From racing to riding... the training diary of an off the track Standardbred

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Rehoboth Fair 2010

I had an awesome time at the fair yesterday! Mary-Kate ended up not going because Katie refused to get on the trailer for 3 hours. So I went all by myself but Mary-Kate came to watch. Jacqie and Kate brought Hunter and Bella and did the wtc division and games. Go to www.huntertobe.blogspot.com to see how they did!

Jet was a super star! The judge, however, was not a great one. Everyone complained about her, not just me. I wasn't in it for the ribbons but placing people that were on the wrong diagnol and breaking above people that were on the right diagnol and not breaking just because they were in proper show attire was unfair. The only required attired were boots with a heel and a helmet. Who knows... I got there at about 8:55am since Katie wouldn't load. I was afraid I would miss my first class but like always, the fair was running late and I had a 30 minute wait until it started.

Our first class was In-Hand. There were 14 people in the class and we ended up placing 3rd!! The flat classes were...horrible honestly. Jet was perfect but the geniuses running the fair combined Jr. walk trot with Jr. leadline so we only trotted around the ring halfway in each direction! Jet's walk isn't the best so we never really had our chance to shine. I was upset that they did that but what are you going to do..Jet has NEVER been as good in the show ring as he was yesterday!No nose in the air, slow, and straight! YAY! He wasn't too pleased with one side of the ring what was particularly deep so we stayed off the rail on that side. I was thrilled with him and his overall behavior at the show. It keeps getting better each time! Our of 9, we ended up placing 5th in Equitation (even my family, friends, and bystanders couldn't figure out this one...Jackets places above polos. I'm not upset about it, I just want to know what I did wrong), didn't place in Pleasure, 4th in Crossrails(FIRST CROSSRAIL CLASS EVER!), and 3rd in horsemenship! He was awesome in the crossrail! It was a simple one time around the ring with four jumps on the rail. In our warm up I got left behind on almost every jump because he jumped them huge so when I went to go into my class, I was expecting the jump and instead he trotted over the first three. So I looked like an idiot for getting into a jumping position. And the last jump he actually jumped and cantered away and I got left behind. Not bad for our first over fences class ever! I was SO proud of him! No refusuals or even looking at the jumps! (I have both the warm up and class on video)

The games were so much fun! We did Mint Julip, Barrel Race, Izzy Dizzy race, and Boots and Saddle race. There were about 15-20 people in Mint Julip. We had to walk and trot on the rail like a normal class. Whoever had the most water at the end of the class won. He was so much better than I expected him to be! When we practiced this, he was flying around the ring sideways everytime he got a drop of water on him. At the show he was slow and listening to my one-handed odd steering! I went into a half seat after my Mom suggested it after we trotted around once at the trot. All of the water I lost was during that trotting time. Once I got into the halfseat at the trot going the second direction, we didn't spill a drop! We placed 3rd! (I have a short video of this class)

There were atleast 20 people in the barrel race. This included real barrelers, jumpers with speed, and some good competition! I was in it for the fun and not to win so I was excited to see everyone racing around the barrels. To get his legs warmed up and his rear in gear, we galloped around a field. After that we went into the class. When I asked him to go, he gave me a super fast trot instead! So we trotted the first barrel and to the second barrel. He picked up the canter and made a wide turn around the second, broke from the canter, trotted to the third, and galloped home. If we would have trotted the whole thing until the final turn, we would have won. Our time was around 22 seconds. (I have a video too!) It was funny because his trot was faster than almost all of the other horses' gallops! We placed 3RD!! I was so surprised!

Next class was Izzy DIzzy. You had to gallop down to the opposite side of the ring, dismount(there was someone there to hold your horse), then you had to put your head on a baseball bat and spin around 5 times, then run back to the start. There was about 15-20 people in this. We watched most of the people go(it was HILARIOUS! Jacqie fell down, Kate ran in the wrong direction, and a few other people were pretty funny too!). I got him ready to go, then galloped down there, had some trouble getting off (overshot the person), eventually got off, then either had my head on the bat or the bat on the bucket(it was a short bat so it had to be on a bucket instead of the ground) but never both. I stood up, figured out where I was, then ran back as fast as I could. We won this class! (I have a video of it too)

The last class was the Boots and Saddle race. Everyone doing it(about 8 people) put their boots in a pile at one side of the ring. We then had to mount up in our socks and ride to the other side of the ring and wait for the go. Every person in the race had their own individual horse holder to hold their horse. We had to race (at the same time) to the pile of boots, dismount, find your own boots in the pile, put them on, then run back. My friend Ashlee and I challenged eachother so it was on! I was smart enough to pick a spot across from the pile of shoes so I wouldn't have to run over once I got off. They said go ann we galloped down there! I got off (was smart enough to use my paddock boots and not my tall boots for this) found them pretty easily, then put them halfway on before I saw other people just about to start running, then decided to run with them halfway on and we won! It was a fun time!

Overall it was a great show! I had a blast in the games, not to thrilled about the regular classes but it was a great experience for Jet. He has never done this many classes before and I was very proud of him! Pictures and videos up soon!

So in conclusion:
Rehoboth Fair Horse Show Results:
Open Horse or Pony In-Hand- 3rd out of 14
Jr. Walk-Trot Equitation- 5th out of 9
Jr. Walk-Trot Pleasure- Did not place
Jr. Walk-Trot Crossrails- 4th out of 7
Jr. Walk Trot Horsemanship- 3rd out of 9
Mint Julip Class- 3rd out of 15-20
Coverleaf Race- 3rd out of over 20
Izzy Dizzy Race- 1st out of about 15
Boots and Saddle Race- 1st out of 8


Yay!


-Em and Jet

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