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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

Pony Card

Because I am the kind of person who likes to "get things done" and we have had a lot of snow days for me to sit around and think of things like this, I got it into my head I should look into getting Ellie's pony card this year.  I have already done her lifetime USDF and USEA registrations, and being sure she had her pony card seemed like an easy thing to do.  Mostly, I have a dream of someday doing Pony Cup and I don't want to try to get her pony card for the first time ever in KY, because while Ellie sticks at 14.1, I wouldn't want to get all the way to KY from ME and be told she doesn't measure correctly.

So, I reach out to a few local USDF shows in Maine, and I find that because they are level 1 shows, they don't have to offer measurements.  Fair enough.


Hello!  I am writing to find out if any of the TDs at your dressage shows this year would be able to help me obtain a pony measurement card for my 14.1 hand horse.

I reach out to the next closest USDF show, in NH, and I am told to contact their TD to make arrangements.  Easy enough!  I write back and ask for the TD's contact info.  I fully intend to compete in this show if the TD is willing to do the pony card for me.  


Random pic of Ellie at two years old being adorably dorky
#lookidrankallmywater
Instead of receiving an email address or phone for the TD, I am met with an unusual amount of dismissal and told to contact GMHA in VT since they have pony classes.
I have to tell you that there is very little demand for dressage pony measurement in New England.  I’ve actually never had a request for a measurement at our show in all the years I have run it. If I have a request, I can certainly contact you, but that would be very unusual, so I wouldn’t suggest counting on it.  Have you contacted GMHA?  They DO offer pony classes, so they would probably be your best bet in this region.
Needless to say, I am irritated at this point.  I don't CARE if "there is very little demand for dressage pony measurements in New England." I AM ASKING FOR ONE and I am asking THREE months ahead of time to be sure they can accommodate me, because it seems rude to show up at a competition and demand it get done without any notice ahead of time.  This is a level 3 USDF show and there is honestly no reason for them to refuse to measure a pony.  And she writes "If I have a request"....?  Ummm, I AM THE ONE REQUESTING and I am totally counting on myself still requesting it at the show at the end of June.  (Seriously, whuuuut is she even talking about?)

I write back and pretty much say well thanks anyway.  My friend MB had her pony measured at this show two years ago, which led me to believe you could help me.  So I guess I will just show up to compete and demand my pony to be measured on arrival?  I was slightly nicer than that, but truthfully having known this person since college (she was three years ahead of me), I am sadly not surprised by her haughty and dismissive attitude.  I honestly thought the initial response would be "SURE! We can do that for you!" and not this weird (and honestly rude) run around.

By this point, I have come to realize that because Ellie is only coming six this year, her pony card will not be permanent until she is EIGHT.  So if I do a pony card this year, I will have to do it again next year, and then a third time her eight year old year (in 2020) and only then will it be permanent.  I am NOT interested in dealing with this show secretary THREE times or anyone else who is going to make this a huge deal when it isn't.  And let's face it, we won't be attending Pony Cup before 2020, so I might as well just wait two more years and have her measured ONCE for a permanent card.  Interestingly enough, after my last email, I get a response that says:


You can request a pony measurement if you have a pony that is entered in the competition and does not yet have a permanent measurement certification. 

*headdesk*

Now all I can do is laugh, because seriously?  You couldn't write THAT SENTENCE after my original inquiry?  I didn't write anything back yet (and maybe I won't at all since WHATEVER lol).  It clearly doesn't even matter at this point since I am going to wait until Ellie is eight.  And I'd rather deal with a nicer show secretary when the time comes, thankyouverymuch.

Why do people make things so much harder than they have to???  Hahaha it just blows my mind.  I was ready to go enter a stupid HJ show just to get a pony card haha.  (HJ shows are not stupid, it would just be stupid of me to stuff my horse around a hunter course to get a pony card when she is NOT A HUNTER).
Her future is so bright she needs my shades haha
The other thing that has come out of this was my great conversations through email and phone with Jenny, the organizer of the Pony Cup.  She has been super helpful and super supportive and even called USEF for me yesterday because she was just as confused about the dismissive email.  She even said to me WHAT THE HELL THERE ARE PONIES IN DRESSAGE IN NEW ENGLAND THATS BULLSHIT hahaha (she's my kinda girl!!) and I totally loved her can-do spirit and positive attitude.  She has the USEF pony measurement person all ready to back me up in case I have any more problems with asking for a pony card.  She totally went to bat for me!  

I told her now I am even more excited to try to get shows to sponsor a Test of Choice Pony Class (TOC) through Pony Cup, as it is quite reasonable ($35!) to get Pony Cup sponsored classes (and ribbons!) and if you tell me I can't do something (or that there is "very little demand"), I will do my best to prove you wrong!  If I can rally the pony riders I know and get them excited to enter classes, how can a show refuse new/more entries?  FEI Pony classes are only offered to youth riders, so being able to enter the regular USDF classes PLUS a USDF TOC pony class would be so fun!  And now I am even more determined to someday get to Pony Cup (which is moving from KY, so I am praying it will be closer!) but they have not made the announcement just yet.  Jenny told me to watch the FB page because we will all know soon!

So besides laughing at this pony card silliness, we added a new 10" of sn*w on top of nearly bare ground (yes, it has become a four letter word at this point haha).  The mares had their spring shots on Wednesday, we were pummeled with a snow storm yesterday, and now I see lots of riding and pony time tonight and this weekend!  At least the snow covered the mud temporarily, because once this melts, MAN are we going to have some serious mud haha.

Comments

  1. Well that lady sounds like a barrel of laughs to deal with. Not. Ugh. I hate when people seem to go out of their way to make things harder than necessary!

    Sn*w is absolutely a 4-letter word. Gross.

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    1. I just don't know where she was coming from and it's like, welp, whatever lady. Easier to laugh at those who choose to be dismissive and rude as opposed to getting angry! :-)

      And yeah, I am no longer writing out the word sn*w. JUST. DONE.

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  2. I feel like reaching out to horse people you either get the super friendly helpful person, or the bitchy can't believe you're asking them ANYTHING person. Why can't they all be the former??

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    1. I think you are definitely correct. I try to be the nicest person I can be because I know how much it stinks to get a rude response. *sigh*

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  3. omgosh, that first email tho... she must *not* have had her coffee before replying. like,

    Liz: i'd like to request a measurement.
    TD: well we don't get a lot of requests so unless we get a request we won't do it. i'll let you know if we get a request but don't hold your breath.
    Liz: i literally just made a request tho....

    how freakin annoying!

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    1. EXACTLY hahahahahahahahahaha! I was like WHUT ARE YOU EVEN.

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  4. I feel like people need to slow down when they read and read for comprehension. Your original request would have been so easily replied to with kindness and understanding rather than as you said Haughtiness.

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    1. So so so true. My original email (which I just edited to add into the post) was literally: Hello! I am writing to find out if any of the TDs at your dressage shows this year would be able to help me obtain a pony measurement card for my 14.1 hand horse.

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  5. Wow. So.much.fun. I would be tempted to ask her to do it EVERY YEAR until it could become permanent. But I can a bit of a bitch sometimes.....

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    1. I considered that exactly line of thinking and was like ugggg not even worth it LOL!

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  6. Sometimes it seems like people just don't want to their job! So frustrating. And bad for the sport!

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    1. Yeah, I agree. It's like, thanks for the discouragement. Uggg!

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  7. Wow. Responses like this are why I’m told I’m good at writing hate mails. I can’t abide rudeness and laziness like that.

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    1. I just stopped writing anything back because like you, I am good at writing not-so-nice things back. But in this case it didn't even seem like it would matter. And the horse world is small, so I will just take the high road. It's like, OK, I get it. I will find someone else to help me. Jeeez! :-(

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  8. OMG that woman. Shame, shame, shame! Reading her responses makes me twitch with irritation lol

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    1. I know, right! I literally had to re-read her responses several times because I was like "Am I REALLY reading this correctly?" as my eyes bugged out of my head.

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