Baby Boomer Dreams - Dandy's Story - Regionals

Part 1


I think I only took Dandy to one more show in Region 5 before the Regional Championships. I was still having trouble getting Dandy to round his neck up like he should but people were telling me it was me and that Dandy was taking advantage of me. I didn't really know what to think. I thought I had enough knowledge to do this but clearly it wasn't getting done.

I think it was at the Washington State Classic that I talked to Kelly Alcorn about taking Dandy into training. I had worked with Kelly some on trail with my first show horse, Malachite, and I felt that her training methods would be more consist with what I wanted for my horse.

I didn't want the horse to be gimmicked into looking right, I wanted the horse to be right. Kelly assured me that's what she would do. It was only about ten days before the regional championships when Dandy went down to Alcorn's for training. I knew that wasn't enough time to fix whatever was going on with him before that show but maybe by the time we got to Region 4 or Region 17, my horse would be as round as he needed to be to be competitive. I really had my heart set on going to the Nationals for Bonanza.

The way that the Bonanza program was set up, the horses competed in three of four possible divisions. Trail was mandatory and then the riders could chose two from country, hunter or western. The horses that placed were awarded points. At the end all the points were totalled and the horses with the ten highest scores would be awarded Top Ten honors which included $1500 and earned the right to go onto US Nationals. Once a horse had earned a Top Ten in Bonanza it couldn't compete at other regional shows in this division.

Some people picked country as one of their choices because there were few horses in that class so each horse was guaranteed points. That's not the way I wanted to go, I wanted to participate in divisions that my horse could really do so Dandy and I were participating in the hunter and western.

When we showed at the Region 5 Championships, Dandy gave me everything he had. We didn't get a ribbon in the western or the hunter classes. While I wasn't surprised, I was disappointed. The other placings were all over the place and those who were calculating scores said it was going to come down to trail which horses actually made it into the Top Ten.

Everything seemed to point to Dandy and I being totally out of it but I didn't really care. I knew that Dandy would shine in trail and I wanted people to see my horse was good at something. This was my baby, my dream horse, I wanted people to see in him what I did. I planned on us going out fighting.

Some of the other riders were suggesting skipping trail altogether because they didn't have a shot. I was adamant that it wasn't over until it was over. Dandy and I where going to give them a run for their money.

While I don't recall the entire trail pattern, I remember as we walked the course thinking this course was made for us. The obstacles were set up pretty tight. Even though the rules state a course shouldn't benefit a small horse or a big horse, this course was really designed for a little horse.

The great thing about Dandy as a trail horse is he can do obstacles just like the little horses only better. Despite his size, the tighter the course the happier the horse. Tight is the way the horse and I have always schooled and the horse loves it that way. The more challenging the better in Dandy's eyes.

One of the components in this course was a serpentine consisting of five little trees. While the other horses went through those cones in big loops, Dandy and I maneuvered them like I used to cut slalom courses on my water ski. I had the horse half passing left then half passing right keeping the tree as close as possible to the horse, almost close enough to touch. The other riders just shook their heads, they had no idea a horse could even maneuver the serpentine in that manner. I knew how difficult this was and that we would get plus ed big time by the judge for this type of execution.

I also remember we had to lope into a box and halt. I think we then had to turn, walk over the pole straight towards a wall and then lope off turning to the right. With Dandy's size that lope was directly into the wall but he didn't raise up at all. The horse stayed round and pivoted as he pushed off the starting foot, turning in the air and coming down on the second and third beats completing his change of direction within the first stride of that lope AND the horse made it look easy. I knew we would be plused again.

The other components of that class went the same. I don't think that Dandy's mistook a single step in the entire course. He executed each obstacle like a seasoned trail horse.

When we finished the course, the people in the stands exploded. It was clear our effort was appreciated.I can remember coming out of that class elated. I knew we had nailed that course. At the end of the class I took my horse back to his stall and changed my clothes. Then I returned to the arena to find out if the final results of the Bonanza class has been compiled. I wanted to see who of my friends had made the Top Ten.

As I neared the arena I heard them paging me. I then saw my trainer yelling at me to get my horse. Dandy and I had won the trail class and we had been the tenth horse to earn a Top Ten award.


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

Another Regional Experience

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