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Wentworth Hunter Pace - June 6, 2021

After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time!  most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the...

Dunegrass Living Classic Horse Show - May 13, 2012

Reva and I competed at the Dunegrass Living Classic show on May 13 and had a great time!  We started our show career a year ago at this show (though it used to be called the Ocean Communities Classic before it had a sponsor change).  This show is run by the American Saddlebred Association of Maine (ASAM), but it is Maine Horse Association (MHA) pointed.  It is a fun show in that it is double judged, so not only do you get double points but also double ribbons!  So while we only entered six classes, we came home with TWELVE ribbons!  That makes a ribbon whore like myself quite happy!  LOL!  ;-D


Overall, it was a wonderful day!  Though I ended up bathing Reva that morning before we left for the show, and accidentally I used her Eqyss Microtek Medicated Shampoo (she has intermittent skin issues) instead of the Vetrolin shampoo I normally use for showing.  Whoops!  She did not come out as "clean" as I had hoped, so I spent some time before our in-hand class stressing, brushing, and polishing her up!  LOL!  I did a lot of in-hand classes with Reva last year, as a way to get her into the show ring as much as possible in her first year of showing.  But in reality, I am not a fan of showing in-hand.  So this year we are only doing Standardbred In-Hand, as it counts towards the MHA Overall Standardbred Perpetual Award trophy thing.  Ha ha ha!  


First five photos by Kevin Flaherty
Thankfully, it seems my shampoo mix-up did not matter and we placed 1st and 2nd in this class!  Yay Reva!


Our first riding class (Standardbred 2-Gait Pleasure) was crazy!  Reva was a complete pill in the warm-up, twisting her body around, forgetting how to steer, and generally acting ridiculous.  I have NO idea where that came from.  I literally just did my best to not die in the class, but somehow we placed 2nd and 5th.  SECOND?  Seriously?  I have no idea how we did that.  I was expecting to place in last (sixth) place as there were six in our division and Reva was NOT a pleasure to ride.  But that just goes to show how two different judges can see two different things.  I don't think we deserved anything but last place, but oh well!  Judges decision is final!  :-)




Next up was Standardbred Roadster Under Saddle.  I had no intentions of doing this class until a friend of mine bought a Standardbred last year, got the class added, got ASAM to do a year end award, and then begged me to do the class with her.  LOL!  I have done Roadster U/S with Dreamy before, just for fun, but I did not want to encourage Reva to go any faster than she already wants to go.  So much of our dressage training has been about lateral suppleness and slowing her tempo.  But I felt bad and wanted to fill the class.  (I am a sucker for helping out ASAM and MHA, even when these shows are not exactly what I "train" my horses for...LOL!)  Anyway, I have never EVER trained Reva for roadster and never allowed her to trot faster than a working (dressage) trot.  But I am brave (or dumb....or both) and figured I might as well join my friend to give her someone to beat (LOL) and I could always ask to be excused if Reva was an idiot.


Pretending to be a roadster horse!
Well, Reva was great!  I should not doubt my Grown Up Filly!  She was able to jog trot (really just a nice working trot) and road trot (You are really letting me TROT FAST, Mom????  Wheeee!!!).  Granted, she had a hard time maintaining her trot at speed, as she just ended up breaking into the canter about halfway around.  That is what I get for teaching her how to canter!  LOL!!!  ;-)  As soon as she broke, I knew I was out.  (Well, let's be honest, I knew LONG before that I would not win. ;-)  But what the heck?  It is a fun class and I am happy to support the clubs, my friend, blah blah.  ;-D


We had to quickly change for the Standardbred 2-Gait Equitation, since it was only four classes after the Roadster class.  I did Roadster in my hunt seat tack so I would only have to change my own clothing.  I figured we would be fine in Eq, because your horse can be a complete cow and you can still win (happened to me many times! LOL!), but the true test was to see how Reva behaved.  I was a bit concerned she might now think that going in the show ring was all about going FAST like a roadster horse!  But I was happily surprised that she was fine; actually she was VERY VERY GOOD and I was able to have a very nice ride.  We were awarded double blues!  Yay Reva!


Relaxing between classes 
Left to right: Katie and her mare Major, Reva and me, and Shelly and McKeever - ALL STANDARDBREDS!
Reva decided to rediscover her normal good girl attitude (not sure WHY we had the baby tantrum in the morning...but she is only six year old!) and we ended up winning double blues in our Standardbred Pleasure Championship class too!  Reva was the overall Standardbred champion, which was fun!  We ended the day with Open Roadster and again had a break, but that is OK!  We had a blast, enjoyed the company of good friends, and won lots of pretty ribbons.  


Standardbred In Hand - 1st and 2nd
Standardbred 2-Gait Pleasure - 2nd and 5th
Standardbred 2-Gait Equitation - double 1sts
Standardbred Pleasure Championship - double 1sts
Standardbred Roadster Under Saddle - double 2nds
Open Roadster Under Saddle - double 3rds


Reva's haul from Dunegrass Living Classic.  We also won a cute shoulder bag and lots of Cowboy Magic products!
Click here for professional photos.  I was number 442.

Comments

  1. Good job Reva! ...and congrats to you for doing so well ;-)

    I love the Roadster look and I'll bet the class is as fun to watch as to particpate in.

    I think if we had some shows around here with Standardbred classes, I just might be game to try showing again at some point. I actually did go to one (in Illinois) once after I first got Griffin (they had classes for ex-race horses) and we had a blast. ...and for someone who's never been particularly talented in the show ring, I thought we did pretty good (we got a 5th, a 3rd, and 2 firsts!!).

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  2. Yay for you! You are doing so well with the "baby."

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  3. Wow! That is awesome!

    Reva is a very pretty girl.

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  4. Good job to you guys! Reva is going to win big like Dreamy... :-) You've done a great job bringing her along. Looks like another nice ribbon haul!

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