A Horseless Horse Show...

What do you do when it's a gorgeous Spring day, you're finished with your homework and it's the one day a week when you don't have soccer and/or riding? 

If you're my daughter, you set up some jumps in the front yard and spend an hour pretending you're a famous show jumper.  I think she pictures herself as McLain Ward's Rothchild, because they are both small and feisty and damn good jumpers.

I call this clip "The Jump-Off" as it's clearly a shortened course. The fences are 3'9" and 3'6".  No big deal if you're on a world class show jumper.  More of a big deal if you are a 5'2" girl, albeit one with springs for legs.  "Don't video!" she said to me. "I'm not at my maximum height."  (In case you are wondering, so far that's been just over 4'."

What do you do when you're bored with jumping the high stuff?  You start asking yourself some technical questions, of course.  Can you lengthen and shorten?  Are you quick enough with your legs?

Clearly it's time to set up some gymnastics.  Jim Wofford would be proud.

"The Bounce"

"Bounce to a One Stride"

"Going the Other Way"

Seriously, the kid never stops, bless her heart.  If she were a dog, she'd totally be a Jack Russell. No joke. She asked if I wanted to try a course or two.  Uh-uh. Nope. Taking a pass on that one.  The kid got me to do a cartwheel the other day and I damn near killed myself. 

No thanks, kiddo. I choose life.  You jump, I'll video.  

Happy Horse Showing in Happy Valley

This is a very exciting week for Noah and I.  We are out at Kocher Farm in Pennsylvania Furnace,  Pennsylvania, at the Lion Country Horse Show. The show is held just a stone's throw from State College, the home of Penn State University. The bucolic valley the college is situated in has been called Happy Valley since a study in the late 1980's listed the area as one of the least stressful places in the US to live.

This could be why:

Blue skies, farms and cornfields. Bye-bye stress.

A few years ago Sophie and I went to HITS Saugerties together, which the very first away show for us both.  Now it's Noah's turn. (I was supposed to show too, but Sug decided she'd rather have her coffin joints injected.) So this week all the focus is on Noah and James. 

We've been having a blast together.  We had loads of good conversations and laughs on the 4 hour drive out.  I love hanging with the Boy - our senses of humor are very similar and we are both okay either spending time together or giving each other space when necessary.

One of the highlights of the drive out?  Electric Avenue!!  Now I know where it is!  Pennsylvania!

We're gonna rock down to....

We've been having a blast spending the last two days with James and the gang from the barn. James is not used to so much stall time, so we've taken him out for hacks around the show grounds and fields and for lots of grazing time.  Some of the others have done lots of these away shows and are used to them; Noah and I are new to the whole thing and we're like kids in a candy store.  Time to pick out stalls?  Great!! Time to hay?  We're in!  Night check? Yay!  Torrential downpour and we have to lower the tent flaps in sideways rain? Good times!

James rocking the braided look

Does Charles Owen offer this model?

The first day we got organized and Noah had a lesson, then we hung out and watched some of the others show. Today (Day 2) was Noah's first actual show day. It was sunny and gorgeous when Noah took James out for his morning hack, but as we got closer to his class, things got ominous.  Just as we were ready to go to the ring all hell broke loose.  The show organizers got on the loudspeaker and order everyone back to the barns and told us to lower the tent flaps.  Thunder and lightning shook the tents, making James uneasy, so we stayed with him.  Luckily the storm lasted only about 35 minutes, but they were pretty intense minutes.  When the storm front petered out a bit, we hurried to the ring so the class could be run before the skies opened up again.

Uh-oh

Batten down the hatches

Noah and James did well.  Noah had a GPS issue in the first class, which was a shame as they were doing so well.  It began to rain in the second round, so that was not quite as smooth but they wound up pinning third.  By the time they did the hack it was raining a bit stronger and James was not pleased.  He held himself together, but his handsome face showed he was not happy about the situation.  Despite that they got fifth.  Noah was not thrilled with his riding, but he was happy to have spent so much of the day with his horse.

And now I'm ready to crash face-first into my bed.  This horse-showing stuff ain't easy.  ;)

The Horse Show That Almost Wasn't...

Sophie pats Cookie after a job well done.

Sometimes I wonder if this parenting thing is going to be the death of me.  Really.  You know those mothers that seem completely nonplussed despite the fact that they've got 8 pre-teens running through their yard and dinner to cook and a science fair project to help make?  You know - the mothers who smile serenely and who seem to know the absolute right Dr. Phil/Oz/Spock thing to say when their child is sad or mad or glad or in the middle of a $hitstorm of angst and drama?

I'm not one of them.

The other night, Sophie was overtired from a sleepover the night before and seemed a bit bummed out. While she was organizing her stuff for the following day's horse show, I made a few attempts to find out what was going on.  I used my sweetest, best, most understanding Dr. Phil voice each time.  I swear to you I did.  It didn't work.  She was mute, until all of a sudden she wasn't, and then she was face down in tears on the bed, howling.  Absolutely howling.  The cats peeked in, took one look at the situation and got the heck out of Dodge.

More gentle probing (and by God, I was exhausted at this point) got the kid to spill the beans.  The cause of the drama?  Camp had been "boring", the afternoon snack was "bad", and we didn't get a chance to go to the pool because I "needed to go grocery shopping." 

My brain snapped.  I had a full-on WTF aneurysm. Gone were Doctors Phil, Oz, and Spock.  In their place was the wrath of Mom, and it was a righteous and awesome wrath.  To put it bluntly, Miss Thing got an earful, and I was about half a second away from pulling her out of the show. I don't have a problem doing that; I've done it before. However, a small part of my brain was saying, "She didn't really do anything wrong.  She was tired, you pushed her to tell you what was wrong, and she did. You just didn't like her answer, or the drama that came with it."  So, before I did anything irrevocable, I got my husband's opinion on the matter, and a very rational friend's thoughts as well.  Ultimately, we decided to let her show, but to enforce consequences later by having her do extra housecleaning chores and sit through one of my long winded lectures on "Why what you did was unacceptable: Part XXIII."

She woke up the next morning as her normal self.  She was helpful, respectful, and listened attentively to her trainer and to me.  She said "thank you" whenever people complimented her on her riding or on her pony.  She was considerate of her pony and praised Cookie with many pats after each round.  There was no sign whatsoever of the sulky hell-child of the evening before.  She even bear-hugged her Grandpa and thanked him for coming to watch her show.

Reserve Champion.  Happy child. Tired Po-Po.

Wonderful!  Happy child, happy Mom, happy pony (there were lots of treats and hugs).  She almost had a relapse when we handed her the bucket of cleaning supplies, but took one look at me (I think I might have been drawing in a deep breath in preparation for another Shock and Awe campaign) and thought better of it. 

She went off to clean.  I went off to take a nap.  This parenting thing is exhausting.



Sometimes the Best Horse Shows Are the Worst Ones...

OK, I know what you're asking.  "Have you been hitting the vino again, Amy?"  The answer to that would be NO, although I might contemplate having a glass at some point.

Yesterday was the Pony Jockey's first horse show of the season, the Four Seasons show at Duncraven Stables in Titusville, NJ.  We spent Saturday primping and polishing the pony, making a last minute run to Dover (how is it possible for a child to grow so quickly and to lose so dang many gloves??) and then on Sunday morning we got up at o' dark hundred to make the hour-long drive to the show.  Luckily the impending rain was holding off, so we considered that a good sign. 

Silly us.  Cookie, normally the most reliable of ponies, a pony who considers herself a Very Important Horse Show Pony, was apparently not in the mood to horse show yesterday.  She's entitled to not be in the mood.  We all get that way sometimes. 

Here's what happened: We were entered in Pre-Children's Hunter and Equitation: My trainer had Soph and Cookie school for only a little while as the footing in the schooling ring wasn't optimal. Since Cookie is older and had broken her splint bone, my trainer likes be conservative and save her legs for the classes.  No arguments there.  The footing in the outdoor ring was a bit sticky from some earlier rain, and my trainer told Sophie she'd need to ride with some real impulsion to help Cookie get over the fences.  Soph rode in, and promptly forgot her instructions. They got to fence number 2, an oxer with yellow flowers, and the pony, realizing her pilot was asleep at the wheel,  said, "No, thank you very much" and ducked out left.  She did that twice more and they retired.  The good news was the child didn't seem upset or mad at the pony -- which made me quite happy.

Re-evaluating the strategy

So, for round 2, our trainer instructed Sophie to ride up more, add more inside leg, and use an opening outside rein to hold Cookie on the right track.  Well, Cookie is not usually a stopper, but she's also no dope, and by now she'd decided that she saw herself a quick way back to the trailer and her hay.  Three drive-bys past the same oxer out they went, Exit Stage Left. Off went pony, child and trainer to the schooling ring.  Luckily the child was still fine about the whole thing, no anger at the pony, no tears.  Just  an "Okay, we have a problem to fix" kind of attitude.   I was trying to take notes, as I'm not sure I'd have been as composed..

By now I'm a bit worried that there's something wrong with the pony.  My mare is not a stopper, but if she does, it's usually a sign that something hurts.  So while they schooled I prayed to the Horse Show gods that the pony wasn't hurting somewhere.  I'm a natural worrier, so I was envisioning catastrophic breakdowns, MRIs, career ending injuries.  My husband took one look at me and told me to stop, that the pony was just testing Soph. (Not inconcievable, as Cookie's a very smart pony and does not see why she should be doing all the work if her pilot is daydreaming away up there.)

It seems Cookie was not in pain, just in a mood.  My trainer suggested menopause, as Cookie is 16 now.  No matter, because for round 3 Soph clearly had her head in the game and rode like her life depended on it.  That pony not only had pace, she was going around that ring like her tail was on fire!  As they approached the bogey fence, Soph held her inside leg on the pony like an iron rail and held a wide opening outside rein, and about 4 strides from the fence she went to the stick like a jockey coming down to the wire on Derby day.  Needless to say Cookie said a firm "Yes, Ma'am" and cleared that fence like she'd never even thought of going by it.

Finally! Over the bogey fence.

Needless to say the pony knew we were on to her tricks and had found herself an engine, and it was in full gear. The next couple rounds were a bit brisk, to say the least, and gave Soph a few real good opportunities to "cowgirl up"  and learn to stick the long ones.  God love her, she came out of the ring with a huge grin on her face, patting her pony for a job well done.  'Did you see how fast we were going that time?" she asked.  Last I checked, neither Hunter or Eq rounds were judged on speed, but so what, the kid and the pony were now having fun, and that's what matters.

So in terms of ribbons won, it was not the best of days (although we did get a few ribbons). In terms of lessons learned, though, it was definitely a banner experience.  A year or two ago a day like that would have sent the child fetal.  Now she grins through it and tells her pony she's a good girl.  She learned to gut out a difficult round, make the best out of some lousy spots and get over them and move on to the next fence.  She learned she could stick with a pony that was being less than perfect, and if that isn't a confidence builder, I don't know what is.  Most importantly, to my way of thinking, she clearly showed that the ribbon was not what mattered, rather it was the time spent with one's pony and the experience of learning together that was.

Way to go, kiddo.  Momma's proud of you.

The humans are happy, but Cookie's
still wondering where her hay is.

Showing With the Kiddo...

The Kiddo and the Po-Po

There's something extra....um, searching for a word here....special about riding with one's child.  It's wonderful and insane and tragi-comic all rolled up into one.  It's even more special when you share the whole horse showing experience with them.

The other weekend my daughter and I had a horse show.   She's 9, and I'm trying to get her to take care of things on her own a bit more, so the night before the show I told her to get out her show bag and make sure she had all her stuff together and ready for the next morning.  I then gave her a check-list so she knew what "all her stuff" entailed.  When I checked on her a little while later she told me she'd gotten everything in order and had organized it on her bed.  A quick peek assured me that yup, looked like we were good to go.  Off  kiddo went to bed, dreaming of successful rounds and blue ribbons. 

Didja catch it?  Mistake number one?  In case you missed it, the mistake was the "quick peek" part.  You'll see why in a moment.

The crack of dawn came earlier than usual for Mom.  Not so for the child.  She was up earlier than the neighbor's chickens, banging around in her room as she dressed for the day.  The kid is incapable of silence in any form.  Silver lining here is that I did not need my alarm clock.  I was awake, and husband was not awakened and thus irritated by alarm clock going off at ungodly hour.  WINNING!!!

All seemed to be going according to plan.  Kid was busy shoveling in breakfast while I loaded truck and waited for the coffee machine to heat up.  Just as I was taking that first life affirming sip, she oh-so-casually informs me that I need to fix her jodphurs.  The black strap at the bottom had broken.  Apparently at the last show.  Which.was.weeks.ago.

HUH??  FYI -- I'm dumb as a box of rocks until the first jolt of caffeine hits me.  I think I just swiveled my head and looked at her, slack jawed, because she repeated herself.  Veeeeerrrrrry slowly.  By this time her words are sinking in.  This happened a month ago??  Why am I finding out now, when we need to leave in 5 minutes and the show is 45 minutes away??!!??  My pulse, like the pitch of my voice, was escalating.  Quickly I grabbed my sewing kit and triaged that puppy back together and off we went, only 10 minutes behind schedule.  Only poked myself with the needle once.  Only cussed the one time, too.

Done for the Day. Tired Po-Po.

The jodphur incident left me with no time to fix my second cup of coffee.  I blame my lack of patience with her newly stained jodphurs on the lack of caffeine.  She got them dirty within 5 seconds of arriving at the show grounds.  Seriously, how on earth could sitting on the muddy ground seem to be a good idea??  Even her 7 year old barn buddy knew that the rule is you have to stay clean until you show.  What would George Morris say?!?

The kid was unconcerned.  The stain was on her tush, and to her way of thinking no one would see it.  "Duh," says the7 year old sidekick, "What about when you two-point????"   Thankfully a towel and some water helped the situation somewhat, although I swear you can see the stain in some of the pictures. The footing was muddy, so I'm hoping  the judge thought it was just splash back.

Heading Off to the Ring....

The rest of the morning progressed without a hitch.  The kiddo rode well, got some nice ribbons, but more importantly, was gracious and good to her pony even when she did not place as high as she'd wanted to.  She rewarded herself with a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich (gotta love show food when you are young and have a nuclear metabolism) and hung out with her pal and her pony while I showed.  She says she meant to come and watch my classes, but was having so much fun that she knew I would not want her to stop what she was doing. 

Think she played me a bit on that one??  Heck yeah, she did.  I'm fine with it.  I missed a couple of distances and really don't need to hear about it from her!

"Awwwwwwwwww" Moments....

I was down in Ocala over the weekend watching a friend of mine coach a couple of students who happened to have parents I knew and liked from my old barn.  Their Mom and I hung out while my friend warmed them up, and then we'd all hang around ringside as the eldest girl negotiated her hunter course.  There were some really nice moments, and some teaching moments, but what struck me is the kid came out of each round with nothing but appreciation for her horse. 

There was no blame, no "why didn't he jump?"  She knew the issues were hers and was nothing but thankful for the efforts her gallant old campaigner made to extricate them  both from some sticky situations. 

I hung around to watch the next round, mostly because the horse was named Sophie, which is my daughter's name.  Sophie was a lovely bay mare, went like a true hunter, and was a touch too big for the diminutive pixie on top of her.  Sophie clearly knew her primary job was to take care of the young'un, and she rolled around that course making sure the girl stayed in the middle of her back with nary a jostle. 

The mare's butter-smooth heroics were a thing to behold, but what really caught my attention was the ear-to-ear grin on the be-ribboned girl as she jumped the course.  That perma-grin stayed on through three rounds and a hack class, and through the lengthy waits in between classes, where she just perched on her mare, occasionally leaning down to hug her or feed her peppermints.  At the end of the hack they announced that they won the class, AND the Championship, and if possible, that grin got even bigger.  However, this time their were tears as well.  She came out of the ring smiling and crying and the first person she approached was her mom, whom she leaned down to hug and thank profusely. 

She and her trainer then went off to cool out Sophie the mare, feeding her peppermints the entire way back to the barn.  I had to approach the Mom and tell her how touched I was by the child's obvious joy in and love for the horse, as well as her obvious appreciation for her Mom.  Her Mom responded by saying this had been her dream, to have the chance to ride her Mom's mare in a big horse show.  She'd literally had no expectations of success -- to her, the success was just being there with that particular horse and the happiness that comes with reaching a long awaited goal. 

I'm not ashamed to admit I was so touched by that I teared up.  You see a lot of things in the horse world, some beautiful, some not so pretty.  I feel very privileged to have seen one of the beautiful moments, and am profoundly grateful for the creatures like Sophie that inspire those moments.