Baby Boomer Dreams - Dandy's Story - The Next Schooling Show

Arriving at the schooling show with the Arabian horse, I entered classes based on decisions I'd make for a regular "A" system show. The only exception was the walk/jog classes. Those aren't offered at Arabian shows but looked like the best place to begin with a horse like Dandy.

Other than the fact those walk trot classes were huge, they went pretty well. Dandy seemed to be comfortable trusting me as we wove our way in and out of traffic. There were no tables set up in odd places to worry him and he didn't seem to care about the spectators. I worked at keeping the horse out of heavy traffic as much as possible. Dandy just plodded along like he'd been doing this his whole life. I think we even got a ribbon or two.

The trouble began when we hit the first lope class. I'd entered the horse in a green horse/green rider class. Boy was that a mistake. Looking back in hindsight it makes me wonder why show committee aren't smarter than to do something like that, putting green horses and green riders together. But then I didn't know enough to not enter such a class either, so who am I to talk.

The green horses can be pretty naughty sometimes. The green riders can ride pretty dumb sometimes. You put the two together and it's a disastrous wreck waiting to happen. I know, I was there..........and much to my chagrin, so was Dandy.

It happened when they asked us to lope. A horse a ways in front of Dandy went flying off sideways, all the way across the arena and back before it ever went forward. Before the final launch in the appropriate direction, this horse let loose with both hind feet right into Dandy's face, barely missing Dandy's nose. Then it bolted off.

As those feet came flying up at him, Dandy sucked back and stopped dead in his tracks. Then he didn't want to move. I urged him forward and with much persuasion, the horse reluctantly proceeded into the lope. Dandy didn't run off but he was clearly scared. I could feel his poor heart pounding between my legs. It was the second time this poor horse had been scared this badly in that arena.

The horse kicking at Dandy wasn't the only thing going on in that ring. There were at least four other green horses behaving just as badly. Green riders also had horses running off with them and little if any steering. Finding a safe place to put my horse was a challenge. I didn't want to be in that arena, let alone riding a green horse in it, it was so darn crazy.

It didn't get any better when the judge reversed us and sent us loping off the other way. Horses just exploded everywhere. There was nothing but chaos in that ring. There was so much going on I couldn't even keep track of it. Horses were running off, kicking out, I even saw one try to bite another. It was ugly, that's all there is to it.

Poor Dandy tried his best to keep his cool. He did his job but he was clearly upset. His ears were pinned and I wouldn't be surprised if his lips were curled warning other horses to stay away. The horse just didn't feel safe. When we finally were told to line up, the horse dropped into the line-up and let out a huge sigh. He was so relieved that it was over.

To be continued...............

The Next Schooling Show Part 2

Visit Blog Village and vote daily for this blog Here They are now measuring the rankings by votes out, so if you find my blog on the site, please click that link too to improve my rankings. TY