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...
I had a great time at the Maine Horse Association (MHA) Maine Event Horse Show this past Saturday. When I originally asked the MHA about adding a STB division to their shows this year, I was only thinking one show. Rick added the division for us at the Downeast (click here) which is a big double judged "A" rated show here in Maine.
Here we are at the Maine Event....
To my surprise, he also added it to the Maine Event show, which is a smaller one-day "C" rated show. This meant that the STB division was now eligible for year end awards! Yeah! For it to count, you need to show three times in your division. Since the Downeast counted as two shows, being double judged, the Maine Event was the third show! :) :) :) MHA ROCKS!
The day was perfect, weather wise. It was raining when I fed horses at 5AM and I was a bit worried. I was going to show rain or shine, but it is much better in the shine! LOL! By the time I headed out at 7:15 AM, the rain was gone and the sky was trying to clear. The day turned out to be hot and sunny! FINALLY! A real summer show day!
There were five Standardbreds in attendance during the show. One horse only did the in-hand class, and another horse only did the three riding classes, so there ended up being four STBs in each class.
Dreamy and I ended up in second place for both STB in-hand and STB pleasure. We pulled thirds in both STB equitation and STB pleasure championship. I was super pleased to see a young rider beat all of us adults in the equitation class! LOL! Her grin was ear to ear, and it was absolutely the cutest and most priceless thing. This young girl is a good little rider and her mare looked fantastic. It is obvious she has been working very hard with her. She was not entered in the championship class, but we all pitched in and paid for her entry for it (after asking her mother, of course!) I was happy to have her show with us, especially with such a NICELY TRAINED Standardbred. Those are the ones I want to be showing off for the public! :D
Here is my pretty mare again!
My friend Shelly won all three of the riding classes, which was awesome. She did OK at Downeast but her horse was just perfect at the Maine Event. It was like Dreamy winning all the riding classes at Downeast....she was just "on". Sometimes you get lucky and your horse is just perfect. That was Dreamy at Downeast, and it was Shelly's gelding McKeever on Saturday! I loved seeing her beat us all. :) If I can't win, it better be Shelly who beats me! LOL! (Inside joke with the two of us.....) Here we are with our pleasure class ribbons.
I could have been upset with being beaten despite winning everything at the larger Downeast show. But why? Life is too short. I have heard others say that a judge will pick their favorites and not look at anyone else for first. Is that true? Maybe. But who cares? If I really cared that much, I would stick to dressage shows. But I had FUN with my horse and my friends, which is why I decided to do it. It was a gorgeous day and I am physically and financially able to own a horse and show her. I personally was more pleased with how my horse behaved and moved, though it is like a dressage horse and NOT a hunter, than any color ribbon. When you already have a tack room FULL of ribbons, what's a few more or not? I know my horse is fantastic and I don't need ribbons to prove it. Like OTB reminded me one time, "That is why they call it showing and not winning!" LOL! I need to hear that sometimes OTB! :D
Thanks all for a fun time! And THANK YOU MHA for giving us a Standardbred division! Sometimes it is fun to me to show against our breed.....since we are always normally showing open! :) :) :)
Here we are at the Maine Event....
To my surprise, he also added it to the Maine Event show, which is a smaller one-day "C" rated show. This meant that the STB division was now eligible for year end awards! Yeah! For it to count, you need to show three times in your division. Since the Downeast counted as two shows, being double judged, the Maine Event was the third show! :) :) :) MHA ROCKS!
The day was perfect, weather wise. It was raining when I fed horses at 5AM and I was a bit worried. I was going to show rain or shine, but it is much better in the shine! LOL! By the time I headed out at 7:15 AM, the rain was gone and the sky was trying to clear. The day turned out to be hot and sunny! FINALLY! A real summer show day!
There were five Standardbreds in attendance during the show. One horse only did the in-hand class, and another horse only did the three riding classes, so there ended up being four STBs in each class.
Dreamy and I ended up in second place for both STB in-hand and STB pleasure. We pulled thirds in both STB equitation and STB pleasure championship. I was super pleased to see a young rider beat all of us adults in the equitation class! LOL! Her grin was ear to ear, and it was absolutely the cutest and most priceless thing. This young girl is a good little rider and her mare looked fantastic. It is obvious she has been working very hard with her. She was not entered in the championship class, but we all pitched in and paid for her entry for it (after asking her mother, of course!) I was happy to have her show with us, especially with such a NICELY TRAINED Standardbred. Those are the ones I want to be showing off for the public! :D
Here is my pretty mare again!
My friend Shelly won all three of the riding classes, which was awesome. She did OK at Downeast but her horse was just perfect at the Maine Event. It was like Dreamy winning all the riding classes at Downeast....she was just "on". Sometimes you get lucky and your horse is just perfect. That was Dreamy at Downeast, and it was Shelly's gelding McKeever on Saturday! I loved seeing her beat us all. :) If I can't win, it better be Shelly who beats me! LOL! (Inside joke with the two of us.....) Here we are with our pleasure class ribbons.
I could have been upset with being beaten despite winning everything at the larger Downeast show. But why? Life is too short. I have heard others say that a judge will pick their favorites and not look at anyone else for first. Is that true? Maybe. But who cares? If I really cared that much, I would stick to dressage shows. But I had FUN with my horse and my friends, which is why I decided to do it. It was a gorgeous day and I am physically and financially able to own a horse and show her. I personally was more pleased with how my horse behaved and moved, though it is like a dressage horse and NOT a hunter, than any color ribbon. When you already have a tack room FULL of ribbons, what's a few more or not? I know my horse is fantastic and I don't need ribbons to prove it. Like OTB reminded me one time, "That is why they call it showing and not winning!" LOL! I need to hear that sometimes OTB! :D
Thanks all for a fun time! And THANK YOU MHA for giving us a Standardbred division! Sometimes it is fun to me to show against our breed.....since we are always normally showing open! :) :) :)
Thanks for the compliments. Had a great time with great friends. All shows should be that much fun. Can't wait to do it again!
ReplyDelete4th out of 4 was not the issue with me Not getting an honest look was what upset me.
ReplyDeleteI do not need ribons the house is full.
There were 4 horses in the ring the judge judged 3 she never looked at Duncan. That upsets me and that's why I LOVE the timer it never lies.
JMO
I, too want to thank MHA for the classes and a thank you to all the other sponsors in both of the shows
Good thing I am so smart :P
ReplyDeleteAnd I LOVE the pictures from this show. Why? Because you look HAPPY in every one! I just found out I can register my fat spotted pony as a breed so breed classes and showing are something I am really looking forward to!
Good Job, I'm glad you had so much fun after all that really is what it is all about.
ReplyDeleteIs that JC I see in the picture?
Wow! Great Job!! I wish that shows here in Ohio had Standardbred divisions, but I don't know of any that do...How do you find out if shows in your area have STB classes? I'm very new to this whole Standardbred thing :) I also heard that there is a National Championship somewhere for STB's? Do you have to qualify and if so, how does one go about doing so?
ReplyDelete