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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

SPHO-ME Endless Summer Show 2008

We competed at the SPHO-ME Endless Summer Open Horse Show on August 17, 2008 at Cumberland Fairgrounds. The biggest reason it was a good day was because the sun shone ALL DAY LONG and it was actually a bit hot!!!! :)

Results:
1st Open 2-Gait Pleasure, Sr.
1st Pole Bending, Sr.
2nd Open Showmanship
2nd Open 2-Gait Equitation, Sr.
2nd Roadster Under Saddle
2nd Open Barrels, Sr.
2nd Open Trail class
2nd Standardbred 2-Gait Pleasure, Sr.
3rd Hunter over Fences

Dreamy was good except she was VERY forward and lost her halt. LOL! For some reason she always loses her halt around any track....be it while marshaling a race at Scarborough Downs or while showing when there are horses jogging at Cumberland. She is never dangerous and always obedient, so I felt safe. But my goodness, she gets so REVVED up! She is not nervous but not at all like her usual mellow self...but more like "Dreamy-on-a-major-caffeine-overload." GEESH! :P
We did not place in STB in Hand, because well....she was really naughty and actually did a semi-rear in the lineup. OH boy I was not impressed and instead of continuing to fight with her and try to make her stand, I just did a small circle (continuously) in our spot. I had enough foresight to park her on the end of the lineup so we did not disturb anyone and we had plenty of room to circle. I have shown for years and know what will work. :D

She literally almost had a meltdown because I was asking her to stand still. I swear, she can be the most obliging mare and TRIES so much harder than any horse I have ridden.....but boy there are those rare times I have discovered where you really can push her over the edge. And then she has temper tantrums. I have seen it this year under saddle with the canter....and now I have seen it when trying to make her stand still at the track. I have always been smart enough when under saddle (like when marshaling) to know we cannot halt and I just keep her moving forward instead of forcing her to stand still. Because let's face it, rearing is the consequence when you ask a horse to stand (or go forward) and they much rather not thank-you-very-much. But WHOA, I never figured she would be like that in hand. Oh well.....now I know and will be more careful in the future. Her hooves only came maybe 1.5 feet off the ground, but that was certainly 1.5 more feet than I wanted!!!!!

Ah well. Makes me question whether or not to even bother doing in-hand at Nationals. Granted, she is FINE when we do in-hand at the Hollis Equestrian Park. Is it because it is not a track? Or because she has shown there 10 times already in 2 years (that is where the SMDA shows are held as well as the SPHO-ME Spring show)?? My gut tells me to just skip the in-hand at Nationals and focus on the riding. No reason to make her ugly before I ride. I might change my mind, but at this moment I am opting to not do the 2 in-hand classes at Nationals.

All photos were taken by P. Rhodes.

Roadster Under Saddle....

Gotta love a trot with air-time....

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