the dark and loaded them up. We got to our meeting place before Peggy, so we got breakfast for everyone. When they came, we made the last leg of the journey.

View of the breed show ring

Roscoe's class was first, immediately followed by Addie and Rosemary. Roscoe behaved the best ever. Now I will say that this was the only class I was not handling a horse, so these are a few of the pictures I was able to take.

Look Roscoe is STANDING

After this it got crazy, changing the breeders numbers as she changed horses. Mom and I putting on numbers and taking horses. We managed it but it was tough having four horses and only four people. Rosemary was amazing. The breeder said that when they entered the arena, she felt Rosemary pick herself up. She was now a "Show Diva." Addie was wonderful. She trotted out great. Her "Addi-tude" came out out when we had to stand for a long time. So here are the results of the Cob classes:

Starting from the left
Rosemary was Grand Champion C/D Cob under Judge Bullard, Champion Cob senior mare under the same judge, First place in 5 and over Yeld (not being bred) Mare under Judge Bullard and 3rd place under Judge Fox. (These are in reverse order earned)
Addie was Reserve Grand Champion C/D Cob under Judge Fox, Reserve Champion Cob senior mare under Judge Fox, 2nd place in 5 and over Yeld mare under Judge Fox and 3rd place under Judge Bullard.
Roscoe was the only C/D Colt so he was automatically Champion and 1st under both Judges.
Comrade was Champion C/D Cob gelding under Judge Bullard, 1st place C/D 5 and over Cob gelding under Judge Bullard and 3rd under Judge Fox.

We had a long wait until the last couple classes. We tied the girls to our trailer and Comrade to Peggy's. Roscoe got to roam inside Peggy's stock trailer. They were all great about standing for so long.

None of our ponies placed at the highest level, but they were great. Roscoe decided at one point that he did not want to stay with Mom at a place where Rosemary could see him while in the ring and broke away. Luckily he just ran over to Peggy and Comrade. Mom was not happy though.
Next up C/D Ridden Cob for me and Comrade.
I am always very nervous at shows. All day I used the Rescue Remedy and was really feeling pretty settled by time I hopped on.
Comrade decided he was not going to listen to me and call to the horses. I decided to keep him moving and wear him down. I tried to canter, but I got buck buck, stop. Circles, shoulder ins, transitions, I tried it all. The breeder really wanted me to fix him, but I knew I could not. I really hated to disappoint her. That combined with frustration and tiredness put me in tears.
There was no way I was pulling out. Even if we did not canter and gallop he could still trot. Once the class was ready, I took and breathe and decided I would ride what he gave me. Before the pattern they asked for some gaits on the rail as a group. Surprisingly Comrade did pick up the Right lead for about a quarter of the ring before bucking and stopping. Left lead was not happening though. At that point I knew he was off. Left lead is his good lead, Right his bad. I have ridden him for almost 3yrs now and I know he does not handle pain well. Something was wrong.
The show must go on, so off we went for our pattern. Walk to the end, trot the short end, extended trot across the diagonal. He gave me the best extended trot ever, especially for him. He prefers collection to lengthening. Then Right lead canter... or canter buck buck stop. Then extended trot across the diagonal... not quite since he was visibly lame now. Then left lead canter... nope. then gallop down the long side... okay we tried more extended trot. Trot, walk halt at the end of the long end, this we could do. Whew, that was over.
Now we had to take off the saddle for the conformation part. The breeder and Mom came to help me. Mom told me he was off. I decided that if he trotted for me we would trot, but I would not force him. The judge commented that Comrade was not impressed with canter. I told him that he was off today. Then we walked straight and trotted. I have to say he trotted lame, but great. NO DRAGGING needed. So many of the geldings looked liked they were being dragged and I told Comrade he would not be that way. Finally the class was done. Here are a few shots mom was able to take.

She could not really see the screen due to the sun

Is he cute or what?

Mom put the class in perspective for me as we walked back to the trailer. She said Comrade normally gives up when things get hard and he did not this time. He gave me that extended trot and he did TRY to canter. Plus as we were halted waiting for our turn he stretched down. He gave me everything he could. She can be a pain at times, but I needed that break down of the ride.

Overall all our ponies were super stars. It was really great to see them strutting their stuff. Now I have to wait for the professional pictures.

When we got home Roscoe sacked out in the stall. The poor boy was exhausted. Me too actually. That night I slept like the dead for 10hrs.
Gotta love Show days.

Whacked

Hmm, how time flies. It was a crazy, if short weekend. On Saturday, I had to get some weed whacking done. We have about 8 acres and a lot of fence line. Mom and I are both vertically challenged and traditional gas powered weed whackers are difficult for us to use. So my wonderful Dad got us a push weed whacker. It is great and does not need an oil/gas mix.
So, I plugged in my Ipod and went to work as I listened to an audible book by Patricia Cornwell. I also enjoyed a lovely show of movement from Roscoe and Rosemary. They love any excuse to run around. I love seeing how both are maturing.
After almost four hours of weed whacking, I got most of the fence lines done. I figured I deserved a ride. Although I really wanted to ride Rosemary, but I had to stay on DaVinci's good side so I rode him. I figured I would do a quick stroll with him, then ride the pony girl. DaVinci had other ideas.
He gave me a great ride. I rode bareback, which is how I ride him most of the time, and we did some leg yields, change to half passes. He loves to do lateral work and riding bareback I can feel is he is cheating at all. On our last half pass to the right and the change of bend once we reached the edge, he picked up canter in the smoothest transition ever. Like letting out a breathe. That is the magic of partnership and connection.
Well DaVinci drew me in for a longer ride and I did not get to ride Rosemary. I settled my guys and headed out to ride Comrade.
This Saturday is the Spring Fling VA Welsh show. Rosemary, Roscoe, Comrade and Addie (Peggy's Cob mare) will all be showing in hand. Comrade and I will be doing my first Ridden Welsh class at this show. This is a pattern and conformation class that is suppose to show the true Welsh movement. Stallions really show what this class is all about, but it is open to horses five and older.
I decided to practice for the class during my ride. Well Comrade decided that in the early dusk, the dogs were ghosts coming to eat him. So I started doing shoulder ins and haunches in or out to get his attention on me. Those movements are great to set up for canter transitions and boy did he give me great transitions. I looked on the plus side. If I can ride through this tension, I should be able to ride at the show. We shall see. I was able to end the ride on a longer rein completing the pattern.
The count down begins. I worked on Sunday in order to take off Friday. Four horses to bathe should be interesting. For this show Roscoe's breeder will be there to help handle the horses. During a long talk on Sunday she realized that we will need three handlers, since there is a chance all three will make it to the Cob Grand Champion class. It will be a very long day, but we will be in good company.
And the weather looks like it will be clear. After the last show that in itself will make the day better. If you are in Northern VA, come to the 4-H center in Front Royal on Saturday and Sunday and see the wonderful Welsh ponies and cobs.

Show Overlaps

Since I have so much time in Florida, I have been keeping track of the show listings. I already have a Welsh breed show on the calender for April 22nd, but I wanted to see the other schooling show schedules. One of the Hunter show series finally listed dates. Of course the first show is the same day as the Welsh show. Take that off the options for now.
Next our local horse society holds a variety of shows for different disciplines. I already knew I could not do the jumper shows since they are held on a week day. This year they are having 3 dressage shows. The first show date... falls on the same day as the Welsh show. If it was not for Roscoe, I would consider skipping the Welsh show to go to one of the others. Breed shows are the only shows he can show in right now though. I hope to take horses to the other dressage shows in May and July.
Our local society posted their Hunter show dates. That show arena is only five minutes down the road so they are a good option. Unfortunately, their first show is April 21st... not good and the second is May 19 the same day as the VA Welsh show.
I am aiming for exposure and experience. Comrade and I did one Dressage show last year. We survived, but had a few bucks during Intro C. This year I want to get him in some jumping classes and maybe find some combined training events. At Welsh shows right now he can only do pleasure classes or green hunter. Money will decide how many Welsh shows he goes to.
Rosemary and Roscoe will at least go to the 2 VA Welsh shows in May and September and maybe some of the MD Welsh shows for the breed classes.
DaVinci would do Dressage shows (he is not very Hunter.) Dottie could do Hunter but I would love to get her to a Dressage show. Fitness will be the biggest factor for these two.
Rosemary will be trained to drive this year, so her show schedule will depend on her training and availability.
I am going to have to sit down and put the show calenders side by side and see how to work it all out.

Two mores days in Florida and then we head home. If I am not too tired I am riding my pony Friday.